INSIDE AWA AUTUMN 2018

Inside

October 2018

ADVANCING WOMEN ARTISTS

Jane Fortune’s Legacy

Back stage at

Women Artists

Songs for Nelli

ART BY WOMEN: FROM STORAGE TO SPOTLIGHT

The Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, also known as the ‘Temple of the Italian

Glories’, where many illustrious Italians are buried or commemorated.

A ceremony in memory of Jane Fortune was held here on October 9, 2018.

Welcome Autumn 2018

Inside

ADVANCING WOMEN ARTISTS

Palazzo Vecchio

welcomes Plautilla

Artemisia all around

Sojourn strong

PHOTO: DUART CASTLE, SWEN STROOP

ART BY WOMEN: FROM STORAGE TO SPOTLIGHT

October 2018

A

utumn 2018 in Florence has been stage to many exciting

events. Nelli's Crucifixion has been restored and installed

at the San Salvi Museum after two years in Rossella Lari's

studio. Our much-awaited exhibition Women Artists: 1900-1950

has shone a light on 'the forgotten half' of the early twentieth

century. Female journalists from all over the world are putting

pen to page in support of AWA's mission.

Year One of a festival dedicated to female heritage has kept

Florence abuzz with a myriad of events. In the midst of it all,

we commemorated the passing of our beloved founder, Jane

Fortune, in Santa Croce, the pantheon of Italy's greats – and

Jane’s favorite church in the city that laid claim to her affections.

It is in some way apropos for Jane to have left us at the very

height of her organization's achievements, a sign that her legacy

must move forward — surefootedly but full speed ahead. Thank

you, as always, for supporting this quest.

Linda Falcone

AWA Director

Inside AWA Magazine

Editors: Linda Falcone, Fiona Richards

Copy editor & contributor: Margaret MacKinnon

Photos: Andrea Corriga, Dario Ruffolo, Francesco

Cacchiani, Sandy Swanton, Karen Morikawa,

Cassie Prena, Kirsten Hills, Marco Badiani,

Ottaviano Caruso, Chiara Toti, Lucia Mannini,

Alexandra Korey, Linda Falcone, Karla Gowlett.,

Jane Adams, Leo Cardini, Rossella Lari, Serge

Domingie, Simone Martini, Federica Parretti, Susan

Duca.

Design: FPE Media Ltd

Follow us: T: @AWA_Foundation

F: Facebook.com/advancingwomenartists

W: www.advancingwomenartists.org

I: awa_foundation

Advancing Women Artists Foundation

Via dei Fossi 1 Florence, 50123

Contents

17

Back stage and up front

20

Who stole the show?

57

Pathway of the gods

30

Morelli's

'breakfast' restored

46

50

Heavenly voice,

masterful hand

54

43

Miniatures, manuscripts

and monasteries

Is Spain next?

60

AWA's

instagram

Crossing

thresholds

28

Into the archives

56

Changing

Light

4 INSIDE AWA · Autumn 2018

Autumn 2018

52Women writers

12

Jane's Legacy

42

Art Angels

6

41

Tribute to Jane Fortune

Songs for Nelli

44

Saintly sponsors

33

Restoring Levasti's Daily Life

24

38

36

38The ADF Ten: Standing together

36Trade secrets

22

Stories in paint

Exhibition catalog

26

Women's heritage

INSIDE AWA · Autumn 2018 5

JANE TRIBUTE

To Indiana Jane, con amore


A

tribute to Jane Fortune

(August 7, 1942 - September 23, 2018)

by Linda Falcone

Jane always said it ‘happened by chance’.

In 2005, at the age of 63, she found a book

about Plautilla Nelli, Florence’s first woman

artist, while wandering through a Florentine

antiques fair. This fateful meeting would take

the Indianapolis-born philanthropist and art lover

to the San Marco Museum to see Nelli’s lackluster

but lovely Lamentation with Saints. She felt moved

to fund its restoration. She did not know then that

rediscovering and restoring art by women would

soon become her life’s mission.

Nelli’s painting was Jane’s first ‘forgotten

treasure’. There would be many more. In the

thirteen years that followed, she held the post

of cultural editor of The Florentine, Tuscany’s

English-language newspaper, writing ‘Jane’s Gems’,

a column spotlighting the city’s lesser-known

places. In 2007, its articles formed the backbone

of her first book To Florence, Con Amore: 90 Ways

to Love the City. As the title suggests, it was her

personal love letter to Florence. Jane would go

on to co-author numerous Florence-centered

publications on the same premise, including Art by

Women in Florence: A Guide through 500 Years and

Santa Croce in Pink: Untold Stories of Women and

their Monuments.

The next artist with whom Jane fostered a

‘personal’ relationship was Artemisia Gentileschi

who she ‘met’ in 2008, while underwriting the

restoration of the artist’s David and Bathsheba, a

painting that had been languishing ‘beyond repair’

in the Pitti’s attic for 363 years. The canvas was

missing large patches of paint and Bathsheba’s eyes

had been compromised, but Jane was convinced the

masterwork deserved to be protected for posterity.

Because the in-storage Bathsheba ‘could neither

see nor be seen’, she was chosen as the poster

child for Jane’s budding quest to bring to light

Florence ‘invisible’ women artists. In 2009, just as

Artemisia’s restored painting was being prepared


JANE TRIBUTE

for a temporary exhibition at the Pitti Palace

entitled A Christmas Gift to the City of Florence,

Jane founded Advancing Women Artists (AWA), a

US not-for-profit organization to research, restore

and exhibit works by women artists in storage in

Tuscany’s churches and museums. Nearly two

thousand works were waiting to be reclaimed,

and Jane – by then known in Florence as ‘Indiana

Jane’ – was committed to rescuing them from

oblivion or decay. Bathsheba would ultimately

grace the cover of her Invisible Women: Forgotten

Artists of Florence, a book that became the catalyst

for immediate change on the Florence art scene

and, years later, in 2013, would inspire the Emmywinning

PBS television special of the same name.

Since its early days, AWA’s gifts to Florence have

gone far beyond holiday giving. Following Jane’s

”

News of Indiana Jane’s

quest has made the pages

of countless newspapers

around the world

mantra ‘one artwork at a time’, sixty paintings and

sculptures by female artists whose works span

five centuries have been restored and returned

to the museum spotlight in venues like the Uffizi

Galleries, the Santa Croce Complex, the Accademia

Gallery, the Last Supper Museum of Andrea del

Sarto and the San Marco Museum to name a few.

Jane’s decades-long efforts to restore Nelli’s oeuvre

laid the groundwork for the artist’s first-ever solo

show at the Uffizi in 2017. Her dream to make Nelli

a household name is quickly becoming reality.

News of Indiana Jane’s quest has made the pages of

countless newspapers around the world including

USA Today, The Guardian, Spain’s El Pais and

Italy’s Corriere della Sera as well as magazines in

Turkey, Germany, Mexico, and even Siberia.

As a Trustee of the Medici Archive Project in

Florence, she established the Jane Fortune Research


JANE TRIBUTE

Program on Women Artists in 2010. The dynasty’s

vast archives, Jane believed, was comprised of

precious documents that could offer insight on

female artists who had painted at the Medici court.

She was indeed right, and the program, headed by

Dr. Sheila Barker, has engendered discoveries that

have virtually revolutionized scholarship, especially

with regards to the life of Artemisia Gentileschi.

Jane’s work has been honored with numerous

awards from her adoptive city, where she lived

part-time for over 25 years with her life partner

Bob Hesse. She was in the ranks of singer Andrea

Boccelli and filmmaker Franco Zefferelli as

recipient of the Tuscan American Award in 2013.

Zeffirelli, whose work she deeply admired, would

later be featured in the Emmy-nominated PBS

documentary When the World Answered: Florence,

Women Artists and the 1966 Flood, based on

the book that she co-authored in 2014. During

filming, the maestro who has created some of the

twentieth-century’s most significant films, would

recognize his affinity with Indiana Jane. Taking

both of her hands in his, he captured the core

of her persona in three simple words: ‘Anything

for Florence’. In 2015, she was awarded ‘Il Fiorino

d’Oro’ - Florence’s highest honor - by Mayor

Dario Nardella in a ceremony held in the Palazzo

Vecchio’s Salone dei Cinquecento.

