The Passion of Artemisia: A Novel
by Susan Vreeland
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Book Summary Information
Author: Susan VreelandEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-12-31
ISBN: 0142001821
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780142001820
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of The Passion of Artemisia: A Novel
Book Review: Passion Tinged with Anger
Summary: 3 Stars
I admit to knowing nothing about the subject of this novel, Artemisia, the first woman painter admitted to the Academia dell'arte in Florence, other than the information gleaned from this book and the movie which deals with her earlier life. That being said, I admit to having no idea as to whether or not Vreeland successfully portrays the artist and the woman validly. I will say that the Artemeia who speaks in first person in this novel certainly knew what she wanted most in the world and took great pains to get it at the expense of many other people in her life. Vreeland uses her literary license to the extreme in conveying Artemesia's sensibilities as that of a modern day feminist even though she also does a fine job of exploring the focus of religion and God so prevalent during the historical period. Vreeland's Artemesia is an angry woman as is her right; she was raped by her father's collaborator and treated shabbily by her father who more or less chose his art over her respectability. But Vreeland uses this event, which is not related in the novel, to drive the character and at times her modern rationalizations do not match her 16th century inability to lash out about it. Even though Vreeland suggests that Artmesia realizes through her analysis of her father's actions regarding his family and how it fit in with his art, that her motivation was to manifest the beauty and ideal of God, the reader assumes that perhaps her quest for respect with regard to her rape drove her to create great art rather than her purer need to simply create.
Whether or not Vreeland is correct in her portrayal matters not, "The Passion of Artemisia" should be of interest to anyone who likes the Renaissance and novels revolving about the great art of the time. Mainly a character study of the title character, the novel suceeds in chronologically detailing the motivation behind Artemesia's major works while weaving the story of the artist's life after the rape. Artemesia's relationship with Galileo is especially of interest, like Artemisia, Vreeland's Galileo is wise and too astute for his time--- The depiction is devoid of any real romantic alliance, Vreeland's Artemisia sadly misses key components with the important men in her life with which she attempts to replace, sometimes successfully, with her art. All in all, Vreeland's Artemesia is wrought with frustration and a bitter anger. True? I don't know. Anyone who created such beauty could not have been suffering so during that creative surge---perhaps afterwards. The author resolves this angst at the very end of the novel in a key scene invovling the artist and her father, but overall the reader does not get a real sense of satisfaction----instead one feels that the rushed ending should have been supplemented by some additional information where the fruits reaped by a mellower Artemesia are observed and nodded over.
I listened to the unabridged audio edition of this book so I have no idea if an appendix exists which sheds some light on what Artemisia did with the rest of her life once she had rectified her feelings of her anger towards her father as the author suggests. The audio version also contains some filler music used to punctuate particularly sad scenes which I thought unnecessary and a bit overdone.
This all said, I still liked the book and I recommend it to all who like novels about art and artists. Keep in mind however that the feminist tinge to the telling of this tale does not make it truly representative of the period and therefore suspends belief at times. I found myself wanting this modernly depicted Artemisia to have it out with her father, turn the page and get on with her life. Something tells me that in real life, this is exactly what she did do. However erroneously portrayed, Vreeland's character represents a strong woman with much angst on her plate whose life will keep you turning the pages and wanting to look up her lovely paintings to see what she really was all about.
Summary of The Passion of Artemisia: A Novel
Recently rediscovered by art historians, and one of the few female post-Renaissance painters to achieve fame during her own era, Artemisia Gentileschi led a remarkably "modern" life. Susan Vreeland tells Artemisia's captivating story, beginning with her public humiliation in a rape trial at the age of eighteen, and continuing through her father's betrayal, her marriage of convenience, motherhood, and growing fame as an artist. Set against the glorious backdrops of Rome, Florence, Genoa, and Naples, inhabited by historical characters such as Galileo and Cosimo de' Medici II, and filled with rich details about life as a seventeenth-century painter, Vreeland creates an inspiring story about one woman's lifelong struggle to reconcile career and family, passion and genius.
Like her bestselling debut, Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Susan Vreeland's second novel, The Passion of Artemisia, traces a particular painting through time: in this case, the post-Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi's violent masterpiece, "Judith." Although the novel purports to cover the life of the painter, the painting serves as a touchstone, foreshadowing Artemisia's rape by Agostino Tassi, an assistant in her father's painting studio in Rome; the well-documented (and humiliating) trial that followed; the early days of her hastily arranged marriage; and her eventual triumph as the first woman elected to the Accademia dell' Arte in Florence. Although Vreeland makes a bit free with her characters (which she admits in her introduction), attributing some decidedly modern attitudes to people who would not have thought that way at the time, her book is beautifully researched and rich with casual detail of clothing, interiors, and street life. She deftly works history and politics into the background of her canvas, keeping her focus on Artemisia and her family. Beyond the paintings Artemisia left behind, Vreeland's vision may be as close as we can come to understanding the anger and ambition that kept this talented woman at the doors of the Accademia, demanding entrance, in a time when respectable women rarely left their homes. --Regina Marler
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