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On location in Santa Croce whilst filming PBS documentary WTWA

Videos

Watch AWA’s videos because ”moving pictures” are worth a thousand words. AWA is committed to documenting all of our projects by producing videos and full-scale art documentaries that help spread the word about restoration and exhibition of art by women. AWA is often featured in news reportages or at the center of filmed interviews. This selection of video shorts will help art-lovers get a sense of the work we do, and the philosophy behind it.

'It will stay with me always'

Conservators Liz Wicks and Martina Vincenti share their 'take-aways' after completing the restoration of two large-scale ovals at the Hospital of San Giovanni di Dio. Share their challenges and discover their findings!

Art in public spaces, Violante restoration in Florence, completed

Our two final restorations have made their way home to the ancient Hospital of San Giovanni di Dio in Florence. Share our joy: Violante Ferroni’s restored artworks can now been seen in the venue for which they were created. AWA Board member Margaret MacKinnon discusses the importance of 'art in plain sight'.

Restorers are on a roll...

What does a canvas under restoration look like when it is treated ‘face up’ and ‘face down’? Watch conservators Liz Wicks and Marina Vincenti with Violante Ferroni’s artwork on the move… as conservation in Florence advances.

‘Making the Future by Hand’

The Oltrarno Gaze 2021 continues at Atelier degli Artigianelli as it welcomes our student grant recipients. Watch them learn traditional papermaking techniques like sheet making, pressing and drying. See sketches inspired by Oltrarno theme and water colouring of their printed works, under guidance from artisans at Studio Puck.

Travelling portraits, on-line lecture

Vernon Lee, Virginia Woolf, Ottoline Morrell, Vanessa Bell at the turn of the 20th century, from Il Palmerino to Bloomsbury. Dr Tobin explores the intertwining lives and views of female painters, photographers and patrons and how these women captured places and people in their art.

Watch from a studio seat

On November 13, 2020, the second event in the series ‘Restoration Conversations’: ‘Art rescue in progress’, was broadcast. Conservator Elisabeth Wicks welcomed viewers worldwide to her Florence studio. It can still be watched! Expect close-up views of artist Violante Ferroni’s two eighteenth-century paintings, from AWA’s current conservation project, ‘The Art of Healing’. Organizers: The Florentine and Advancing Women Artists. Art of Healing partners: Advancing Women Artists, Robert Lehman Foundation, Florida State University in Florence and the Lion’s Fountain, The Rauch Foundation, AWA Art Angels. Artwork owners: Santa Maria Nuova Foundation and Azienda USL Toscana Centro.

Cleaning captured… on film

Move in close for the cleaning stage. Equipped with special solvents and brushed, and equipped with a whole lot of patience Florence-based conservators Liz Wick and Marina Vincenti remove the ‘grime of time’ from Violante Ferroni’s Saint John of God gives bread to the poor.

Filling in the gaps for Violante Ferroni's historic painting

Violante Ferroni's Saint John of God Heals Plague Victims is under raking light, as conservators fill missing areas of paint with materials matching the color and texture of the original preparation layer... See for yourself!

No flakes will fall

The Big Move for Ferroni… again. Conservators stabilize areas of detached paint so no precarious flakes will fall during the transfer of Violante Ferroni’s second oval from the ancient Hospital of San Giovanni di Dio in Florence. Follow each step of the moving process with expert fine-art movers Arternativa. Saint John of God Feeds the Poor, from the niche to the studio… on film.

Another… Garzoni moment

Can you bridge the gap of history in 60 seconds? No, but we can delight in trying! Enjoy a second sampling of works in this one-minute video, as modern-day artists continue to be inspired by Baroque artist Giovanna Garzoni  as her show draws to a close the Uffizi Galleries. This second video sparks more thoughts on how ‘still life’ and whether or not it truly is ‘still’.

Ferroni conservators double as ‘filmmakers’ due to Covid restrictions

The ‘Art of healing’ continues as conservator capture fundamental parts of the restoration of Violante Ferroni’s Saint John of God Heals Plague Victims. On camera, they correct distortions, reweave tears and prepare the canvas for stretching. An enthralling visual process in a Florence on lockdown.

