Synopses & Reviews
Artemisia Gentileschi, born in 1598, the daughter of an esteemed painter, taught art in Naples and painted the great women of Roman and biblical history: Esther, Judith, Cleopatra, Bathsheba. She also painted the rich and royal, but her wealthy male patrons wanted admiration while her women models wanted disguise. This woman, who had been violated in her youth and reviled as a rap victim in a public trial before going off to heretical England, who was rejected by her father and later abandoned by her husband and misunderstood by her daughter, who could not read or write but who could only paint—this woman was one of the first modern times to uphold through her work and deeds the right of women to pursue careers compatible with their talents and on an equal footing with men.
Artemisia lives again in Anna Banti's novel, which was first published to critical acclaim in Italy in 1947 (Banti was the pseudonym of Lucia Lopresti, 1895-1978). Recognized as a consummate stylist, she was one of the most successful women writers in Italy before the resurgence of the feminist movement. Although Artemisia describes life in seventeenth-century Rome, Florence, and Naples, the time setting of the novel is, in a deeper sense, a historical, merging as it does the experience of a woman dead for three centuries with the terrors of World War II experienced by the author. Shirley D'Ardia Caracciolo's English translation of Banti's novel skillfully renders its complexity and poignancy as a study of courage.
Review
"Artemisias story is compelling. The recreation of her world is rich in the visual and tactual details of the time, as well as emotional perceptions that transcend time. The vital bond between writer and subject envelops the reader completely."—Booklist Publishers Weekly
Review
"This novel should change the way we think about historical fiction and its possibilities. . . . A thickly textured and moving portrait."—Boston Review New York Times
Review
"That Banti was able to spin this lyrical novel from a few biographical details is as much a testament to her skill as it is to the woman who inspired her."—New Directions for Women Boston Review
Review
"The book is evocative and beautifully written; Anna Banti illuminates Artemisis'a story with a lifetime of study in art history."—The Historical Novels Review Booklist
Review
"Banti's often moving novel presents a psychological evocation of the woman artist. . . . We must be grateful to [the author] and her translator for this imaginative presentation of an extraordinary individual."—New York Times The New Yorker
Review
"One of the glories of twentieth-century Italian literature."—Susan Sontag, The New Yorker Susan Sontag
Review
"This sensitive work of psychological portraiture, fluently translated by Caracciolo, is an intricate, self-reflective work of art."—Publishers Weekly New Directions for Women
Synopsis
Artemisia Gentileschi, born in 1598, the daughter of an esteemed painter, taught art in Naples and painted the great women of Roman and biblical history. She could neither read nor write, was reviled as a rape victim in a public trial, rejected by her father, and later abandoned by her husband. Nevertheless, she was one of the first women in modern times to uphold through her work and deeds the right of women to pursue careers compatible with their talents and on an equal footing with men. Anna Banti’s novel was first published to critical acclaim in Italy in 1947 (Banti was the pseudonym of Lucia Lopresti, 1895–1978).
About the Author
Shirley D'Ardia Caracciolo, whose afterword discusses the historical background and artistry of Artemisia, lives in Ireland and works as a freelance translator, with expertise in French and Italian.