Artemisia Gentileschi: All dressed up and out on the town

Emerging from the ruins

“Artemisia’s Strong Women: Rescuing a Masterpiece” at the Getty Center

by Bondo Wyszpolski

Nearly five years ago, on August 4, 2020, a massive explosion in the port of Beirut killed over 200 people and destroyed or significantly damaged more than 5,000 buildings. Among these was the Sursock Palace, a 19th century cultural heritage site. “Hercules and Omphale” (c.1635-37), by the Italian Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi, an invaluable painting in the Sursock collection, was sprayed by a barrage of broken glass, plaster, and other debris.

In 2022, the canvas was shipped to the Getty Center, and the museum’s senior conservator of paintings, Ulrich Birkmaier, must have clapped his head in dismay when he surveyed the picture and pondered what it would take to restore it to something resembling its original appearance.

“In my over 30-year career as a paintings conservator,” he said, “this is some of the worst damage I have ever witnessed and was one of the most challenging yet rewarding projects I’ve had the pleasure to work on.”

This past June, the Getty unveiled a small but stunningly attractive exhibition, “Artemisia’s Strong Women: Rescuing a Masterpiece,” which showcases the now-repaired “Hercules and Omphale” along with three other works by Gentileschi on loan to the museum: “Bathsheba and David” (c.1635-37), “Susanna and the Elders” (c.1635-37), and “Self-Portrait as a Female Martyr” (c.1613-14). These are joined by the Getty’s own “Lucretia” (c.1627), which was acquired in March of 2021.

Birkmaier and Rome-based conservator Matteo Rossi Doria worked together to reline the back of the painting, and attached a wooden stretcher to reinforce the original canvas. In short, the painting is in better shape now than it was before 2020.

This isn’t a blockbuster show, like the Manet or Holbein or Caillebotte exhibitions that have captivated viewers in recent years, but there’s an undeniable pleasure in a small, focused presentation like this that zeroes in on one or two masterpieces and explores in detail the stories behind them.

Artemisia Gentileschi, born in Rome in 1593 and dying in Naples around 1654, was something of a youthful prodigy who also happened to be the daughter of another noted painter, Orazio Gentileschi (1563-1639), the latter also a friend and colleague of the great Caravaggio.

Although Artemisia Gentileschi’s art stands on its own, her reputation (which began climbing significantly in the latter 20th century) is unfortunately tied in with her rape by the artist Agostino Tassi when she was 18 or 19. Her father brought charges against Tassi, who was convicted and sentenced to exile. However, though he did spend a few months in jail, the penalty was not carried out. There’s more to this incident that can be said, and for better or worse it has become part of the feminist dialogue and appraisal of Artemisia’s work, especially since much of her subject matter doesn’t shy away from death and revenge.

Also, Artemisia’s women tend to be heroic and strong-willed. “Hercules and Omphale,” for example, depicts a chastised Hercules having to wear women’s clothing and doing women’s work (that is, knitting instead of slaying wild beasts), all this as punishment imposed by Omphale, the Queen of Lydia, for Hercules having (accidentally) killed Iphitus.

Other works in this vein include “Judith Slaying Holofernes” (the latter having his throat slit) and “Jael and Sisera” (the latter about to have a spike driven through his ear).

Be that as it may, Artemisia Gentileschi married, had children, moved to Florence in 1613 where she was acclaimed, and in 1616 was the first woman to join the renowned Accademia de Arte del Disegno. In 1620 she moved to Rome and in 1627 to Venice. By 1630 she was established in Naples where she remained, more or less, until her death. Being that rara avis, a woman painter, she had more travails than most, but no one seems to have doubted her talent.

That’s just one of many reasons not to miss this fine exhibition, a little gem that’s tucked away in an out-of-the-way corner of the museum, a gift waiting to be discovered.

Artemisia’s Strong Women: Rescuing a Masterpiece is on view through Sept.14 at the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1200 Getty Center Dr., Los Angeles. On July 19, curator Davide Gasparotto will lead a conversation about Gentileschi’s career in Naples, and on July 24 Gasparotto and Birkmaier will lead an online talk for 92nd Street Y about the history and conservation of “Hercules and Omphale.” Admission free, but a timed-entry reservation is required. Hours, Tuesday through Friday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closed Monday. Call (310) 440-7300 or visit getty.edu. ER