The Paint Box

by Maxine Trottier, Stella East (Illustrator)

In Renaissance Italy, Tintoretto helps his daughter dress like a boy in order for her to explore the art world of Venice, and she comes to the aid of an enslaved cabin boy that she has befriended.

Genres: Picture Books, Historical Fiction, Art

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 27, 2003

About the author

Maxine Trottier is the award-winning writer of numerous books for young people, including Claire's Gift (winner of the Mr. Christie's Book Award), Laura: A Childhood Tale of Laura Secord, the Circle of Silver Chronicles, and The Tiny Kite of Eddy Wing (winner of the CLA Book of the Year Award).

A former teacher and an avid sailor, Maxine has long been fascinated by history. She is now an associate member of La Société des Filles du roi et soldats du Carignan, whose purpose is "to honour the memory of these courageous people." While researching Alone in an Untamed Land, Maxine discovered that she herself is directly descended from a fille du roi.

Maxine lives in the small outport of Newman's Cove in Newfoundland, with her husband William and their Yorkie Moon.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I have certainly found Maxine Trottier's The Paint Box a sweet and lovely enough tale in and of itself and have also much enjoyed Stella East's accompanying illustrations (which are lush, descriptive and above all, seem historically accurate for the time and place, for depicting 16th century Venice), and yes, I also do appreciate how at the end of The Paint Box, Marietta Tintoretto not only gives her new friend Piero her own boat in order for him to escape from slavery but also her personal paint box, the tools of her trade as an artist so to speak, her father Jacopo Tintoretto's special gift to her, and therefore also her most treasured possession, frankly, that entire storyline of Marietta so easily finding a way for Piero to escape from his master simply by giving him her boat to hide in actually does in my opinion feel more than a trifle unbelievable and fantastical at best. For I certainly do very much question the comparative ease with which Marietta is able secrete Piero from sight and furthermore that Piero's master, that the ship's captain who owns him would simply set sail when in the morning he cannot locate Piero, this does not really sound all that realistic and reasonable (as I kind of do believe that the captain most probably would have for one searched more intensely for his missing slave and for two, considering that Marietta had been spending most of her time with Piero, that he would realistically and naturally also have been asking detailed and possibly uncomfortable questions of both Marietta Tintoretto and her father Jacopo).

And truly, considering that Marietta Tintoretto was a real person (and according to Maxine Trottier's detailed author's note, likely a famous artist in her own right) I certainly would have much rather read in The Paint Box a true biographical (and detailed) sketch of Marietta Tintoretto's training by her father to become an artist than a tale that while tender and sweetly evocative is still basically simply a work of fiction (for I do have to admit that in The Paint Box, it is indeed the author's note on Marietta Tintoretto's actual life that I have personally found the most interesting and enlightening and certainly much much more to my tastes than Maxine Trottier's rigamarole about Marietta and Piero, which although enjoyable, has also been just too much fiction and a trifle too fantastical for my reading desires). Two and a half stars, but rounded up to a low three stars, for even though I have indeed not all that much enjoyed The Paint Box for myself, Maxine Trottier does tell a pretty engaging story and yes, Stella East's pictures are definitely aesthetically gorgeous and do paint a very authentic portrait of late Renaissance Venice.

[Anna Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book
Fantastic book to read to K-5 to start an art discussion
Tintoretto- 16th century painter, Venice

[Shiloah · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤️

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting story of Tintoretto’s daughter that had to dress like a boy to be able to paint with her father, but I was looking for a child biography of Tintoretto for art study next year. This isn’t quite what I was wanting but the fact that she painted in a time when women couldn’t was pretty cool. And it does a wonderful job of showing what it is like in Venice. My favorite page is the one when it’s raining.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently the Venetian painter Tintoretto had a daughter, Marietta, whom he used to dress as a boy so that she could go out in public and learn to paint with him. Girls at that time usually were restricted to home or allowed to venture out only with escorts to certain places. This story describes a slave boy, Piero, whose master, a ship's captain, comes to Venice to have Tintoretto paint his portrait. Piero meets Marietta in her disguise as a boy, and the two, who both like to draw, spend time together while the portrait is being painted. Marietta eventually helps Piero escape from his master so that he can perhaps pursue his love of art. Before he goes, Piero leaves her a drawing on the wall in appreciation. An author's note at the back of the book tells of the real Marietta Tintoretto, and includes a portrait believed to have been painted by her. If so, she was, indeed, a gifted artist. I liked this story because it demonstrates how girls could, in some instances, escape the strictures of their gender, and express themselves in a creative activity generally the domain of men.

Stella East's illustrations are beautiful here. Some of them look like touched up photographs combined with paintings. Marietta's paint box was interesting and must have been created from photos of original 16th century artifacts. The only thing I didn't like was Marietta herself, whose hair style didn't seem right for the time period, even if she was dressing up as a boy. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book and recommend it for aspiring artists and young feminists.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, set in Venice in the 1500's, is based on the childhood of an artist named Marietta who disguised herself as a boy so that she could accompany her father, Tintoretto, also an artist. Apparently, girls were not allowed this freedom. This part of the tale is true.

The fictional part of the story involves Marietta's friend, a slave boy, who loves to draw and yearns to return home. Marietta helps the boy to freedom.

The artwork was unique in that photos of Venice were combined with painting to give a very textured look. The story is very absorbing, as well as the illustrations.

[Aileen Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Paint Box was a beautifully told story of a young Venetian girl in the late 1500's who had to dress like a boy in order to accompany her artist father around Venice to galleries and workshops. Although this story is fictional, the main character, Marietta, really existed and was a fine painter.

[Kellie Monibidor (Hermansen) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great historical fiction book for children. Tintoretto has a daughter Marietta who makes friends with a little slave boy while her father paints his master.

[Lisbeth Solberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another "picture book for older readers," this is a strange amalgam of fact and fiction.