Anna Banti was a novelist, art historian, and translator.

Life and works

In youth she spent time in Rome, attending the University of Rome, and Bologna before returning permanently to Florence. At the University she received a degree in art history. Her pseudonym derived from "an exceptionally beautiful woman" she knew in her youth. She married art critic Roberto Longhi and in 1950 they founded the journal Paragone. She did several stories and works over the next decades, but she would become best known for a historical novel concerning Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia Gentileschi

Artemisia Gentileschi was an Italian Early Baroque painter, today considered one of the most accomplished painters in the generation influenced by Caravaggio...

. One newspaper even headlined their report of Banti's death by saying Addio, Artemisia. This work revived interest in Artemesia's work and life.