âArtemisia Gentileschi, 1649
IN Fredericksburg today, one can find many women artists who work in every media: painting, sculpture, printmaking, and ceramics, but also paper and book arts, mosaic, jewelry, weaving and textiles, photography, neon, video, and calligraphy, as well as architecture, interior design, and urban planning.
But womenâs presence in these fields is recent in the history of Western art.
The life of acclaimed painter Artemisia Gentileschi (1593â1654) allows us to consider how artists were trained in early modern Europe and why a woman might enter the profession in the 17th century, a time when such accomplishments by a woman were rare indeed.
The William B. Crawley Great Lives Series is going back to its roots this year, using only the in-house talent of University of Mary Washington staff and affiliates.