Advertisement

Artemisia and the art of seduction

"Artemisia knew how to use her physical attractions as well as her artistic talent to appeal to potential patrons" - getty
"Artemisia knew how to use her physical attractions as well as her artistic talent to appeal to potential patrons" - getty

The star of a National Gallery show first made her mark in Florence. Nick Trend discovers an early masterpiece

Floating some 20ft above the terracotta-tiled floor of the Casa Buonarroti in Florence is a life-size painting of a rather alluring, curly haired nude. Borne up by a billowing cloud, with a bright gold star in the sky above her head, she has a dreamy look in her eyes as she seems to stare off into the middle distance.

Her modesty is partly protected by a silky scarf draped around her shoulder and a blue robe flowing airily across her lap, but at least some of this cover-up was added by a later artist. It is clear that this was meant to be a painting with erotic overtones.

Allegory of Inclination
Allegory of Inclination

The nude, which represents the innate gift of natural talent, is a relatively small part of a scheme of allegorical ceiling paintings that pay homage to the great Michelangelo who had died 50 years before. Several artists contributed to the allegory, which was commissioned in about 1614 by his great-nephew, Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger, to decorate a house that he had just reconstructed from buildings originally owned by his famous uncle.

The Casa is now a museum but – somewhat in the shadow of so many other fabulous sights in Florence – it gets relatively few visitors. Those who come do so mostly because it houses two brilliant stone reliefs carved by Michelangelo when he was in his early teens, and a great collection of his architectural drawings and letters. And because it is a remarkably evocative and unspoilt example of an early Baroque interior.

However, I was drawn here by the nude on the ceiling. For this is the first recorded work by Artemisia Gentileschi during her stay in Florence between 1613 and 1620. The most important female painter of the 17th century, she is also one of the most extraordinary figures in the history of Italian art. Yet plenty of mystery surrounds the painting. Why, for example, was she paid twice as much as any other artist who worked on the ceiling? She was, after all, only 20 or 21, and had the slightest of professional track records.

The Florence cityscape - getty
The Florence cityscape - getty

Clearly Buonarroti was impressed by her talent – and he may have wanted to help the Roman painter who had recently endured a rape and the subsequent trial, and who was now newly married and struggling to support herself and her husband. That she repaid his generosity with a nude that seems to bear her own features is an early sign that she knew how to use her physical attractions as well as her artistic talent to appeal to potential patrons.

Artemisia stars in a new National Gallery exhibition
Artemisia stars in a new National Gallery exhibition

Allegory of Inclination seems to have been a hit. Soon after the commission, she became the first woman ever to be accepted into the painters’ guild in Florence, and she went on to achieve remarkable success – often depicting strong and determined women from the Old Testament stories and working not only in Florence, but in Rome, Naples, and, after an invitation from King Charles I, in London.

Sadly, there are few other traces of Artemisia left in Florence. But we know that her studio was once by the river on the south-west corner of the Ponte alla Carraia, opposite a palace belonging to her landlords, the great Frescobaldi family. And several of her paintings are still in the Pitti Palace and Uffizi galleries.

The artist was a follower of Caravaggio
The artist was a follower of Caravaggio

If you can’t get to Italy, the best of those are about to come to London for a major exhibition at the National Gallery. If you can make it to Florence, take time to visit the Casa Buonarroti, not only for the Michelangelos, but for the nude on the ceiling that represents such an important moment in the extraordinary life of the artist.

Artemisia essentials

Casa Buonarroti, Florence, is open daily except Tuesdays, 10am-5pm, admission €8/£6.50) (casabuonarroti.it)

Artemisia opens in the Sainsbury Wing of London’s National Gallery on April 4 and runs until July 26. From £18 (bookings: nationalgallery.org.uk)