Self-portrait as the Allegory of Painting c.1638-9
Artemisia Gentileschi’s painting is the most famous self-portrait by a female artist. Uniquely she combines features of her own portrait with the depiction of the female personification of Painting, something that only a female artist could do. She was one the most successful painters of seventeenth century Italy and her image was much in demand.
“Self-portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura)” (1638-1639), автор – Artemisia GentileschiRoyal Collection Trust, UK
Artemisa shows herself at work, her paintbrush poised in mid-air, wearing a brown apron over her fine, green silk dress and lace-trimmed chemise. Her sleeves are rolled up to show muscular forearms. She is leaning on a stone slab used for grinding pigments. The lively brushwork reflects the energy of the inspired painter at work.
“Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura)” (c.1638-9), автор – Artemisia GentileschiRoyal Collection Trust, UK
Her face with her intense concentrated gaze is bathed in dazzling light, signifying intellect and inspiration, and her dark unkempt hair the divine frenzy of artistic creation.
The area of brown behind her has been interpreted as background, or a blank canvas on which she is about to paint. It looks like prepared canvas and was always thinly painted, but it is worn and may bear a closer resemblance than was the artist’s intention.
“Self-portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura)” (1638-1639), автор – Artemisia GentileschiRoyal Collection Trust, UK
The artist leans on a stone slab used for grinding pigments, on which is her signature in large letters. A. G. and F. for ‘Fecit’ [made]. The prominence of the letters associates Artemisia with the personification of Painting.
Artemisia has followed the description of Pittura in Cesare Ripa’s ‘Iconologia’, a handbook for artists.
In it Pittura or Painting is ‘a beautiful woman with full black hair, dishevelled and twisted in various ways, with arched eyebrows that show imaginative thought, the mouth covered with a cloth tie behind her ears,
with a chain of gold at her throat from which hangs a mask, and has written in front ‘imitation’.
She holds in her hand a brush,
and in the other the palette,
with clothes of evanescently coloured drapery …’
The gagged mouth, showing that painting is dumb, is left out, but the artist has dishevelled hair; she has the chain and mask of imitation and the iridescence of her dress is shot silk.
Whether or not the portrait is a literal self-portrait or an allegorical depiction of Painting has been much debated, as has the date of the painting.
The position in which Artemisia has portrayed herself would have been extremely difficult for the artist to capture, yet the work is economically painted, with very few pentiments. In order to view her own image she may have used multiple mirrors to capture herself in three-quarter profile, possibly two set at a 45-degree angle. She would have been able to paint her entire figure without needing to reverse her painting hand.
Artemisia may have painted the portrait in Naples and sent it to Charles I before she arrived in person in 1638. Alternatively she may have brought it with her. Or she may have painted it in London.
However, Artemisia was in in her mid-forties when she reached London while the artist in this portrait appears to be in her twenties or early thirties.
The application of paint is economical, lively and accomplished, which is typical of Artemisia’s work in Naples in the 1630s. If this is a literal self-portrait by Artemisia painted in the 1630s she would still be too old for the likeness in the painting. Therefore it is unlikely that the portrait is an accurate self-portrait, but rather it is self-referential, so that Artemisia is unequivocally identified with this image of an artist at work.
Underdrawing along her left arm may indicate where she marked out a position for her arm: quick, expert brushwork barely suggests her left arm and hand and its reflection on the stone slab on which she is resting.
Canva’s New AI Design Tools Aim to Help You Create and Edit Like a Pro
Magic Studio launches with a collection of 10 AI-powered tools.
Kourtnee Jackson Writer
Kourtnee covers TV streaming services and home entertainment news and reviews at CNET. She previously worked as an entertainment reporter at Showbiz Cheat Sheet where she wrote about film, television, music, celebrities, and streaming platforms.
- Though Kourtnee hasn’t won any journalism awards yet, she’s been a Netflix streaming subscriber since 2012 and knows the magic of its hidden codes.
Kourtnee Jackson
Oct. 4, 2023 10:23 a.m. PT
3 min read
Canva is aiming to empower customers with the ability to write, edit and design content under one umbrella. The company announced the launch of Magic Studio on Wednesday, a package of design tools powered by artificial intelligence. The platform includes 10 different functions that allow you to use prompts to generate images, text, animations and videos, or edit and format your creation in a few steps.
Some tools rolled out on the Canva app within the past year, such as Magic Write, Magic Edit, Magic Eraser and Magic Design, but now they’re all housed together in the Magic Studio. Here’s a look at which features you can access and how they can help streamline — or even automate — your projects.
- Magic Design: Quickly make videos, presentations and other media by inputting your idea and choosing color palettes and other customizable elements.
- Magic Grab: Pick any part of your photo to resize, edit or move it.
- Magic Switch: Change whiteboards and presentations into documents, or translate your content. This feature helps you convert various forms of media into new formats.
- Magic Expand: Make vertical photos horizontal, enlarge images or fix framing.
- Magic Morph: Input a prompt to apply special effects to any image or text you create, adding hues, patterns, textures or other details.
- Magic Edit: Remix your images with Canva’s brush and AI inputs to edit and replace graphics. Add a piece of clothing, turn a book into a puppy, attach a cupcake to a skyscraper and much more.
- Magic Media: Make videos from text or images, or turn text into photos. “Use the AI text-to-video generator by entering a prompt,” Canva says, “and watch your words and phrases transform into amazing videos.” You can also flip an image into a video.
- Magic Write: Helps you write (or rewrite) captions, letters, paragraphs or other pieces of text with an assist from OpenAI prompts. For example, you can type “write a job description” and Magic Write will generate the words. You can even opt to have your copy written in a brand’s tone.
- Magic Animate: Add lively visuals to your design — including fonts — with the animation tool.
- Magic Eraser: Polish up your images by removing unwanted elements with the eraser — including photobombs.
Generative AI technology is being integrated into graphic design apps used by professionals and nonexperts alike. Within Adobe’s ecosystem, Firefly is a new AI-powered set of features that can be used to create and edit images or to add effects to text. You can get the Firefly app or check out how to use it in Photoshop or Illustrator. Additionally, Canva was not the first to roll out an eraser tool, as Google introduced its Magic Eraser in 2021 for photos on Pixel phones.
Canva customers can access the AI app marketplace with a freemium account, but there are limitations on which Magic Studio apps are available. Paid subscribers who have Canva Pro and Canva for Teams have unlimited access to Magic Studio features. Free trials are available.
Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to help create some stories. For more, see this post.
