Gentileschi, Orazio (1563-1639)
Giovane donna col violino (Young Woman with a Violin)
c.1612
Oil on canvas, 83.5 × 97.8 cm
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit
This image of a young woman playing the violin has traditionally been interpreted as a personification of Saint Cecilia, an early Christian martyr and the patron saint of music, whose presumed body had been exhumed intact in 1599. Orazio Gentileschi may have used his daughter, the painter Artemisia, as a model for the woman, thus adding a note of realism to his representation. Orazio was deeply influenced by Michelangelo da Caravaggio — who he knew personally in Rome — as seen here in the dramatic lighting of the young model’s upturned face. Several years after the completion of this work, Orazio left Rome. Ultimately, he made his home in England, where he became the favorite artist of King Charles I’s first minister, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, and Queen Henrietta Maria. (DIA)
See also:
• Gentileschi, Artemisia (1593-c.1653)