Divine Madness

Going back to Plato's "Ion," discuss the idea of the artist's inspiration as divine madness in relation to "Belly of an Architect," "Artemisia," or "Camille Claudel."

In many of the films we have viewed this semester, we have seen the artist figure portrayed as a frenzied or damaged character, imbued with great talent but still flawed. Both Pollock and Basquiat focus on men who possess great artistic skill, but work in fits, and are unstable. To these men, alcohol and drugs serve as the “madness” that both inspires and destroys them. This is especially evident in the Basquiat; his heroin use sends him into a creative fury, but it also ends his life.
In the case of Artemisia, creative madness manifests itself though Gentileschi’s obsession with the human form, looking, and touching. In the first scenes of the film, we see Artemisia explore her body by candlelight; this compulsive touching triggers her creativity. Later on in the film, Artemisia secretly views Tassi participating in an orgy; viewing this forbidden scene again triggers her desire to draw. When Artemisia is consumed by lust for Tassi, we see her create her one of her greatest works. During this time, Artemsia can satisfy her need to touch and explore sensuality, and this serves as her “divine inspiration”.
While Artemisia does truly possess great talent, her “madness” eventually leads to her downfall. While it is true that her obsession with sensuality inspired her to produce great works, it also leads to her indiscretions with Tassi and her rape trial. She becomes too consumed by her obsession, truly allowing it to become madness, which consumes her. In this way, Artemisia’s obsessions with sensuality are both her inspiration, as well as her madness.