Born a few years after Bianca Capello and Francesco’s illness at Poggio a Caiano, Artemisia Gentileschi became a celebrated painter. Below, a photo from the Getty museum collection … her self-portrait. Working early in the style of Caravaggio, she was one of the first women to be allowed into the Accademia.
Earlier, in the Renaissance, women as artists and scientists challenged conventions, driving new ideas and innovations. Here, Bianca Capello, the namesake heroine of my book. The mystery? Her supposed death in time and space proximity to the Grand Duke, Francesco de’ Medici.
