The gallery has announced that the exhibition will now take place from the 3rd October until the 24th January 2021.

Artemisia Gentileschi
Susannah and the Elders, 1622
Oil on canvas
161.5 × 123 cm
© The Burghley House Collection

The National Gallery have announced that thanks to the generosity of its lenders, its postponed exhibition exploring the work of Artemisia Gentileschi (originally scheduled for 4 April – 26 July 2020) will now be on display from October.

With preparations now underway for the exhibition, it was also announced that there will be an additional loan included in the display the original transcript of the trial in which the artist Agostino Tassi is charged with ‘deflowering’ Artemisia Gentileschi (1612), on loan from the Archivio di Stato, Rome.

This will be the first time that the manuscript will be seen in public despite it being referred to frequently in discussions concerning Artemisia’s early life in Rome and in relation to her rape and the subsequent trial. The transcript of the trial, was written partly in Latin but with spoken responses noted verbatim in Italian.

The exhibition is curated by Letizia Treves, the National Gallery James and Sarah Sassoon Curator of Later Italian, Spanish, and French 17th-century Paintings. She says: “Artemisia was a survivor. She overcame rape, torture, humiliation and prejudice to become one of the most successful artists of her time. I was bitterly disappointed when we had to postpone the exhibition but I’m enormously grateful to our lenders for enabling it to go ahead. It’s been a long time coming, but Artemisia will finally get her moment in the spotlight and I can’t wait to share her story and paintings with visitors.”

Talking about the exhibition, Dr Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, says: “I am thrilled that Artemisia will open to the public in October after the coronavirus postponement. It will be a revelation for many to discover her powerful paintings and to get to know her story both from her art and from the biographical documents that will be seen in public for the first time.”

Artemisia will be on display at the National Gallery from the 3rd October until the 24th January 2021. Tickets are on sale now.

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