Florence was not the only beneficiary of Jane’s

tireless efforts. Long before becoming ‘Indiana Jane’,

she had spent a lifetime supporting museums and

university programs, particularly in her hometown of

Indianapolis, but also in Philadelphia, Washington

and New York. For Jane, supporting the arts in the

United States was very much a question of working

to increase art accessibility for disabled persons. This

commitment was paramount in her role as trustee

or advisory council member at the Indianapolis

Museum of Art, the National Museum of Women in

the Arts in Washington DC (where she founded the

Florence Committee of NMWA in 2005), the Indiana

University Museum of Art and the Pennsylvania

Academy of the Fine Arts. At PAFA, she would

found the Special Needs Program which resulted

in the establishment of a Women’s Board Endowed

Scholarship dedicated to persons with disabilities.

In 2007, she received the Indianapolis Museum

of Art’s Accessibility Award for her leadership and

financial support of the museum’s accessibility

program. In 2008, she was honored with the ‘Spirit


JANE TRIBUTE

of Philanthropy Award’, jointly granted by Indiana

University, Purdue University and the Herron School

of Art and Design in Indianapolis.

Recounting Jane’s countless contributions is

a titanic feat and only a handful will be reported

here. Jane served as Chairman of the Board of the

Deafness Research Foundation in New York City

and as its volunteer President/CEO. In Philadelphia,

Jane co-founded ‘US Artists, an American Fine Art

Show and Sale’, which benefitted the Pennsylvania

Academy of Fine Arts. She spearheaded notable

initiatives as an honorary member of the Dean’s

Advisory Board at the Herron School of Art and

Design in Indianapolis, where she endowed the

Outstanding Visiting Artist Lecture Series which

featured contemporary artists ranging from Judy

Chicago and Audrey Flack to Betty Woodman and

Maria Magdalena Compos-Pons.

In 2014, together with ‘the love of her life’

Robert Hesse, Jane was recognized as a ‘Living

Legend’ by the Indiana Historical Society. Bob

passed in 2015, but the last years of their life

together were particularly dynamic. 2008 was a

milestone year. They co-founded the Indianapolis

City Ballet, which repeatedly brought the world’s

top dancers to Indianapolis for an ‘Evening with

the Stars’ and master classes with local students

of dance. In 2010, purely for fun, they opened a

Tuscan restaurant, Bella Fortuna North, in Leland

Michigan, their tried-and-true holiday spot, where

they were vintners of a wine labelled Bella Fortuna.

This year, in 2018, Bob was posthumously honored

at the Chautauqua Institution where he served

as president from 1977 and 1983. He is now the

namesake of the Dr. Robert R. Hesse Welcome and

Business Center, a perfect fit. Jane, on the other

hand, received a second tribute from the Indiana

Historical Society: the Art Patron’s Award.

With a lifetime of laurels to choose from,

Timeless Travels editor Fiona Richards asked Jane

to recount her greatest accomplishment in a 2015

interview. Her response did not surprise those who


JANE TRIBUTE

”

Until the very end, Jane remained

steadfast, standing at the helm of the

organizations she had so lovingly forged,

her vision for change undimmed

knew her: ‘Raising two wonderful children, John

Medveckis and Jennifer Medveckis Marzo, whose

giving spirits, values and ethics I am very proud of.’

Jane’s most recent endeavor, A Space of their

Own, was formalized as a pilot project in 2017 and

is rapidly expanding. It brings together Advancing

Women Artists, the Eskenazi Museum of Art

and Indiana University, where she had received

an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters in

2010. Its purpose is to build the largest and most

comprehensive international database and website

through which findings on historic women artists

from the 1500s to the 1800s can be accessed.

Jane continued as a public speaker throughout

2018. In her last engagement at Saint Vincent’s

Hospital Cancer Support Group, Jane told the

audience: ‘My message to you is don’t give up. I am

not going to let cancer take over my life and my

life’s passion.’ And so it was. Cancer has claimed

her body, but never - never did it crush her spirit

or diminish her courage. Until the very end, Jane

remained steadfast, standing at the helm of the

organizations she had so lovingly forged, her vision

for change undimmed.

Jane died on September 23, 2018 in Indianapolis.

She believed her life’s work happened by chance.

But chances are … she was chosen. Chosen to light

a path we must continue to follow, as she did, one

beautiful step at a time.


JANE’S LEGACY

”

Plautilla Nelli, Artemisia Gentileschi, Irene Parenti Duclos,

Felice de Fauveau and Lea Colliva represent each of the five

centuries of art by women spanned by AWA’s achievements.


A

Lasting Legacy

One picture is worth a thousand words... and 60 pictures speak volumes

Lamentation with Saints was Jane Fortune’s first-ever

restoration. Its author, Plautilla Nelli, heads a long

line of women artists whose works Jane took from

obscurity to the limelight. Jane’s forays into the storage

vaults of Florence’s museums and churches yielded scores

of canvases by women in need of restoration, and her

contacts with curators and restorers led to discoveries of

evermore recent artworks in need of attention.

Over the past twelve years, more than 60 artworks

by women have benefitted from AWA’s ministrations –

from full restorations to timely interventions to prevent

deterioration. Works on canvas, board and paper, as well

as sculptures in various media, have been revived and

safeguarded for future generations.

They may not be household names (yet!), but Plautilla

Nelli, Artemisia Gentileschi, Irene Parenti Duclos, Felice de

Fauveau and Lea Colliva represent each of the five centuries

of art by women spanned by AWA’s achievements. All

taking their place in history thanks to Jane’s vision,

determination and inspiration.


JANE’S LEGACY


JANE’S LEGACY


JANE’S LEGACY

”

Jane’s forays into the storage vaults of Florence’s

museums and churches yielded scores of canvases by

women in need of restoration


Back-stage and up front

An exhibition is the result of numerous hopes and the product of many

working hands. Celebrate the opening with ‘before and after’ snaps of

the show – from set-up to sight-to-see.

“ She wants to paint like a man and,

sometimes, she succeeds,” reads a

1929 review of Leonetta Pieraccini

Cecchi’s work by an art critic called Tinti.

Now, nearly ninety years later, we at AWA

say: “She wanted to paint like a woman

and, indeed, she always succeeds.” Our

exhibition, Women Artists. Florence 1900-

1950, co-sponsored by the Fondazione CR

Firenze, focuses on Cecchi’s paintings, as

well as those by artist Fillide Levasti, her

lifelong friend.

This gem-like exhibition, curated by

Lucia Mannini and Chiara Toti, will run

until November 18, 2018 at our partner’s

Spazio Mostre, just a few minutes’ walk

from the Duomo in central Florence.

The show enjoys the patronage of the US

Consulate in Florence.


NEW EXHIBITION

”

Every Thursday for the month of October

AWA volunteers are leading tours of the show

to raise awareness of this little-known century,

and the network of women who flanked

Cecchi and Levasti in their creative journeys

Every Thursday for the month of

October AWA volunteers are leading tours

of the show to raise awareness of this

little-known century, and the network of

women who flanked Cecchi and Levasti

in their creative journeys. “Now that you

have a room of your own and the children

have grown, will you be painting some?”


NEW EXHIBITION

Far left: “Say cheese”: Conservator

Rossella Lari and Fondazione CR

Firenze’s Paola Petrosino with curators

Lucia Mannini and Chiara Toti.

wrote Levasti to Cecchi in 1920. “If so, now

is the time for the lovely part to begin!”

We believe the show embodies the

joyous moments of creative freedom

that Levasti hoped for in her letter. A

bridge across time, this exhibition is an

extension of ‘the room’ that Cecchi finally

had to herself.


Who stole the show?

The painters who authored our newly restored “ works get ‘top billing’ but

who are the other fascinating twentieth-century women whose paintings and

sculptures are featured in the exhibition Women Artists. Florence 1900-1950?

ELISABETH CHAPLIN (1890 – 1982)

French by birth, Chaplin spent much of her life in Florence,

residing in the hills of Fiesole at Villa Treppiede where she

painted, capturing members of her family on canvas; she used

flagrant colors and a brand of light that imbued her figures

with symbolist undertones recalling the post-impressionist

culture that had been long cultivated in Florence by the most

experienced artists and collectors. After a long post-war sojourn

in Rome, Chaplin would divide her time between France and

Florence, favoring decorative themes and monumental allegories

characterized by fresco-like color and natural luminescence.

EVELYN SCARAMPI (1890 – 1975)

Born in England, Scarampi would settle in Florence in 1907,

where she would cultivate a friendship with Giovanni Costetti.

