There is a new painting attributed to Artemisia Gentileschi, will go up for auction soon

A new painting attributed to Artemisia Gentileschi (Rome, 1593 - Naples, post 1652): it is a Penitent Magdalene that will go up for auction at Van Ham in Cologne, Germany, with an estimate of 30-40,000 euros. The work, the auction house reports, has been in a private collection for about fifty years, and was until recently attributed to an important seventeenth-century Florentine painter, Carlo Dolci (Florence, 1616 - 1686). Formulating the attribution to Artemisia was art historian Riccardo Lattuada, a leading expert on early 17th-century painting with several publications on Artemisia Gentileschi to his credit.

According to Lattuada, this Penitent Magdalene may have been painted by Artemisia in her Neapolitan period (after 1640), together with one of her most important collaborators, Onofrio Palumbo (Naples, 1606? - 1656?): for the scholar, it is a painting from the last phase of the painter’s career, datable to 1650-1654. Palumbo, who trained with Artemisia but before that with Battistello Caracciolo, may have been involved in the execution of the diipinto, but not in the conception, which according to Lattuada is to be attributed entirely to Artemisia. That the two collaborated is attested by documents (there are two payment notes, one from 1653 and one from 1654, that confirm this), and they may therefore have done so for this Penitent Magdalene as well.

“This is,” the auction house enthusiastically states, “a valuable addition to the corpus of paintings by what is probably the most famous artist of the 17th century.” The painting had already been unveiled in February, already with an attribution to Artemisia, just ahead of the auction (which was initially scheduled to be held on May 20 and then moved to June 2). “The painting,” says the auction house, “is characterized by particularly intense chromatics. The careful and compact brushwork reveals the talent of Artemisia Gentileschi, and makes the sculptural form of the draperies very evident.”

Image: Artemisia Gentileschi (attr.), Penitent Magdalene (ca. 1650-1654; oil on panel, 68 x 48 cm)

Artemisia Gentileschi (attr.), Penitent Magdalene

There is a new painting attributed to Artemisia Gentileschi, will go up for auction soon

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.