Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura)
Artemisia Gentileschi, 1638
From €29Museum-quality print, also on canvas and framed.
Frequently asked questions
Which size should I choose?
This work is available in 30 × 40 cm, 50 × 70 cm, 70 × 100 cm. As a guide: 30 × 40 cm (about 12 × 16 in) for shelves, corners or gallery walls; 50 × 70 cm (about 20 × 28 in) above a dresser, a headboard or a desk; 70 × 100 cm (about 28 × 39 in) as the centrepiece of a living room or the wall above the sofa. Below the buy buttons you can see it to scale above a 2-metre sofa.
Does it come framed?
The print arrives unframed with a white border, ready to frame. If you choose a black or oak frame, it arrives mounted behind acrylic glazing, ready to hang. Canvases come stretched on a wooden frame.
When will it arrive?
Printed to order at the lab closest to your address. It arrives in 4–8 working days in Spain and the EU, and in 6–12 working days in the US, Mexico and other destinations.
What if it arrives damaged?
Email us a photo within 30 days of delivery and we will send you a new one free of charge or refund you.
Can I send it as a gift?
Yes. At checkout you can write a gift message and ship it to the recipient's name and address. The parcel shows no prices.
About the work
- Artist
- Artemisia Gentileschi
- Date
- 1638
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 98.6 x 75.2 cm
- Collection
- Royal Collection Trust (United Kingdom), RCIN 405551
- Print up to
- 70 × 100 cm
- Reference
- XDV-0374
What the museum label doesn't tell you
Look at the arm: stretched to its limit, the whole torso twisting to reach a canvas we can't see. That gesture is the painting. Artemisia isn't posing as a painter, she's caught mid-motion, pearl necklace swinging, hair escaping its knot. Here's the elegant trap: Ripa's 'Allegory of Painting' required a female body. No male contemporary could self-portray as this personification without some disguise. She could, needing no mask beyond being herself. Painted in London at Charles I's court, it survived confiscation and sale before a Royalist colonel recovered it for the Crown in 1660.
How many female allegories do you know actually painted by a woman?
