Guess the Artist #41 | Detroit Institute of Arts

It’s been a while since I’ve written a “Guess the Artist” post from a visit years ago to the Detroit Institute of Arts. (If you ever get the opportunity to go – please do, you will be THRILLED!) So many fabulous artists, and some from centuries ago. Wow! These paintings are clearly very well taken care of and rightfully so! They are a treasure.

Ok, now… do you know the artist who painted this beauty above? Read on to see the answer and also to read a bit about the painting, which is so interesting!

Here’s the answer…

A N S W E R :

Young Woman with a Violin (Saint Cecilia)

Artwork Date: ca. 1612

Artist: Orazio Gentileschi Italian, 1563-1639

Nationality: Italian

Medium: Oil on canvas

Unframed (size): Unframed: 32 7/8 × 38 1/2 inches (83.5 × 97.8 cm), Framed: 41 × 47 × 4 inches (104.1 × 119.4 × 10.2 cm)

Classification/Department: Paintings / European Painting

Credit: Gift of Mrs. Edsel B. Ford

I love when the DIA includes information on a painting. It tells a magnificent story…

“This image of a young woman playing the violin has traditionally been interpreted as a personification of Saint Cecilia, an early Christian martyr and the patron saint of music, whose presumed body had been exhumed intact in 1599. Orazio Gentileschi may have used his daughter, the painter Artemisia, as a model for the woman, thus adding a note of realism to his representation. Orazio was deeply influenced by Michelangelo da Caravaggio — who he knew personally in Rome — as seen here in the dramatic lighting of the young model’s upturned face. Several years after the completion of this work, Orazio left Rome. Ultimately, he made his home in England, where he became the favorite artist of King Charles I’s first minister, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, and Queen Henrietta Maria.” (via DIA.ORG).

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Read about the artist HERE, from abc.com!