Susan Vreeland wrote one of my favorite books—The Girl in Hyacinth Blue—and that book was simply so amazing and original that I have avoided the rest of Vreeland's work. I knwo that sounds crazy, but I feel that Girl cannot be replicated without becoming gimmicky.

I picked The Passion of Artemisia up at a $1 book store or used book sale, I can't really remember, but the price was right. And still it has sat here, making me feel guilty.

An "Arts" theme month in one of my goodreads groups convinced me to finally pick it up.

This book is very readable, and went much quicker than I was expecting ("art" is not my favorite thing). I definitely learned a lot from this book and the reading I have done on Artemisia Gentieschi online. I had never even heard of her before picking up this book. She was a real person, and the first woman admitted into Florence's Accademia di Arte del Disegno. Many of the paintings mentioned in this book are real, and can be viewed online (and they look nothing like what I was expecting—but I blame me, not Vreeland).

So, that's all good. But Vreeland plays fast and loose with the few facts known about Gentileschi, as she readily admits in the book club guide included in the back of my edition. Vreeland left out Gentileschi's brothers and sons to make the story "better"—but she also made her being an only child and having an only child one of her themes. It is one thing to leave out actual people to simplify the story, it is another to leave them out to make a theme. I also felt that she made Gentileschi out to be a 21st century feminist. Which a 17th century woman simply could not be.

I think I prefer my historical fiction to not be based on real people. As a historian and genealogist who has spent a lot of time in original documents, it freaks me out when facts are misportrayed on purpose. So much work goes into historical research, and to have it so easily tossed aside in the name of "story" upsets me.

Credo che Artemisia avrebbe voluto essere ricordata per i suoi meravigliosi dipinti. Una storia di stupro però soddisfa certi pruriti - ieri come oggi, cambiando solo i mezzi - untuosi e vili.
Siamo nel 1612. Gli atti riportano interrogatori e deposizioni di Artemisia, il suo stupratore Agostino Tassi e vari testi.
Artemisia subirà umilianti visite mediche a dimostrare che non solo non è più vergine, ma che ha avuto numerosi rapporti. E sarà sottoposta a tortura per accertare che abbia detto il vero.
Rabbia, dolore, umiliazione.
A ferire ancora, il dubbio dei giudici. Artemisia non sarà creduta, o non lo sarà totalmente.
Da vittima a colpevole, come spesso accade oggi.
Se vi capita di leggere questo libro, vi invito anche a guardare i dipinti di Artemisia Gentileschi. Non serve fare tanta strada. Basta lanciare la ricerca in rete e poi perdersi nei colori di passione e dolore di questa grande pittrice, ricordata per tanto, troppo tempo, per la storia di uno scandalo.
Cinque stelle perché Artemisia le merita, come donna e come artista.