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I Know What I Am: The Life and Times of Artemisia Gentileschi
In 17th century Rome, where women are expected to be chaste and yet are viewed as prey by powerful men, the extraordinary painter Artemisia Gentileschi fends off constant sexual advances as she works to become one of the greatest painters of her generation. Frustrated by the hypocritical social mores of her day, Gentileschi releases her anguish through her paintings and, against all odds, becomes a groundbreaking artist. Meticulously rendered in ballpoint pen, this gripping graphic biography serves as an art history lesson and a coming-of-age story. Resonant in the #MeToo era, I Know What I Am highlights a fierce artist who stood up to a shameful social status quo.
285 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 10, 2019
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November 13, 2019great book to read if you want to go back in time and kill every man
November 26, 2020
This book shows how far the graphic format has progressed. It first grew from entertainment to Cliff Notes style treatment of its subjects. The next evolution was nuance and depth. Gina Siciliano has taken this genre to a new height: This is a work of research.
This telling of Artemsia Gentileschi’s life shows the Italian peninsula as violent, competitive and corrupt. You see a fundamentally misogynist culture. Siciliano shows how Gentileschi, who learned painting from her less talented father, interpreted the female experience. She used the biblical and mythological conventions of the time and expanded on the content and artistic style of Caravaggio.
Augustino Tassi, who worked on a joint commission with Artemisia’s father, raped her when she was 18 years old. The best route (in Rome in the early 1600’s) to maintaining her reputation and that of the family was to marry him. By maintaining a sexual relationship she was able to get a proposal from him. When Tassi reneged, her father sued him for rape. In the course of a 7 month trial that found him guilty (his light sentence was never carried out), Artemisia was tortured and lost her reputation and with it the hope of a good marriage. Her father’s solution was a quickly arranged a marriage with the (out of town) artist Perantonio Stiattesi. She moved to Florence to be with him.
Siciliano shows Gentileschi’s rape as pivotal in her artistic development. During the trial she painted her interpretation of Caraveggio’s “Judith saying Holofernes” depicting female strength and anger. Later works of Bathsheba, Mary Magdalene, St. Catherine, Esther, Cleopatra and her self-portraiture show not passive beauty, as popular in the time, but female emotion, sensuality and strength. As she matures, and survives more of ill treatment by men, these images become stronger. She recreates “Judith and Holofernes” showing more anger and revenge. Siciliano also shows how Gentileschi had to tone down her content to keep and attract patrons.
The book covers her relationships with patrons, Galileo, other women in the arts and a re-connection with her father and brothers in England.
Her rapist was a cad beyond the rape: he attempted to kill his ex-wife and ran off with her sister. Her husband gambled and used the money from her commissions at brothels.
She had 5 children with two surviving to adult hood. She lived and worked in Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples (survived Vesuvius eruption) and England. It is quite a life.
The Notes are page by page annotations that document the text and give further observations on Gentileschi’s work, tell what was created, fill in missing links and give full citations from original works by writers cited in the text. An example of the detail in these notes is the p. 192 entry: “X-radiography reveals that Artemisia repainted Esther before Ahasuerus numerous times. It was initially a busier multi-figure composition with an African servant or page (see notes p. 217)…. I invented Artemisia’s interaction with Giovanna Garzoni, both women were in Venice at the same time…” followed by primary sources that point to a relationship.
A lot of work and thought went into the graphics. There are typically 9 panels per page with chapters introduced by full page portraits. The format fits the content best when it shows Gentileschi’s work. The page by page Notes have observations on the detail on the content and context in which the paintings were created. I often had to distinguish the people from their role since their portraits are all so similar. I liked the author’s self-portrait on the end book.
This book shows the progress of the graphic media. I don’t know of any work like this. While I don’t know much about this genre, I highly recommend these titles for showing its reach:
The Gauguin Atlas– uses maps, post cards, drawings of the time to illustrate not just the biography, but visual life experienced by Paul Gauguin.
Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home the author uses pieces of the family scrapbook to illustrate her search for her family’s past.
Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout – a 2011 National Book Award finalist where the author created all aspects including paper created with light sensitive materials which were critical to the discovery.
This telling of Artemsia Gentileschi’s life shows the Italian peninsula as violent, competitive and corrupt. You see a fundamentally misogynist culture. Siciliano shows how Gentileschi, who learned painting from her less talented father, interpreted the female experience. She used the biblical and mythological conventions of the time and expanded on the content and artistic style of Caravaggio.
Augustino Tassi, who worked on a joint commission with Artemisia’s father, raped her when she was 18 years old. The best route (in Rome in the early 1600’s) to maintaining her reputation and that of the family was to marry him. By maintaining a sexual relationship she was able to get a proposal from him. When Tassi reneged, her father sued him for rape. In the course of a 7 month trial that found him guilty (his light sentence was never carried out), Artemisia was tortured and lost her reputation and with it the hope of a good marriage. Her father’s solution was a quickly arranged a marriage with the (out of town) artist Perantonio Stiattesi. She moved to Florence to be with him.
Siciliano shows Gentileschi’s rape as pivotal in her artistic development. During the trial she painted her interpretation of Caraveggio’s “Judith saying Holofernes” depicting female strength and anger. Later works of Bathsheba, Mary Magdalene, St. Catherine, Esther, Cleopatra and her self-portraiture show not passive beauty, as popular in the time, but female emotion, sensuality and strength. As she matures, and survives more of ill treatment by men, these images become stronger. She recreates “Judith and Holofernes” showing more anger and revenge. Siciliano also shows how Gentileschi had to tone down her content to keep and attract patrons.
The book covers her relationships with patrons, Galileo, other women in the arts and a re-connection with her father and brothers in England.
Her rapist was a cad beyond the rape: he attempted to kill his ex-wife and ran off with her sister. Her husband gambled and used the money from her commissions at brothels.
She had 5 children with two surviving to adult hood. She lived and worked in Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples (survived Vesuvius eruption) and England. It is quite a life.
