Self-Portrait as a Lute Player

The work by Artemisia Gentileschi named Self-Portrait as a Lute Player, created about 1615-1618, shows a portrait of a young lady with a lute in front of a dark and quite simple background. The central part of the composition is occupied by the figure that attracts the viewer's attention with her face, clothes, hands, and musical instrument. The woman is dressed in the complex and beautiful blue costume adorned with gold embroidery. The rich texture of the dress with its folds and decoration becomes one more feature of the careful attention to the materials the artist paid. Her head is covered with the striped cloth and she wears a gold earring. The woman's face looks rather calm, and her head turned towards the observer. The instrument of a lute is positioned on the diagonal line. The wooden body of it and the strings become a part of the composition. One of the hands is placed near the neck of the instrument while the second is near its body. The positioning of the figure and instrument is a good example of composition balance. The darkness of the background makes the figure stand out more. The visual impact of this work of art has been made possible thanks to its lighting, colors and realistic image of the figure depicted in the artwork. Lighting of the forehead, cheeks, neck, hands and blue clothing of the woman against the dark background is characteristic of this piece of art. This type of lighting is known as chiaroscuro and makes the figure appear three-dimensional. The figure of the woman appears more accentuated due to contrast between her warm-colored skin and dark background and blue dress. Rich texture and play of light makes gold embroidery on the dress stand out. Moreover, the artist has done a great job with the lute depicting its wooden body, strings and long neck. The diagonal position of the lute enabled the painter to create harmony of different elements of the painting. The hands of the woman are another crucial part of the painting since they make the viewer feel that there is interaction between the figure and the musical instrument and not just its decoration. Despite the absence of details in the background of the painting, it looks very coherent and harmonious.