Orazio Gentileschi
Portrait of a Young Woman as a Sibyl

ArtistItalian (Florentine), 1563–1639
CultureItalian
Titles
  • Portrait of a Young Woman as a Sibyl
Datec. 1620
PlaceItaly
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions32 1/8 × 28 3/4 in. (81.6 × 73 cm)
Frame: 40 1/2 × 37 × 3 1/8 in. (102.9 × 94 × 8 cm)
Credit LineThe Samuel H. Kress Collection
Object number61.74
Not on view

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Description

The young woman in this painting by Orazio Gentileschi has been identified by scholars as the artist's daughter, Artemisia Gentileschi. A renowned painter herself, she trained in her father's workshop and established a European reputation that allowed her a life of independence rare for a woman of her day.


One of the most important followers of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571/72–1610), Orazio Gentileschi combined a refined and elegant personal manner with Caravaggio's powerful sense of realism. In this painting, the identification of Artemisia as a Sibyl—defined in ancient Greek literature and legend as a woman with the gift of prophecy—may be based on what happened during the trial of Roman artist Agostino Tassi, whom she accused of rape. She voluntarily submitted to a torture called the sibyls, which involved a device consisting of metal rings that were tightened about the fingers by a set of cords to determine the truth.


The view of the sibyl and her upturned head are typical features of Orazio Gentileschi's heroines, and the rendering of her sumptuous orange brocade drapery anticipates the increased elegance of his later painting. His precociously gifted daughter possessed a formidable personality, and she became not only one of the greatest of Caravaggesque painters but also a heroine to feminist art historians.


ProvenanceEnglish private collection; [Christie's, London, June 22, 1951, no. 88, as Artemisia Gentileschi]; purchased by Jeffery Tooth; [David M. Koetser Gallery, New York by 1953]; Samuel H. Kress Collection, New York, 1953; gift of the Kress Foundation to MFAH, 1961.
Exhibition History"Art Treasures for America," National Gallery of Art, Washington, December 9, 1961–February 1, 1962.

"Baroque Minor Masters," organized and circulated by the American Federation of Arts to eight venues, October, 1968–October, 1969.

"Caravaggio and his Followers," Cleveland Museum of Art, October 27, 1971–January 2, 1972.

"A Gift to America: Masterpieces of European Painting from the Samuel H. Kress Collection," North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, February 5–April 24, 1994; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, May 17–August 7, 1994; Seattle Art Museum, September 8–November 27, 1994; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, December 17, 1994–March 4, 1995.

"Paint and Passion: Artemisia Gentileschi, Orazio Gentileschi, Agostino Tassi," Richard L. Feigen & Co., New York, April 28–June 27, 1998.

“Masterpieces of European Painting from the 15th to 20th Centuries from
the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation," The Museum of Art, Ehime, Matsuyama, Japan, April 13–May 30,1999; Chiba Prefectural Art Museum, Japan, June 5–July 11, 1999; Mie Prefectural Art Museum, Tsu, Japan, July 17–August 22, 1999; Fukuoka Art Museum, Japan, August 27–October 3, 1999.

"Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi: Father and Daughter Painters in Baroque Italy," Museo del Palazzo di Venezia, Rome, October 15, 2001–January 6, 2002; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, February 11–May 12, 2002; Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri, June 15–September 15, 2002.

"Juan Bautista Maíno (1581-1649)," Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, October 19, 2009–January 31, 2010.

"Artemisia Gentileschi, 1593-1654," Musée Maillol, Paris, March 14–July 15, 2012.

"Artemisia Gentileschi," Palazzo Braschi, The Museum of Rome, November 30, 2016–May 8, 2017.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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