The new opening season of the Palazzo Cini Gallery (until the 15th of October) sees the painting Cleopatra by Artemisia Gentileschi from the Cavallini Sgarbi Collection as the protagonist of Guest at the Palace: the lessons of her father Orazio’s full artistic maturity are swept away by her profound love for Caravaggio.
But whereas in Caravaggio the naked and lascivious body is usually masculine, Gentileschi translates that approach into something feminine, with an even more powerful impact, her realism absolute and stringent and lacking any lyrical or intimistic concessions. The piece also offers an opportunity to recall the Roman painter’s time in Venice, documented in the city from 1626 to 1630.
