A few veils, sometimes thick, sometimes light and almost transparent, thrown across the female breast, did the trick.
More than 300 years ago in Florence, a prude descendant of Michelangelo censored the
Allegory of the Inclination,
painted in 1616 by Artemisia Gentileschi.
By clever dissimulation, the nude that we cannot see disappears under a few strategic coats of paint.
Centuries later, a meticulous restoration restores all its freshness to the vision of one of the first Baroque painters.
But, alas, not her original nudity.
It is now too risky to try to remove this layer of oil paint, which can take up to two centuries to dry completely, American curator and restorer Elizabeth Wicks told AFP. the team of experts and technicians supposed to bring the painting back to life.
Preserved in the Florentine residence of the author of the Sistine Chapel, the work was deposited in September and entrusted to a team responsible for studying the secrets of this work of Artemisia Gentileschi, whose talent, independence and dramatic life are gaining renewed interest in the context of the #MeToo era.
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Commissioned, along with 14 other works, to honor the memory of Michelangelo (1475-1564) by the artist's great-nephew, the
Allegory of the Inclination
represents a female nude seated on a cloud.
This personification of artistic creativity disturbs, however, the descendants of the sponsor who, in 1684, ask the painter Baldassare Franceschini, known as Volterrano, to cover the
Allegory.
There was concern, at the end of the 17th century, about the potential consequences of these nudes on the women and children of the house.
Censored boobs and sex
Volterrano complies and covers the breasts of this Feminine Inclination with a diaphanous veil, then hides her sex and her thighs with a thick drape.
"
I like to think that Artemisia was already in another world when this painting was censored, because I don't think she would have liked it that much
," observes Elizabeth Wicks.
We don't like it that much either, but now it's part of the history of this painting
”.
The meticulous restoration carried out on the
Allegory of the Inclination will be
completed in the spring.
Failing to be able to remove the layers of repaints, it will allow you to discover the original vision and method of Artemisia Gentileschi's painting.
Andreas SOLARO / AFP
Unable to remove these late repaints, the restorers were able to rediscover during their study the primary spirit of the canvas desired by the artist, born in Rome in 1593.
“As we say in Italian, we turned it over like a glove with all the technical diagnostics imaginable to understand how the painting was designed, painted, what happened next, and see what can be read under the veils of censorship that have been added to the painting
, says Elizabeth Wicks.
What you think you'll find under the veil is there, it's all there!
".
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Artemisia Gentileschi painted this
Allegory
shortly after arriving in Florence from Rome, where she was raped at age 17 by a colleague of her father, both painters.
A trial had resulted in the conviction of his attacker.
Famous during her lifetime and recipient of royal commissions, she was paid three times more than her colleagues when commissioning the descendant of Michelangelo, in recognition of her exceptional talents.
A reflection on the art of women
With delicate circular movements, Elizabeth Wicks rubs a piece of solvent-soaked cotton over the surface of the paint, bringing the radiant colors of the bare flesh back to life.
Centuries of candle smoke, supplemented with varnishes in the 1960s, had turned the skin orange, while the bright blue of the lapis lazuli-toned sky had turned gray-green.
"You can see that this leg is lighter because I cleaned it by reducing the layer of varnish,"
says the expert, looking at the canvas through her magnifying glasses.
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X-ray analyzes and various imaging techniques have made it possible to rediscover the now hidden nudity, but also the modifications made by Artemisia herself to the eyes and hands.
At an exhibition planned for September, visitors will be able to examine the
Allegory of the Inclination
up close, see digital images revealing the different layers, and learn about modern techniques for detecting them.
The painting will then return to its original location on the ceiling.
For the project coordinator, Linda Falcone, it is important to
“create a reflection on the art of women, the fact that they were protagonists of their time”
.
Artemisia puts herself on stage in this painting dedicated to Michelangelo on which appears a female character: "
she says there 'I as a woman I have the desire to paint'
".
“She places the heroine in the center of the canvas and this heroine has her face”
, she adds.
And a few more veils.