One of the few women sculptors of her time, Scarampi would

set up her studio at the ‘Palazzo dei Pittori’ in viale Milton,

where Costetti and his wife Mai Sewell also had their atelier.

Sewell was a fellow sculptor and ceramist whose oeuvre has since

been virtually lost. Fillide Levasti was another of Scarampi’s

dear friends and companions. Correspondence stored at the

Marucelliana Library’s Levasti Archive confirms this fact, as

does the portrait tribute that the sculptor dedicated to Fillide.

Scarampi’s essential works in terracotta, bronze, marble or stone

have an archaic sort of flair, even when she depicts more worldly

subjects, as with Girl with a hat.

MARISA MORI (1900 – 1985)

Born in Florence at the turn of the century, Mori forged her

identity as an early twentieth-century artist, working in myriad

fields such as painting, fashion, theater, cuisine, photography

and cinema. Her debut in Turin in the 1920s was marked by her

enrollment in Felice Casorati’s school, where she developed an

aptitude for rigorous compositional study. Light and color were at

the center of her painterly research, especially in Florence in 1931

when she joined the ranks of Futurism, as a result of her urgent

quest for new expressive media. This fruitful creative season is

epitomized by The jazz player and The physical exhilaration of

maternity. In the latter, the artist metabolized the adventure of

flying, which Marinetti had encouraged her to experience.


NEW EXHIBITION

ELENA SALVANESCHI (1900 – 1961)

The training she received at Felice Casorati’s school in Turin during the

1920s would leave its mark on her entire body of works, and the master’s

influence is particularly evident in her portraits whose sitters carefully

occupy each canvas, touched by the painter’s very personal emotion-driven

brush. The bulk of Salvaneschi’s portraits depict women. In 1933, she moved

from Turin to Florence, as did Marisa Mori whom she met again among

the ranks of the Florentine Lyceum, where Salvaneschi held a significant

organizational role during its prosperous exhibition season in the 1930s.

FLAVIA ARLOTTA (1913 – 2010)

After moving to Florence in 1930, Arlotta met painter Giovanni Colacicchi

who became her drawing instructor for an admissions exam at the

Accademia di Belle Arti. The pair fell in love and an artistic fellowship

ensued, thanks to which Arlotta frequented Giovanni’s artist friends like

Onofrio Martinelli. Arlotta derived a “classic” sense of her own from this

exchange, as seen in Poppies, in which the sobriety of the composition

contrasts with freshness of the pictorial technique, or in Still life with

a box of dates, where her knowledge of drawing both channels and

mitigates her colorist vein.

ADRIANA PINCHERLE (1905 – 1996)

Sister to novelist Alberto Moravia, she had pre-existing ties to Tuscany

and Florence, where she settled for good in 1940 after marrying Onofrio

Martinelli. Pincherle would share her life and her art with him, in fact,

the couple was known for using the very same easel. She made full use

of her coloristic gifts – already revealed during her Roman years – by

authoring successful Cubist and Fauves works, recognizable in her

sliding perspective and skewed scenes with wobbly tables, and in the

flatness with which she applied her colors inside dark outlines, forming a

guilloche pattern.

These short descriptions on each featured artist appeared on exhibition

signage, prepared by co-curators Chiara Toti and Lucia Mannini.

Elisabeth Chaplin’s Girl

with a cloak (top right)

and Elena Salvaneschi’s

Figure in white and

Teacher with a red pen.


S

tories of women in paint & on page

A series of lectures and guided visits spotlight the literary and intellectual

atmosphere that influenced the artists in the exhibition Women Artists. Florence

1900-1950. Associazione Culturale Il Palmerino, one of the project’s founding

partners, plays host at its villa headquarters until November 18. For complete

program details, visit AWA’s events section at: www.advancingwomenartists.org

ANNA MARIA BARTOLINI. ART AND MEMORY

Anna Maria Bartolini (1934-2013) was a Florentine artist. Born

one generation after the artists on show, Bartolini has an affinity

with her predecessors that is rooted in her fondness for painting

literature-based themes. Her series, inspired by M. Bulgakov’s

The Master and Margarite, is exhibited in celebration of the

event, which includes a guided visit of Villa Il Palermino and

its gardens, once residence of writer Vernon Lee (1856-1935)

and painter Lola Costa (1903-2004). In collaboration with the

Archivio per la Memoria e la Scrittura delle Donne “Alessandra

Contini Bonacossi”. LECTURERS INCLUDE Luisella

Bernardini, Rosalia Manno Tolu and Ernestina Pellegrini.

A TOUR OF PALAZZO DEI PITTORI

Since its construction in the second half of the nineteenth

century, Palazzo Swertschkoff has been known as ‘The Painters’

Palace’. Located on viale Milton, which runs along the Mugnone

creek, it has always hosted ateliers belonging to artists from Italy

and abroad, including painter Fillide Levasti. This tour offers a

fascinating glimpse of a palazzo that continues its art-inspired

mission in modern times. THIS VISIT IS LED BY Valentino

Moradei and Chiara Toti.


LECTURES

Left: Leonetta Cecchi's Portrait of Sibilla Almerano

and Adriana Pincherle's Coral necklace.

Right, from top to bottom: Palazzo dei Pittori,

Elisabeth Chaplin's Nennette reading and Flavia

Arlotta's Still life with a box of dates

FROM A TO B: SIBILLA ALERAMO

AND ANNA BANTI. WOMEN’S

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WRITINGS IN

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

A focus on two exponents of the autobiographical

form in literature: Sibilla Aleramo (Una donna,

1906) and Anna Banti. The latter’s Artemisia–

written in Florence and published in 1953– explores

the challenges of being a woman artist. Women’s

autobiographical writings from the twentieth

century have not yet received the attention they

deserve, much like artworks produced by women

in the same period. LECTURER Ursula Fanning.

BEHIND THE MIRROR. LEONETTA

PIERACCINI CECCHI, THE WRITER

Leonetta Pieraccini Cecchi was both painter and

writer. Her books Visti da vicino (1952), Vecchie

agendine (1960) and Agendina di guerra (1964)

were drawn from her many diaries, in which she

recounted the vicissitudes of daily life in words

and pictures. Not only did she capture the essence

of the domestic sphere, she also explored the

multi-faceted atmosphere characterizing the

interwar period, populated by the notable artists

and literati she frequented in both Florence and

Rome. A special guest at the event: the artist’s

granddaughter Nanà Cecchi D’Amico, WITH

SCHOLAR Margherita Ghilardi.

ILLUSTRATORS IN FLORENCE. “JUST

THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF POETRY,

HUMOR AND UNEXPECTED FAIRY-

TALE FLAIR”

This lecture shines a spotlight on little-known

female artists from the interwar period who

worked chiefly in publishing and illustration, fields

that were considered: “One of the few territories

women were allowed to explore, because it was

modest and not ostentatious.” A series of their

illustrations will be on show in Il Palmerino’s

exhibition room. LECTURER Lucia Mannini.


Exhibition catalog:

Women artists. Florence 1900-1950

AWA’s newest publication is the exhibition catalog for Women artists. Florence

1900-1950, curated by Lucia Mannini and Chiara Toti and published by

Florence-based Polistampa (September 2018). In her foreword, AWA Founder

Jane Fortune captured the essence of a multi-faceted project.

M

“ y illustrious Lordship…”

Whenever art by ‘invisible’ female artists is

delivered to the exhibition spotlight, it represents an

invitation and it initiates a dialog. Women Artists.

Florence 1900 to 1950 is no exception. In this instance,

the invitation is to see and to study the hidden face

of twentieth-century Italy. Yet, the conversation we

hope this project will engender began far earlier. In

1649 Artemisia Gentileschi penned a letter to Sicilian

nobleman Don Antonio Ruffio with the statement

that started it all: “My illustrious Lordship, I will show

you what a woman can do.”

Happily, in my work with AWA over the past 12

years, Artemisia’s mission has become our own.

In this time, I have learned that two principal

undertakings make this feat possible. The first is

restoration. No other tool is more powerful when

it comes to reclaiming the original dignity of an

artwork, both in structure and in essence. Eight

paintings by women artists from the Gabinetto G.