The Notes are page by page annotations that document the text and give further observations on Gentileschi’s work, tell what was created, fill in missing links and give full citations from original works by writers cited in the text. An example of the detail in these notes is the p. 192 entry: “X-radiography reveals that Artemisia repainted Esther before Ahasuerus numerous times. It was initially a busier multi-figure composition with an African servant or page (see notes p. 217)…. I invented Artemisia’s interaction with Giovanna Garzoni, both women were in Venice at the same time…” followed by primary sources that point to a relationship.
A lot of work and thought went into the graphics. There are typically 9 panels per page with chapters introduced by full page portraits. The format fits the content best when it shows Gentileschi’s work. The page by page Notes have observations on the detail on the content and context in which the paintings were created. I often had to distinguish the people from their role since their portraits are all so similar. I liked the author’s self-portrait on the end book.
This book shows the progress of the graphic media. I don’t know of any work like this. While I don’t know much about this genre, I highly recommend these titles for showing its reach:
The Gauguin Atlas– uses maps, post cards, drawings of the time to illustrate not just the biography, but visual life experienced by Paul Gauguin.
Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home the author uses pieces of the family scrapbook to illustrate her search for her family’s past.
Radioactive: Marie and Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout – a 2011 National Book Award finalist where the author created all aspects including paper created with light sensitive materials which were critical to the discovery.
May 7, 2023
I frequently whine that graphic novel biographies are too brief and don't provide enough context for the subject's life, but man does this one go overboard in the other direction. Giant blocks of text nearly squeeze the art out of the panels as we are introduced to every person who touched the life of Artemisia Gentileschi and all the political movements that were going on in the places where she lived.
The first half of the book is fairly interesting as the focus on the Italian painter's personal life is stronger, detailing her rape by one of her father's painting peers and the extended trial that followed. Much of the original testimony was preserved in transcript form and is utilized here.
Having used up the most compelling original source material, the second half devolves into a recitation of facts, names, and places as the captions truly get out of control. And there are 40 dreary pages of endnotes awaiting obsessive book completists like me.
The art is fine, but Siciliano tends to have her characters staring face forward out of the panel at the reader way too often.
UPDATE - May 7, 2023
When it comes to graphic novels about Gentileschi, I prefer the more dramatic and fictionalized version provided by writer Nathalie Ferlut and illustrator Tamia Baudouin in Artemisia.
The first half of the book is fairly interesting as the focus on the Italian painter's personal life is stronger, detailing her rape by one of her father's painting peers and the extended trial that followed. Much of the original testimony was preserved in transcript form and is utilized here.
Having used up the most compelling original source material, the second half devolves into a recitation of facts, names, and places as the captions truly get out of control. And there are 40 dreary pages of endnotes awaiting obsessive book completists like me.
The art is fine, but Siciliano tends to have her characters staring face forward out of the panel at the reader way too often.
UPDATE - May 7, 2023
When it comes to graphic novels about Gentileschi, I prefer the more dramatic and fictionalized version provided by writer Nathalie Ferlut and illustrator Tamia Baudouin in Artemisia.
February 22, 2020
I FINALLY FINISHED THIS BOOK! And I feel like a champion.
“I Know What I Am” is a biographical graphic novel detailing the life of Artemisia Gentileschi - one of the few women in history to be celebrated as a famous artist. Gentileschi is an inherently feminist figure, as she was sexually assaulted by a fellow artist, but continued to paint strong, rebellious female subjects. And she gained notoriety and esteem in doing so.
The author, Siciliano, describes her own struggles as a survivor of sexual assault, and how this book and the research surrounding it made it a cathartic project in her introduction. I admire the amount of work she put into this book. It is clearly a subject she is passionate about.
The art is stunning. Siciliano put and incredible amount of detail into drawing her historic characters as individuals, even if she didn’t always have a frame of reference. She detailed ball-point miniatures of examples of classic art throughout, and I find them amazing.
The written content of the book is a mixed bag for me. Siciliano included a lot of text surrounding her illustrations. A lot. Sometimes this made the format overwhelming. In addition, Siciliano included vast amounts of contextual information to world-build Gentileschi’s surroundings. This included many briefly mentioned historical figures, social commentary, etc. At times I found this detracting from the biographical story, and also difficult to follow, not knowing much about the Baroque period to begin with. She also included modernized speech in some of her panels, which I found to be a strange choice.
Siciliano’s dedication to her research is undeniable. She included pages of detailed notes providing historical context/ rationale for her artistic decisions. Everything is fastidiously cited. I don’t entirely understand some of her decisions to fabricate so many panels - I know she wanted to flesh-out Gentileschi’s life, but at times I found it unnecessary.
All-in-all a worthwhile read for the art historian feminist.
“I Know What I Am” is a biographical graphic novel detailing the life of Artemisia Gentileschi - one of the few women in history to be celebrated as a famous artist. Gentileschi is an inherently feminist figure, as she was sexually assaulted by a fellow artist, but continued to paint strong, rebellious female subjects. And she gained notoriety and esteem in doing so.
The author, Siciliano, describes her own struggles as a survivor of sexual assault, and how this book and the research surrounding it made it a cathartic project in her introduction. I admire the amount of work she put into this book. It is clearly a subject she is passionate about.
The art is stunning. Siciliano put and incredible amount of detail into drawing her historic characters as individuals, even if she didn’t always have a frame of reference. She detailed ball-point miniatures of examples of classic art throughout, and I find them amazing.
The written content of the book is a mixed bag for me. Siciliano included a lot of text surrounding her illustrations. A lot. Sometimes this made the format overwhelming. In addition, Siciliano included vast amounts of contextual information to world-build Gentileschi’s surroundings. This included many briefly mentioned historical figures, social commentary, etc. At times I found this detracting from the biographical story, and also difficult to follow, not knowing much about the Baroque period to begin with. She also included modernized speech in some of her panels, which I found to be a strange choice.
Siciliano’s dedication to her research is undeniable. She included pages of detailed notes providing historical context/ rationale for her artistic decisions. Everything is fastidiously cited. I don’t entirely understand some of her decisions to fabricate so many panels - I know she wanted to flesh-out Gentileschi’s life, but at times I found it unnecessary.
