BocelliOnline

[Willma]

From the back of the book: "In this heroic, passionate story, Lapierre sweeps her audience through the streets once frequented by Caravaggio, Velasquez and Van Dyck and the studios of artists who use 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. After Artemisia was raped by her father's partner, Agostino Tassi, at seventeen, the Gentileschi named was dragged through scandal for Artemisia refused, even when tortured, to deny that she had been raped. Indeed, she went further: 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, her paintings winning the admiration of wealthy patrons, courtesans, kings, queens and the Medicis. Lapierre brings Artemisia Gentileschi to vivid life as she tells the fascinating emotional story of the first major female artist."

I picked up this book by chance and found a great treasure. It is beautifully written and rich in descriptions of Rome and Florence at the height of their artisitc glory. It is also a very fascinating, complex, and at times, heartbreaking tale, of emerging feminism. It has the convoluted intrigue of a Rossini opera and the swashbuckling bravardo of a Dumas tale. If you like passionate, Italian scoundrals and strong, triumphant women, you're going to love this book. It moves along nicely It is historically accurate so you will learn a great deal as well. A winner all round!
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Although, in his life, he was often called the imbecile from Illinois, history has proven otherwise.

[BoFanBecky]

Hi Willma ~~
I believe I've read more books in the past 3 months following the hyster surgery than in the rest of my life put together :lol: One day I walked in Target and grabbed nearly half the books on the shelf; Artemisia was one of them and I enjoyed reading it tremendously! And I'm currently reading A Confederacy of Dunces......only 12 pages to go....am gonna miss that Ignatius when I'm done It's ROFLMAO hilarious!! I just couldn't get that title out of my head after you talked about it in the Chat Room one evening (wasn't that about a year ago??) so I have you to thank for the recommendation. Some of the critics have compared it to Don Quixote so that is next on my "must-read" list (yes, am embarassed that I've never read it before). TTFN ~~ Becky