Artemisia: A Novel [Paperback]

Alexandra Lapierre (Author), Liz Heron (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2001

An international best-seller, Alexandra Lapierre's Artemisia sweeps us through the streets once frequented by Caravaggio, Velasquez, and Van Dyck and into the studios of artists who used their daggers as efficiently as their brushes. Born in the early 1600s when artists were the celebrities of the day, Artemisia was apprenticed to her father, the artist Orazio Gentileschi, at an early age. Raped by his partner Agostino Tassi at seventeen, the Gentileschi name was dragged through scandal for Artemisia refused, even when tortured, to deny that she had been raped. Indeed, she went farther: she dared to plead her case in court. Artemisia is the story of a powerful love/hate relationship between master and pupil, father and daughter, and a talent that overturned the prejudices of the day, winning commissions from wealthy patrons, nobles, and kings. Lapierre brings Artemisia Gentileschi to vivid life as she tells of the emotional struggles of the most fascinating and controversial artist of her time.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Small wonder that biographer Alexandra Lapierre was drawn to write about Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the first female painters to gain acclaim in the male-dominated 17th-century art world. Her story has all the ingredients of high drama: rape, jealousy, and an infamous court trial set against a backdrop of art and passion. Meticulously researched, framed in a fictional context, Lapierre's treatment applies a painterly touch to a scholarly work. Billed as a biography in the U.K. but as a novel in the U.S., it combines the rigor of one genre with the page-turning immediacy of the other.

Born in Rome to the artist Orazio Gentileschi and his wife Prudenzia, Artemisia's life was turned upside down after the death of her mother. Orazio jealously guarded his only daughter, refusing her outside contact even as he taught her the subtleties of painting. At 17, Artemisia, already a skilled artist, was facing a life of spinsterhood as her father's prisoner. Yet the Gentileschi household was full of the comings and goings of artists whose shifting allegiances were as complex as the politics of the time. When Orazio's friend, arrogant trompe l'oeil master Agostino Tassi, set his sights on young Artemisia, her refusals only stoked his passion. What followed was rape. Tassi kept her quiet through promises of marriage; when marriage was not forthcoming, Tassi found himself in court.

Even under torture, Artemisia's statement never wavered, and eventually Tassi was convicted. The mild sentence scarcely harmed him, yet the experience had a lasting effect on his victim. Touched by scandal, Artemisia was able to marry an inferior painter only by virtue of a substantial dowry. Through an unhappy marriage, the deaths of her first children, and the lives of her daughters, however, she continued to paint, eventually gaining considerable acclaim. Interestingly enough, given her experiences, her paintings of religious allegory often portrayed women in illustrations of strength and dominance. If her depiction of Judith violently decapitating Holofernes elicited the Grand Duchess's repulsion, the Grand Duke Cosimo II was riveted. Others in the room saw the allusion to the artist's own past: "'This face, so close to death, brings someone to mind,' the secretary, Andrea Cioli, interjected insidiously. 'A painter, your Highness...'"

Artemisia blends storytelling and careful detail in a complex rendering that will particularly appeal to readers with an interest in either Baroque art or Italian history. Color plates illustrate the haunting quality of Artemisia's work, and the end notes make clear which portions derive from documentation and which are fictional strokes of color. The uninitiated may have a difficult time unraveling the intricacies of characters and politics, perhaps because Lapierre is more at home with scholarship than with fiction. Worse, her breathless prose sometimes tries too hard, even while doing little to reveal her characters' inner worlds. In the end, it's both the compelling quality of Artemisia's story and the lushness of Lapierre's supporting detail that hold this unusual book together. --Anne DeGrace --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

LaPierre's heavily researchedAbut racyAhistorical novel covers the passionate life of Italian Renaissance artist Artemisia Gentileschi (1592-1653), who survived rape, ostracism and public scandal and went on to imagine powerful women in her energetic paintings. Artemisia's father was the much-in-demand Roman painter Orazio Gentileschi, who took the unusual steps of making his daughter both his apprentice and his model.As Artemisia entered her late teens, Orazio grew extremely protective, then arranged for her to marry his unscrupulous associate, painter Agostino Tassi. When Artemisia refused Tassi, he raped her. A dramatic trial ensued; Artemisia won, but the scandal drove her to leave Rome, and to marry the lawyer who defended her. All this transpires in the first half of LaPierre's book, which draws on and sometimes interpolates real transcripts from the trial. LaPierre (Fanny Stevenson) then follows father and daughter on their subsequent travels, which bring them both in time to the England of King Charles I. The detailed narrative straddles the line between biography and novel; some passages stack up piles of Renaissance facts, while others reimagine Artemisia's dramatic life scene by scene. (There are even long notes, and a bibliography.) Though the prose is fluent, and the characters gripping, Artemisia is no Romola. The volume succeeds more as history than as literature, but it makes history very hard to put down. LaPierre and translator Heron (who used both the novelist's French and the sources' Italian) offer a remarkable entr?e to the eventful life of a pioneer female artist and to the dangerous Europe in which she lived. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 427 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; Reprint edition (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802138578
• ISBN-13: 978-0802138576
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #494,510 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History, Novel, or Hybrid, Very Well Done, September 27, 2000

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Artemisia: A Novel (Hardcover)

When the Authoress learns Latin and Italian as by-products of her research, the result should be special, and in the case of Artemisia, the result is very special. I don't understand how this could have been marketed anywhere as a Biography, Ms. Lapierre is very clear prior to the start of her work, and in over 60 pages of some of the best notes I have ever read, that she made the decision to tell this as a story, not pure History. A Biography whether authorized or not, is always subject to editorial, selective use of research materials, or in the case of some writers who should write for tabloids, deliberate distortions, selective use of facts, or not understanding the difference between fact and fiction. When the notes are read, Ms. Lapierre appears to have been so diligent as to facts, sources, and suppositions; it is tempting to think of this as a Historical work.