Art from the Garzoni Challenge

A sampling of works by Garzoni Challenge artists renews the dialog with "The Greatness of the Universe in the Art of Giovanna Garzoni" on show at the Uffizi Galleries (Pitti) from May 28 to June 2028. This ‘art conversation’ in all media is taking place worldwide with works inspired by Garzoni’s seventeenth-century achievements.

Step Two for Ferroni’s ‘plague victims’

New footage to make the painting’s nuances shine through! Here’s phase two of the restoration of Violante Ferroni’s Saint John of God Heals Plague Victims. Through diagnostic analysis and by examining painterly layers, conservators Liz Wicks and Marina Vincenti begin the process of rescuing Ferroni’s colors.

Watch the ‘Teaser’ and take action

From February 26 to April 8, take part in ‘The Garzoni Challenge’, a worldwide appeal, launched by AWA, the Uffizi Galleries and the Medici Archive Project. Thanks to this call, modern-day artists respond to the Uffizi’s spring exhibition ‘The Greatness of the Universe in the Art of Giovanna Garzoni’ by creating original artwork inspired by the show. To participate, register here.

“The Move” is moving

Hold your breath during this one-minute trailer of our in-progress restoration: ‘The Art of Healing’. As Violante Ferroni’s largescale painting is removed from its’ niche in the historic atrium of San Giovanni di Dio, you’ll see the expertise needed to ‘mobilize’ art by women in Florence. The Art of Healing project partners include the Robert Lehman Foundation and Florida State University in Florence.

The Today Show sees the Visible

Kelly Cobiella, The Today Show's London correspondent came to Florence in December to follow in the footsteps of AWA's past and future work... reclaiming the paintings of 'invisible' artists like Nelli and Violante Ferroni. From San Salvi and Santa Maria Novella to the restoration laboratory of female Florence-based restorers, America's Number 1 morning program gave art lovers Stateside a glimpse of AWA... today!

The year in review…

Have a look at our organization’s fondest memories from 2019. From the adventures of our annual Sojourn to our whirlwind global experience with ‘AWA around the world’ events… there are many memories worth reminiscing! From magical unveilings to in-the-trenches studio work, enjoy a year’s worth of art… con amore.

Inaugurating Nelli's Last Supper

Here’s a trailer featuring inaugural events at Santa Maria Novella. Special thanks to all AWA’s donors who joined the celebration up close or ‘in spirit’. Museum visits are on the rise, curators report, now that the dream of restoring Nelli’s Last Supper has become reality…

From the eye of the conservator into the public eye

Watch Plautilla Nelli’s Last Supper on its four-year journey… from the restoration atelier in Florence’s Oltrarno district to the Old Refectory of the Santa Maria Novella Museum, where it is finally on display in all its original dignity—a rescue mission that moved the world.

Exhibition Female Perspectives at Palazzo Pitti

If you have not yet visited the Uffizi exhibition called ‘Female Perspectives: Women of Talent and Commitment’, this trailer by LDM TV will give you a glimpse of the show, open until May 26, 2019. See why we say that AWA is ‘Uffizi ready’?

Female Perspective

Have a look at 'Female Perspectives: Women of Talent and Committment', the Spring exhibition, organized in collaboration with the Uffizi Galleries and AWA. The show will run at the Gallery of Modern Art in the Pitti Palace until May 26, 2019. This news feature, broadcast on ToscanaTV, shows how its paintings are windows onto the world of women artists and how professional women at the turn of the last century are depicted by their male counterparts.

The Art of Museums

“It is a is a declaration of love for the arts,” says German news program Heute+ about the documentary, 'THE ART OF MUSEUMS', premiering early February. Its Florence episode features AWA in the conservation studio and some of our best-loved work at the Uffizi.

