20 Euros Women in Art - Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia Gentileschi remains one of the more remarkable figures in 17th-century Italian painting — not simply for the quality of her Caravaggesque work, but because she was the first woman admitted to the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence, in 1616. Her career unfolded against the aftermath of her rape by Agostino Tassi and the subsequent trial, in which she was tortured with thumbscrews to verify her testimony. That she continued to secure major commissions across Naples, Rome, and London speaks to an unusual degree of professional resilience in a field that actively excluded women.

This issue is part of IPZS's ongoing "Donne nell'Arte" collector series, struck in limited numbers for the gift and investor market rather than circulation.