arts analysis

ARTS 1A: Document Analysis 9

Artemisia Gentileschi Our primary source document is a seventeenth-century letter. A letter written by Artemisia Gentileschi to her patron Don Antonio Ruffo, 1649 My Most Illustrious Sir, I have received a letter of October 26, which I deeply appreciate, particularly noting how my master always concerns himself with favoring me, contrary to my merit. In it, you tell me about that gentleman who wishes to have some paintings by me, that he would like a Galatea and a Judgment of Paris, and that the Galatea should be different from the one that Your Most Illustrious Lordship owns. There was no need for you to urge me to do this, since by the grace of God and the Most Holy Virgin, [clients] come to a woman with this kind of talent, that is, to vary the subjects in my painting; never has anyone found in my pictures any repetition of invention, not even of one hand. As for the fact that this gentleman wishes to know the price before the work is done, believe me, as I am your servant, that I do it most unwillingly, since it is very important to me not to err and thus burden my conscience, which I value more than all the gold in the world. I know that by erring I will offend my Lord God, and I thus fear that God will not bestow his grace on me. Therefore, I never quote a price for my works until they are done. However, since Your Most Illustrious Lordship wants me to do this, I will do what you command. Tell this gentleman that I want five hundred ducats for both; he can show them to the whole world and, should he find anyone who does not think that the paintings are worth two hundred scudi more, I won’t ask him to pay me the agreed price. I assure Your Most Illustrious Lordship that these are paintings with nude figures requiring very expensive female models, which is a big headache. When I find good ones they overcharge me, and at other times, one must suffer [their] pettiness with the patience of Job. As for my doing a drawing and sending it, I have made a solemn vow never to send my drawings because people have cheated me. In particular, just today I found myself [in the situation] that, having done a drawing of Souls in Purgatory for the Bishop of St. Gata, he, in order to spend less, commissioned another painter to do the painting using my work. If I were a man, I can’t imagine it would have turned out this way, because when the concept has been realized and defined with lights and darks, and established by means of planes, the rest is a trifle. Therefore, it seems to me that this gentleman is very wrong to ask for drawings, when he can see the design and composition of the Galatea.

I have nothing else to say, except that I kiss Your Most Illustrious Lordship’s hand and pay you most humble reverence, praying for the greatest happiness from Heaven. From Naples, the 13th of November, 1649 The most humble servant of Your Most Illustrious Lordship, Artemisia Gentileschi I must caution Your Most Illustrious Lordship that when I ask a price, I don’t follow the custom in Naples, where they ask thirty and then give it for four. I am Roman, and therefore I shall act always in the Roman manner.

* * * In your notebook, write a response to each of the following questions. As part of your responses, practice quoting from this document—that is, literally place “quotation” marks around something that is stated, as part of your answer to each question. After completing your written responses to the questions below, keep them in your notes portfolio, to use during the quiz and the final exam.

1. In the first paragraph, the Artemisia Gentileschi boasted that “never has anyone found in my pictures” . . . what?

2. Artemisia Gentileschi wrote: “these are paintings with nude figures requiring very expensive female models, which is a big headache. When I find good ones they overcharge me, and at other times, one must suffer [their] pettiness with the patience of Job.” Why do you think she included this information in her letter to Don Antonio Ruffo, her patron?

3. Against her better judgment, Artemisia Gentileschi agreed to name a price before the work is done, but she was not willing to grant which other request of her patron?

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