All-in-all a worthwhile read for the art historian feminist.
February 9, 2020
Book blurb:In 17th century Rome, where women are expected to be chaste and yet are viewed as prey by powerful men, the extraordinary painter Artemisia Gentileschi fends off constant sexual advances as she works to become one of the greatest painters of her generation.
Have you heard of Artemisia Gentileschi? I had not. Not even a whiff, and it's a shame, as she was a rather remarkable woman. She was a famous artist in her times, and the first woman painter allowed into art guilds.
I should have loved this graphic biography, but it read more like an illustrated masters thesis than a book for public consumption. The black and white ballpoint art is good, and I really appreciated that the author places Artemisia in historical context - the politics and art trends of her day - but this was too text heavy. Lots of name dropping - many I hadn't heard of before - which made my gaps in art and Italian history rather glaring.
I was both delighted and angry as I learned about Artemisia. Some men really suck. She actually took the man who raped her to court. In the 17th century! Her art was groundbreaking, and I plan to read more about the artist. This book will probably work better for folks better versed in art/Italian history, but I was delighted to be introduced to this extraordinary artist and her works.
Have you heard of Artemisia Gentileschi? I had not. Not even a whiff, and it's a shame, as she was a rather remarkable woman. She was a famous artist in her times, and the first woman painter allowed into art guilds.
I should have loved this graphic biography, but it read more like an illustrated masters thesis than a book for public consumption. The black and white ballpoint art is good, and I really appreciated that the author places Artemisia in historical context - the politics and art trends of her day - but this was too text heavy. Lots of name dropping - many I hadn't heard of before - which made my gaps in art and Italian history rather glaring.
I was both delighted and angry as I learned about Artemisia. Some men really suck. She actually took the man who raped her to court. In the 17th century! Her art was groundbreaking, and I plan to read more about the artist. This book will probably work better for folks better versed in art/Italian history, but I was delighted to be introduced to this extraordinary artist and her works.
March 22, 2020
I was looking forward to this book since the author/illustrator went to my college, just before I did. I checked this out from the library and then kept putting it off until now. This graphic biography is unfortunately bogged down by text-heavy pages and way too much information - about the religion and politics of the time, other artists, and especially all the men surrounding Artemisia. I understand that there is likely more documentation about these things and the men in her life than there is about her, but in this book it detracts from her (fascinating) story, just like the over-abundant text draws attention away from the (beautiful) drawings. The book starts by introducing several male figures, before introducing Artemisia on page 18, and the focus doesn’t truly shift to her life until page 34, so the book didn’t have a strong start to pull you in. It’s also apparent that the author did very extensive research, but I wish she had let it inform the drawing panels more, rather than trying to cram as much of it as possible into the text panels. That said, Artemisia’s life is intrinsically tied to the politics and religion of the time, and her treatment by the men around her. But I don’t think the right balance for telling a good story was found.
September 7, 2019
This is a moving, even inspirational look at the life, cultural context, and social times of Artemisia Gentileschi, an important figure in 17th Century Baroque painting, a painter of the Caravaggio/chiaroscuro school -- and one of the most daring women in history. The book is a graphic novel, black-and-white. It spares little of the cruelty, sexism, superstition and danger of Italy at the time, and shows just how much she had to overcome, as a woman, to take a leading role in the art world, even given that her father Orazio Gentileschi had been a major painter as well.
It's a thinly-fictional story of a real-life figure; the author has, with words, dialogue and pictures, filled in much of her personal life and some of the details otherwise lost to history. Artemisia Gentileschi is a newly-appreciated figure in art history and in feminist culture, and this book is one way of visualizing her importance and courage. It can serve as inspiration to new generations, and the graphic format (in all senses) may appeal to young-adult readers as well as anyone interested in the history of art, and of social progress. Highly recommend.
It's a thinly-fictional story of a real-life figure; the author has, with words, dialogue and pictures, filled in much of her personal life and some of the details otherwise lost to history. Artemisia Gentileschi is a newly-appreciated figure in art history and in feminist culture, and this book is one way of visualizing her importance and courage. It can serve as inspiration to new generations, and the graphic format (in all senses) may appeal to young-adult readers as well as anyone interested in the history of art, and of social progress. Highly recommend.
July 5, 2020
This is one of the most in-depth historical graphic novel's I've ever read. Made me realise how little I knew of Italian history from this period. These courtly artists travelled widely from patron to patron. Artemisia even spent time in the English court, meeting her father there and working on a church fresco.
She's now considered one of the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists working in the dramatic style of Caravaggio and Artemisia was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence.
Her participation in the trial of her rapist long overshadowed her achievements as an artist and I think this graphic novel puts that trial into a proper perspective in the way she lived her life and her life's achievements. A fascinating person, really glad I had the library purchase this one. There is an abundance of notes in the back of the book, which I didn't quite get through, but returned it to the library because others now have it on reserve. I'll be borrowing it again sometime.
She's now considered one of the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists working in the dramatic style of Caravaggio and Artemisia was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence.
Her participation in the trial of her rapist long overshadowed her achievements as an artist and I think this graphic novel puts that trial into a proper perspective in the way she lived her life and her life's achievements. A fascinating person, really glad I had the library purchase this one. There is an abundance of notes in the back of the book, which I didn't quite get through, but returned it to the library because others now have it on reserve. I'll be borrowing it again sometime.
April 20, 2022
3.75 stars
I enjoyed so many things about this, including the recreations of Artemisia's and other artists' paintings, some of the imagery, and the use of real quotations. I also gained a much better appreciation for Orazio as a person and as an artist.
