Diagnostic campaign with the Publication of one of Artemisia’s best-loved works, her ‘Madonna and Child’ and ‘Santa Cecilia’ paintings at the Galleria Spada Rome.
A project to discover the secrets of these famous and much-loved paintings, and for the English translations and publication of this new volume. This project, curated by Artemisia Gold CIC and Emmebi Diagnostica Artistica, focused on the execution of a diagnostic research campaign to document the technique, materials used, and its state of conservation. The interest in the figure of Artemisia Gentileschi has grown significantly in recent decades, as evidenced by the numerous exhibitions dedicated to her and the ever-increasing number of technical studies that help us understand how she painted and, ultimately, why her style is so unique. The investigation proposed in this project was non-invasive, using different visible and non-visible radiation (ultraviolet, infrared, X-rays), which were able to provide images and data on the different constituent layers, from the support to the pictorial and finishing layers. Upon completion of the documentation campaign, we conducted a micro-sample to analytically investigate the preparatory layers and the more significant pictorial layers. Thanks to the goodwill of the Galleria Spada these investigations were conducted within the gallery, and the results were illustrated to special guests in May 2023 during an exclusive private event at the Museum. The investigations were sponsored by Artemisia Gold CIC and were carried out and illustrated by Emmebi Diagnostica Artistica.
The project included: Diagnostic investigations (including organization of live investigations) – Multispectral photographs (VIS-UV-IR) – Macrophotographs and microphotographs – Infrared reflectography – Radiography – X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF – Stratigraphy on polished section and SEM-EDS microanalysis and concluded with a private event at the Galleria Spada.
Carried out in 2024 – A publication with new findings. The Madonna and Child and Saint Cecilia by Artemisia Gentileschi at the Galleria Spada. These important findings, recently acquired on Artemisia Gentileschi’s Madonna and Child (Galleria Spada, Rome), thanks to the technical research project sponsored by Artemisia Gold CIC have provided the impetus to produce a monographic volume on the great painter’s two paintings, preserved in the Museum. Both the Madonna and Child and Saint Cecilia were subjected to an in-depth diagnostic campaign, curated by Emmebi Diagnostica Artistica s.r.l., aimed at characterizing their constituent materials and reconstructing the artist’s compositional processes. The volume was published in 2024 in Italian and English by the publisher De Luca. Included were essays by Francesco Solinas, Adriana Capriotti, Marco Cardinali, and Maria Beatrice De Ruggieri, which shed new light on the great artist and on her two works in the Galleria Spada. These new findings were also thanks to the contributions of technical-scientific research to historical-critical studies. A rich set of images and technical data accompanied the publication of the studies.
