"I am Artemisia": art and trauma in Joy McCullough's Blood Water Paint

Stephanie Russo

doi:10.5117/9789463727143_ch18

"I am Artemisia": art and trauma in Joy McCullough's Blood Water Paint

Stephanie Russo^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Joy McCullough’s 2018 verse novel Blood Water Paint is the first novel to imagine Artemisia’s story for a Young Adult (YA) audience. The novel takes as its focus Artemisia’s girlhood, and the novel ends after the rape trial of Agostino Tassi. Blood Water Paint is a portrait of the young Artemisia for the #MeToo generation, a novel that positions trauma as key to understanding Artemisia’s art while at the same time affirming her ability to overcome her circumstances. McCullough’s representation of Artemisia differs from other Artemisia biofictions in its portrait of female creativity. In Blood Water Paint, it is Artemisia’s dead mother, as well as an imagined sisterhood of her artistic subjects – Susanna and Judith – who are her artistic inspirations.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Authorizing early modern European women
Subtitle of host publication	from biography to biofiction
Editors	James Fitzmaurice, Naomi J. Miller, Sara Jayne Steen
Place of Publication	London ; New York
Publisher	Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group
Chapter	18
Pages	235-248
Number of pages	14
ISBN (Electronic)	9781040785577
ISBN (Print)	9789463727143, 9781041176008
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5117/9789463727143_ch18
Publication status	Published - 2025

Bibliographical note

Book first published 2022 by Amsterdam University Press; reissued 2025 by Routledge.

Copyright the Author(s) 2022. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

Artemisia Gentileschi
early modern women
historical fiction
rape
Young Adult fiction

Access to Document

10.5117/9789463727143_ch18

Publisher version (open access)Final published version, 1.17 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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abstract = "Joy McCullough{\textquoteright}s 2018 verse novel Blood Water Paint is the first novel to imagine Artemisia{\textquoteright}s story for a Young Adult (YA) audience. The novel takes as its focus Artemisia{\textquoteright}s girlhood, and the novel ends after the rape trial of Agostino Tassi. Blood Water Paint is a portrait of the young Artemisia for the \#MeToo generation, a novel that positions trauma as key to understanding Artemisia{\textquoteright}s art while at the same time affirming her ability to overcome her circumstances. McCullough{\textquoteright}s representation of Artemisia differs from other Artemisia biofictions in its portrait of female creativity. In Blood Water Paint, it is Artemisia{\textquoteright}s dead mother, as well as an imagined sisterhood of her artistic subjects – Susanna and Judith – who are her artistic inspirations.",

keywords = "Artemisia Gentileschi, early modern women, historical fiction, rape, Young Adult fiction",

author = "Stephanie Russo",

note = "Book first published 2022 by Amsterdam University Press; reissued 2025 by Routledge. Copyright the Author(s) 2022. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.",

year = "2025",

doi = "10.5117/9789463727143\_ch18",

language = "English",

isbn = "9789463727143",

pages = "235--248",

editor = "James Fitzmaurice and Miller, \{Naomi J.\} and Steen, \{Sara Jayne\}",

booktitle = "Authorizing early modern European women",

publisher = "Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group",

address = "United Kingdom",

}

"I am Artemisia": art and trauma in Joy McCullough's Blood Water Paint. / Russo, Stephanie.
Authorizing early modern European women: from biography to biofiction. ed. / James Fitzmaurice; Naomi J. Miller; Sara Jayne Steen. London ; New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group, 2025. p. 235-248.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

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N1 - Book first published 2022 by Amsterdam University Press; reissued 2025 by Routledge. Copyright the Author(s) 2022. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

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AB - Joy McCullough’s 2018 verse novel Blood Water Paint is the first novel to imagine Artemisia’s story for a Young Adult (YA) audience. The novel takes as its focus Artemisia’s girlhood, and the novel ends after the rape trial of Agostino Tassi. Blood Water Paint is a portrait of the young Artemisia for the #MeToo generation, a novel that positions trauma as key to understanding Artemisia’s art while at the same time affirming her ability to overcome her circumstances. McCullough’s representation of Artemisia differs from other Artemisia biofictions in its portrait of female creativity. In Blood Water Paint, it is Artemisia’s dead mother, as well as an imagined sisterhood of her artistic subjects – Susanna and Judith – who are her artistic inspirations.

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KW - early modern women

KW - historical fiction

KW - rape

KW - Young Adult fiction

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SN - 9781041176008

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ER -

"I am Artemisia": art and trauma in Joy McCullough's Blood Water Paint

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Bibliographical note

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"I am Artemisia": art and trauma in Joy McCullough's Blood Water Paint

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