Is there still no region 2 DVD?

Ciao, Daniela mia cara!

Why would you be surprised to see me here? :-)

I encountered Artemisia's paintings in several museums and became interested in her (as I am interested in painting anyhow - what a miserable life this would be without music and painting and the rest of the arts!). I don't remember where I read the few documents about her life that are still existing, but they are quite a surprise, only far too fragmentary. There's not even certainty about the year of her death.

No wonder that her life inspired novels and films - not always of some quality, I have to say. Friends of mine once gave me a book for my birthday, entitled "Artemisia"; the author was Anna Banti, the book was first published in Florence in 1947, it's a long inner monologue or dialogue rather, drifting and meandering, like an overlong variation with a theme missing, totally unsubstantial - nothing about Artemisia, but all about Anna Banti's fancies. I found it unreadable. Maybe it's interesting reading for someone who could rid themselves of the expectation the book would offer something about the real Artemisia Gentileschi, but I was unable to do so and grew immensely impatient with the book.

Well, and besides Artemisia there's also Sofonisba Anguissola or Anguisciola who excelled as a painter http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/a/anguisso/index.html, but it seems people are much less interested in her life, there's no spectacular rape story to kindle people's phantasies about her, obviously not enough of a biography to make a film ... or Lavinia Fontana who seems as forgotten as her contemporaries - there are some others mentioned here: http://www.csupomona.edu/~plin/women/16_17century.html

And now I have to disappoint you: I haven't seen this "Artemisia" film, that's why I was hoping someone knew about a DVD I may have overlooked. Actually I have no idea what to expect from the film, reading that it is not very true to the facts or even the era dampens my hopes considerately, but still I'm curious enough, especially as films about women artists are less frequent than my winning a lottery. But the German title "Artemisia - Schule der Sinnlichkeit" (something like "School of Sensuousness") does not leave much room for hoping for a decent film, or else is a gross stupidity of the German distributors.

I agree to your view of her painting "Susanna and the Elders" (btw you can find some more of her work here: http://gallery.euroweb.hu/html/g/gentiles/artemisi/index.html), and I share your doubts about the justification of including an alleged love affair between her and her teacher in the film - but it really remains to be seen.

Regards, Rosabel

Funny what you say about your cat being called Misia - so the wonderful Portuguese fado singer Misia might indeed be named Artemisia, too? Never thought of that before. :-)

I think Susanna and the Elders helps present an interesting case towards not reading Artemisia's work solely based on the rape. It was painted in 1610, before the trial, when she was 17. I haven't read the transcripts of the trial, so I don't know the concrete facts, but one could assume that when she painted the work, she had not yet been raped. Some historians challenge the the piece was a collaboration between father and daughter. If it had been painted before the rape, it can't be read as influenced by sexual abuse. Therefore it sets a precedent of Artemisia's work which depicts heroic women, often resisting or in acts of revenge against men, including the famous Judiths which most interpret as a direct reading on her own personal experience. It irritates me that interpretation of her work has been so heavily influenced by the rape; it's likely that played some role, but doubtful that it consumed her for the rest of her life.

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