Vreeland, Susan: 1946-2017

The Passion of Artemisia, 2002 - Summary

At age eighteen, Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) finds herself humiliated in papal court for publicly accusing the man who raped her - Agostino Tassi, her painting teacher. When even her father does not stand up for her, she knows she cannot stay in Rome and begs to have a marriage arranged for her. Her new husband, an artist named Pietro Stiatessi, takes her to his native Florence, where her talent for painting blossoms and she becomes the first woman to be elected to the Accademia dell'Arte. But marriage clashes with Artemisia's newfound fame as a painter, and she begins a lifelong search to reconcile painting and motherhood, passion and genius.