I ended up with two second-hand copies of this book, so I will make this one available to whoever wants it.

Thank you jamesmum for sending the book to me as I'm searching for books by Vreeland for some time now.

Review taken from the website:
http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm?book_number=972

"The Passion of Artemisia chronicles the extraordinary life of Artemisia Gentileschi, the first woman to make a significant contribution to art history.

At age eighteen, Artemisia Gentileschi finds herself humiliated in papal court for publicly accusing the man who raped her —Agostino Tassi, her painting teacher. When even her father does not stand up for her, she knows she cannot stay in Rome and begs to have a marriage arranged for her. Her new husband, an artist named Pietro Stiatessi, takes her to his native Florence, where her talent for painting blossoms and she becomes the first woman elected to the Accademia dell'Arte. But marriage clashes with Artemisia's newfound fame as a painter, and she begins a lifelong search to reconcile painting and motherhood, passion and genius.

Set against the glorious backdrops of Rome, Florence, and Genoa, people with historical characters such as Cosimo de'Medici and Galileo and filled with details of the life of a Renaissance painter, The Passion of Artemisia is the story of Gentileschi's struggle to find love, forgiveness, and wholeness through her art. At once a dramatic tale of love and a moving father-daughter story, it is the portrait of an astonishing woman that will captivate lovers of Gentileschi's paintings and anyone interested in the life of a woman who ignored the conventions of her day and dared to follow her heart."

30 August 05: I finished the book this morning and I decided to post some of my comments.
It trully is fascinating to notice how in almost each of her paitings Artemisia tried to offer a new pespective upon well known female characters. I also liked the fact that Susan Vreeland tried to follow the historical truth in detail and she also gave important meaning to some of the details from her paintings (e.g.Ş the mirror in Maddalena penitente; a detail that probably I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't read the book).

There is also a website (http://www.artemisia-gentileschi.com/index.shtml) dedicated to the painter and it was interesting to browse her works.

After I'll finish reading the book it is going to travel in a bookring together with an album which presents paitings of Artemisia Gentileschi.

List of participants:
scotsbookie
AnglersRest
aubriel
faeriemyst
caligula03
Witchie
blacksheeps99
Elsita
YowlYY (wants to be at the end of the list)

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed today in order to start the bookring! Enjoy!

Arrved this morning. Thank you blaisezabini12.

Artemisia Gentileschi was a new artist to me & I loved the artwork booklet included with the book, it was great to be able to look at the paintings described in the book.

Artemisia'a passion for painting rules her life, it is a need deep in her soul. She is portraying women in art in a way it hadn't been before. I enjoyed the way Vreeland wove the facts known about Artemisia's life with her fictional account. Thank you blaiszabini12 for sharing the book.

Postal release to AnglersRest today 30/9/05.

Received from scotsbookie today. Will get to ASAP.

Finally getting to this book. Just starting this today.
Should be on it's travels again with a week or so.

I finished this book earlier than expected. I wasn't sure initially that I could get into the book; but after a few pages I was into the book and frustrated when I needed to put the book down. I was fascinated with the details of early Italy. Thanks for including the dossier with the book, it was very interesting to learn about and see the painting.

I have aubriel's address and this will be in the post 3rd Nov.

Arrived safely

This was a really lovely story and I personally found it engaging from the very beginning.

Posted on to faeriemyst today.

Received safe and sound, will get started on it right away!

I had heard of Artemisia before but never really knew her work or much about her. I loved the way Susan Vreeland captured the spirit of Artemisia's paintings with where she is in the book. I really enjoyed looking at her paintings as I read and seeing some of her father's work and Caravaggio's, thanks so much for including that in the bookring. I did feel that the last third felt a little rushed, I wish it had actually been longer so Vreeland could have gone into more detail in the absences between the years. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am now interested in reading more about Artemisia and her life and paintings.

Thanks so much for sharing this book and the dosser! :)

On it's way to caligula03! :)

The book is here. Thanks! :)

I started out liking this book but as Artemisia aged I grew to like her less and less. There are two things about how she is portrayed that irritate me: the way she's a genius in all her painting endevors, and her bitterness. The story seemed to be more about men's unjustice to women than anything else. I was grateful for the added magazine to compare the real paintings with how they were described because the descriptions in the book differ greatly sometimes. At one point in reading the book I began to worry that the story was becoming a chick-lit version of The Agony and the Ecstasy but it fortunately didn't (though it came close at times).

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailing to Witchie.

This book got to me a while ago - so so sorry for the delay, but I got married in the meantime and that messed things up a bit. I really loved it and it was a great time to read it because I was recently in Florence and it brought the experience back a bit.
Thank you so much for the chance to read it and, again, so sorry for the delay. I'll pass it along as soon as I get the address.