P. Vieusseux and the Uffizi’s Gallery of Modern

Art benefitted from conservation treatment

on this occasion. The second is the creation of

partnerships. Only when the effort to reclaim

art by women pervades every cultural tier - from

the world-renowned museum and the highly-


NEW PUBLICATION

”

May the pursuit of mastery be coupled with the

celebration of the familiar, for in both the majestic

and the quotidian there is beauty to be had.

esteemed institution, to the lovingly-maintained

archives and even individual family homes - will

we deeply value and understand the contributions

of historic women artists. For this very reason, I

sincerely thank the formidable players that have

made this project possible.

Twentieth-century women began documenting

their lives with more frequency and freedom than

those of previous eras, and this exhibition-based

project, the third in a series celebrating the work

of modern women artists in Florence, began as the

brainchild of Associazione Culturale Il Palmerino

whose founders envisioned it as a way of capturing

‘living memory’. The premise was to document the

lives of female artists while those who knew them

were still able to recount their cherished firsthand

stories. To this end, this edition’s in-town

show is flanked by Il Palmerino’s lecture series

‘Stories by Women in Paint and on Page’, and the

Marucelliana Library’s archive-inspired exhibition

centered around artist Fillide Levasti.

The twentieth century does not yet get ‘top

billing’ in the city where Renaissance scholars

abound, but it is fitting to host these important

events in Florence, for the city is still a Medici

daughter, and the dynasty did much to dignify

and popularize the genres so prevalent in our

keynote exhibition at the Fondazione CR Firenze:

portraiture and still-life. By showcasing the themes

most commonly depicted by women throughout

the ages, this show is a celebration of all that is

familiar, of all that is dear, of all that is quietly

within reach.

There is much debate as to whether all-women

shows continue to have a place in the art world

today. By all means, let’s debate it! And as we do,

let us talk about why that discussion somehow

still needs to take place. There is one principle

on which everyone can agree: we must move

forward in our efforts to bring the art of women

from storage into the public gaze, shining a light

on the trials and the whimsy of the artists that

touch our hearts as well as our minds. Will these

art works always reveal mastery? No. What they

will reveal is the need to transform and record the

human experience, for it is through this yearning

that we will reach the end and the beginning of

our own creative quest. It is not without a wink to

Artemisia, that I say it: May the pursuit of mastery

be coupled with the celebration of the familiar,

for in both the majestic and the quotidian there is

beauty to be had.

Jane Fortune, LHD

AWA Founder and Chair


“WOMEN IN LIFE, AND IN ART”

Florence became fertile ground in which to

celebrate the culture of modern and historic

women, as the city geared up for events both

in and out of town, during September’s Women’s

Heritage Festival, (L’eredità delle donne) launched

in Palazzo Vecchio’s Sala delle Armi on September

20. Besides AWA-inspired events like guided visits

to see the restoration of Nelli’s Crucifixion in its

final stages and tours at Santa Croce ‘in pink’, here

are just three among the many festival highlights.

Many of our museum friends rolled out the red

carpet for female heritage: Santa Maria Novella

exhibited Giovanna Garzoni’s stunning silk altar

hanging (1647) featuring her signature blooms and

God the Father in Flight; the Bargello hosted tours

entitled Women in Life and Art which zeroed in on

the role of women in Medieval and Renaissance

times, based on the hand-crafted objects that were

often included in their dowries.


WOMEN’S HERITAGE

Left: The Bargello

Museum, Garzoni’s altar

hanging, Villa La Quiete.

Above: Press conference

for the Women’s

Heritage Festival at

Palazzo Vecchio’s Sala

delle Armi

La Quiete, the usually-closed villa that was home to

Grand Duchesses Cristina de Lorraine, Vittoria della

Rovere and Anna Maria Luisa (the festival’s godmother)

was abuzz with visitors enthralled by the tastes of the

Medici women.

The events – 130 in all – are far too numerous to list but

included a line-up of literati, actors, musicians, athletes,

politicians, chefs, scientists and entrepreneurs.


GABINETTO VIEUSSEUX


Into the Archives

Paintings restored for Florence’s Gabinetto Vieusseux

LEONETTA PIERACCINI CECCHI

(1882 – 1977)

A native of Poggibonsi, Leonetta Pieraccini

Cecchi trained with Macchiaioli artist

Giovanni Fattori at the Accademia di Belle Arti in

Florence. Her friend Fillide Giorgi was also enrolled

there at the same time, and Leonetta would often

spend time at the Giorgi home. Both women were

initially influenced by the works of painter Giovanni

Costetti. Leonetta’s relationship with Emilio Cecchi

was also pivotal, and she would marry the art critic in

1911. Once the couple had moved to Rome, she would

continue back-and-forth journeys to Florence and

Tuscany. As she tended to her growing family over

the course of the 1920s, her painting embraced the

canons of “modern naturalism” (C. Carrà, 1928) which

emphasized her narrative skills as well as her fondness

for daily-life scenes in which her husband and children

play protagonist, along with the vast entourage of

artists and literati she frequented.

Five out of six of Cecchi’s portraits on show during

Women Artists. Florence 1900-1950 were restored by

conservators Angela Gavazzi and Rossella Lari for

the CR Firenze exhibition. Since 1982, these works

have formed part of the Cecchi Archive hosted at the

Gabinetto Vieusseux’s “Archivio contemporaneo”. A

room at the Palazzo Corsini Suarez hosts the archival

documents of Emilio and Leonetta, in addition to

her paintings and his library, evoking the owners’

presence. Upon returning ‘home’, the paintings will

be on display in the Vieusseux’s many reading rooms.

The tone of Leonetta’s archival documents denote

her keenness for capturing the quotidian. Cesare

Pascarella’s rough sketch-like visage was the product

of a single sitting and is a throwback to her portrait

series depicting the literati who frequented the Cecchi

home. Whether in painting or on the page, the artistwriter

depicts her ‘sitters’ with formidable descriptive

acumen.

Left: Restorers

Angela Gavazzi and

Rossella Lari at

work.

Above and right:

One of Cecchi’s

family portraits

and a sketch of

Cesare Pascarella.

Texts adapted from museum signage by Lucia Mannini

and Chiara Toti, for Women Artists. Florence. 1900-

1950.


From the Uffizi Galleries to the Atelier

Vittoria Morelli’s “psychological” breakfast scene restored

Interior with Figures by Vittoria Morelli

The colors of an invisible artist shine through.

Vittoria Morelli’s Interior with Figures from the

Pitti’s Gallery of Modern Art (now part of the Uffizi

Galleries) was restored in September 2018. Morelli

died at an early age, and historical references to her

life and works are scant. Active in Florence in the

1910s and 1920s, she was a beloved friend to fellow

artist Fillide Levasti. Creator of fashion plates for

Maria Monaci Gallenga, she was also an illustrator

for children’s books and for the Giornalino della

Domenica. She gained acclaim for her largescale

figurative painting and garnered success at

significant international exhibitions of her day.

Morelli’s breakfast scene exemplifies her solid

painterly technique characterized by well-executed

‘grandiose gestures’ that give narrative strength to

her scenes of everyday life.


RESTORATION REVIEW

Lower right: Restorer Chiara Mignani in

her studio with Vittoria Morelli’s painting

The core of the question

Restorers understand the soul of the artist. That’s

what we’ve learned through our conservation

projects at AWA. No one can get to the heart of a

painting as a restorer can, and truly understand its

creator. This is why we asked conservator Sandra

Pucci what she could tell us about Vittoria Morelli’s

Interior with Figures. Here are her views: “This

painting is introspective; she paid a lot of attention

to the message she is trying to give. It is a slice-oflife

piece depicting a precise world. It represents a

specific fashion, specific years. Everything about it,

the jewelry, the embroidery on the table cloth… the

clothes. The way they are posing and the colors she

uses. The maid, for example, occupies a large part

of the scene – 50 percent of the scene even. She’s

like a pillar of the painting. It’s a message of social

organization. It’s a painting by a woman who has the

capacity for analysis. It’s a closed, introspective piece.”


RESTORATION REVIEW

”

In Interior with Figures, her fondness for the

lexicon of daily life is supported by a solid, wellexecuted

painterly technique that provides an

affectionate snapshot radiating warmth and

capturing traditional customs.

What do you need to know about

Vittoria Morelli?

Exhibition co-curator Lucia Mannini provides a

clue: “A native Florentine, Vittoria Morelli (1892

– 1931) moved to Rome as a child. A painter and

illustrator for children’s books and advertising,

Morelli maintained strong ties with her native city

and she came bursting into fellow-painter Fillide

Levasti’s life with all the colorful verve that typified

members of the Giornalino della Domenica.