But there were some drawbacks as well: although the grounding in the time period was very useful, I think at times Siciliano went overboard with it. Also, though I really liked the clear indication of what dialogue was a direct quote and thought she did an incredible job of portraying the attack, trial, and other events that we know happened, I think it gave a false sense of accuracy to all the rest of the story that Siciliano portrayed, even the parts she invented. (There is an extensive notes section at the back, which I read, but I feel many readers might not - and even with that section, there were so many things the author made up that seemed unnecessary and at times even misleading. Like, I'll need to double check this before I wrap up this book, but I'm pretty sure the author mistakenly thought Artemisia had one more child than she did? which she used as reasoning for showing an affair with the Duke of Alcala, which again is shown in such a way that if you didn't read the 40+ pages of notes, references, and explanations at the back, you would probably think was definitively known to have happened)
And speaking of which - there was a pretty strong emphasis on Artemisia's love life that I didn't always like. And obviously, her romantic relationships do not in any way affect her talent or our sympathy for her - that's not what I'm getting at. I just think for a woman who for so long was defined by her connections with men, it's an odd and disheartening choice to add so much unnecessary and unfounded romantic drama beyond that which we know (like her affair with Francesco Maria Maringhi) or can reasonably speculate about. I wonder if the author felt, in order to write a compelling feminist woman that would appeal to modern readers, she had to portray her a certain way - which would disappoint me, but not surprise me.
Overall, definitely glad to have read this and to have it in my Artemisia Gentileschi collection! Maybe one issue is that I was expecting more on the historical / nonfiction side, and less on the fiction.
CW: Rape, misogyny, torture, execution, religious intolerance, references to: statutory rape, pedophilia, incest, torture, abuse
I enjoyed so many things about this, including the recreations of Artemisia's and other artists' paintings, some of the imagery, and the use of real quotations. I also gained a much better appreciation for Orazio as a person and as an artist.
But there were some drawbacks as well: although the grounding in the time period was very useful, I think at times Siciliano went overboard with it. Also, though I really liked the clear indication of what dialogue was a direct quote and thought she did an incredible job of portraying the attack, trial, and other events that we know happened, I think it gave a false sense of accuracy to all the rest of the story that Siciliano portrayed, even the parts she invented. (There is an extensive notes section at the back, which I read, but I feel many readers might not - and even with that section, there were so many things the author made up that seemed unnecessary and at times even misleading. Like, I'll need to double check this before I wrap up this book, but I'm pretty sure the author mistakenly thought Artemisia had one more child than she did? which she used as reasoning for showing an affair with the Duke of Alcala, which again is shown in such a way that if you didn't read the 40+ pages of notes, references, and explanations at the back, you would probably think was definitively known to have happened)
And speaking of which - there was a pretty strong emphasis on Artemisia's love life that I didn't always like. And obviously, her romantic relationships do not in any way affect her talent or our sympathy for her - that's not what I'm getting at. I just think for a woman who for so long was defined by her connections with men, it's an odd and disheartening choice to add so much unnecessary and unfounded romantic drama beyond that which we know (like her affair with Francesco Maria Maringhi) or can reasonably speculate about. I wonder if the author felt, in order to write a compelling feminist woman that would appeal to modern readers, she had to portray her a certain way - which would disappoint me, but not surprise me.
Overall, definitely glad to have read this and to have it in my Artemisia Gentileschi collection! Maybe one issue is that I was expecting more on the historical / nonfiction side, and less on the fiction.
CW: Rape, misogyny, torture, execution, religious intolerance, references to: statutory rape, pedophilia, incest, torture, abuse
January 10, 2020
When I noticed that The Little Book of Feminist Saints by Julia Pierpont had selected January 1st as Artemisia Gentileschi's feast day, I decided to make this book my first read of 2020. I started reading it on January 1st.
This was an immensely detailed graphic novel about the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi who has been one of my favorite historical personages even though I knew only a small fraction of her life and works before reading this book. Artemisia Gentileschi was far more than a rape survivor who confronted her rapist in court. That in itself was remarkable in 17th century Italy. Yet I had no idea of the extent of her work, or that she was also a single mother.
Siciliano also places Artemisia in the context of her period. There is a great deal of period background that I found very illuminating. I also appreciated the notes that informed me of what was fictional and what was historical, and the extensive bibliography. This the most scholarly graphic novel that I've ever seen.
This was an immensely detailed graphic novel about the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi who has been one of my favorite historical personages even though I knew only a small fraction of her life and works before reading this book. Artemisia Gentileschi was far more than a rape survivor who confronted her rapist in court. That in itself was remarkable in 17th century Italy. Yet I had no idea of the extent of her work, or that she was also a single mother.
Siciliano also places Artemisia in the context of her period. There is a great deal of period background that I found very illuminating. I also appreciated the notes that informed me of what was fictional and what was historical, and the extensive bibliography. This the most scholarly graphic novel that I've ever seen.
December 29, 2019
I Know What I Am reads more like an illustrated senior thesis than an actual work of graphic non-fiction. Gina Siciliano's art is largely amateurish, though it does improve over the course of the book. Her penchant for text is overwhelming - most pages are 50% text or more, really stretching the boundaries of graphic non-fiction.
Some of the text is interesting, at least, particularly Siciliano's efforts to frame the early 16th century world of Artemisia Gentileschi. I can safely say that I came away from I Know What I Am with a stronger understanding of art, culture, and politics in medieval Italy, though that isn't exactly what I picked up the book for. Gentileschi's biography sometimes gets second billing.
The book's second part is the roughest portion: the trial in which Gentileschi accuses Agostino of raping her. "Men are trash" is definitely a theme of the book, but Siciliano's portrayal of the trial using the exact language from the trial certainly does not make me sympathize with Gentileschi. It makes me skip ahead to part three.
Some of the text is interesting, at least, particularly Siciliano's efforts to frame the early 16th century world of Artemisia Gentileschi. I can safely say that I came away from I Know What I Am with a stronger understanding of art, culture, and politics in medieval Italy, though that isn't exactly what I picked up the book for. Gentileschi's biography sometimes gets second billing.
The book's second part is the roughest portion: the trial in which Gentileschi accuses Agostino of raping her. "Men are trash" is definitely a theme of the book, but Siciliano's portrayal of the trial using the exact language from the trial certainly does not make me sympathize with Gentileschi. It makes me skip ahead to part three.
