Artemisia Gentileschi Retrospective Opens at Palazzo Braschi in Rome

The Museo di Roma at Palazzo Braschi opens 'Artemisia Gentileschi e il suo tempo,' a major exhibition running from November 30, 2016 to May 7, 2017. Curator Nicola Spinosa, former superintendent of the Neapolitan museum system, stated the show aims to dispel two myths: that Gentileschi's work was defined by the violence she suffered from Agostino Tassi, and that she was merely a Caravaggist. Spinosa emphasized that she quickly overcame the trauma and became a leading figure at prestigious courts including the Medici in Florence, the Bourbons in Naples, and in London, where she assisted her aging father Orazio. Her artistic evolution moved from Caravaggio's influence toward classicism and pittoricism. The exhibition features about 100 works, including Gentileschi's 'Judith Beheading Holofernes' from Museo di Capodimonte (arriving later), 'Esther and Ahasuerus' from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and 'Self-Portrait as a Lute Player' from Wadsworth Atheneum. Contextual works by Cristofano Allori, Simon Vouet, Orazio Gentileschi, Giovanni Baglione, Jusepe de Ribera, Francesco Guarino, and Massimo Stanzione are also included. The exhibition is curated by Spinosa (Naples section), Francesca Baldassari (Florence section), and Judith Mann (Rome section).