Morelli felt an affinity with Fillide’s good-natured

disposition. Portraits of Morelli, painted during

her visits to “viale Miltonne”, bear witness to their

friendship, as do the hundreds of letters written

from 1918 to 1931, in which Morelli keeps Levasti

up to date on her life and the evolution of Roman

exhibitions. In Interior with Figures, her fondness

for the lexicon of daily life is supported by a solid,

well-executed painterly technique that provides

an affectionate snapshot radiating warmth and

capturing traditional customs.”


E

veryday excitement

AWA spoke to Florence conservators Sandra Pucci and Chiara Mignani

about their experience of restoring Fillide Levasti’s Daily Life.

Their answers reveal a world unknown.

How is restoring modern art different from

working on Renaissance canvases?

CM: “I like working on modern art much more

than I do on pieces from other centuries. In

fact, one day, I’d like to begin working with the

conservation of contemporary art. Working with

modern art stimulates you to find new restoration

solutions. When treating historical paintings,

there are already consolidated methods and a preestablished

way of doing things. But new materials

are far more reactive to solvents and acetone – they

are more sensitive and there is no time-trusted way

to proceed. So, it’s rather exciting to be part of a

pioneering field in this sense.”

What challenges did you face while restoring

Fillide Levasti’s Daily Life?

CM: This painting had to be treated for paint

detachment and color loss, so we secured the color

onto the canvas and carried out stucco-work. It’s

an oil-on-cardboard painting and cardboard tends

to lose its shape over time… that is a problem to


RESTORATION REVIEW

”

...one day, I’d like to begin working with

the conservation of contemporary art.

Working with modern art stimulates you

to find new restoration solutions.

look out for especially on the edges. To correct

deformation, we created a climatic chamber to

expose it to humidity. We then dried it under

a press, before extending it onto the stretcher.

This helped it to regain its proper form. A surface

cleaning was carried out with latex sponges similar

to those used to remove make-up. In this case,

there was no need for old varnish to be removed.”

What have you learned about Fillide Levasti

through your restoration of her paintings?

SP: “We have developed a beautiful relationship

with the painter over the course of this project.

Working on a painting by a woman is a unique

experience. It makes you think. I am not able

to determine whether a painting was done by a

woman or not. It’s too difficult to tell. Levasti,

though, is extremely technical. She executes her

paintings carefully and is exceptionally descriptive,

as if she was telling a children’s story.”

Is it common for female conservators in

Florence to restore art by women?

SP: “I’ve had some other opportunities to work

on art by women because I often work with the

Gallery of Modern Art (Pitti), but it doesn’t happen

that much. I believe it is because these works are

not well-known and not as many works by female

artists are part of the museum circuit.”

Upper right: Chiara Mignani

restores Daily Life


RESTORATION REVIEW

Whether in the studio or displayed for public

viewing, many female art lovers express

wonder at seeing Levasti's painting, by saying, "Oh,

it looks like a dollhouse I had as a child!"

"Levasti's urban views are populated by figures

who wander amidst the cube-like geometry of her

buildings and archaic landscapes. Her curious

gaze explored teeming everyday activities, giving

life to what has become a zestful and enchanting

repertoire of a lost Florence, once home to

carnival rides and washerwomen, cartwrights

and lamplighters, housewives hanging laundry,

nursemaids, travelling photographers and women

sewing on their terraces. Her world straddles

reality and fairytale, and its limpid and wellmeasured

color makes her oeuvre an extraordinary

episode within the painterly route trodden by most

artists who gravitated toward the Florence art

scene."

Lucia Mannini


Trade Secrets and the Artist’s Hand

A visit to the restoration studio reveals Levasti’s Houses in Demolition

“Quintessential” Demolition

Restored in 2018 for the exhibition Women Artists.

Florence 1900-1950, Fillide Levasti’s Houses in

Demolition is ordinarily in storage at the Uffizi

Galleries at Pitti’s Modern Art Gallery. The

exhibition’s co-curators Chiara Toti and Lucia

Mannini describe the artist’s style of the period:

“Throughout the 1920s, artist Fillide Levasti would

chiefly paint painstakingly researched still-life

works reminiscent of German and French art.

By the 1930s, her painting became increasingly

characterized by her quest for purity with spurred

the artist to turn her gaze to the every-day

activities and trades typical of the viale Milton

neighborhood, home to Palazzo dei Pittori, where

her studio was located. This ultimately resulted in

whimsical views of a Florence suspended in time,

which would become the quintessential trademark

of her oeuvre by the end of the second World War.”

Spit and polish?

A unique restoration method will ‘shock’ those

not in the know. Have you ever heard the English

expression, “Spit and polish ‘til it shines”? In a


RESTORATION REVIEW

Restorer Sandra Pucci works on

Fillide Levasti’s Houses in Demolition

recent interview with Florence-based restorer

Sandra Pucci, AWA learned that – in bygone times

– artisans took the phrase literally. Fillide Levasti’s

newly restored painting was still in the restoration

studio in the Santo Spirito neighborhood when

Sandra revealed the ‘technique’ used on the

twentieth-century painter’s Pitti painting: “On

Houses in Demolition we did a surface cleaning,

using artificial saliva which is essentially a

chemical reproduction of the enzymes in our own

salvia, which was used on occasion in the past,”

Pucci explained. “It allows us to remove surface dirt

without damaging the varnish.”

‘The bustle of life’ fresco-style

In the restoration studio we find out what an artist

was really like. “I admire how Levasti applies her

impasto in Houses in Demolition,” says conservator

Sandra Pucci, when asked what she had learned

about the artist while restoring the Pitti work.

“I do find the sky color quite murky, in terms of

chromatic choice, but it is certainly authored by an

expert hand. For many centuries, it was the style to

use small brushes to produce carefully constructed

paintings. Houses in Demolition is almost

reminiscent of a fresco,” Pucci concludes.

In the exhibition catalog Women Artists.

Florence 1900-1950, art historian Chiara Toti

describes the painter’s response to the viale Milton

neighborhood “…where the Levastis both lived and

had their studio. She captures the authenticity of

daily life, portraying women’s chores on terraces

and in courtyards or the bustle of life in the

neighborhood’s squares.”


ADF TEN


THE ADF TEN

Standing together for Judas

The brilliant idea to invite sponsors to Adopt an Apostle in

Plautilla Nelli’s Last Supper in order to fund its restoration had

only one snag - who would want to adopt Judas?

Upper left and

right: Mark Smith,

Beverley McLachlin

Lower left and

right: Monica

Martin with Wayne

McArdle, Sarah

Dunant

The Art Defense Fund for Judas (ADF) was

created to bring together ten sponsors to

ensure that the least popular Apostle was

not left ‘homeless’. Here’s who has made the ADF

a success:

By chance, former Chief Justice of Canada,

Beverley McLachlin had attended a revival of

the musical Jesus Christ Superstar not long before

she learned about the ADF. She had been struck

by the ambivalence of the character of Judas.

When Christ urges him to ‘hurry - they are waiting’,

Judas replies, ‘you want me to do it! What if I just

stayed here and ruined your ambition?’ ‘I started

to look at Judas in a new light,’ says Beverley. ‘I

saw him as a more nuanced character and less as a

pantomime villain.’

Similarly, British historian and novelist Sarah

Dunant was instinctively drawn to the dramatic

tension of the story of Christ’s betrayal and the

crucial role that Judas played in setting in motion the

events that led not only to the crucifixion - but also to

the salvation of humanity through the resurrection.

For English barrister Nicholas Davidson, the

ADF represented a perfect application of the ‘Cab

Rank’ Rule - according to which barristers, like cab

drivers, are obliged to take the next customer in

the queue. Which defense lawyer has not, at some

time, taken on a disreputable client or a shaky

case - all in support of the greater cause of justice?

The ADF drew support from other legally-trained

sponsors, namely, Ingrid Furtado, a South

African lawyer now living in London, and Susan

Mazza a some-time resident of Florence, who

recently retired from legal practice in California.

Support for Judas also came from long-standing

friends of AWA such as travel specialist and

author Mark Gordon Smith and IA Council

member Elizabeth Negrey. Mark was a

generous supporter of the FirstLast Crowdfunding

Campaign, riding in as a white knight at the

eleventh hour with a significant contribution to

ensure that the campaign met its target. Elizabeth

has been an advocate for many AWA projects and a

strong supporter of AWA’s mission. The ADF was

just one more opportunity for them to show their

unwavering commitment.

