Violence, Violent Artistry

In 1944, with the terrible storm clouds of World War II scorching the earth, scholar Anna Banti turned her mind to a very different subject, reaching back over the centuries to pen a biography of the Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Banti lost that manuscript during the chaos of the war, but in 1947 she began another book on the same subject. This second book, titled simply Artemisia, was written not as a standard biography or even novel but rather as a dialogue between herself and the artist. Banti's book -- one of many on the artist -- was an attempt to understand for herself why she was so fascinated by the artist.[footnoteRef:1] It's a question that has remained current for many students over the intervening decades, for the artist does fascinate on a number of levels. Her life story is extraordinary, and is made doubly so in...
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