Carrie was interested to knowing what restrictions were put on Sofonisba Anguissola’s development as an artist because she was a woman, which is a wonderful question. In a nutshell, nothing came easily for her. It’s amazing that she even thought she might paint, seeing how women—especially noble women—just didn’t do it then.

To start with, finding a teacher was difficult. Painting was taught through the apprentice system. Boys around the age of nine were expected to go live for five to seven years in a master’s workshop while they learned the ropes. In Sofonisba’s case, she had to find a master who had a situation suitable for a young woman, let alone a noble woman. (Not even men who were noble painted.) I suppose it took some looking, but she was fortunate enough to be taken into the household of Bernandino Campi along with her sister, Elena. They were treated like family members, with Campi’s wife serving as chaperone and surrogate mother. For the three years she was in the Campi household, Sofi learned to mix and grind paint—considered heavy man’s work and most unsuitable to nobility, be it man or woman. She was taught how to draw, though her understanding of the human body was hampered by her inability, due to social taboos, to study more than heads and hands. As Carrie noted in her excellent review of The Creation of Eve, Sofonisba wasn’t allowed to study human bodies from the nude, and so she couldn’t learn how to accurately depict the scantily clothed subjects in the historical or Biblical scenes that painting masters sought to do. (The masters leaned toward epic painting because churches and nobility paid the big bucks.) Instead, Sofonisba practiced on the subjects available–her family.

From this, Sofonisba Anguissola made lemonade out of lemons. If she couldn’t make it big as an epic history painter, she could carve out her own niche by painting portraits of families. We take this for granted now, but back then portraits were reserved for the richest of rich, and mostly adults, (kings, popes, dukes) although portraits might be made of children who were going to go on the marriage market. The pictures of these children were used as advertisements, so to speak, for when their parents would arrange marriages. But Sofonisba offered something new. She painted children, dogs, and servants, and she painted them with great affection and humor. Her work “Portrait of the Artist’s Sisters Playing Chess” seems like a natural subject to us but in Sofonisba’s time, no one was doing this. If she didn’t invent genre painting, she certainly was one of its earliest pioneers. A hundred years later, the Dutch popularized these kind of family scenes in what is known as genre painting, but few were practicing it anywhere in the world in the mid 1500’s, let alone women.

Michelangelo, the most famous painter living at the time, saw one of Sofonisba’s drawings of a laughing child and was so intrigued that he asked for her to do a crying child. Anyone could draw a smile, he said. She came up with her now famous, “Boy Bitten by a Crawfish,” and was promptly invited by the Maestro of Maestros to study with him in Rome. I wonder if he thought that she probably wouldn’t take him up on it. He didn’t know Sofonisba Anguissola if he did. In an era when most women didn’t leave their houses except to go to church, she traveled around Italy (chaperoned, of course,) to paint in the various ducal courts.

Philip II (Felipe in the book) must have thought he was buying his teenage wife quite a rare and whimsical treat by having this woman painter of charming portraits to come teach her. Perhaps Sofi thought of it as a reason to escape a failed romance, (my conjecture in EVE) but unfortunately, because she was a woman, taking a position as a lady-in-waiting actually set back her career. It wasn’t deemed proper for her to sign her work, so paintings that were hers were attributed to the male painters to the king. Only now, more than four centuries later, is credit being given where it is due, to that bold visionary whose talent and creativity could not be suppressed, Sofonisba Anguissola.

Thank you so much, Lynn, for taking the time to answer my question in such depth – and for writing a book that was not only a wonderful story, but left me wanting to learn more.

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I came across this book in a round-about way. The other day, my kids and I watched Stormbreaker, the movie based on the Alex Rider series of books. My boys loved the spy stuff; my 13-year-old daughter, Natalie, loved the star, Alex Pettyfer. (On a completely random note, I think he would be perfect to play Jace in the City of Bones movie.) Natalie checked out his Wikipedia page, and discovered that young Mr. Pettyfer is starring in a movie adaptation of the book Beastly by Alex Flinn. She borrowed the book from the library and read it in a few days, then said, “Mom, you HAVE to read this – it’s soooooo good.”

