Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria is a 1615–1617 painting by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi, showing the artist in the guise of Catherine of Alexandria. It is now in the collection of the National Gallery, London, which purchased it in 2018 for £3.6 million, including about £2.7 million from its American Friends group.[1][2]
It was painted during Gentileschi's time in Florence,[3] and is similar to her Saint Catherine of Alexandria (c. 1619), now in the Uffizi Gallery. It is one of several paintings of female martyrs by Gentileschi that she made after her famous 1612 rape trial, in which she (unlike the accused) was subject to torture to test the veracity of her testimony.[4]
Description The figure is shown in three-quarter view with a broken spiked wheel; according to tradition this was the instrument of torture to which Saint Catherine of Alexandria was subjected before being beheaded.[5] The palm frond she holds in her other hand was also a traditional symbol of martyrdom. The crown she wears under the headscarf suggests her royal status, however along with the halo it is believed to have been added a later date. Current research on the contemporaneous works Artemisia created suggests that this piece began as a self-portrait and was later modified to depict the saint.[5]
Provenance The original owner of Gentileschi's Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine is unknown, and nothing is recorded of its whereabouts until the early 1940s when the painting was bequeathed by Charles Marie Boudeville to his son.[6] The painting remained in the Boudeville private collection until it was sold at Hôtel Drouot in Paris on 19 December 2017 for €2.4m.[7][8] The €1.9m hammer price was well above the original estimate of €300,000–€400,000.[9]
It was acquired by London-based dealers Robilant+Voena, and surpassed the 2014 Gentileschi record price record for her Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy. In July 2018, the National Gallery in London announced that it had purchased the painting from the dealers for £3.6 million (US$4.7 million).[10] It is the first painting by a woman artist acquired by the National Gallery since 1991, when five paintings by Paula Rego were donated to the museum.[11] On acquiring it, the National Gallery executed restoration on the painting.[12]
Previous conservation and restoration work done by The National Gallery
(all [12])
Previous restorations Before Restoration began on the painting, The National Gallery made note of any previous work that was done to the painting. Small paint retouchings were removed, along with heavy layers of varnish from old retouching along the weakened canvas seam that caused the original paint to crack and flake off. In the 19th Century, the painting was relined using an animal glue, compromising the painting's structural integrity against moisture damage. During an old relining of the painting, the back of the original canvas seam was cut off, further weakening the structure.
Structure
{image} To treat the structure of the painting, conservators focused on They patched one large tear in the canvas near Alexandria's right wrist, and several small holes in the top right corner and the middle of the bottom edge of the canvas below the seam line, which was also reinforced. A Beeswax moisture barrier was added to the back of the canvas, including space for new tacking margins.[12] This wax barrier protects the painting from any further possible moisture damage and preserves the new lining for as long as possible. This painting also received a Moisture flattening treatment on a vacuum table. This is done after the cleaning is complete, by misting the back of the canvas with deionized water before relining it, while the vacuum provides gentle pressure (30 millibars) + gentle heat (40 degrees Celsius(104F)) to flatten any warping of the surface. This particular painting had warping along the edges and raised cracks along seam that were flattened from the front during this process.
Surface of painting Varnish removal reveals greater ranges in tonality. Historic retouching removed. Any new retouching is added on top of a layer of varnish, all paint retouching is removable and entirely reversible. Stability of materials(modern synthetic resin) and pigments valued over historical chemical accuracy. Top centimeter was recreated, specifically the pearl on top of crown, tip of palm frond, added some but left the halo slightly cropped. New paint was added in layers, mimicking Artemisia's sculptural painting method
Framing and composition Distortions on the back of the canvas shows that when originally relined, the right edge of canvas was unfolded and repainted, changing and widening the composition Definitely the right edge and along the bottom, less physical evidence of cropping along left and top edges They believe the top was also folded down over the top of crown, Jewel on top wouldn’t be left out of her original composition Artemisia favored tighter cropping in this era to involve the viewer, but scholars at the gallery believed it unlikely she would leave the top of her composition unfinished.[12]
Technique and materials [13]
X-Radiography[13]
{image}
Artemisia, Saint Catherine, and martyrdom [14-17] Life story overshadows her artistic achievements Reputation is what was really on trial Personal and Professional independence in Florence Self promotion- marketing yourself by using your image, Elite Florentine clientele in the Medici court
Popular artist in her time, politics of business ownership as a woman, but her reputation was already damaged [13]
Other self-portraits by Artemisia Gentileschi
Self-Portrait as a Lute Player
Self-Portrait as a Female Martyr
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Uffizi
Added references
[13]Keith. Larry, Letizia Treves, Marta Melchiorre Di Crescenzo, and Joanna Russel. “Artemisia Gentileschi’s ‘Self Portrait as Saint Catherine of Alexandria.’” National Gallery Technical Bulletin 40 (2019): 4–17.
