Between the 16th and 17th centuries, two women with very different histories broke the barriers of painting. Within decades of each other, Lavinia Fontana and Artemisia Gentileschi achieved the status of painters of international renown, moving well beyond the more acceptable portrait and still-life genres to tackle Biblical and mythological themes, formerly the province of men. They received honors, maintained their families, and were welcomed by the highest authorities of their day.
Art historian Elizabeth Lev shares the remarkable careers of Fontana and Gentileschi, the world in which they flourished, the obstacles they shattered, and most importantly, the magnificent art they produced. These painters offered a new, feminine, if not feminist, view of some of the most captivating heroines of Western art from Mary Magdalene to Judith.
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