2018 Christmas wishes on camera

There is nothing like holiday cheer and a year’s worth of work to make the season bright. We may have captured you on film in 2018 during our quest to restore and exhibit art by women. A 360-degree journey of Florence scenes and friendly faces… an ode to historic women artists and those who love them.

A room of their own

‘Women Artists: Florence, 1900-1950’ features the recent restoration of art by women from Florence’s Gabinetto Vieusseux and the Uffizi Galleries. It spotlights artists Leonetta Cecchi and Fillide Levasti who carved out a ‘space of their own’ in a Europe torn by war. With Monica Carovani.

One more Nelli on the wall

The unveiling of Plautilla Nelli’s lunette, The Crucifixion at the Last Supper Museum of Andrea del Sarto. Now on public view: a rare sixteenth-century devotional work based on the (female) commissions spiritual visions. In this video… visions of modern-day happiness thanks to one more painting salved from oblivion.

RAI takes a peak

Reporter Monica Carovani and RAI, Italy's national news channel gives television viewers a sneak peak at progress on Nelli's Last Supper. Rossella Lari, the world's foremost Nelli conservator shares her thoughts on the painting. How the masterwork has changed! There's just over a year to go…

Lea Colliva. An Artist on the pathway of the Gods

The twentieth-century art of Bolognese painter Lea Colliva is welcomed to Florence for her Villa Il Palmerino exhibition 'Pathway of the gods'. This Expressionist artist with a love for experimentalism inspires modern-day women on a journey from the archive and atelier… into the museum spotlight.

AWA 'dreams of Italy' – The documentary

Executive producer and show host Kathy McCabe takes us to see a side of Italy that sparkles in her PBS documentary 'Dream of Italy' (broadcast January 2018). During her Florence episode, she comes to see the city's first female artist, thanks to AWA's restoration of Nelli's Last Supper. Shot at the height of summer, the footage is a light-filled example of 'our' in-progress  painting! It truly is Nelli like you've never seen her.

Indiana Jane spreads hope in Indianapolis

Though this amateur video was shot a bit 'off the cuff' but AWA’s friends will love 'seeing' our founder and chair Jane Fortune with all of her usual gumption during her recent speech at a cancer support group in Indianapolis.  Many AWA aficionados have sent messages of support over recent months as Jane has battled with chemotherapy. Here, she tells the story of how her quest to restore art by women in Florence got started...

The Annunciation brings Christmas cheer

In 2017, rather than sending its traditional ‘Christmas card’, AWA decided to produce a restoration video that truly shares the Christmas spirit. The conservation and exhibition of Plautilla Nelli’s ‘Annunciation’ is a Christmas gift to the City of Florence and art lovers everywhere. Find out what Christmas and restoration have in common!

Invisible, The Art Perfume

Five hundred years of creative talent captured in a single fragrance: ‘Invisible’. Crafted exclusively for AWA by Aquaflor Firenze, an artisanal perfumery in the Santa Croce District, ‘Invisible’ was born from Florence’s age-old tradition in perfume-making, a sensuous art supported by the Medici Clan. Its scent is an intriguing combination of violets and musk, with surprising notes of varnish and tobacco. The rare Indian flower osmanthus makes for a fragrance in honor of women artists that history must never forget. The perfume’s name, reminiscent of Jane Fortune’s book ‘Invisible Women’, tributes the many female painters and sculptors whose works will be salvaged and exhibited thanks to the Advancing Women Artist’s mission. This video offers an exclusive peek at the Aquaflor laboratories and its ‘perfume diffusion ceremony’, the Florentine celebration that first launched the ‘Invisible’ into the world. Video by Bunker Film.

AWA in Florence: Over Ten Years of Art by Women

Ten years with AWA. An extraordinary journey that answers the question: Who were Florence's women artists? How can we protect their works and share them with the art-loving public. An up-close adventure to rediscover the hidden side of Florence's art treasures... by women. This trek takes viewers through some of Florence's most exquiste museums and churches, like the Uffizi Galleries, the Museum of San Salvi, the San Marco Museum, Santa Maria del Carmine, Santa Croce and more. For AWA, one decade means four dozen restoration projects completed.

