The Newly Attributed Artemisia Absent from The National Gallery’s Upcoming Exhibition

By Lindsay Inglis

The attribution of Artemisia Gentileschi’s David and Goliath has now been confirmed in an announcement made this month in The Burlington Magazine. The painting had previously been attributed to Giovanni Francesco Guerrieri, a fellow student of Orazio Gentileschi.

Artemisia Gentileschi, David and Goliath, late 1630’s, oil on canvas, photo courtesy of Simon Gillespie’s Studio.

Gianni Papi, a Gentileschi specialist, became convinced the work was a Gentileschi due to the colour palette, the detail of the sleeve and the minimal landscape. While there continued to be doubts about attribution when it came to auction in December 2018, the work was marketed as a Gentileschi and sold for 103,000 euros, nearly four times its estimate. In comparison, when Gentileschi’s Bathsheba at Her Bath was sold at Sotheby’s this past January, with no doubts of attribution, the realized price was 740,000 USD.

The anonymous new owner of David and Goliath hired private conservator Simon Gillespie to clean the work, during which time Gillespie discovered Artemisia’s signature along the hilt of the sword, confirming Papi’s suspicions. Since then the owner has expressed an interest in lending the work to a museum on a long-term loan. David and Goliath will not be included in The National Gallery’s upcoming exhibition on Artemisia, instead it will be on display in Gillespie’s studio in London, to be viewed by appointment. While the Artemisia exhibition is opening in April and there may not be enough time to include the painting after the discovery, it begs the question: why was this painting not already considered for the exhibition? The National Gallery is including works borrowed from museums around the world, yet not David and Goliath which was already in London at Gillespie’s studio during the initial stages of exhibition planning.

Artemisia Gentileschi, detail of David and Goliath, late 1630’s, oil on canvas, photo courtesy of Simon Gillespie’s Studio.

Previously The National Gallery has appeared to be fine including artwork attributed to Old Master’s, though not confirmed, within their exhibitions. In 2011 during the Leonardo da Vinci exhibition The National Gallery included Salvator Mundi, a work attributed to da Vinci. This inclusion is believed to have had a massive influence on the record-breaking sale of 2017, in which the painting sold for over 450 million USD. In 2014 The National Gallery exhibited David Contemplating the Head of Goliath, a work attributed to Orazio Gentileschi. Letizia Treves, head of The National Gallery’s curatorial department and curator for the Artemisia exhibition, was enthusiastic about the Orazio Gentileschi loan, believing it to be a magnificent painting. After the Giulano Ruffini forgery scandal in 2019 this painting is now believed to be a fake.

This upcoming exhibition has been organized to celebrate The National Gallery’s first Artemisia Gentileschi painting, Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, which they acquired in 2018 for 3.6 million pounds. This was reported as a ‘transformative acquisition’ to build their collection of women artists, as it was the first acquisition by a woman artist in more than a generation. Out of nearly 900 artists in their collection, The National Gallery only owns work by 4 women artists. Due to the lack of women artists in their collection, when celebrating women in the arts The National Gallery has focused on the women depicted in artwork and female patrons.

While The National Gallery is striving to obtain more works by female artists in their collection, they seem to be willing to put more on the line when displaying work by male artists. Although the attribution of David and Goliath was not confirmed during the initial planning of the Artemisia exhibition, that did not hinder The National Gallery’s previous inclusion of Salvator Mundi and David Contemplating the Head of Goliath. While this is the first exhibition on Artemisia in the UK and it is extraordinary that The National Gallery has been able to secure the loans required for such an in-depth exhibition, are they doing enough to represent women artists? They need to prioritize acquiring more works by female artists. It is simply unacceptable that less than 0.5% of the artists in The National Gallery’s collection are women.

Artemisia Gentileschi, Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, 1615, oil on canvas, photo courtesy of The National Gallery, London.

Bibliography

Kamp, Justin. “A Recently Discovered Artemisia Gentileschi Painting went on view in London,” Artsy, March 4, 2020 https://www.artsy.net/news/artsy-editorial-discovered-artemisia-gentileschi-painting-view-london

Pes, Javier. “A Newly Discovered Painting by Female Old Master Artemisia Gentileschi will go on view in London – Just Not in her Survey Exhibition,” artnet news, March 2, 2020 https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/artemisia-gentileschi-national-gallery-1790799

“14th-18th Century Paintings,” Hampel Fine Art Auction’s Munich, December 6, 2018 https://www.hampel-auctions.com/a/Artemisia-Gentileschi-um-1593.html?a=117&s=627&id=552374

“Master Paintings Evening Sale,” Sotheby’s, January 29, 2020 https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2019/master-paintings-evening-sale/artemisia-gentileschi-bathsheba-at-her-bath

“The National Gallery: Review of the Year April 2018 – March 2019,” Order of the Trustees of the National Gallery, London 2019, https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/media/30943/national-gallery-annual-review-2018_19.pdf

“Women in Our Collection: Discover some of the Women Artists in Our Collection,” The National Gallery https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/women-in-our-collection