[14]Cohen. “The Trials of Artemisia Gentileschi: a Rape as History.” The Sixteenth Century Journal 31, no. 1 (2000): 47–75. https://doi.org/info:doi/.
[15]Dabbs, Julia K. “Artemisia Gentileschi and Feminism in Early Modern Europe. Mary D. Garrard. Renaissance Lives. London: Reaktion Books, 2020. 320 Pp. £15.95.” Renaissance Quarterly. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1017/rqx.2022.15.
[16] Prodger, Michael. “A Woman’s True Place: Questions of Gender and Sexual Trauma Have Long Confused Artemisia Gentileschi’s Status as a Major Painter.” New Statesman (1996) 149, no. 5541 (2020): 50–.
[17]McTighe, Sheila. “Role Model: Artemisia Gentileschi’s Portrayal of Herself in so Many Guises Is Worth Pondering.” Apollo (London. 1925) 192, no. 691 (2020): 80–.
Notes
Dex, Robert (6 July 2018). "National Gallery spends £3.6m on rare painting to boost women's art". Evening Standard. Retrieved 6 July 2018. "Rare self portrait by Artemisia Gentileschi enters the collection". National Gallery. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018. "Catalogue entry". Retrieved 6 July 2018. National Gallery buys Artemisia Gentileschi masterpiece for £3.6m, 6 July 2018 in The Guardian Treves, Letizia (2020). Artemisia. London: The National Gallery Company Ltd. "The National Gallery's New Artemisia Gentileschi Should Be a Triumph—But Clouds Are Forming Over Its Ownership During WWII". artnet News. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2019. "The National Gallery's New Artemisia Gentileschi Should Be a Triumph—But Clouds Are Forming Over Its Ownership During WWII". artnet News. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2019. Newly discovered Artemisia Gentileschi painting sells for €2.4m at auction in Paris Press release by auctioneer Christophe Joron-Derem on Drouot website with link to video presentation by art expert Eric Turquin with close-up details of this painting "London's National Gallery (Finally) Buys a Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, Pioneering Female Artist of the Italian Renaissance". artnet News. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2019. "National Gallery buys £3.6m masterpiece". 6 July 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2019. "Art restoration of Artemisia Gentileschi's 'Self Portrait' | National Gallery – YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
References Books and articles about Gentileschi Locker, Jesse. Artemisia Gentileschi: The Language of Painting. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2015. Barker, Sheila, Artemisia Gentileschi in a Changing Light. Turnhout: Harvey Miller, 2017 Bal, Meike, Mary Garrard, and Nanette Salomon. The Artemisia Files: Artemisia Gentileschi for Feminists and Other Thinking People. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006 Media Javier Pes. "The National Gallery’s New Artemisia Gentileschi Should Be a Triumph—But Clouds Are Forming Over Its Ownership During WWII." Art News. 6 July 2018. Jonathan Jones. "National Gallery buys Artemisia Gentileschi masterpiece for £3.6m." The Guardian. 6 July 2018. Naomi Rea, "Newly Discovered Drawings Beneath a Work by Artemisia Gentileschi Suggest She Often Used Herself as a Model." Art News. 7 March 2019.