The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland focuses on Artemisia Gentileschi, a revolutionary Italian painter from post-Renaissance period known for her idiosyncratic approach to painting with unprecedented portrayals of potent and defiant women. This study aims to show how Vreeland’s novel turns into an iconotext providing not only visual representations from Artemisia’s oeuvre consisting of Biblical, mythological and historical heroines, but also offers a distinctive perspective into the personal and artistic vision of the painter in conveying her own history of sexual harassment and violence. With a focus on certain female figures from Artemisia’s paintings, this study employs an ekphrastic and iconographical analysis in ascertaining how these images enact her own sexual ordeal which is explicitly expressed in depictions of revenge or suppressed anger. This study argues that by constructing such a narrative, Vreeland explores and projects the gender dynamics offering a counterpoint to the prevalent narratives and patriarchal norms that often depict women as passive, submissive, or objects of desire. Thus, the exploration of Artemisia’s art within the context of iconotexts suggests a deeper and alternative engagement on the enduring relevance of Artemisia’s art and its impact on contemporary understandings of gender in challenging the constraints imposed on women and creating a space for alternative narratives of women’s lives.