Customer Reviews

Artemisia: A Novel

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
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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.

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.

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.

One of two recent popular novels about the female artist Artemisia Gentileschi, I found this a fascinating read, lush with historical detail and the true drama of the world of the artist. Certainly an early model for the feminist movement, this artist was governed by her need to paint her interpretation of art on canvas; her life was defined by light, the shadows and the subtleties of color, the scent and texture of her paints. She lived in a period in which European monarchs emptied state coffers in their passion for the possession of splendor and artifacts, where the artist flourished in a society that used its artists as the instruments of their power. Well-known masters in this Baroque period of the 17th Century were Velasquez, Rubens, Van Dyke and Caravaggio.

In Rome, the Pope was not just the spiritual head of Christendom, he was the temporal sovereign and monarch over all the territories belonging to the Church. After the Council of Trent, the Church accelerated from repressive to preventive, with zero tolerance for disobedience. The artist's task was to bear witness for the martyrs of the Church. From around 1605 the principal programs derived from the Council of Trent were aimed at the Reformation, to dazzle the eye with Rome's brilliance, particularly found in the style of Baroque art, proof of the Church's supremacy.

Draped in the cloak of 17th Century Italy , the denizens of the art world come alive through the pen of Alexandra Lapierre. Using court records and other legal documents to buttress her story, Lapierre brings Artemisia Gentileschi vividly alive, as well as her father-painter, Orazio Gentileschi and Agostino Tassi, the man who deflowered Artemisia and later spurned her demand for marriage. Tassi may not have been free to marry, involved as he was in an incestuous relationship with a sister-in-law. Or he may simply have been a scoundrel, whose lust leveled any conscience in the forced seduction of the virginal Artemisia.

Lapierre's Artemisia is rendered as a confused and driven young woman striving to be a painter in her own right like her father and to gain his recognition. She is, as well, a spirited young woman who needs a legal marriage to free her from her father's possessive grip on her very identity as an artist. Swept along by the bureaucratic layers of a Papacy determined to assert itself against the forces of the Reformists, Artemisia, Orazio and Agostino become puppets of these vested interests, ever under the watchful eye of the Inquisitors. Even in the face of torture, Artemisia refuses to renounce her rape by Tassi, truth her only shield in a world rife with snickers and innuendoes.

The author displays a fine grasp of the particular world the artist inhabits, one drenched in emotion, drama, passion and color. The tapestry she weaves of the backdrop against which they created their masterpieces defines the complexity of a society caught up in the love of objects and the call of fame and recognition. Artemisia is a wonderful experience, one to be appreciated and savored.

I liked this book about Artemisia by Alexandra Lapierre
precisely because of her extensive research. She weaves the story around the actual data which she found. If it gets tedious to read so much research, I say skip some, but at least you're getting the flavor of the times and the actual documents which were used then.
I'm thankful to the author for the time she took to travel to the sites to do the research.

The life of the first truly great female painter in the western tradition would seem to be a can't-miss story, but the author _does_ just miss her goal of recreating Artemisia and her times.
Although the story is written in novel form, there are way too many whiffs of the archive! Still, the book is gripping despite its many pedantic parts, because Artemisia's story lends itself so well to drama. But Artemisia Gentileschi is still awaiting the gifted novelist who can weave her life story, plus all those facts of history, sociology, psychology and law, into a true novel.

In this book the author, Alexandra Lapierre, tells us the story of a great painter, Artemisia Gentileschi. A woman who not only had to fight all her life for real recognition of her art in a man's world, but she was also raped and had to suffer through a long trial to see her name cleared. On the other hand, she was compared, to the day she died, to her father, Orazio Gentileschi, who taught her everything she knew of painting.

The life of Artemisia had enough elements to make this book interesting, but the author was able to present very clearly and accurately the thinking of the times, the 1600's Italy, specially in regards to women painters and mostly women who had been raped.

The characters are very well presented as well as the customs of the times, in Rome, Florence and Naples, and later in her life, London.

Very good read.

This is really, an excellent story about Artemisia, the first major female artist in Europe and it is made very clear that Alexandra LaPierre has done her research. Unfortunately though I found that many sections of the book almost put me to sleep with its endless descriptions of formal documents and exact dates. I understand why she wanted to write Artemisia in this format, though because of the never ending supply of facts it lacks a narrative spice to it.

This wonderful novel is an art history lesson and gripping personal saga rolled into one. The depth of Lapierre's historical research and knowledge of art is apparent throughout this heart-wrenching story.

Artemisia's ordeal in itself is fodder for a gripping story. Yet the details of her personal tragedy are transcended by her ground-breaking paintings, in which all her rage, passion, and determination to vindicate herself are vividly revealed. What a treat this book is, and what an education!

Sarah Bruce Kelly
Author of THE RED PRIEST'S ANNINA

Normally fairly eloquent, sometimes at length, I have nothing to add to the praise and description of the reviews by FJM and Aussie Reader below. I'd merely be restating or repeating. I will shortly have prints of "Judith Slaying Holofernes" and "Judith and Her Maidservant" hanging in my house. I have a number of her paintings, printed in color from the web, on my bulletin board at work. And finally, I have an answer to that annoying question, "If you could have lunch with anyone, who would it be?"Her life, especially in the rich, authentic detail and unique way in which this book was written, will result in my heading straight to the Pitti Palace next time I'm in Italy.