DISCOVERING WOMEN ARTISTS IN 16TH AND 17TH CENTURY ITALY with Kathleen Olive

From nuns painting inside closed convents, to professionals like Lavinia Fontana, Artemisia Gentileschi and Giovanni Garzoni blazing a trail from Italy all the way to France and England, Italian women artists of the Baroque both exceeded and challenged the conventions of the male-dominated world of painting.

They also continue to shape how we understand women’s place in Western art history.

DR KATHLEEN OLIVE has a PhD in Italian Studies from the University of Sydney, where she also taught Italian language, literature, and history.

Since 2003 she has led cultural tours to Europe, the USA and Japan. Kathleen is a national lecturer for the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society (ADFAS).

This lecture is supported by The Colin Holden Charitable Trust

Artemisia Gentileschi confidentially shows herself as the very embodiment of the Art of Painting, in this clever work from the British Royal Collection.

Artemisia Gentileschi (Italian, 1593 – circa 1656)
Self-portrait as allegory of painting, circa 1638-39
oil on canvas | 986 × 752 mm
The Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 405551