Video by Bunker Film. Footage generously provided by Francesco Cacchiani, Kirsten Hills and Vincenzo Capalbo.

The Final Countdown

The Challenge: Raise $65,000 to restore a masterpiece of 16th-century painting by Florence's first woman artist, Plautilla Nelli. We began on March 1, 2017 and a lot has happened since then. With a week left in the campaign, this video slide-show calls on art-lovers to make a difference. As of April 7, 2017, 323 people from 14 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, United Kingdom, USA, United Arab Emirates) contributed to crowdfunding campaign.AN APPEAL FOR THE 'LAST WEEK'

Museum Magic. Santa Maria Novella hosts TheFirstLast launch

The ancient refectory of Santa Maria Novella hosts the launch event of ‘TheFirstLast’, AWA’s crowdfunding project to restore Plautilla Nelli’s Last Supper. An evening of magic in the venue that will host the masterwork in 2018! Special guest speakers: the City of Florence’s Councilor for Equal Opportunity and conservator Rossella Lari. The restoration is being carried out in collaboration with Servizi Musei Civici Fiorentini. Enjoy the evening from afar!

Elena Sofia Ricci 'meets' Plautilla Nelli

Italian actress Elena Sofia Ricci plays 'Godmother' to TheFirstLast Crowdfunding campaign to restore Nelli's Last Supper. Ms. Ricci is currently starring in a Sunday-night detective comedy where she plays the nun Suor Angela in a smash-hit RAI series called 'Che Dio ci aiuti' (God Help Us!). Share her first impressions during the campaign's press conference at the restoration studio. Her musings on our restoring Nelli's masterwork: 'Thank you for reminding us of the grandeur of Florence through the women artists who made it great'. ELENA SOFIA RICCI

Nelli takes the Italian news by storm

“Nelli was an absolute protagonist of convent creativity during her time,” says Fausta Navarro, curator of the Uffizi’s monographic show on the artist.  This news reportage in Italian provides an exciting glimpse of the ‘Nelli show’, the first in a series planned by Uffizi Director Eike Schmidt to celebrate women artists every spring, both historic and contemporary.  STUDIO TG

Plautilla Nelli and Andy Warhol

Uffizi Director Eike Schmidt compares Renaissance convent artist with Andy Warhol. Why? Because they both had the same style of series-style portraiture, but let’s just say that Nelli had more than 450 years on him! Those who are not in Italy for Nelli’s first-ever solo exhibition will want to have a look at this walk-about with Lorenzo de’ Medici, university news channel.
LdM NEWS

Spirituality through Art and Music

A radio interview with Fausta Navarro, curator of the Uffizi show ‘Plautilla Nelli. Convent Art and devotion in the Footsteps of Savonarola’ at the Uffizi (until June 2017). The fascinating story of the nun who translated the spirituality of her era into pictures. The interview (in Italian) is accompanied by the angelic music of Hildegard von Bingen, which also represents female creativity, an almost unknown side of Art and Music in the Middle Age and Renaissance. RADIO3 SUIT

Gestures of ‘Equality’

Our worldwide crowd funding campaign TheFirstLast intends to sponsor the restoration of Plautilla Nelli’s monumental ‘Last Supper’, the only example of this topic painted by a woman in art history. ‘It is important to salvage this work of art, because with it, one salvages the memory of these women who fought to be equal to men’, says Italian actress Elena Sofia Ricci, ‘godmother’ of the campaign, featured in this RAI news show, along with conservator Rossella Lari. (In Italian). RAINEWS

Firenze News

Because young generations of women are waking up to the contributions of past female greats, Florence’s women’s football club, ‘La Fiorentina’ joined us at the press conference and inauguration of Plautilla Nelli’s first-ever solo show at the Uffizi. On International Women’s Day 2017, Nelli receives a welcome worthy of the ‘purple carpet’, Florence’s signature color!
VIOLA CHANNEL

The “Golden Florin” for AWA’s Founder

The “Fiorino d'Oro”, Florence's highest honor goes to Jane Fortune! The Awards Ceremony was part of the opening event of the Global Mayor's Forum, 'Unity in Diversity', at Florence's Palazzo Vecchio. Have a peek at the evening, thanks to video journalist, Kirsten Hills.

