Customer Reviews

Artemisia Gentileschi and the Authority of Art: Critical Reading and Catalogue Raisonne

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
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I saw the pre published text and met with the author. Here is a fully comprehensive, wonderfully detailed, and beautifully created book that clearly reflects an exacting 'lifetime labor of love' from Ward Bissell. I heartily recommend this book to all scholars, educators, students, collectors, dealers and appreciators of art in general and Artemisia in particular. Bissell has given us the definitive word on Artemesia Gentileschi with his work.

I plan to use both the Bissell and the Garrard book on Artemisia Gentileschi in my Baroque Art History class this Spring. Since these authors often interpret both works and life events rather differently, students should find the comparison stimulating.

Other reviewers have commented on the authority of breadth of Bissell's work here. This review comments on the book itself.

A quality piece of work from The Pennsylvania State University Press: hardback, cloth over boards with a sturdy sewn binding. In dustjacket. 446 pp of creamy stock, followed by over 200 (mostly) full-page plates, largely in b&w. 5 pounds!

4 Appendices, about 20 pp of End Notes, and a 10 p Bibliography. Indexed.

The organization here is essentially 130 pp of biographical and aestethetic text followed by a superb Catalogue Raisonne.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Early Career in Rome 1609-1612: Precociousness and Power
Recognition 1613-1620: Florence and Florentinism
Rome and Venice: 1620-1628 From Reassertino to Reassessment
Naples and London 1629-1640: Grandiosity and Grandeur
The Later Years in Naples 1641-1652 Refinement, Reiteration, Resignation
Myths, Misunderstandings, Musings

Appendices

Catalogue Raisonne
- Autograph Paintings
- Incorrect and Questionable Attributions
- Lost Works

This is a superbly written and researched account of Artemisia's Gentileschi's fascinating life and art. While not at all hostile to feminist interpretations of the painter, chiefly Mary Garrard's, Bissell is refreshingly skeptical and respectfully critical of many of their key points. Bissell is a more traditional art historian than I myself prefer, but one can't find better art history than this. Despite the high price, I wholeheardtedly recommend this wonderful book to anyone interested in Artemisia Gentileschi's paintings and as a feminsit icon.

I plan to use both the Bissell and the Garrard book on Artemisia Gentileschi in my Baroque Art History class this Spring. Since these authors often interpret both works and life events rather differently, students should find the comparison stimulating.