[1] Artemisia was the eldest child of artist Orazio Gentileschi and was trained in her father's workshop along with her brothers, showing more talent than any of them.

[1] Her action ended up softening the king's decision, and he permitted the Jews to defend themselves against his attack, preventing them from being killed off.

While the subject matter depicted in this work is the biblical scene of Esther going before Ahasuerus to plead for her people, the style of the clothing and setting is more contemporary.

Esther is shown in better lighting, while Ahasuerus is in shadow, and the king is also depicted with an extravagant feathered hat and fur-trimmed boots that are also bejeweled.

Gentileschi marks her as the protagonist of the scene in this way and gives her more agency while conveying the message of how much of a biblical heroine Esther is.

Because of this, Esther's vibrantly yellow dress stands out in comparison to the rest of the painting, bringing attention to her figure.

The diagonal angles in the curtains in front of and behind the king also give the effect of drawing the eye towards him as if to remind the viewer to pay attention to him, too, instead of just focusing on Esther.

In addition, Gentileschi paid a lot of attention to the folds of the fabrics as well as in Ahasuerus's boots, and she even made the stitches on the hem of Esther's dress so exact that they almost look real.

Her consistent motifs of women having power over men and even killing them is possibly a revenge narrative linked to the fact that Gentileschi was raped by her father's friend Agostino Tassi when she was just a teen.

In the Apocryphal text, which Guercino most likely relied on for his depiction, Esther's relationship with the King is meant to represent Mary's unity with Christ.

It is suggested Caravaggio drew from his own face to create the image of Medusa, placing himself as the figure of the female mythological creature.

[7] Gentileschi's rendition of this scene from the Book of Esther seems to follow the description seen in the Greek additions to the original account, which was declared canonical during the Council of Trent in 1546.

[1] In contrast, Gentileschi's depiction of the king is not very formidable, and he is leaning forward in a comedic manner with a puzzled expression on his face as Esther faints.