Reflective Tag:

This essay is about a painting made by Artemisia Gentileschi between 1630 and 1635. It highlights Gentileschi’s ability to use artistic techniques that are visually appealing to the viewers. The background of the painted is discussed briefly.

Visual Analysis

Artemisia Gentileschi’s, Corsica and The Satyr is a large 155 x 210 cm oil painting created between 1630 and 1635 (Wikipedia). Artemisia Gentileschi’s ability to use color, detail, proportioning, and scale in diverse ways, give the viewers access to a story told solely through art. In this case, the painting narrates a story that illustrates a nymph, Corsica, on the left, escaping by the means of her hairpiece, from an aggressive Greek mythological creature, a Satyr, on the right who holds it in his hands.

Gentileschi uses color in many ways to emphasize and highlight key features of the painting. Corsica’s clothing uses coloring techniques (coloring) to imitate the reflection of light emitted from her clothing. This technique of tinting is made by mixing white with the color yellow to lighten it at certain spots of the dress. The perceived reflections of natural sunlight with the use of tinting are consistent with the idea of the characters being in the outdoors. In addition to that, Gentileschi used a light tint of yellow, such as golden yellow in Corsica’s dress. She also uses shades with the use of maroon-red in Corsica’s shawl. As a result, these colors are accentuated due to the contrast they create when beside each other. In the background, an analogous palette of colors such as brown, yellow, and orange embodies the warmth and even more-so the darkness of the day. This darkness of the day creates a foreboding setting for the painting. In the foreground of the painting, there is some use of analogous colors such as blue and green on Corsica’s sandals. In contrast, the foreground uses complementary colors such as yellow and purple in Corsica’s dress and shawl.

Another technique used by Artemisia Gentileschi is proportioning. Painted sitting, the Satyr appears the same size, if not larger than Corsica Not only does Gentileschi use proportioning to focus the viewer’s eyes on both of these significant characters in the story, but the proportions play into the role of the Satyr’s threat to Corsica. Similar to proportioning, the action of the Satyr sitting while Corsica stands, shows the use of a Hieratic scale. It is used for the viewers to acknowledge the cleverness and intelligence that Corsica has over the Satyr, even with his sense of threat. In this case, it plays into the feminist point of view of Artemisia Gentileschi’s artistic style.

The relationship between Corsica and the Satyr visually demonstrates the focus of the painting. This connection is illustrated by the visual details the artists provide to both characters. To start, Corsica has very small, but intricate patterns of a flower design on her blouse lining. The Satyr also displays intricate details such as wrinkles in his forehead. These wrinkles play a role in his facial expression, they show a sense of shock towards Corsica. Other details such as chest hair, muscles, and protruding veins symbolize the Satyr’s manliness or dominance over Corsica. Compared to Corsica and the Satyr, the background has less detail. For example, the hills in the background are painted with smear-like brush strokes. Similar to the hills, the tree to the right of the painting appears to be made with little detail. This minimalist approach to the background keeps the viewers’ attention and focuses on the connection between Corsica and the Satyr.

Works Cited

“Corisca and the Satyr.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Dec. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corisca_and_the_Satyr.