A Portrait In Shadow
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Enter a sumptuous world of art and magic in 17th-century Florence as Artemisia Gentileschi fights to make her mark as a painter and exact her revenge – perfect for fans of Alix E. Harrow, Elena Ferrante and Susanna Clarke.
When Artemisia Gentileschi arrives in Florence seeking a haven for her art, she faces instant opposition from the powerful Accademia, self-proclaimed gatekeepers of Florence’s magical art world. As artists create their masterpieces, they add layer upon layer of magics drawn from their own life essence, giving each work the power to heal – or to curse. The all-male Accademia jealously guards its power and has no place for an ambitious young woman arriving from Rome under a cloud of scandal.
Haunted by the shadow of her harrowing past and fighting for every commission, Artemisia begins winning allies among luminaries such as Galileo Galilei, the influential Cristina de’ Medici and the charming, wealthy Francesco Maria Maringhi. But not everyone in Florence wants to see Artemisia succeed, and when an incendiary preacher turns his ire from Galileo to the art world, Artemisia must choose between revenge and her dream of creating a legacy that will span the generations.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jarvis (The Lights of Prague) centers her belabored second fantasy on historical 17th-century artist Artemisia Gentileschi. The magical conceit is familiar but fascinating: artists enact healing magic by painting their essence into their works. Artemisia herself, however—alone in Florence after her painting tutor raped her and struggling to make her way as a "true painter"—disappoints. Rarely does Jarvis engage with the complexities of the actual Artemisia, paring away events like the painter's marriage in an apparent attempt to make her story fit more neatly into a #MeToo framework. The resulting character study marinates in Artemisia's fury against the men who have hurt her and despair when other men are slow to save her—among them Stefano Silvestrini, her first regular patron; Galileo Galilei, an avuncular role model; and eventually the merchant Francesco Maria Maringhi, who becomes both patron and lover—until she's forced to choose between art and revenge. While Jarvis's descriptive skill is undeniable, even the lush evocations of Florence come across as jarringly modern. Jarvis succeeds in finding resonance between Artemisia's story and the modern era, but this simplified reenvisioning is like swapping a portrait for a paper doll.
Customer Reviews
Better if it wasn’t about a historical figure…
While I understand the concept of feminine rage and the negative effects of revenge, the author’s inability to decide if this is a historical and fantasy novel left me wishing I was reading anything but this book. Additionally, it dragged most of the time and left little to be excited about which is not what you would expect about a book that’s about one of the greatest female painters of all time.