And she was right – it is soooooo good. Beastly is a modern day retelling of the fairytale “Beauty and the Beast.” Kyle Kingsbury is a sixteen-year-old at a private high school. He’s everything that every girl wants, and every guy wants to be: rich, gorgeous, charismatic. When he plays a nasty prank on an ugly girl at school, he gets the shock of a lifetime when he discovers that she is a witch. She puts a curse on him, making him as beastly on the outside as he is on the inside. He has two years to break the curse, two years in which he must find a girl who will look beyond his horrible exterior and love him.

Alex Flinn has taken the typical tale we all know so well, and peopled it with wonderful characters and the story of a shallow young man finding out that there is more to life than beauty and money, that there is value in kindness and intelligence and self-sacrifice. Kyle’s transformation goes so much deeper than his change on the outside. He is helped along the path by his blind tutor, Will (to be played by the fantastic Neil Patrick Harris in the film), and his housekeeper, Magda. They show him how to love unconditionally, how to become a person that a girl may find worthy of love.

Even though the story was predictable – how could it not be? – I was turning the pages faster and faster as I came to the end. This is a wonderful re-imagining of a tale that has much to teach us about what true beauty is.

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Cameron Smith is dying of Mad Cow disease. Instead of wasting away in the hospital, he heads out on a road trip with his new dwarf friend Gonzo to find the mysterious Dr. X, save the world, and find a cure. This book defies description. Coming-of age, road trip, paranormal fantasy, buddy story, ode to Don Quixote, celebration of life. This book made me both laugh harder and cry harder than any book has done in a long time. I LOVED the characters, loved the writing style – and Erik Davies, the actor who read the audiobook edition, does a perfect job. I could have done with a little less of the main character describing the reactions of “Mr. Happy” to the girls he meets, but I suppose that was realistic for a seventeen-year-old boy. Highly recommended. (Definitely on the upper age spectrum of YA)

Title: Down the Long Hills
Author: Louis L’Amour
Genre: Western fiction, historical fiction
Publisher: Bantam
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Source: Print copy borrowed from my dad.
First line: When Hardy Collins woke up, Big Red was gone.

My dad is a huge Louis L’Amour fan. I mean huge – he owns all of his works in the expensive leather-bound editions. When the boys and I started studying westward expansion, I asked him for a read-aloud idea that would give the boys a good idea of what life was like during the days of the wagon trains. He suggested the absolute perfect book: the story of a seven-year-old boy and four-year-old girl who are the only survivors when their wagon train is attacked by Indians. Hardy and Betty Sue set out on Big Red, Hardy’s father’s stallion, heading toward Fort Bridger, where Hardy’s father is waiting. Relying on the wilderness and survival training he has learned from his father, Hardy must protect Betty Sue from the wildlife and the Indian tracking them. I admit that the western isn’t my favorite genre to read, but any book that keeps the boys engrossed and teaches them a bit about stepping up to responsibility is a positive.

Title: Wives and Daughters
Author: Elizabeth Gaskell
Genre: Classic fiction
Publisher: Various
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Read online through DailyLit
First line: To begin with the old rigmarole of childhood.

I’ve been wanting to read a Gaskell for a while now, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Molly Gibson is perfectly happy being raised by her widowed doctor father, but as she reaches her teens, he is convinced she needs a woman’s touch. He marries the thoroughly selfish and manipulative Widow Kirkpatrick. The new Mrs. Gibson comes with a daughter, Cynthia. The story tells of Molly’s adjustment to her stepmother, her friendship with Cynthia, and the two girls’ experiences with courtship and romance. Gaskell is a bit like a wordier Austen, and I enjoyed the characters in this book. It was not finished before she died, but is only missing a few chapters. Her editor had her notes for how the book would end, and so he wrote an epilogue that filled the rest of us in on her plans, none of which were surprises to me – it ended the way I thought it would, and the way I wanted it to. This will definitely not be my last Gaskell.

Title: The Game
Author: Laurie R. King
Genre: Historical fiction, mystery
Publisher: Bantam
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library
First line: Travel broadens, they say.

