“Timoclea Killing Her Rapist”, by Elisabetta Sirani, (1659). Sirani was an Italian Baroque artist who championed both female painters and female subjects in her art. 
She opened a successful academy of art in Bologna and trained other women. At the time, Bologna was very progressive & women artists were accepted and celebrated.
Elisabetta never married & died suddenly in August 1665, aged only 27. Her maidservant, Lucia Tolomelli, was put on trial for poisoning the artist, but the charges were withdrawn. Her cause of death is unknown. This is a self portrait from 1658.
“Timoclea Killing Her Rapist” is typical of her work. It depicts a tale in Plutarch’s work on Alexander the Great. During the invasion of Thebes, a captain in Alexander’s army rapes Timoclea. After the attack, the captain demands she hands over her money...
Timoclea leads the captain to her garden well & as he peers into it looking for money, she pushes him in, and then throws heavy rocks down the well until he dies.
