“By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy 1500-1800,” at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford (CT) brings together dozens of artists from a specific time and place, hundreds of years ago and thousands of miles away. But the exhibit, which is up through Jan. 9, asks timely, ever-current questions not just about art’s place in society but women’s place in the art world.

As the exhibit catalogue puts it, “These women shared a drive to succeed as artists when the art world was dominated by men.” The piece that inspired this focused appreciation of the unique perspectives and struggles of female artists of this period was a painting in the Wadsworth’s own collection.