Photogallery:
The Patinings of Artemisia Gentileschi
"Judith Slaying Holofernes." It's one of 17th century Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi's most famous religious works. In it, a robust and determined Judith, with the help of her devoted maidservant Abra, slays the Assyrian general Holofernes, decapitates, him, actually, so that her village might be spared his army's invasion.
Holofernes' face is contorted in terror. Blood spurts from under Judith's dagger, and triumph belongs to the women. Feminists call the painting a revenge fantasy - it was completed just as Gentileschi emerged from a humiliating and reputation-smearing rape trial. Art historians call it a masterpiece. Scandal and scholarship: Artemisia Gentileschi, One of Baroque Italy's most sought-after and puzzled-over talents.
