Stanley Friedman

Artemisia Sketches

Artemisia Sketches, as my brass sextet La Pittura, is a suite based on themes and motives from an opera-in-progress about the brilliant Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi. The pitch structure is generated by the available augmented triads: C-E-G#, C#-F-A, D-F#-A#, D#-G-B, which are arranged to yield various scales and rows. The three movements reflect either specific paintings or traumatic episodes in Artemisia’s life.

I. Sibille
A victim of rape, Artemisia was subjected to further humiliations at a notorious trial in the Papal court in Rome. The Sibille was a torture device applied to her hands in an effort by the defense to compel her to recant her testimony.

II. Prelude to 'Lucretia'
The Classical tale of Lucretia, a virtuous woman wronged, was the subject of one of Artemisia’s deepest character studies. In the painting, Lucretia looks toward heaven as she contemplates suicide. Her right hand grasps her breast while her left hand wields the dagger.

III. 'Susanna and the Elders'
(Aria with Variations)
An astonishing early work, 'Susanna' was painted when Artemisia was about 17, near the time of the rape. The subject of the work is an Apocryphal story dealing with sexual harassment. In the painting, two men hover over the naked, vulnerable Susanna. They whisper together conspiratorially while she recoils in horror and mortification.