Self-Portrait (Artemisia Gentileschi)

In particular, Jesse M. Locker points to the similar clothing used, as well as the treatment of lace, used in other Artemisia paintings to make this decision.

Locker notes that it "is poorly preserved, leaving the flesh tones, particularly in the face abraded and badly deteriorated",[3] despite the efforts of a restoration in the 1950s.

The earliest it can be traced with any certainty is to 1935, when the collection of Palazzo Barberini entered the governmental Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica.

Mary Garrard has interpreted this in the context of Artemisia's gender, i.e. a challenge to male artists of the time.

This contention is made based on the shape of the painting hand, as this gesture in the 17th century represented a "challenge advanced by those confident in the strength of their abilities.