The goal of art restorers is to clean and essentially “unveil” the prohibited artwork by one of the most significant women in Italian art history, whose Allegory of Inclination is thought to be a self-portrait of Artemisia Gentileschi. Veils and drapery were added in 1616, 70 years after Gentileschi had finished the painting, and are widely recognized as his contribution to Italian Baroque.
It was during the #MeToo era that the painting was once again brought into the limelight. Artemisia was assaulted by one of her teachers, and this initiative honors her artistic accomplishments and efforts to break into a male-dominated art world. “Through her, we can talk about how vital it is to repair artwork and how crucial it is to restore the stories of women to the forefront,” said Linda Falcone, project coordinator for Artemisia Up Close.
The famous artist’s great-nephew, Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger, had the Allegory of Inclination originally commissioned for his residence. The painting was once hung on the ceiling in a gilded frame in the family house, which later became the Casa Buonarroti Museum.
X-rays, diagnostic imaging, and ultraviolet light are being used by lead conservator Elizabeth Wick and her team of restorers to distinguish Gentileschi’s brushstrokes from those of the artist who banned nudity.
Restorers cannot remove the veils since the cover-up was finished too soon after the original, endangering Gentileschi’s painting. Instead, the team plans to digitize the original and present it in a project exhibition that will debut in September 2023.
After being forced to testify during her assaulter’s trial in Rome with ropes tied around her fingers that were progressively tightened as a test of her honesty, Gentileschi left for Florence shortly after. Ultimately, her assaulter was found guilty and given an eight-month prison term.
Someone else would have been devastated by this incident, according to Ms. Wick. Artemisia fights back, though. In Florence, she was assigned to paint a fully clothed figure for Casa Buonarroti’s ceiling. “I believe she was demonstrating to them what she was capable of,” says Ms. Wick.
The Medici family commissioned Gentileschi because of her dramatic and animated style, influenced by the renowned Baroque painter Caravaggio.
She was only 22 years old when she painted the Allegory of Inclination. It was censored when Leonardo Buonarroti, a different member of the Michelangelo family, decided to have it embellished to save the feelings of his wife and kids.
Ms. Falcone explains, “one of her earliest works of art is this. It was her first painting in the Florentine setting, and the following year she was admitted to the Academy of Drawing, which at the time was the first drawing academy in Europe.”
“She was allowed to mingle with Galileo and other great intellectuals,” she continued. With her humble background, she found herself studying at a university and creating artwork that gained recognition from the grand duke.