Rome in Paris again. After the exhibition on the masterpieces of the Galleria Borghese, the Musée Jacquemart-André is hosting a major exhibition on Artemisia Gentileschi from tomorrow until 3 August 2025. A personality with an uncommon destiny, "the Roman painter and protagonist of Caravaggio's painting (c. 1593-1656) was one of the rare female artists of the modern era to have enjoyed international success during her lifetime and to have been able to make a living from her painting," reads a note released by the curators of the retrospective on the banks of the Seine. Through some 40 paintings, including recognised masterpieces by the artist and more recently attributed canvases, the exhibition aims to "highlight the role played by Artemisia Gentileschi in the history of art. In particular, it seeks to demonstrate the originality of her work, her path and her identity, still a source of fascination and inspiration today. Entitled, 'Artemisia, l'héroïne de l'art' ('Artemisia, the heroine of art'), the exhibition curated by Pierre Curie, Patrizia Cavazzini and Maria Cristina Terzaghi, traces a path that began at the age of 16, in the atelier of her father, Orazio Gentileschi, in Rome, before gradually emancipating herself under the influence of Caravaggio and conquering the courts of half of Europe, from the Medici to Bavaria, passing through France and England. Keeping company with Artemisia Gentileschi's paintings will be those from the permanent collection of the Musée Jacquemart-André, one of the most remarkable Renaissance collections outside Italy, so much so as to make it an "almost Italian" museum. Donated in 1912 by the collector and painter Nelie Jacquemart-André to the Institut de France, the museum-palace on Boulevard Haussmann, a stone's throw from the Arc de Triomphe, was closed for a year, from September 2023 to September 2024, for restoration and modernisation work. The campaign concerned, in particular, the monumental double-helix staircase, the fumoir and the dining room fresco painted by Giambattista Tiepolo originally intended for Villa Contarini, in Mira, in the province of Venice, then removed and reassembled in France. In addition to the rich permanent collection, with many paintings of the Italian Renaissance, the museum regularly hosts temporary exhibitions such as last year's one dedicated to Giovanni Bellini or the recently concluded one on the masterpieces of the Galleria Borghese. So many tributes to the deep bond that unites Italy and France, starting with the two capitals, Rome and Paris, united by an exclusive twinning whose 70th anniversary will be celebrated next year: 'Only Rome is worthy of Paris. Only Paris is worthy of Rome', recites the motto sanctioned in 1956.
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