Brenda Schneider and her daughter

Jennifer Schneider are recent converts to the

AWA cause but are no less fervent for that. While

attending a charity event in Italy in August, Brenda

and Jennifer were introduced to AWA, Nelli’s Last

Supper and the ADF by Jane Adams, AWA’s Partner

Relations Manager. They both jumped at the

chance to support Nelli’s historic painting. That

moment of discovering the existence of so many

invisible women artists - and learning that there is

an organisation devoted to giving them a voice - is

a familiar one to all of us at AWA.

Among the reasons Canadian banker, Michael

Furtado chose to sign on to the ADF was the

thought of being able to take his two young

daughters to view the finished painting in the

Museum of Santa Maria Novella. At the other end

of the age spectrum, the ADF’s oldest member at

94, Monica Martin, another Canadian, recalled

a trip to Venice some fifty years ago, touring the

churches filled with paintings by Titian, Tintoretto,

Bellini . ‘All men!’ she said. ‘Not one woman.’ She

was delighted to be able to help in bringing Nelli’s

Last Supper out of the storage vaults to be restored

and exhibited in its rightful place beside other

great Renaissance works.

To all of our generous ADF members:

Grazie di cuore.


ADF TEN

Clockwise from top left:

Nicholas Davidson,

Susan Mazza and Arnie

LaGuardia, Jennifer and

Brenda Schneider with the

Mayor of San Gimignano,

Michael and Ingrid

Furtado, Elizabeth Negrey


A GALLERY OF SAINTLY ADOPTERS

The Adopt an Apostle Campaign has succeeded in its mission to

find ‘homes’ for all twelve Apostles in Plautilla Nelli’s Last Supper!

Keep your eye on the Top Sponsors page of the AWA website to read

upcoming features on all of our saintly sponsors.

Alice Vogler

Saint James the Elder

Bill Fortune & Joe Blakley

Saint Peter

Pam Fortune

Saint Phillip

Dave and Betty Schneider

Saint Thomas

Donna Malin

Jesus Christ

Kari Haataja, Frank McArdle, Margaret MacKinnon, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin,

Wayne McArdle & Katherine Haataja. (Kari & Katherine adopted Saint Simon;

Margaret & Wayne adopted Saint Judas Thaddeus in honor of C.J. McLachlin.)

Cay Fortune

Saint John

Nancy (left) and Dave Galliher, Saint

James the Lesser; Jane Emma Adams

(right), Saint Bartholomew

Deborah and Ted Lily

Saint Andrew

Jane Fortune

Saint Matthew

(the Saint under the signature)


B

ejeweled wings

AWA’s revamped Art Angel program takes flight

Art lovers around the world

are looking to become more

involved in AWA’s mission

and to join the Foundation’s growing

community. That’s why AWA Board

and IA Council members decided to

redesign the Art Angel Program to

create a range of opportunities for

annual giving.

The program brings together

Florentines and people from all over

the world who wish to build a network

and pledge their annual support.

Art angels can take flight with silver,

gold, ruby, emerald and diamond

wings! Whether given as a gift to

someone special or made as a personal

tribute to art by women, Art Angel

pledges help us promote and protect

hidden works by women artists that

deserve recognition.

At each level of giving, AWA’s Art

Angels receive special perks that

inspire donors to cultivate their love for

Florence and its ‘invisible’ art.

Bronze Art Angel – $100 annual gift

Silver Art Angel – $250 annual gift

Gold Art Angel – $500 annual gift

Ruby Art Angel – $1,000 annual gift

Emerald Art Angel – $2,500 annual gift

Diamond Art Angel – $5,000 annual gift

Meet our first 'Emerald' Angel: Victoria Slichter

Victoria is a portraitist with an

eye for color and a soft spot for

interesting faces. Victoria values

our restorations with a painterly

eye, focussing on the techniques

and preparatory methods her

female colleagues have employed

throughout the ages.

She has lived in California for

many years, enjoying the sunny

skies and stunning vistas of Carmel

and Monterrey. Her background in

philanthropy also extends to other

arts, especially music; Victoria is

a supporter of the Carmel Bach

Festival and is a member and

fundraiser for Opera San Jose.

Additionally, she has dedicated her

time to Family Service organizations,

especially visiting the elderly.

Recently, after three decades of

Italian travel, she began renting a

long-term apartment in Florence.

A love for Italy's language and

cooking completes the picture

of Victoria's life as an 'adoptive'

Florentine.

Thank you, Victoria!


Crossing thresholds

Nelli’s lunettes reunited

Every time AWA and its dedicated

partners successfully share a

painting with the public thanks to

restoration and exhibition, it feels as

though a world has opened up – a new

threshold has been crossed.

It is a joy to see Nelli’s Crucifixion

reunited with its previously restored sister

lunettes. These evocative views of the Last

Supper Museum of Andrea del Sarto are

much like welcome signs. Project curators

Cristina Gnoni and Fausta Navarro led

the way whilst Rossella Lari worked

masterfully in the studio and Barbara Pini

provided indispensable support on site at

the museum.

An all-woman team, under the auspices

of the Polo Regionale della Toscana,

has worked to reclaim this painting

commissioned and painted by two

creative Renaissance nuns: Arcangela

Viola and Plautilla Nelli.


Songs for Nelli

Musica Secreta is a British vocal ensemble dedicated to the research and

performance of written music for and by women from the fifteenth to the

eighteenth centuries. Their mission to restore women’s voices to their proper

place in history is akin to AWA’s own quest. Together with writer Sarah Dunant

– who has authored a trilogy of novels on women’s lives in Renaissance Italy –

they will welcome AWA’s newest restoration by Plautilla Nelli into the limelight

at the San Salvi Museum’s October inauguration in Florence.

AWA sat down with Muscia Secreta’s codirector

Laurie Stras for her perspective on

‘hidden’ music ‘for and by’ women.

AWA: How important was music in sixteenthcentury

convent life?

LS: The sound of convent music was the sound of

the Renaissance city. Convents were a projection

of magnificence and civic importance. They

were also part of a city’s entertainment. Convent

music attracted the public and citizens would

make requests for prayers to be said. Nuns sang

both pre- and post-cloistering. The better and

more elaborate the music, the more effective the

intercession with the divine. Nuns’ music was

accessible to every citizen and there were many

convents in every Renaissance city. The better the

music the better the class of novices the convent

attracted; so music had economic benefits. The

nuns would be paid in gifts and kind. Families

wanted to know that their daughters were in a

place where life was bearable, and they could

reduce the dowry they were obliged to provide

the convent if the girl had a musical education.

In many ways, music was an equalizing force. A

servant nun could acquire social status in the

convent through her musical talents and choir

nuns could hold office in their communities.


NELLI SONGS

Laurie Stras (centre) with members of

Musica Secreta

AWA: What types of music would have been sung

in Nelli’s convent?

LS: The general consensus is that the Dominicans

were not overly enthusiastic about music-making,

but the musical tradition is stronger in Florence

than elsewhere in Italy. The idea that music

took religious women away from their activities

was commonly held, but Savonarola was very

much in favour of communal singing as a way

of democratising worship. Keep in mind, too,

that Saint Catherine was a musical mystic who

promoted the idea that singing was the closest you

could get to God.

Within this context, there was a lot of debate

as to whether the music should be glorious or

plain. The arch reformers believed that women’s

voices were necessary, but most had to be purged

of vanity. The Dominicans favoured simple

music. Savonarola detested polyphony which was

considered a mundane or secular practice full of

flaws. According to the Council of Trent, religious

music had to be intelligible. Music whose words

were unclear was thought to have the potential to

lead the nuns astray.

AWA: What is Musica Secreta’s mission?

LS:We want to continue to make people aware that

women do contribute and have always contributed

to the cultural life of society. The contributions

of women cannot be erased, or worse, claimed by

men. So much of women’s culture is neglected

or not protected in the same way. As in many

fields, the names of female composers cannot be

summoned. Their names are not propagated by the

press. Manuscripts have always been assumed to be

by men, for example, but women did create music

as well. So, there is a cultural emergency here.

We must show our younger colleagues things we

are going to lose if we don’t make the emotional

and intellectual effort to safeguard them. We need

to preserve and train people in the skills required

to make the music we make. By doing so, we can

re-establish women’s voices in terms of sixteenthcentury

music, ensuring that future generations

have access to education and training to approach

this repertoire.”


