3-075-203 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes, c1623-1625. Italian painter Gentileschi was producing professional work by the age of 15. She is considered among the most accomplished 17th-century artists. In 1638, Gentileschi joined her painter father Orazio in London at the court of Charles I. At a period in history when women had few opportunities to pursue artistic training or work as professional artists, she was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence.