ARTnews: Original Version of Censored Artemisia Gentileschi Painting Makes Its Debut

By Karen K. Ho

Photo by Olga Makarova

A new exhibit is showing the original version of Artemisia Gentileschi‘s painting Allegory of the Inclination after it was censored for its nudity more than 300 years ago. The Italian Baroque artist was first commissioned by Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger, the nephew of Renaissance master, in 1618 to contribute a work to Casa Buonarroti. The portrait of the female nude holding a compass was installed on the ceiling of the palace in Florence, Gentileschi’s first commission in the city. However, in 1684, Michelangelo’s great-nephew, Leonardo da Buonarroto, hired Baldassarre “Il Volterrano” Franceschini to add blue drapery and veils to the Gentileschi’s work “to preserve the modesty of the female inhabitants of the house. For MORE.