[trigger warning: discussion of rape and violence]
Artemisia Gentileschi is an amazing historical figure. A survivor who endured torture and humiliation when she tried to convict the man who raped her, she is famous for her beautifully rendered paintings of defiant women enacting violence upon men. Above are Judith Slaying Holofernes, Judith and Maidservant, and Jael and Sisera. It is rumored that Judith Beheading Holofernes is a self-portrait, in which Judith was painted in Gentileschi’s likeness and Holofernes was modeled after her rapist.See also Judith and her Maidservant by Artemisia Gentileschi