January 8, 2020
This is a phenomenal piece of work. Siciliano has clearly put an abundance of care, effort, and detail into fashioning a dedicated retelling of Artemisia's story and I'm so grateful. I had never heard of Artemisia, and now I feel like I've been given a window into another world and another time.
TW; this book deals with sexual violence, and is a graphic novel, though all sexually explicit scenes are done with care, not exploitation. You can see the dedication Siciliano has to portraying the stories of survivors of sexual assault and their journeys with understanding and empathy. However, if you want to learn about a badass woman artist from the 17th century, while seeing some excellent drawings of her work and those of other artists, this book is for you.
TW; this book deals with sexual violence, and is a graphic novel, though all sexually explicit scenes are done with care, not exploitation. You can see the dedication Siciliano has to portraying the stories of survivors of sexual assault and their journeys with understanding and empathy. However, if you want to learn about a badass woman artist from the 17th century, while seeing some excellent drawings of her work and those of other artists, this book is for you.
April 4, 2023
I applaud Gina Siciliano for the depth of research that she conducted to write this and will readily say I learned a lot about a fascinating figure in Artemisia, but wish Siciliano had been more willing to kill her proverbial darlings and tighten up what she included. So much of the context could have been omitted altogether and it was often unclear why we were on tangents for pages at a time. I also got bored with the poses of the characters, which were repetitious, and wish she had been more inventive in her visual presentation. She is no Bechdel or Satrapi.
June 5, 2021
I really really wanted to like this better, but found it repetitive and rather flat. I am frustrated that so much time is spent on the men who did her wrong, and then details of the trial that rehash the mistreatment without new insights. I was hoping for more of Artemesia's personality, even though I knew that would have to be fabricated.
February 1, 2022
This is just incredible. Was initially going to give it 4 stars bc it has weaker moments but it definitely deserves 5 stars. First of all, the art is incredible. It’s all in ballpoint pen, very detailed and painstakingly rendered. ESPECIALLY the recreations of artemisia’s paintings. Bananas.
It’s also incredibly well-researched. At times i felt bored with some of the history, but reading the copious notes at the end i can’t help but appreciate the insane effort the author put into her history and writing as well as her art.
Btw this book made me burn with rage at the heinous way she was treated by the men in her life. The trial alone is fascinating. But yeah i’m glad i picked this up at the library and got to learn about this fascinating woman!
It’s also incredibly well-researched. At times i felt bored with some of the history, but reading the copious notes at the end i can’t help but appreciate the insane effort the author put into her history and writing as well as her art.
Btw this book made me burn with rage at the heinous way she was treated by the men in her life. The trial alone is fascinating. But yeah i’m glad i picked this up at the library and got to learn about this fascinating woman!
dnf
October 26, 2024DNF at 66% despite my love for the subject I just couldn’t get into this. Still, the art is impressive and the book is very thoroughly researched
July 13, 2022
Content Notes: nudity, sex, torture, gory decapitation, rape, rape trials, manipulating children, false accusations of promiscuity, loss of children and adulatory,
As far as level of violence goes it is not a graphic horror book, but it can get intense at times (and I'm including the rape scenes in there too).
According to her brief write up on Fantagraphics (dot) com Gina Siciliano "is an artist and musician living in Seattle, Washington. She graduated from Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, in 2007."
What kinds of keywords came to mind reading this tome? Italy, city states, swimming upstream, troubled families, brutal violence, talking heads, lines, and glass ceiling.
Clicking over to goodreads, they have the summery "In 17th century Rome, where women are expected to be chaste and yet are viewed as prey by powerful men, the extraordinary painter Artemisia Gentileschi fends off constant sexual advances as she works to become one of the greatest painters of her generation. Frustrated by the hypocritical social mores of her day, Gentileschi releases her anguish through her paintings and, against all odds, becomes a groundbreaking artist. Meticulously rendered in ballpoint pen, this gripping graphic biography serves as an art history lesson and a coming-of-age story. Resonant in the #MeToo era, I Know What I Am highlights a fierce artist who stood up to a shameful social status quo."
Highlighting the art I both enjoyed it and had a difficult time focusing on it. On the one hand I love black and white art, and the quality of line was really nice because there was cross-hatching! lol. It became a bit hard to focus on because Siciliano had a tendency to fall into very simple and rhythmic page layouts, which is certainly a classic move. But particularly during some of the trial scenes it was a lot of heads in boxes that were all about the same size. Buy yeah, a very classic move and more my problem then its honestly.
Writing wise I was really impressed with I Know What I Am. It really hit the spot for me as far as taking a figure I was generally familiar with, presented a fairly straight forward plot line (which was nice in comparison to the somewhat convoluted plot in the French comic) and really built out the world around Artemisia. Of course there are a number of times in the story that didn't literally happen, but are used by Siciliano to summarize things that happened; there's also some speculation although Siciliano does have a thorough list detailing her choices in the back of the book. Certainly closer to the ignorant noob side of things, rather then expert, I do feel like this comic is a bit more approachable and will appeal to a somewhat larger spectrum of people interested in reading more about Artemisia.
As I always say, queer people have existed through all time and space but I'm not surprised we don't see any here. Gender and sexuality, while very cis and hetero, is definitely one of the bigger focuses of this book. Published in 2019 Siciliano was heavily influenced by the more modern discourse and activism around rape. It was interesting to read some of the notes in the back where she talks about how some have argued that this sort of view is anachronistic. I would tend to agree with her judgement that it is not. Just because they didn't use modern jargon doesn't mean that the patriarchy and rape culture were not alive and well in Artemisia's lifetime. And Siciliano does a really great job in my opinion of illustrating the way these commonalities looked extremely different in Artemisia's time as compared to now.
Race seemed one note.
Class came up in some interesting ways. Whether it be the debts of a husband, debts for materials, patronage, and the financial implications of marrying off your daughters.
