A Baroque painter and considered to be the best of her time (among women) Artemisia Gentileschi was venerated for her dramatic realism and tenebrism. In an industry dominated by men, she flourished despite the abundance of challenges thrown towards her.
At 17 years old, Artemisia was raped by her tutor and father’s colleague, Agostino Tassi, only five years after the death of her mother. During the rape trial, she was tortured and had her fingers crushed to prove her honesty in the courtroom; Tassi was found guilty and exiled from Rome, though nothing was strictly enforced. However harrowing these tragedies were, they didn’t hinder her aspirations as an artist – at the age of 23 she became the first woman to join Florence’s Academy of Design.
Artemisia was also an avid fan of Caravaggio and adopted the infatuation from her father Orazio, who was also a painter and had a brief friendship with the aforementioned capricious artist.
Judith and her Maidservant depicts the events proceeding the earlier painting, with the head of Holofernes carried in a basket. This painting was based on Orazio’s earlier painting of the scene. 
Madonna and Child is a questionable piece, as some claim it was painted by Artemisia’s father, Orazio, rather than herself. Due to the similarities between their styles and the fact that he mentored her closely in her early years, the true artist behind this painting remains largely debatable.
Susannah and the Elders was the first dated and signed painting by Artemisia, vividly depicting the disturbing scene in the bible. 
A self portrait, painted only a few years after the torturous rape trial.
Links:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Artemisia-Gentileschi
https://www.biography.com/artist/artemisia-gentileschi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_and_her_Maidservant_(Gentileschi,_Florence)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_and_Child_(Artemisia_Gentileschi)
Katherin,
Good work on your first three posts. One thing is that I lecture on Gentileschi in the final PP and you’ve made a scoop here but I’ll overlook that. Also you’ve managed to post on painters not on my list but that shows you are doing solid research. Good personal thoughts and insights. I think Artemisia’s Judith and Holofernese is more powerful that even Caravaggio’s…thoughts?
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
Thank you for your comment! I tried to choose artists that weren’t on the list you gave us because I figured it would be more interesting for you, considering you must have to read about the same artists every week. If you would prefer I stick to the list, just let me know – it would probably make research a lot easier anyway!
I’m sorry I didn’t catch that Artemisia was covered in your final presentation; I’m fan of her work and was shocked not to see her covered, but I didn’t realize you cover female artists later.
As for the comparison between Artemisia and Caravaggio’s, I wholeheartedly agree with you in that Artemisia’s piece is much more powerful. In Caravaggio’s, I think Judith appears more weak and timid in expression and disposition, almost removed from the situation altogether (the gap between her and Holofernes is huge!). In Artemisia’s, however, Judith is illustrated to be much stronger and more animated in the act. It appears more realistic to me; if one were to kill someone, they wouldn’t be standing so far away from their victim with such a distressed expression (I realize how odd this sounds but I can’t think of how else to describe it). I’m pretty sure Judith killed the lecherous Holofernes to protect her village; if this were the case, she wouldn’t bear such an odd, almost confused expression in his killing as shown in Caravaggio’s piece. Artemisia is able to much more accurately depict the scene, as she is able to inject her own emotion into the scene, via Judith. These are just my thoughts though – I could be totally misinterpreting Caravaggio’s painting, or perhaps I’m just partial to Artemisia, I’m not too sure.
Kathrin