This is the seventh novel in Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell-Sherlock Holmes series, and the series shows no signs of slowing down. King is a master of writing not only an intriguing mystery, but is a fantastic painter of setting and character as well. This time the setting is India, as Holmes and Mary head out to find Kimball O’Hara, the famed Kim of Rudyard Kipling’s novel. O’Hara was working as a member of the British Survey in India, which is a polite way of saying he is a spy. When he goes missing, Holmes’ brother Mycroft tasks the couple with locating O’Hara. Along the way, Mary and Holmes pose as itinerant magicians, meet up with an American marxist, and get held captive by a mad Maharaja. This Russell novel is the first one I’ve listened to on audio since the first, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, and it reminded me how much I loved Jenny Sterlin’s reading. I wish our library had the rest of the series on audio!

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Post tags: audiobooks, classics, fantasy, historical fiction, laurie r. king, magical realism, mary russell, mysteries, read-alouds, sherlock holmes, speculative fiction, westerns, YA fiction

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Beastly by Alex Flinn

Of course, really, I really, really hoped she’d say, “Oh, no, Adrian, I couldn’t dream of leaving you. I love you too much. But it was so sweet and unselfish of you to let me go that I think I’ll kiss you.” And then we’d kiss and the curse would be broken, and I’d have her forever. Which was what I really wanted, to be with her forever. But I couldn’t hope for that.

If You Follow Me by Malena Watrous

“Well then, please explain about Christmastime. We can see, in a movie like Home Alone, how every American family cuts down a tree only to hang some balls. It’s kind of so strange and wasteful, don’t you agree?”

To read other book bloggers’ teasers, or to leave a link to your own, visit Should Be Reading.

I’m in New York City, in an apartment fortress, hidden from the outside world, hoping that the girl who has just come to stay could love me and break the curse that keeps me a beast. (Beastly)

I’m also in Commonwealth, Washington, a small mill town that has quarantined itself to keep outsiders from bringing the Spanish flu into town. (The Last Town on Earth, Thomas Mullen – on audio)

Where is your reading taking you? Leave a link to your answer at An Adventure in Reading.

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Thus begins the story of Sofonisba Anguissola, female painter of the Renaissance and student of Maestro Michelangelo. When Sofi gives in to a moment of passion with fellow painter Tiberio, a moment which is walked in upon by the Maestro himself, she fears she is ruined – not only her career as an artist, but her reputation as well. Before the ramifications of her moment of weakness can be revealed, though, Sofi’s father informs her that she will be leaving Italy for Spain, where she will be a lady-in-waiting and painting instructor to Elizabeth, the new Queen of Spain.

Elizabeth, fourteen, has just married the much older Felipe, King of Spain. She is a pawn in her mother, Catherine de Medici’s, plan to broker a treaty between France and Spain. As Sofi attends the young queen, she becomes embroiled in the intrigues of the court and a love triangle between Elizabeth, Felipe, and Felipe’s illegitimate brother, Don Juan.

Cullen has written an engrossing historical novel, one full of lush descriptions of palace life, and one that explores the restrictions placed on women of the time. Sofonisba was an extremely talented artist, but one that was limited to portraiture because women were forbidden to study human anatomy or paint nude figures. She was thus prevented from doing the epic religious paintings of the period, the kind that could move her beyond painter and make her a “maestra.”

It is evident that Cullen did amazing amounts of research – not just into the history, but the customs of the court, the fashions of the time, and what it feels like to be an artist. Sofi is an authentically drawn character, and I could feel her frustration at the strictures put on her by society and her place as a lady-in-waiting. Even her portraits done at court were often attributed to the court painter – who was male, of course. As lady-in-waiting, she was uniquely placed to observe the marriage between Felipe and Elizabeth – the pressure on Elizabeth to please the King in bed, and to provide an heir to ensure the treaty with France. The book is written as Sofi’s journal, and reading it was like being a fly on the wall, an eavesdropper in the corner of the Queen’s bedchamber, carriage, gardens.

The first 100 pages moved just a tad slowly, but I still highly recommend this novel to anyone who loves historical fiction. Those pages are necessary to understanding Sofi and her position as a woman, and once I read farther on, I was completely hooked. I sat on the couch Saturday afternoon and devoured the final 100 pages, unable to put the book down until I knew how things turned out for Sofi, Elizabeth, Don Juan, and Felipe. I also enjoyed reading the author’s note at the end, which explained the history of the characters, and the direction Cullen took them in for the purpose of her book.