As far as ability and disability went, it largely felt avoided. Several people are tortured, and seem to move along fairly quickly back to life as normal. If that is reality, sure; but a bit more exploration of the physical impacts might have been an easy way to highlight the many ways our bodies fall short of maintaining perfect ability 100% of the time. We do see the ravages of the plague through the children lost.
To conclude, a very satisfying and interesting read. I'll definitely be recommending it to anyone even close to interested in this sort of thing. Four out of five stars.
As far as level of violence goes it is not a graphic horror book, but it can get intense at times (and I'm including the rape scenes in there too).
According to her brief write up on Fantagraphics (dot) com Gina Siciliano "is an artist and musician living in Seattle, Washington. She graduated from Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon, in 2007."
What kinds of keywords came to mind reading this tome? Italy, city states, swimming upstream, troubled families, brutal violence, talking heads, lines, and glass ceiling.
Clicking over to goodreads, they have the summery "In 17th century Rome, where women are expected to be chaste and yet are viewed as prey by powerful men, the extraordinary painter Artemisia Gentileschi fends off constant sexual advances as she works to become one of the greatest painters of her generation. Frustrated by the hypocritical social mores of her day, Gentileschi releases her anguish through her paintings and, against all odds, becomes a groundbreaking artist. Meticulously rendered in ballpoint pen, this gripping graphic biography serves as an art history lesson and a coming-of-age story. Resonant in the #MeToo era, I Know What I Am highlights a fierce artist who stood up to a shameful social status quo."
Highlighting the art I both enjoyed it and had a difficult time focusing on it. On the one hand I love black and white art, and the quality of line was really nice because there was cross-hatching! lol. It became a bit hard to focus on because Siciliano had a tendency to fall into very simple and rhythmic page layouts, which is certainly a classic move. But particularly during some of the trial scenes it was a lot of heads in boxes that were all about the same size. Buy yeah, a very classic move and more my problem then its honestly.
Writing wise I was really impressed with I Know What I Am. It really hit the spot for me as far as taking a figure I was generally familiar with, presented a fairly straight forward plot line (which was nice in comparison to the somewhat convoluted plot in the French comic) and really built out the world around Artemisia. Of course there are a number of times in the story that didn't literally happen, but are used by Siciliano to summarize things that happened; there's also some speculation although Siciliano does have a thorough list detailing her choices in the back of the book. Certainly closer to the ignorant noob side of things, rather then expert, I do feel like this comic is a bit more approachable and will appeal to a somewhat larger spectrum of people interested in reading more about Artemisia.
As I always say, queer people have existed through all time and space but I'm not surprised we don't see any here. Gender and sexuality, while very cis and hetero, is definitely one of the bigger focuses of this book. Published in 2019 Siciliano was heavily influenced by the more modern discourse and activism around rape. It was interesting to read some of the notes in the back where she talks about how some have argued that this sort of view is anachronistic. I would tend to agree with her judgement that it is not. Just because they didn't use modern jargon doesn't mean that the patriarchy and rape culture were not alive and well in Artemisia's lifetime. And Siciliano does a really great job in my opinion of illustrating the way these commonalities looked extremely different in Artemisia's time as compared to now.
Race seemed one note.
Class came up in some interesting ways. Whether it be the debts of a husband, debts for materials, patronage, and the financial implications of marrying off your daughters.
As far as ability and disability went, it largely felt avoided. Several people are tortured, and seem to move along fairly quickly back to life as normal. If that is reality, sure; but a bit more exploration of the physical impacts might have been an easy way to highlight the many ways our bodies fall short of maintaining perfect ability 100% of the time. We do see the ravages of the plague through the children lost.
To conclude, a very satisfying and interesting read. I'll definitely be recommending it to anyone even close to interested in this sort of thing. Four out of five stars.
February 24, 2020
I was torn over this one. The source material is very interesting, and I enjoyed learning the story of Artemisia's Gentileschi. But I don't think Siciliano used the graphic novel format to its full potential. I found the text difficult to read - the font was very cramped, which made the fact that it was in all caps and often in giant text blocks, off putting. I also felt that the art was a lot of talking heads, which I found repetitive and not very visually interesting. I'm glad to know Artemisia's story. But I don't know if this is the version I'd recommend to other people who wanted to learn it as well.
March 8, 2021
I love Artemisia's story and after having read Blood, Water, Paint, I wanted more. Though I enjoyed this graphic novel overall, it was very information heavy. Siciliano covered a lot of the political and religious history of that time and it was interesting but so dense. I was moved by the scenes where she was surrounded by skeletons, perhaps representing a metaphorical (and then actual) death of her spirit. But nothing ever stopped her from creating and speaking her mind and I am truly inspired by her life, her independence, and her work.
October 3, 2020
This was good, but I had the guilty feeling throughout that I should be enjoying it more, that I was somehow morally failing by not finding it more compelling. The harrowing rape trial section was the most realized and most affecting, but much else of the history felt like boxes being ticked. As a comic, it's too text-heavy, and the drawings tend strongly towards the merely functional - except for the renderings of Artemisia's paintings, which were clearly a labour of love.
August 24, 2022
Very glad I read this book before visiting the exhibit at National Gallery in London in 2020. It’s in depth study of Artemisia’s life and Italian history of that period. Not an easy read as It’s quite text heavy. Some pages are difficult to read because text and drawings are black-and-white and a bit too close to each other.
Amazing research! made a mistake of leaving notes in the back to the end. They are very helpful and should be read along the main text.
Amazing research! made a mistake of leaving notes in the back to the end. They are very helpful and should be read along the main text.
January 2, 2023
I love Artemisia Gentileschi and wanted to love this book so much. It took so long to actually get to Artemisia in the book that I lost interest pretty quickly. The men were at the forefront of the book the entire time, which, I suppose, is because men were at the forefront of art back then. I wanted more about Artemisia, though. Give her the limelight this time, not the men!
April 15, 2020
This book introduced me to a fascinating character in history I'd not before known, and I greatly applaud the author/artist for this massive undertaking. Ultimately, it felt a bit too bogged down in detail and peripheral characters for me to rate higher, though.
