Artemisia Gentileschi’s Strong Women at the Getty

From June 10 through September 14, 2025, the Getty Museum presents the exhibition “Artemisia Gentileschi’s Strong Women”

Source: Getty Museum. Image: Artemisia Gentileschi: Lucretia (detail), about 1627, Getty Museum

In 2020, a massive explosion in the port of Beirut devastated the city. Among the wreckage was a previously unknown painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, the most celebrated woman painter of 17th-century Italy. Depicting a scene from the Greek myth of Hercules, the severely damaged painting came to Getty for in-depth conservation treatment. In an installation focused on its repair, the restored painting is accompanied by four of Gentileschi’s other paintings, highlighting her special focus on donne forti (strong women) from the classical and biblical traditions.

About Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter, born in 1593, and one of the most accomplished female artists of the 17th century. Trained by her father, Orazio Gentileschi, she developed a dramatic and expressive style influenced by Caravaggio. Her work often depicted strong and heroic women from biblical and mythological stories, reflecting her personal struggles in a male-dominated art world. One of her most famous paintings is Judith Slaying Holofernes, which powerfully captures female strength and vengeance. Today, she is recognized as a pioneering figure in art history and a symbol of feminist resilience.