(An ARC of The Creation of Eve was provided to me by the publisher for the purpose of reviewing it for this blog tour. The above link is an Amazon affiliate link. If you click on it and subsequently purchase anything, I will receive a small percentage in commission.)

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Post tags: historical fiction, reading challenges

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Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Printed Page. If you’re eager to tell the rest of the book blogging world about the wonderful books you’ve received this week, click over and share your link.

White Cat by Holly Black – This is an ARC from Shelf Awareness.

How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer – A book of short stories that Nick Hornby raved about in The Polysyllabic Spree; I bought it for myself.

Any new titles on your bookshelves this week?

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John Travolta and Robin Williams star in Old Dogs, the hilarious family comedy that will have you howling. And it’s even more fun to watch on Disney Blu-Ray with its theater-quality picture and sound.

Two best friends have their lives turned upside down when they’re unexpectedly charged with the care of seven-year-old twins while on the verge of the biggest business deal of their lives. The clueless bachelors stumble in their efforts to take care of the children, leading to one debacle after another, with a gorilla and some pecking penguins – and perhaps to a newfound understanding of what’s really important in life. Featuring a riotously funny supporting cast including Seth Green, Kelly Preston, Matt Dillon, and Lori Loughlin, Old Dogs is a laugh-a-minute comedy filled with heart in Blu-ray High Definition.

The critics may have pretty much hated this movie, but my husband and I and all of my kids thought it was pretty darn hilarious! Any movie that can make me laugh so hard I snort, and has my son in stitches, laughing so hard that no sound actually comes out, is a great family night movie in my book. The whole cast was great – from the two leads to Seth Green as their karaoke-loving assistant, Matt Dillon as an ultra-macho scout leader, and Rita Wilson as a cross-eyed hand model. This may not have had the most original plot, but it had lots of great comedy moments.

Old Dogs will be available on DVD tomorrow, March 9th. The DVD special features include blooper, deleted scenes, and more.

(Disclosure: Old Dogs was provided to me by Click Communications for the purpose of review. The above link is an Amazon affiliate link. If you click on it and subsequently purchase anything, I will receive a small percentage in commission.)

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I didn’t do a February wrap-up for last Sunday’s post because I was hoping to finish two more books that evening, which I did. Here is the final list of books completed in February:

Book started in 2009 but finished in February:

Sailing Alone Around the Room: Poems by Billy Collins

Books started this year and finished in February:

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green – 5 out of 5 stars – my review

Spellbinder by Helen Stringer (read-aloud) – 4 out of 5 stars – my review

Wounded: A Love Story by Claudia Mair Burney – 3 stars

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby – 4 stars – my review

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford (audiobook) – 5 stars – my review

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare – 4 stars

U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton (audiobook) – 4 stars

At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays by Anne Fadiman – 5 stars – my review

King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography by Chris Crutcher (audiobook) – 4 stars – my review

Almost Home by Pam Jenoff – 4 stars – my review

Candor by Pam Bachorz – 4 stars – my review

The Creation of Eve by Lynn Cullen – 4 stars

The Diary of Pelly D by L.J. Adlington – 4 stars

Nine Horses: Poems by Billy Collins – 3 stars

The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg – 4 stars – my review

Reading challenge progress:

100 Shots of Short Challenge:
Goal: 100 short stories
Finished: 89
Deadline: none

100+ Reading Challenge:
Goal: challenge goal is 100; personal goal is 150
Finished: 26
Deadline: 12/31/2010

Art History Reading Challenge:
Goal: 3 books
Finished: 1
Deadline: 12/31/2010

Audiobook Challenge:
Goal: 20 audiobooks
Finished: 5
Deadline: 12/31/2010

Christy Awards Challenge:
Goal: 3 books
Finished: 0
Deadline: 12/1/2010

Clover, Bee, and Reverie Poetry Challenge:
Goal: 5 books of poetry
Finished: 2
Deadline: 12/31/2010

Countdown Challenge:
Goal: 55 books
Finished: 42
Deadline: 10/10/2010

Harry Potter Challenge:
Goal: 7 books
Finished: 2 and a half
Deadline: 7/31/2010 – not sure if I’ll make this one.