H

eavenly voice, masterful hand

A spotlight on the restoration of the San Marco Codices

CUSTOMS AND CAPITALS

Nelli’s precious gold-leaf-and-ink

miniatures on parchment represent the earliest

example of the artist’s work. Found in Codices

565 and 566, they are kept at Florence’s San

Marco Museum, and are dated 1558. Her

Presentation of Baby Jesus at the Temple is

inspired by the Gospel of Luke and depicts a

scene from the childhood of Christ, namely his

presentation at the Temple in Jerusalem.

Known as the Feast of Candlemas, this episode is

celebrated today in Christian churches worldwide

as a sacred feast forty days after Christmas.

According to the custom known as ‘churching

women’ (shared by Catholics, Anglicans and

Lutherans), the new mother receives a blessing for

her speedy recovery after delivery, and prayers of

thanksgiving are offered for her survival. In Nelli’s

miniature, Simeon presides over the ceremony;

he is remembered for having prophesied Christ’s

redemption of the world.

Nelli’s Adoration of the Baby Jesus with Mary,

Joseph and two nuns is on the choir-book page

dedicated to the celebration of Advent Sunday,

the day on which the spiritual preparation for the

coming of Christmas begins. Nelli’s historiated

letter has sparked an interesting question: Might

the two nuns pictured represent the artist herself,

praying with her sister Petronilla, who also lived

in the convent? There’s no telling, but in Florence,

the world capital of female self-portraiture, we like

to think that this image is Nelli’s answer to selfrepresentation!


NELLI CODEX

AWA IS NEW TO CODEX RESTORATION

Conservator Simone Martini introduced AWA to this

masterful craft.

The term codex comes from the Latin word meaning ‘trunk

of a tree’ or ‘block of wood’ (later, book). It is used today to

describe hand-written manuscripts. “All 257 pages of these

leather-bound codices underwent a dry cleaning process,

before disassembling the books. The damaged threads

holding the bindings together were cut, and a warm-water

solution was applied with an ultra-sound device and

vaporizer to detach the parchment cases from the poplar

axes, prior to the removal of the binding’s bronze details.

The extremely complex sewing process was carried out using

8 supports. The book was placed inside a horizontal press

in order to carry out a process known as ‘backing’ which

strengthens the structure underlying the visible spine; this

enables the book to open and guarantees its solidity.”


NELLI CODEX


NELLI CODEX

MUSIC-MAKING?

With manuscript production, it is usually very difficult to

prove authorship because decorative works and craftsmanship

were considered community-building acts and not works of

individual inspiration. So, as expected, these works are not

signed. The idea of art as an expression of personal genius is a

concept born from the Renaissance—a new, revolutionary idea

from Nelli’s perspective . We can’t help wondering if the nuns at

Nelli’s convent of Santa Caterina also composed the music!

The project was curated by Tuscany’s Regional Museum

Circuit with Marilena Tamassia, the head of the San Marco

Museum. The codices were presented to the public during

the artist’s first-ever monographic show at the Uffizi Galleries

in 2017: Plautilla Nelli: Art and Devotion in Savonarola’s

Footsteps, curated by Fausta Navarro.


anuscripts, &

onasteries

Miniatures,

M

M

The 5th Jane Fortune Conference, The Colors of Paradise:

Painting Miniatures in Italian Convents, ca. 1300–1700,

was recently held at the Museo di San Marco.

San Marco’s monumental library in Florence proved the

perfect place in which to gain a holistic understanding of

female creativity in the convents of early modern Italy.

How much access did women have to a literary education?

To what extent did they participate in religious practices and

how much training could they receive when it came to manual

skills?

All these questions were discussed during Colors of Paradise.

Attributions and dating techniques were at the center of

scholars’ attention, as were issues such as devotional use and

patronage. Individual case studies focused on miniatures and

manuscripts from Florence, Milan, Perugia and Venice. Minio,

quadretto, quadro:

A Painter’s Progress at the Convent of Santa Caterina da

Siena in Florence was the event’s keynote address by Catherine


CONFERENCE

Manuscript making: Above,

Tools of the craft.

Right: Views of the San Marco

Museum and Library.

Turrill Lupi (California State University,

Sacramento). The lecture Taking the Leap from

Scribe to Artist by Kathleen G. Arthur was

particularly close to our hearts at AWA, but other

fascinating talks included San Marco curator

Marilena Tamassia’s Spaces for creativity, work

and prayer at the Monastery of Santa Caterina da

Siena and Mercedes Pérez-Vidal’s presentation

on the commissioning and production of

books in Italy during the thirteenth to fifteenth

centuries.

The event gave attendees a broad, muchneeded

look at some of the earliest examples

of surviving paintings to have been signed by

women artists.


N

ews with no boundaries

Meet our first 'Emerald' Angel:

Victoria Slichter

Women are spreading the word

Over the past few months, numerous female

journalists around the world have made

commendable efforts to share AWA’s

mission with a wider public, on line, in print and

on TV. We’ve asked them to discuss their thoughts

about reporting on art by ‘invisible’ women.

Karen Chernick is a Tel Aviv-based arts and

culture journalist with an affinity for stories about

people and places. Her writing has appeared in

Artsy, Hyperallergic, Art & Object, Lonely Planet,

and The Brooklyn Rail, among others.

“When I first began coming across the

completely unfamiliar names of women artists

while doing research for other articles, I was

struck by the vastness of an alternative art history

that was absent from my mainstream art history

education. These were fascinating stories, waiting

to be told in a broader context. It is a personal

joy to take a small part in illuminating these

overlooked artists. I was amazed by the sheer

number of works hidden in Italian museum storage

rooms, as well as the thoughtful three-pronged

approach to placing them on gallery walls. AWA

covers the arc of the efforts necessary to bring

attention to “invisible” women artists – skills and

resources that would evade, say, a single academic

scholar, a conservator, or a museum curator.”

Jessica Phelan is a British journalist now

based in Rome, after several years in France,

Germany and Japan. She writes about Italian

current affairs, travel and culture for Englishlanguage

website The Local Italy.

“I’ve always been haunted by Virginia Woolf’s

question: “What if Shakespeare had a sister?”

How much could women have created, or did they

create, that the world doesn’t know about? So, a

project to quite literally bring women’s art out of

the shadows struck me as exciting and necessary.


WOMEN TALK

And aside from my own interests, I knew the

prospect of seeing a “hidden” side of Italy’s culture

would interest our readers too. I love the fact that

AWA places as much emphasis on the women who

made art as the works themselves. It’s an important

corrective to the notion that art is made in a flash

of individual (male) inspiration, quite separate

from historical, social or economic factors. For

me, the fact that an artist knows how to hustle

compounds my interest in her work, rather than

detracting from it.”

Zuzanna Stańska is a Polish art historian,

founder of Moiseum, a tech consultancy which

helps museums and cultural institutions to reach

their audiences with new tools. She is founder of

DailyArt, a startup sharing ‘your daily dose of art’.

Since 2012, it has gathered a community of over

700,000 art lovers. DailyArt Magazine is its online

magazine.

“As a founder of a mobile app DailyArt, in which,

every day, we publish one piece of fine art with a

short story about it, I felt like we need to spread

the information about female artists among our

users. Because the museums do that so rarely, we,

with our daily ‘shots of art’ need to take action.

Promoting female artists forms part of our DNA. I

love the times we spot an artist that is completely

unknown and we create a buzz amongst our users…

They send us messages about how important it

is for them is to hear these women’s stories. With

DailyArt, when we don’t publish art by women for a

week or two, I receive emails from our users saying

that they are missing them. I’m happy to get this

input; it means that when we don’t have any female

artist’s work, it’s noticeable.”

Rana Kelleci is a visual artist and arts writer

currently based in İstanbul, Turkey. She writes

for 5harfliler.com, an online journal dedicated to

gender equality and women’s issues. Their content

has a witty yet critical approach on any subject

concerning women.

“I am interested in investigating how women and

women’s heritage are represented through digital

and traditional media and in proposing fresh

ways of portrayal and expression. Writing about

women means that I meet talented women across

history and get inspired by them. Restoration is

not only a tool to uncover the art; it also reveals

and counters the centuries-long discrimination

and objectification that its female creators have

faced. Thus I find it very meaningful to write about

women’s art and its restoration. Recent feedback

about my article about Plautilla Nelli included a

sense of astonishment. A woman painter in the

Renaissance was unexpected for many. It is great

to see people surprised because it means they now

know that this possibility is actually a reality.”