September 11, 2020
very interesting - you can tell this was created with a lot of love for the subject. would have liked to see more of the fantastical art style (like the winged skeletons) throughout, as opposed to the straight on portraits, which did get a little repetitive.
December 1, 2020
It was good, I enjoyed learning more about her life. But there was too many characters to keep track of and not enough use of visual storytelling.
May 12, 2022
A lot of information and names thrown at you, which can definitely be difficult to keep track of.
December 30, 2023
This book is incredible. Meticulously researched, bursting at the seams with information, weaving together fragments of an unsung figure, full of amazing painting reproductions.
I came into this book at a double disadvantage. There was no AP Euro history at my high school, only AP World History, so everything was glossed over from Mesopotamia to the USSR. More importantly, I had a bad art teacher in elementary school to the point where I hated the entire subject. My humanities survey course in college was based on Ancient Greece and Rome and I can’t say that the handful of lectures and readings on rudimentary sculptures of horses or sculptures of sad naked dudes really did it for me.
The complexity of Artemisia’s world is staggering: pre-Enlightenment Europe’s constantly shifting political alliances, wars, religious strife, social strata, aristocratic family trees, and petty disputes (rival gangs of artists roaming the streets and attacking each other?!), not to mention just the dramatic lives of the figures in this book (Caravaggio’s life was absolutely bananas). And through it all, Siciliano’s fiercely independent Artemisia, often depicted with a fierce scowl that still defies Western society’s expectation of women.
I found the explanations of the paintings absolutely fascinating. Comparing how artists rendered (and re-rendered throughout their careers) the same subjects in biblical history was the art history starting point I never got in school. Seeing how artists like Artemisia, Caravaggio, and others worked within the restrictions the Catholic establishment placed on subject made a lot of things fall into place for me and helped me appreciate the way artists could subtly express themselves within this limitation. I only wish there was color in these illustrations. The internet exists, of course, but I didn’t like breaking my concentration to check out the vivid colors I read about rather than saw on the page. Perhaps they couldn’t be done justice through mass production, perhaps it was necessary to keep the cost of this book below a million bajillion dollars. One thing is for sure: if I’d been exposed to the famous depictions of Artemisia’s vengeful Judith sawing off the head of a struggling Holofrenes at an impressionable age, my relationship with art would be DRASTICALLY different.
I did have to skim the substantial notes section at the end, which is over 15% of the book. The copy I read was embarrassingly overdue and my brain was so, so, so full. But I really appreciate the pains Siciliano took to expand on the facts (or lack thereof) and justify her inventions. I’d really like to revisit it one day. My library doesn’t have one and I’m going to ask them to buy it.
I came into this book at a double disadvantage. There was no AP Euro history at my high school, only AP World History, so everything was glossed over from Mesopotamia to the USSR. More importantly, I had a bad art teacher in elementary school to the point where I hated the entire subject. My humanities survey course in college was based on Ancient Greece and Rome and I can’t say that the handful of lectures and readings on rudimentary sculptures of horses or sculptures of sad naked dudes really did it for me.
The complexity of Artemisia’s world is staggering: pre-Enlightenment Europe’s constantly shifting political alliances, wars, religious strife, social strata, aristocratic family trees, and petty disputes (rival gangs of artists roaming the streets and attacking each other?!), not to mention just the dramatic lives of the figures in this book (Caravaggio’s life was absolutely bananas). And through it all, Siciliano’s fiercely independent Artemisia, often depicted with a fierce scowl that still defies Western society’s expectation of women.
I found the explanations of the paintings absolutely fascinating. Comparing how artists rendered (and re-rendered throughout their careers) the same subjects in biblical history was the art history starting point I never got in school. Seeing how artists like Artemisia, Caravaggio, and others worked within the restrictions the Catholic establishment placed on subject made a lot of things fall into place for me and helped me appreciate the way artists could subtly express themselves within this limitation. I only wish there was color in these illustrations. The internet exists, of course, but I didn’t like breaking my concentration to check out the vivid colors I read about rather than saw on the page. Perhaps they couldn’t be done justice through mass production, perhaps it was necessary to keep the cost of this book below a million bajillion dollars. One thing is for sure: if I’d been exposed to the famous depictions of Artemisia’s vengeful Judith sawing off the head of a struggling Holofrenes at an impressionable age, my relationship with art would be DRASTICALLY different.
I did have to skim the substantial notes section at the end, which is over 15% of the book. The copy I read was embarrassingly overdue and my brain was so, so, so full. But I really appreciate the pains Siciliano took to expand on the facts (or lack thereof) and justify her inventions. I’d really like to revisit it one day. My library doesn’t have one and I’m going to ask them to buy it.
April 24, 2021
This is a great book to pick up if this is your first time approaching Artemisia's biography or if you are unfamiliar with the time period and related art history. Academic studies with all of their field-specific jargon can be very intimidating to readers who aren't trained in some history-related field (and, as I can attest, to art history grad students as well), so I always love seeing books that cater to a more broad audience. Siciliano includes a lot of helpful context and history to orient readers and place Artemisia's style and life in the greater context of 17th century Italy (and Europe).
My major issue with this book is one that plagues nearly any work that talks about Artemisia's life and works. That is, dedicating a bulk of the space to her sexual assault while allowing much less time to the rest of her career.
For example, when I looked at the 226 pages that make up the biographical graphic novel section of the book, 80 pages were dedicated to discussing the rape and the subsequent trial. This amounts to 35% of the book and covers a period from May 1611 to October of 1612.
In contrast, Artemisia's time in Florence (May 1612-1621) is contained in roughly 11.5% of the story, while her stay in Venice (1626/7 to 1629) makes up about 4.5%. Finally, the last section, spent in Naples and, briefly, in England, (1630-1656?) is told in the last 17%.
I say all this to emphasize that Artemisia's career in Florence, Venice, Naples, and England, throughout which she created her most famous masterpieces and made unprecedented leaps forward for women artists, make up 33% of the book. I want to remind you that her rape and the trial, which only lasted for just over a year, take up 35%.
