Artemisia A Novel Author:Alexandra Lapierre An international best-seller, Artemisia is the heroic, passionate story of one of the Western world's first significant female artists. Born to the artist Orazio Gentileschi at the beginning of the 1600s, when artists were the celebrities of the day, Artemisia was apprenticed to her father at an early age. She showed such remarkable talent that ... more »he came to view her as the most precious thing in his life. But at the age of seventeen Artemisia was raped by her father's best friend and partner, Agostino Tassi. Soon the Gentileschi name was being 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. For eight months all of Rome was riveted by the trial. Artemisia won the case, but in return was ostracized from Rome and from her father. Through her art, Artemisia sought revenge, portraying women liberating their fellow citizens from tyrants. Her talent was such that she rapidly overturned the prejudices of her time, winning the admiration of wealthy patrons, courtesans, kings, and queens. Alexandra Lapierre brings the historical Artemisia Gentileschi to vivid life in her novel, capturing the sights and sounds and smells of Baroque Italy as well as the emotional life of this remarkable, fascinating woman. "A book bristling with adventure, noise, passion and color which re-creates Baroque Italy in all its diversity, from the ballrooms to the torture chambers, from trials to marriages, from drinking parties to underground conspiracies." -- Les Echos« less