Synopsis
Shot in very high resolution with passion and attention to details, the film follows the life of the great painter of the 17th-century in an oneiric journey through her masterworks, kept in the most preeminent museums all around the world (including the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Palacio Real de Madrid, and Galleria Spada in Rome), as well as in private collections, like the ‘Aurora’ (1627), featured for the first time in Ultra HD 4K or the 'David and Goliath' dated 1639, and recently discovered in London thanks to British conservator-restorer Simon Gillespie, who in this documentary gave an exclusive interview and he explains what David's sword was like after careful restoration to reveal the identity of the author of the painting, namely Artemisia. In 1618, at the age of 23, Artemisia became the first Italian female artist to get international recognition. She worked in close contact with the most revered artists and cultural elites in Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, and London. She came in touch with the most brilliant minds of her time, including Caravaggio. The film recalls her life, for which she is recognized as a modern feminist icon, due to her personality and the unyielding defense of her professional integrity, documented in the letters she wrote to art collectors and other eminent figures of her time, like Galileo Galilei. Artemisia’s fame is also tied to the rape trial she started against a colleague, Agostino Tassi. She survived the experience thanks to her moral strength and, through her painting, succeeded as a woman and as an artist, producing masterpieces that can touch the heart and soul of audiences who admire them four hundred years later.