By Sheila Barker
This book provided so much insight into the life of this 17th century artist, I was simply blown away. Some of the things I learned about her that I really liked are:
- Her beautiful relationships with her in-laws: Father-in-law, who was a tailor and had connections with fabric sellers, and who made Artemisia beautiful dresses she could wear and paint as she marketed herself as an accomplished painter; sister-in-law, who seems to have been a good friend, a model, and who was later supported by Artemisia
- Her business savvy was equivalent to her painting skills -- she developed her poetic and writing skills (even though her early education outside of painting was severely lacking) as she mingled with accomplished writers and scientists, such as Michelangelo's great nephew of the same name and Galileo Galilei. This was essential for her to acquire patrons such as the Medici's, and Spanish and English royals
- She used her painting skills to make political commentary, even when it was controversial, and potentially dangerous
- She prided herself of painting 'beauty of all kinds', painting bodies differently, depending on each person's imperfections, this was particularly true as she aged
- Also, as she ages, she depicted more common people whom she elevated to almost divinity
In short, this book provides a lot of information even while being image-rich. Definitely seems like a lot of deep research went into it. [non-fiction, 144pp.]
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