Talent Forged in Trauma

Artemisia Gentileschi was the daughter of painter Orazio Gentileschi, and she showed extraordinary talent from childhood. At 17, she was raped by Agostino Tassi, a colleague of her father's. The 1612 trial that followed was brutal: to test whether she was telling the truth, the court wrapped cords around her fingers and tightened them while she gave evidence. She held firm and repeated, "It's true."

Rather than ending her career, the trial seemed to fuel it. She moved to Florence, won admission to its prestigious art academy, and built a name painting biblical heroines who fight back. Where other artists showed these women as passive or decorative, Artemisia gave them muscle, resolve, and rage.