Galleria Spada

I had two site visits for my Women and Art class this week. For our site visit we meet in a particular place located in the city of Rome instead of going to our normal classroom at the time of our class. On Tuesday we went to the Galleria Spada. The Galleria Spada is located along the Tiber River and has a wonderful collection of art. The collection was originally assembled by Cardinal Bernardino Spada in the 17th century.

Because my Women and Art class is based off of the artist Artemisia Gentileschi, we focused mainly on her piece of work in the galleria along with her father's work (Orazio Gentileschi). One of her earliest works of art called "Madonna and Child" was in the galleria. She composed the piece in 1610 when she was sixteen years old. Artemisia was a baroque artist, following Carravagio's style. Caravaggio and her father Orazio Gentileschi were good friends when Artemisia was a child. It has not been proven that Artemisia met or had any type of relationship with Caravaggio, but her work was based off of his style. Orazio started as a Tuscani artist, but once he saw Caravaggio's work he transformed his style. Although Orazio and his daughter Artemisia have very similar style's, they differ in the sense that Orazio slowly transformed his style into Baroque whereas Artemisia started as a Baroque artist.

Another painting Artemisia completed in her early teens was "Susanna and the Elders." In this painting Susanna is a wife of a wealthy man who is bathing in the privacy of her private garden. Two Jewish Elders appointed as judges become aware of the beautiful woman and accost her, but Susanna rejects them. To get back at her they accuse her of adultery with a young man in her garden and based on false testimony Susanna is condemned to death. Artemisia is known for depicting women in her paintings as strong and admirable.


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The last painting I saw at the Galleria Spada was one of Orazio's pieces called "The Head of Goliath." Caravaggio had a piecework similar to this, but Orazio's David does not interact with Goliath's head, rather he stands beside it lost in a moment of deep introspection, evoking a pensive atmosphere.