The Brush and the Sword

​Delayed by the pandemic, Britain's blockbuster National Gallery exhibit of Artemisia Gentileschi's paintings opened yesterday, the most inclusive show ever of this powerful artist's work. Her best-known painting is Judith Beheading Holofernes (below), considered by many to be a partial answer to her rape by fellow artist Antonio Tassi. Gentileschi emphasized many powerful women in her oeuvre, including Mary Magdalene and Susanna, among others. A precocious talent, she completed a major work, Susanna and the Elders, when she was just 17.