The Protagonist is an amazing study. A Genius in art who was officially affirmed as such during a time when Women were never considered as much more than property. A courageous woman, who tempted a range of horrors by demanding the corrupt legal system deliver her justice. Here was a woman who challenged the Catholic Church, and some of its more unsavory historical despots, again to demand that the truth be known and the culprits punished. That she persisted is amazing, that she prevailed to the degree she did, astonishing.

This work brought to mind another strong, unconventional woman of influence, who was brought to readers in book form under the title "Georgiana". I would suggest that anyone who enjoyed the latter will find "Artemisia" a very engaging read.

None of this would have been possible without the work of Ms. Lapierre. It would be better said, her extraordinary work, as this is the book to read on Artemisia Gentileschi, if you choose only one. This work is readable without condescension; it is scholarly without being dense and pompous until rendered unreadable. The book is simply wonderful.

You need only to enjoy good writing to enjoy this book. If you are familiar with other artists of the period, more detail will be there for you, and Galileo makes an appearance as well.

Extremely good, deserves much more attention than the work has garnered thus far.

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Truly Excellent Account of a Great Artist, August 20, 2000

By 

Aussie Reader ""Rick"" (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Artemisia: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book by Alexandra Lapierre on the life of the female artist, Artemisia Gentileschi, is a fascinating study of the world of art and Europe during the seventeenth Century. Having read a few books on Caravaggio I had come across the name of Artemisia but knew very little of her other than that she had been raped by another artist and later went on to become quite famous herself. This book told the story of not only Artemisia and her art but also her father, Orazio Gentileschi, and showed how artistic rivalry, love, family, honour and a passion for art interlocked their lives and careers.

The book is not a novel as the title suggests but is indeed a historical biography of Artemisia Gentileschi and her times. The author has used her skills as a novelist to fill gaps in the story of Artemisia but only with the greatest sense of historical correctness. The author has carried out extensive research on her subject and has used the results of this research to help fill the gaps in the story of this famous artist. She lets the reader know that at times she has fictionalised some of the narrative but never the facts.

Alexandra Lapierre provides the reader with comprehensive notes and references to show the reader why she has decided to use certain narrative or placed a particular slant on her perspective of some events. I found that this manner of story telling in this particular account did not detract from the book in any fashion. It may not please those historians or experts in the field of art but to me, a novice, I found it a great approach to help the reader understand this great artist and the times she lived in.

A number of colour plates are provided of not only Artemisia's paintings but also her fathers and other artists involved in her story. A number of maps have also been placed in the book to assist the reader with following the story, events and travels of Artemisia.

The story itself was well told and in particular I found the account of the rape case very interesting. This is an intriguing and very enjoyable book and I hope that the idea of some of the narrative being fiction will not put other readers off. In fact the 80 pages of notes used by the author to support her account makes fascinating reading in themselves. The book is over 500 pages and I found it a very easy to read account and it has provoked in me a desire to learn more about this great female artist. This book is well worth the effort to sit down and read and I hope that many other readers out there enjoy this book as much as I did.

Just for the interest other readers, in Australia the book is titled `Artemisia: The Story of a Battle for Greatness'. Following are some reviews taken from the back cover:

"A book bristling with adventure, noise, passion and colour which recreates Baroque Italy in all its diversity, from the ballrooms to the torture chambers, from trials to marriages, from drinking parties to underground conspiracies" - Les Echos.

"Alexandra Lapierre has succeeded in enabling a non-specialist of the seventeenth century (99.9% of the population) to experience an artist's struggle through great literature." - Elle.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An exceedingly well-researched historical novel, September 2, 2000

By 

Richard Burt - See all my reviews

This review is from: Artemisia: A Novel (Hardcover)

Anyone intersted in the fascinating life and paintings of Artemisia Gentileschi will surely want to read this novel. Surpassing other novelists who have written on Artemisia (Marine Bramly, Raouda Jamis) Lapierre has turned up a lot of new facts by going back to the archives in Rome and elsewhere ,and she has extensive notes for each chapter. The English translation is rather pedestrian and it also omits the lengthy bibliography of primary and secondary sources in the original French edition (available at amazon.fr). A note at the end of the book says they are available on line, but I could not access the URL. The Enlgish translation also moves an aferword up and retitles it as a preface. Also, the English translation does not reproduce a series of paintings and drawings in the notes of the French edition. (It does reproduce the plates of several paintings in the middle, as they appear in the French edition. So if you read French, I recommend French edition. If you don't, this English translation, though limited and incomplete, will still be welcome, I'm sure. Anna Banti's historically inaccurate novel, Artemisia, remains the best novel on the Italian painter, in my view, as a work of literature, but Lapierre has written the best novel that tries to be historically acurate.