[3] That it is a self-portrait as well as an allegory was first proposed by Michael Levey in the 20th century, and is not universally accepted, as some art historians see the features of the figure here as too different from those in other portraits of the artist.

[3] In the 1610s, Artemisia was raped by an older member of the workshop, Agostino Tassi, an event which coloured the rest of her life and is reflected in her art, which often shows subjects with a "Power of Women" themes such as Judith Slaying Holofernes and Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist.

[6] The Self-Portrait was also influenced by the works of Cesare Ripa, most notably his Iconologia, in which he suggests how virtues and abstract concepts should be depicted, with human qualities and appearances.

[7] Ripa said "Painting" should be shown as: “A beautiful woman, with full black hair, disheveled, and twisted in various ways, with arched eyebrows that show imaginative thought, the mouth covered with a cloth tied behind her ears, with a chain of gold at her throat from which hangs a mask, and has written in front "imitation."

The composition of the painting mirrors other artworks of the time, using diagonal lines to flaunt the female figure and emphasize her movement both in toward the canvas and out towards the viewers.

Across the forehead and cheeks and down the side of the neck and left shoulder a clear line separates the light from the dark, a chiaroscuro technique which was used frequently during the Baroque era to add a sense of drama.

[7] The painting was reacquired for King Charles II by royalist Colonel William Hawley,[7] during his post-Restoration campaign authorised by royal proclamation in August 1660.