Conservators working to expose a censored nude by Artemisia Gentileschi

In recent years, art historians have shown renewed interest in the works of Artemisia Gentileschi, after she had been overlooked for centuries.

Now, one of her works is of particular interest to conservators at the Casa Buonarroti museum in Florence, since it was previously censored by another artist.

Il Volterrano

The painter in question is none other than Baldassare Franceschini, known as Il Volterrano. He made changes to a work that Artemisia Gentileschi had painted in 1616 on the ceiling of the Galleria at Casa Buonarroti in Florence.

The oil on canvas, entitled “Allegory of Inclination,” depicts a nude female figure sitting on a cloud and holding a compass in her hands. For seven decades, locals and visitors to the Galleria at Casa Buonarroti admired the curves of this nude figure.

But a descendant of Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger, probably his nephew Leonardo Buonarroti, asked Il Volterrano to paint a blue sheet around the “Inclination” to make it less sensual. Centuries later, a team of scientists is seeking to “virtually restore” the original appearance of this work by one of history’s pioneering female painters, as part of the “Artemisia Unveiled” project.

They are using imaging techniques such as infrared reflectography, raking light and X-rays to examine brush strokes that are more than 400 years old. The goal is to determine whether they are by the hand of Artemisia Gentileschi or Il Volterrano.

But there is no question of altering the “Allegory of Inclination,” according to Elizabeth Wicks, the restorer leading the “Artemisia Unveiled” project. “The first reason is that Il Volterrano’s repaints are considered historic and part of the painting’s setting and life story.

Secondly, there is only a 70-year difference between Artemisia’s painting and the ‘censoring’ draperies and veil. It’s a thick layer of paint, with impasto. It may turn out that the two artists’ layers are very strongly bonded, and if that is the case, we absolutely cannot put the painting at risk,” she told The Florentine.

Artemisia Gentileschi’s paintings have considerably increased in value in recent years. One of them, “Lucretia,” sold for a record €4.8 million (about $6.1 million) in 2019 at the Parisian auction house Artcurial. Still, the “Allegory of Inclination” is not destined to be sold.

It will be the focus of an exhibition on the “Artemisia Unveiled” project that Casa Buonarroti will host in September 2023. On this occasion, art lovers will be able to see a digital reproduction of the original version of the artwork.

In the meantime, art fans can visit the Florentine museum every Friday, until next April, to follow the progress of the restoration project and ask questions to the conservators involved.