How to Read Paintings: Portia Wounding Her Thigh by Elisabetta Sirani

An act of female strength or subordination?

Portia Wounding Her Thigh (1664) by Elisabetta Sirani. Oil on canvas. 101 × 138 cm. Collezioni d’Arte e di Storia della Fondazione della Cassa di Risparmio, Bologna, Italy. Image source Wikimedia Commons

A painting like this begs so many questions. It depicts a woman wielding a knife. Directly beneath the angle of the blade, her thigh is bloody with stab wounds. These are self-inflicted lacerations: you only need to look at her posture and face to realise that the injuries…