Historical Reading Challenge:
Goal: 12 books
Finished: 4
Deadline: 12/31/2010

Essay Reading Challenge:
Goal: 30 essays
Finished: 26
Deadline: 11/30/2010

Ireland Reading Challenge:
Goal: 6 books
Finished: one half
Deadline: 11/30/2010

New Author Challenge:
Goal: 25 new authors
Finished: 13
Deadline: 12/31/2010

POC Reading Challenge:
Goal: 7 to 9 books
Finished: 2
Deadline: 12/31/2010

Read the Book, See the Movie Challenge:
Goal: 2 books and film adaptations
Finished: 0
Deadline: 12/31/2010

Reading From My Shelves Challenge:
Goal: 20 books read and then given away or sold
Finished: 6
Deadline: 12/31/2010

Sookie Stackhouse Challenge:
Goal: 9 books
Finished: 1
Deadline: 6/30/2010 – not sure about this one either.

South Asian Author Challenge:
Goal: 3 books
Finished: 0
Deadline: 12/31/2010

Speculative Fiction Challenge:
Goal: 12 books
Finished: 8
Deadline: 12/31/2010

Support Your Local Library Challenge:
Goal: 50 books
Finished: 11
Deadline: 12/31/2010

TwentyTen Reading Challenge:
Goal: 20 books
Finished: 8
Deadline: 12/31/2010

War Through the Generations Challenge:
Goal: 6 books
Finished: 1
Deadline: 12/31/2010

What’s In a Name? Challenge:
Goal: 6 books
Finished: 1
Deadline: 12/31/2010

Women Unbound Challenge:
Goal: 2 books
Finished: 0
Deadline: 12/31/2010

YA Reading Challenge:
Goal: 25 books
Finished: 9
Deadline: 12/31/2010

Other bookish posts this week:

~ Cover issues: plus-sized characters
~ Bedtime reading rituals
~ Mini-review: Nine Horses: Poems and The Diary of Pelly D
~ Book Review: The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg
~ Blogsplash: Thaw by Fiona Robyn

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Two-time Academy Award Winner Hilary Swank delivers an unforgettable performance as Amelia Earhart, the legendary American aviatrix who boldly flew into the annals of history. Richard Gere co-stars as her charismatic business partner and adoring husband, George Putnam. Bound by ambition and love, their enduring marriage could not be broken by Amelia’s determination to fly – nor her passionate affair with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor). Equal parts gripping drama, stirring romance and epic adventure, Amelia will take your breath away.

I am so late with this review, and on the one hand, I feel badly about it. On the other hand, this is great timing for the review because this is a perfect movie for Women’s History Month. Hilary Swank is amazing as always, and I loved watching her show Amelia’s passion for flight and her love for her husband, George Putnam, played by the ever-handsome Richard Gere. In fact, this is really more a romance than a history movie – it shows the behind-the-scenes of her marriage to G.P., her affair with Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor), and the way they got past it. I was worried that knowing the end of the story would decrease my enjoyment, but that wasn’t the case at all.

(Disclosure: Amelia was provided to me for review by Click Communications. The above link is an Amazon affiliate link. If you click on the link and subsequently purchase anything, I will receive a small percentage in commission.)

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Author links:

~ Ladybug at Escape in a Book has an interview with A.S. Peterson, author of The Fiddler’s Gun. I really want to read this book!

Discussion starters:

~ Heidenkind’s Hideaway: Insufficient Reading and Top Signs Your Book is a Classic

~ My Friend Amy: Christian Fiction – What is Going On?

Reviews and blog posts that have me adding to my to-read list:

~ The Melting Season by Jami Attenberg, reviewed by Amy at Steele Entertainment.

~ Exodus by Julie Bertagna, reviewed by Lenore at Presenting Lenore.

Book lists:

~ Popcrunch: The 16 Best Dystopian Books of All Time

~ Library Journal: 27 Graphic Novels for Women’s History Month

Other bookish links:

~ Baby Blues is one of my favorite comics, and what’s better than library humor? part one and part two

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© CarrieK for BOOKS AND MOVIES, 2010. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: book lists, christian fiction, TBR list

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