A Play about the Life and Work of 17th Century Baroque Artist Artemisia Gentileschi (in development).
Upcoming performances with Pettirosso Productions
Table Reading, October 2024
Staged Reading, May, 2025
Please contact us for a reading or performance of the play in your classroom, theater, or exhibition space.
Vanishing Point (Punta di Fuga) The Life and Work of Baroque Artist Artemisia Gentileschi
In the light of a decade of groundbreaking scholarship and new discoveries of Artemisia Gentileschi’s work artist and playwright Robin Masi is reprising her 2000 play in order to showcase Artemisia’s story from a previous conveyance as a feminist revenge painter to one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance. The new version of the play is proud to feature Dr. Gregory Buchakjian’s (art historian, Beirut, Lebanon) discovery of a new work by Artemisia.
The play comes in three versions and can be performed in museums, galleries, classrooms and alternative spaces.
- A 45-minute reading/performance (1‑3 actors) of scene excerpts with highlights of her life.
- A reading or full production (90 minutes) which has the updated version of the play and Artemisia’s later years and successes.
- A 30 – 60 minute lecture/presentation of the work and life of Artemisia Gentileschi.
Work by Artemisia Gentileschi
Artemisia Gentileschi, Self Portrait as the Allegory of Painting(La Pittura) c. 1638-9, Oil on canvas, 98.6 x 75.2cm.
Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith and Holofefrnes 1620, Le Gallerie Degli Uffizi, Oil on canvas, 146.5 x 108cm.
Past Performances in Rome, NYC, and Boston
Background
From 1994 – 1998 Robin Masi wrote a play about and created costumes for a production about the early life of Artemisia Gentileschi. It was performed from 1999 – 2001 as a series of staged costumed readings in Rome at the Palazzo Venezia in conjunction with the Artemisia and Orazio Gentileschi exhibition sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Palo Strinati, the Cultural Superintendent for the Italian Government approved the play to be performed by Italian actors within the Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi exhibition. Thousands of viewers visiting the exhibit experienced scenes from her life as they were seeing the works of art. The play was also performed in Boston (Kate Caffrey, Threshold Theater); and in New York city (Italian Cultural Center).