"Meeting Artemisia"
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Restorer Nicola Ann MacGregor forms a relationship with Artemisia.
One of AWA's goals is to create a connection between artists of the past and modern-day women. The relationships our restorers form with 'our' historic painters are always worthy of mention. Nicola Ann MacGregor, a Florence-based restorer from England shared her thoughts about the restoration that took the better part of two years to complete. "Anybody who came to the studio after we'd done all the filling was rather shocked, because they hadn't expected to find as much damage on Artemisia's David and Bathsheba. We chose a brown tone that was going to be modified in light and shade, according to the colors that surround the paint loss. In all 38 years of my career as a conservator in Florence, this is the first time I have ever restored a painting by a female artist. Being a woman myself, of course, this enhanced the sense of 'bonding' nearly always established between the restorer and the author of the painting he or she is working on. What makes us particularly happy about this project is that a painting relegated to the deposits of the Pitti Palace is now, after our restoration, deemed fit for public exhibition."