Again, this isn't a problem singular to Siciliano as art historians and the general public alike too easily slip into a pattern of heavily emphasizing the assault rather than her career, but I still feel the need to point it out because it bothers me immensely.
Yes, of course that experience was bound to be traumatic, and it can undoubtably be seen as an influence for some of her works, but there is also something to be said about relegating this incredibly accomplished artist to a status as a victim. I also want to point out that Artemisia experience other traumas throughout her life (including losing three of her children) and often this is either never even mentioned or brought up in passing (in this particular book we only get a handful of panels describing the death of her children). On too many occasions the sexual assault becomes the focus of the conversation, taking up much more time than her long and accomplished career and her ties to other important women of the period. In some ways, it is like hundreds of years later we are still forcing a woman to be a victim rather than allowing her to be seen as more than that.
My major issue with this book is one that plagues nearly any work that talks about Artemisia's life and works. That is, dedicating a bulk of the space to her sexual assault while allowing much less time to the rest of her career.
For example, when I looked at the 226 pages that make up the biographical graphic novel section of the book, 80 pages were dedicated to discussing the rape and the subsequent trial. This amounts to 35% of the book and covers a period from May 1611 to October of 1612.
In contrast, Artemisia's time in Florence (May 1612-1621) is contained in roughly 11.5% of the story, while her stay in Venice (1626/7 to 1629) makes up about 4.5%. Finally, the last section, spent in Naples and, briefly, in England, (1630-1656?) is told in the last 17%.
I say all this to emphasize that Artemisia's career in Florence, Venice, Naples, and England, throughout which she created her most famous masterpieces and made unprecedented leaps forward for women artists, make up 33% of the book. I want to remind you that her rape and the trial, which only lasted for just over a year, take up 35%.
Again, this isn't a problem singular to Siciliano as art historians and the general public alike too easily slip into a pattern of heavily emphasizing the assault rather than her career, but I still feel the need to point it out because it bothers me immensely.
Yes, of course that experience was bound to be traumatic, and it can undoubtably be seen as an influence for some of her works, but there is also something to be said about relegating this incredibly accomplished artist to a status as a victim. I also want to point out that Artemisia experience other traumas throughout her life (including losing three of her children) and often this is either never even mentioned or brought up in passing (in this particular book we only get a handful of panels describing the death of her children). On too many occasions the sexual assault becomes the focus of the conversation, taking up much more time than her long and accomplished career and her ties to other important women of the period. In some ways, it is like hundreds of years later we are still forcing a woman to be a victim rather than allowing her to be seen as more than that.
July 5, 2023
This is an insanely well done and researched graphic novel biography of the incredible life of Artemisia Gentileschi. The amount of time and effort Sicilian put into the creation and research of this is impressive for sure and delivers exactly what the title tells you it will; the life and times of Artemisia Gentileschi. I picked this up because I have built a fascination and interest in Artemisia ever since reading 'Blood Water Paint' by Joy McCullough a few years ago and wanted to find a way to learn a bit more about this woman's life beyond just her teenage years and the rape trial that McCullough's book focuses on. And while I for sure got that in this book, I have to say that at times it felt more like a history lesson of the time rather than a straight up biography of Artemisia. The detail that was gone into of the political and religious landscape of the time and virtually every person Artemisia interacted with was a bit trying for me and brought down the interest I had. The artwork was wonderfully done, and it was really cool to see replicas of Artemisia's work and of others of the time in the style of the authors. Overall, I am still pretty happy I picked this up because I did learn more about her life as I intended to, but I am a little bummed that it felt to me that it didn't always keep Artemisia as the focus of the material and at times felt like a history lesson.
January 7, 2021
- i love artemisia's work! i first saw it on a tumblr post when i was in HS and tbh have loved it since then bc it's so?? violent and the lighting and just there's so much to unpack
- it carries so much pain and anger
- if u dont know who she is, just look at Judith Slaying Holofernes by her bc it is just So Much
- i thoroughly enjoy renaissance and baroque art bc of the catholic vibes but was never able to get beyond a superficial understanding of the lore and the moral lesson behind it; but this book layers that with political, social and economic context of it's creation and commission
- it is "comic scholarship" and i think thats true bc the book does such an incredible job of providing you with the context necessary to understand artemisia and her work // the author is an artist and historian and writer and i think thats just,,,, so,,,,neat
- the emotionality, the art and the personal connection - you feel it all in the way the comics and art and the care with which the research notes talk about it
- it is so thoroughly impressive
- she draws parallels between different sources and explains why she chose a certain one over the other
- can u imagine if art history and art were taught this way? it's so accessible and so heartful
- i also came across Arcangela Tarabotti who I hadn't heard of but apparently wrote some early feminist texts which are Wild
- i love the detail to name artemisia's second daughter as elena cassandra after arcangela
- the content was very hard to read bc it is graphic so beware for tw // sexual assault, rape, violence, nudity
- it carries so much pain and anger
- if u dont know who she is, just look at Judith Slaying Holofernes by her bc it is just So Much
- i thoroughly enjoy renaissance and baroque art bc of the catholic vibes but was never able to get beyond a superficial understanding of the lore and the moral lesson behind it; but this book layers that with political, social and economic context of it's creation and commission
- it is "comic scholarship" and i think thats true bc the book does such an incredible job of providing you with the context necessary to understand artemisia and her work // the author is an artist and historian and writer and i think thats just,,,, so,,,,neat
- the emotionality, the art and the personal connection - you feel it all in the way the comics and art and the care with which the research notes talk about it
- it is so thoroughly impressive
- she draws parallels between different sources and explains why she chose a certain one over the other
- can u imagine if art history and art were taught this way? it's so accessible and so heartful
- i also came across Arcangela Tarabotti who I hadn't heard of but apparently wrote some early feminist texts which are Wild
- i love the detail to name artemisia's second daughter as elena cassandra after arcangela
- the content was very hard to read bc it is graphic so beware for tw // sexual assault, rape, violence, nudity
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