”

Promoting female artists forms part of our

DNA. I love the times we spot an artist

that is completely unknown and we create

a buzz amongst our users…

Florentine journalist Monica Carovani is

deputy editor in chief at Rainews24. Her reportage

on the restoration of Plautilla Nelli’s Last Supper

aired nationally in the cultural features section of

TUTTIFRUTTI. It sparked the interest of numerous

viewers, several of whom sought her out personally

by phone. Further proof that Nelli’s story prompts

action!

“I am a Florentine and so, you might say I’ve

been passionate about art pretty much since

birth. I’ve followed the arts sector throughout the

course my long career and have always noticed

a lack of women’s stories in art history. Is this

because of women’s traditional commitments

within the family sphere or is it the result of

conscious ‘forgetfulness’ on the part of those who

write history? What most struck me about AWA’s

mission is the drive to give great female artists in

history the attention they deserve. Nelli is a perfect

example. I am sure that interest in her and other

women is destined to grow. Unfortunately, not

much has changed for women artists since the

Renaissance. It is strange but the glass ceiling that

blocks equality in this sector remains intact. Art

today very much continues to be ‘a man’s issue’.”


Is Spain next?

Where AWA leads, a Spanish journalist follows …

will El Prado be next to free Artemisia from storage?

Spanish journalist Héctor Llanos Martínez has

been writing about Arts and Culture for more

than a decade. Based in Madrid, he now writes for

El País, the largest Spanish-language newspaper

in the world, with strong presence in countries

outside of Spain, including Mexico and Brazil.

Prior to occupying his current post, Héctor spent

five years working as freelancer in Berlin, as a

contributor to media such as the BBC, Deutsche

Welle and Esquire, among others. This summer he

came to Florence to interview AWA for his article

entitled, ‘Objectivo, restaurar la historia del arte’.

We took the opportunity to ask our own questions

about his experience writing the piece.


SPAIN FOLLOWS

AWA: What did you learn while seeking

out art by women in Spain’s museums in

preparation for your El Pais article on AWA’s

work?

Héctor Llanos Martínez: “Only seven paintings out

of 1,713 on permanent display at the El Prado

Museum belong to women. All of them were

authored by two artists: Sofonisba Anguissola and

Clara Peeters. Finding exhibited works by female

artists in the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina

Sofía was also difficult, which is even more dire

since its focus is twentieth-century art… and only

eleven women have been featured in temporary

exhibitions there in the last decade, compared

to the 50+ male artists on show during that same

span of time. There are no excuses for this because

history has not yet had the chance to ‘forget’ them.

Therefore, we cannot blame the Past for the lack

of female representation in Spanish museums

nowadays. Our Present is also sexist. Thankfully,

things are about to change forever!”

AWA: You were told by El Prado that the

museum has an Artemisia Gentileschi in

storage… what can you tell us about that?

HLM: “El Prado was fairly transparent when I

asked about female artists in storage. That made

me think that if Spain had an initiative like AWA,

dozens of works made by women would be easily

rescued and reclaimed. Not only Gentileschi is in

the shadows. El Prado also owns works by Catarina

Ykens and Mariana de la Cueva, also seventeencentury

artists. Then there’s Rosario Weiss and

Rosa Bonheur from the nineteenth century...”

AWA: Do you think that the upcoming show

in 2020 on Sofonisba Anguissola will have an

effect on the Spanish public and how?

HLM: “I do think something is changing in

Spanish society which is ultimately going to have

an effect on its museums. The Feminist movement

has witnessed amazing improvements in the

country during the last two years. Actually, Clara

Peeters had her own show in October 2016. El

Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen – to name just the

three obvious examples – are going to adapt to ‘the

new normal’. This Anguissola and Fontana show

is the sign that certain doors are already open. El

Prado Museum is setting a trend with this

exhibition, and other museums in the rest of Spain

are going to follow its lead.”

AWA: Any other reflections about this issue?

HLM: “During this amazing experience in Spain

and in Florence, I learned that even journalists

have to ask more often about things like the lack

of representation of women in every single aspect

of life. It’s true that things have gotten much better

during recent years but we just can’t relax and

think things are going to solve themselves from

now on.”

Paintings at El Prado:

Artemisia Gentileschi’s

The birth of Saint

John the Baptist and

Sofonisba Anguissola’s

Elisabeth of Valois

holding a portrait of

Philip II


A

changing light

for female artists?

Here’s what to read…

The Jane Fortune Research Program at the

Medici Archive Project announces several

recent and forthcoming publications.

Released in early 2018, the volume Artemisia

Gentileschi in a Changing Light (ed. by Sheila

Barker, Harvey Miller Publishers / Brepols)

gathers twelve essays by specialists of Baroque art,

including Mary D. Garrard’s leading essay.

In the August 2018 issue of The Burlington

Magazine, you can read Barker’s article,

‘Marvellously gifted’: Giovanna Garzoni’s first visit

to the Medici court, which is based on discoveries

made in the Florentine archives regarding the

artist best known for her minutely detailed

paintings on parchment of fruits, vegetables

and flowers. At the end of this year, look out for

Barker’s forthcoming article for the Mitteilungen

des Kunsthistorischen Insitutes in Florenz, which

publishes several new early modern biographies

of women artists, including a previously unknown

biography of Artemisia Gentileschi, written while

she lived in Florence.

An essay co-written by Barker and Julie James

on the still-life artist Suor Teresa Beatrice Vitelli

will appear in a volume edited by Marilyn Dunn

and Saundra Weddle. This essay will provide many

insights into the life and artistic interests of a nun

who lived in early eighteenth-century Florence.


“A PHOTO ALBUM”

A Recap of ‘Pathway of the Gods’

Rediscovering women artists is about creative

space: where they lived and worked… and

where they exhibit today. An Artist on the

Pathway of the Gods was hosted at Il Palmerino,

the fifteenth-century villa turned cultural center.

It was a small-scale but significant show for an

explosive artist producing what the Fascists called

‘degenerative’ art at a time when ‘rebel’ Italians

courted the Informal movement. The show’s

centerpiece, an early self-portrait, was restored

during the ‘Women who drew’ project to recover

art-by-women on paper, spearheaded by Beatrice

Cuniberti at the Atelier degli Artigianelli.

Paintings and drawings from the Colliva-

Bertocchi Foundation and Archive in Monzuno

(Bologna), travelled the Etruscan pilgrim trail to

Upper right: Il

Palmerino’s Federica

Parretti and Viola

Angeli.

Lower right: The

mayors of Monzuno

and Fiesole with

project organizers at

the Lea Colliva show.


PATHWAY OF THE GODS

”

The exhibition’s ‘side events’ comprised

poetry readings, contemporary art walks and

nature hikes from one artist haunt to another.

Internationally renowned art-by-women scholars

and cutting-edge female artists led the way.

Left and right: Side

events and Lea

Colliva’s colorful

canvases at the

Pathway of the Gods

exhibition.


PATHWAY OF THE GODS

reach the former home of artist Lola Costa

and writer Vernon Lee. The exhibition’s

‘side events’ comprised poetry readings,

contemporary art walks and nature hikes from

one artist haunt to another. Internationally

renowned art-by-women scholars and cuttingedge

female artists led the way.


Do you follow awa_foundation?

Our love for the visual arts is now ‘social’. AWA has joined the 21st century thanks

to the efforts of our volunteer cultural representative, Leslie Jmaeff, who keeps our

followers up to date on news and events in the art-by-women world. Check out

Leslie’s timely posts on Instagram. (We’re also on Facebook!)


INSTAGRAM


Where will you be when the

Last Supper is unveiled?

As we conclude the autumn 2018 issue of Inside AWA, a question comes to

mind. Will you be with us next October when Plautilla Nelli’s Last Supper

is restored to the world?

Friends and supporters from near and far will want to start thinking about

joining AWA’s 2019 Sojourn, during which Nelli’s masterwork will debut at the

Santa Maria Novella Museum after four years in the restoration studio and 450

years unseen by the public eye. Dates will be announced soon, so keep your

Sojourn calendars ready!


FOR LOVERS OF TRAVEL, ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART

In-depth articles |stunning photographs

wonderful sites to explore

www.timeless-travels.co.uk

Through Advocacy, Contributions, Volunteering

and Research, please join us.

www.advancingwomenartists.org

info@advancingwomenartists.org advancingwomenartists

INSIDE AWA AUTUMN 2018

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