The Memorable Baroque Painting That Begs So Many Questions

An act of female strength or subordination?

Portia Wounding Her Thigh (1664) by Elisabetta Sirani. Oil on canvas. 101 × 138 cm. Collezioni d’Arte e di Storia della Fondazione della Cassa di Risparmio, Bologna, Italy

Dear Reader,

A painting like this immediately gets us asking questions.

It depicts a woman wielding a knife. Directly beneath the angle of the blade, her thigh is bloody with stab wounds. These are self-inflicted lacerations: you only need to look at the equable expression on her face to realise that the injuries are intentional and calculated.

This engrossing painting was made by Elisabetta Sirani, a female artist of the Italian Baroque period. She was a remarkable figure: by the age of 19 she was already an independent painter. Then when her father — who was also an artist — became immobilised by gout, she took over the running of his workshop and supported her entire family through her art.

Yet, Sirani died in unknown circumstances at the age of just 27 — only a year after this painting was made. It has become one of her best-known works.

So what’s the story being told here?