Passion, intrigue, drama, torture and art. The life of Artemisia
Gentileschi-one of the world’s greatest Baroque artists-has all the chiaroscuro trappings of a romance novel.
Her father, Orazio Lomi Gentileschi, famous for interpreting
Caravaggio’s revolutionary painting style, trained Artemisia as a young girl in
Rome. At the age of 15, she was raped by her father’s co-worker, Agostino
Tassi. Her father later brought suit against Tassi and a seven-month criminal
trial ensued, during which Artemisia was forced to publicly recount the rape
and undergo torture; metal rings were tightened around her fingers to assure
she was telling the truth. Tassi was sentenced to one year in prison. Artemisia
Gentileschi married Pierantonio Stiattesi in 1613 and they moved to Florence.
She remained in Florence until 1620, achieving widespread creative
success under the patronage of Grand Duke Cosimo II de’ Medici and the Grand
Duchess, Cristina di Lorena, wife of Ferdinando I de’ Medici. While women
artists at that time were generally limited to portraiture and still-life
painting, Artemisia became famous for her grand-scale works depicting biblical
and mythological heroines-no frail female ever graced her canvases. Judith
and her Maidservant (1614), housed in Palazzo Pitti’s Palatine Gallery, is
a stunning example of Artemisia’s famed realism. It is one of six variations
she painted on that subject. Her style was strongly influenced by Caravaggio
and the use of chiaroscuro, which represented a strong contrast between
light and dark.
Though Artemisia and her work were quite popular in Florence, financial
and martial problems forced her to return to Rome in 1621. The remarkable
sophistication in her imagery of the female figure brought Artemisia
considerable artistic success during her lifetime. Nonetheless, after her
death, she was relegated to obscurity for nearly 300 years before finally
claiming her place as one of the most influential Italian painters in history.
The recent
revival and re-evaluation of Artemisia’s courageous life and works piqued the
interest of The Florence Committee of National Museum of Women in the Arts. Our
commitment is to recognize, and support, the contributions of women to society
and to the arts-past and the present-particularly those who have been
influential in the development of the arts in Florence. With our mission in
mind, in 2008 The Florence Committee decided to fund the restoration of one of
Artemisia’s works: David and Bathsheba.
Completed in
Naples in 1635, the painting had been languishing in Pitti’s storage deposits
for centuries. It is not known how this work became part of the collection, but
documents show that it hung in the grand duke’s apartment in 1662. The work
depicts the scene from the Old Testament when King David first glimpses the
married Bathsheba while she is bathing. His subsequent seduction of her and the
events that followed were thought to be the beginning of a divine curse on the
House of David.
Artemisia’s painting, particularly Bathsheba’s face and body, was in a
state of considerable deterioration and showed signs of decay; the painting’s
color was flaking off because of improper storage conditions and humidity
damage. Nicola Ann MacGregor, Sandra Freschi and Elisabetta Codognato thus
undertook a daunting task in restoring David and Bathsheba. Palatina
Gallery director Serena Padovani, who directed the work, explains the delicate
process: ?Our task was to consolidate the painting’s remaining color and
improve the composition’s legibility, lowering the numerous lacunae [missing
pieces of paint] with neutral tones, so to obtain an image that is recomposed,
rather than repainted.’
But it is perhaps the words of one of the restorers, Nicola Ann
MacGregor, that best embody the unique nature of this project: ?In all the 38
years of my career as a conservator in Florence, this is the first time I have
ever restored a painting by a female artist. Being a woman myself, of course,
this enhanced the sense of “bonding” nearly always established between the
restorer and the author of the painting he or she is working on. What makes us
particularly happy about this project is that a painting relegated to the
deposits of the Pitti Palace is now, after our restoration, deemed fit for
public exhibition.’
It is The
Florence Committee’s greatest hope that this precious work be truly enjoyed by
Florence’s citizens, and visitors, and that its restoration may safeguard
Artemisia Gentileschi’s mastery for future generations.
Artemisia Gentileschi in Florence
Upon her arrival in Florence, Michelangelo the younger commissioned
Artemisia to paint Allegory of the Inclination in the Casa Buonarotti.
Completed in 1615, this painting is located on the ceiling of the gallery. It
represents ?natural talent’ and was created as part of a series of 15
personifications dedicated to the life of his great uncle, Michelangelo. The
subject of the allegory is said to resemble Artemisia. The figure was
originally nude; later it was partly covered with a drapery by another artist.
On July 19, 1616, Artemisia Gentileschi was accepted as the first female
member of Florence’s Accademia dell’Arte del Disegno, Europe’s first academy
for drawing. Although drawings by her are very rare, a charcoal drawing of St.
John the Baptist’s Decapitation can be found in the Uffizi’s Gabinetto di
Disegni e Stampe.
Her Judith and her Maidservant (1614) is housed in Palazzo
Pitti’s Palatine Gallery. Other works by Artemisia Gentileschi in the Palatine
Gallery include Madonna and Child (1615) and The Conversion of the
Magdalene (1620; also known as The Penitent Magdalene), which
showcases the richness of the deep gold and the dark green of Magdalene’s
dress, colors not used in her earlier works
The Uffizi’s
collection boasts Judith Beheading Holfernes (1620), a gripping
rendition of female retribution, full of energy and violence. Also in the
Uffizi is her Saint Catherine of Alexandria (1619). Artemisia’s Minerva/Sapienza (1615), was probably commissioned by Maria de’ Medici and is said to represent
her daughter-in-law, Anne of Austria. The painting, which also belongs to the
Polo Museale Fiorentino, hangs in Florence’s Procura Generale della Repubblica
in via Cavour.
The Florence Committee of the National Museum of the Arts, founded by
Jane Fortune in 2003, is a legally recognized Italian nonprofit association.
Its primary mission is to preserve, conserve and restore works of art by women
in Florence’s museums. It also recognizes modern-day women artists as well as
those who sustain and support art by women in Florence. The committee’s Nelli
Award annually honors the outstanding efforts of one of the 30 female museum
directors working in the city. The Florence Committee also annually recognizes
an Italian patroness of the arts with its Anna Maria Luisa de’Medici Award and
a contemporary female Italian artist with its Simonetta Vespucci Award.
Its executive
committee, led by Jane Fortune, includes Hermione Grassi, Dr. Robert R. Hesse,
Madeleine Leone and Kate Rakich; it receives its support from associates and
friends. The Florence Committee’s mission is complementary to and consistent
with the National Museum of Women in the Arts, located in Washington D.C. In
2006, The Florence Committee and Jane Fortune restored Lamentation with
Saints, a work by the first known woman painter of Florence, Suor Plautilla
Nelli. The painting is housed in Florence’s Museo di San Marco. David and
Bathsheba is the second restoration project. For more information, please write
to TheFlorenceCommittee@gmail.com.
David and Bathsheba: the
restoration of a masterpiece by Artemesia Gentileschi
A
Christmas gift to the city of Florence
November 28,
2008-January 6, 2009
Sala Bianca, Galleria
Palatina, Palazzo Pitti
Tuesday
to Sunday: 8.15am-6.50pm
Closed
Mondays, Christmas Day & New Year’s Day
During
the exhibition, visitors can also view Piero Fevere’s tapestry copy of
Artemisia Gentileschi’s painting and enjoy a continuously running video
documentary explaining the restoration process (in both English and Italian).
Full Price: ? 8,50
Reduced: ? 4,25
