Allegory of Inclination is a 1615-1617 oil on canvas painting by Artemisia Gentileschi on the ceiling of the Galleria in the Casa Buonarroti in Florence.[1]
Allegory of Inclination | |
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Artist | Artemisia Gentileschi |
Year | 1615-1616 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Movement | Baroque |
Dimensions | 152 cm × 61 cm (60 in × 24 in) |
Location | Casa Buonarroti, Florence |
The painting depicts a young nude female seated in the heavens holding a compass. Her light-colored hair is elaborately styled and she is partially covered by swirling drapery. A star appears above her head.
It was commissioned by Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger (1568–1646) as part of a series of paintings to glorify the life of his great uncle, Michelangelo Buonarroti. The painting depicts "Inclination," or inborn creative ability, one of the "eight Personifications" attributed to the Renaissance master.[2] Seated on a cloud, she holds a mariner's compass and is guided by a star above,[3] signifying his natural disposition to greatness.[2] Gentileschi worked alongside Giovanni Biliverti, Giovanni Coccapani and Matteo Rosselli to complete the series,[4] while she was recovering from the birth of her second child.[5]
The figure's features are similar to those in self-portraits in Gentileschi's oeuvre.[6] The facial design, wispy hair and dimpled hands are characteristic of other paintings she created during her time in Florence.[7] The figure's nudity proved to be embarrassing to the commissioner's great-nephew Leonardo da Buonarroto, and he commissioned Baldassarre Franceschini, known as el Volterrano to paint clothes over parts of it in 1684.[8]