She will not give up.Īrtemesia thinks back to another story told by her mother-about the heroine Judith, who, with her maid, beheads the oppressing Assyrian general Holofernes to save the Jewish people.Įventually, Artemisia will paint each of these biblical heroines, from the point of view of a woman, rather than that of a man. For her sanity, Artemisia conjures the biblical story until the lines between herself and Susanna are blurred. In court, Artemisia is accused of fornication and subjected to torture to verify her claims. With the help of her somewhat reluctant father, Artemisia accuses Tassi of rape. Susanna is absolved of guilt.Īrtemisia cannot stay silent. A discrepancy is discovered in their stories. But Daniel steps in and questions both the elders. She speaks her truth and is nearly executed for it. The elders threaten her-if she does not have sex with them, they will accuse her of meeting a young lover. Susanna (in the Book of Daniel) was a strong woman who was accosted by two elders while bathing in her secluded garden. This certainly puts one in mind of the contemporary #Metoo movement.Īrtemisia is buoyed by the memory of the biblical stories her mother had told her years before.

Or earthbound sculptures/for their gardens/īut either way we’re beauty/for consumption. I wish men/would decide/if women are heavenly/angels on high,/ Why, though, does it take/a mother, daughter, sister/ In this world where men take what they want, Artemisia must decide if she will be silent or tell the truth to the world. Unfortunately, Tassi cannot wait-and cannot take no for an answer. Artemisia falls in love with him and thinks he might be a way out of her father’s house-and into a world where she’ll be able to paint under her own name in a marriage with another talented artist. Artemisia is now seventeen and paints most of her father’s paintings for which he takes credit ,in this passionate verse-story based on the life of the artist, Artemisia Gentileschi.Ī handsome and famous artist, Agostino Tassi, visits her home and soon becomes her tutor. Instead, she chose to grind pigment for her father’s art in “Blood Water Paint” (Dutton 2018) by Joy McCullough. Artemisia could have joined a convent as a nun.

Artemisia’s mother died when she was twelve years old, in 1605.

Blood water paint