Artemisia Gentileschi, the young daughter of a renowned painter, was a girl of great talent and ambition, who aspired to follow in the footsteps of her inspiration, the artist Caravaggio.

In this, a fictionalized account of her life based on historical fact, Artemisia struggles to overcome the prohibitions of the Catholic Church against females studying and depicting nude human anatomy.

At first, she studies in secret until her father agrees to let her be tutored another successful painter, Agostino Tassi.

Her eventual sexual involvement with the older artist leads to accusations of rape and a trial during which Artemisia herself is subjected to persecution and torturous interrogation.