Welcome back to Art Talk, and Part 2 of The Gaze Reclaimed. In this episode, we delve into the extraordinary life of Artemisia Gentileschi, who transformed the depiction of women in Western art.
From the Renaissance to today, visual culture has shaped—and often violated—women's bodies. Art historian Catherine McCormack critiques this long history, revealing how so-called masterpieces often masked political power and patriarchal control behind myth and beauty.
But Artemisia changed the rules. A survivor, a painter, and a rebel, she reimagined the gaze—offering empathy, resistance, and power through brush and body.
Learn how Gentileschi reclaims biblical heroines and inserts herself as the protagonist—subverting the male gaze and reasserting the female subject.
Topics covered:
Titian, power, and imperial desire
Mythology as political propaganda
Artemisia’s Susannah and the Elders & Self-Portrait as a Lute Player
Reclaiming trauma through self-representation
Feminism and agency in early modern art
Subscribe for weekly episodes exploring art, power, and the people who shaped visual culture on their own terms.
Download our free guide on reclaiming the gaze in art history
here
Watch on
YouTube
Contact me