The Lady Who Paints

An art victim of Florence’s 1966 flood emerges as victor, fifty years after the disaster. Conservators Elizabeth Wicks and Nicoletta Fontani rescue Violante Siries’ masterwork at the Florentine Church of Santa Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, whilst researcher Poiret Masse scours Tuscany, recovering the missing pieces of the artist’s forgotten oeuvre.

Art and Memory: Pincherle and Pacini

The lives of Adriana Pincherle and Eloisa Pacini tell us volumes about the last century. Artists quietly at the forefront of Florence’s important cultural movements, their respective paintings reflect European trends and sweet local flair.

As It Was in the Beginning

During an interview about Florentine patroness par excellence, Anna Maria Luisa dei Medici, the Medici Dynasty Show asks about ”the initial spark” that led to Advancing Women Artists.

Wikipedia and Women Artists

A collective Editing Marathon fills the gaps in Wikipedia content on the achievements of women artists. A useful way to commemorate International Women’s Day.

Michael Palin on Artemisia’s Trail

AWA’s founder Jane Fortune and actor/comedian Michael Palin enjoyed a ”dual interview” when he came to Florence to film the BBC art documentary on Artemisia Gentileschi. ‘I am in awe of Florence,’ Palin admitted during the interview. We imagine that Artemisia made a fascinating guide!

Nelli and those who came after her

This BBC documentary, “The story of Women and Art” (1 of 3), spotlights the hidden genius of female artists of the Renaissance, from Properzia de’ Rossi to Artemisia Gentileschi. From minute 13, you can see a rare glimpse of Plautilla Nelli’s “Last Supper” in its former location in the Friar’s private refectory of Santa Maria Novella, one year before being brought to the restoration studio.  BBC

“The Flood Ladies” Await the Museo Novecento

’The Flood Ladies’ are modern and contemporary artists who hoped their gifts to Florence would contribute to making the city a center of the arts in the twentieth century. Their dream reaches partial fulfillment with the inauguration of Florence’s Museo Novecento.

Invisible Women: Forgotten Artists of Florence, the documentary

WFYI Productions. Written and produced by Todd Gould.
Executive producer Clayton Taylor.

Discovery the "hidden half" of one of the world's most beloved art cities! Florence, Italy, is the birthplace of some of the world's most celebrated artists, scientists, and architects – from Michelangelo and Leonardo to Brunelleschi and Galileo. Yet little is known of the women artists who once painted there. A center for female creativity for more than five centuries, Florence hosts innumerable works by significant women painters from the Renaissance onward.
Invisible Women sheds light on these groundbreaking women artists and their virtually unknown works. It also points to the rediscovery and restoration of these works as the guiding forces behind rescuing the art of Florence's forgotten women artists.
Based on the book by Jane Fortune.

AWA’s “Bragging Rights”

The Indiana Historical Society Announces 2014 Living Legends Award. AWA Founder Jane Fortune and Vice Chair Robert Hesse are official ”Living Legends” thanks to their outstanding contributions to the world of art and culture in all its forms.

Ten Minutes of Wonder

Irene Parenti Duclos is the eighteenth-century protagonist of this ten-minute video spotlighting the restoration of her Madonna del Sacco, after Andrea del Sarto. The artist proves herself an example of precision and courage.

Duclos at the Accademia

International scholars join forces to recover the legacy of poet and paintress, Irene Parenti Duclos, a pioneer in her time. This conference at Florence’s Accademia Gallery spotlights ground-breaking discoveries.

Artemisia’s Surprise

Conservator Nicola Ann Macgregor recounts an unexpected discovery whilst restoring Artemisia’s David and Bathsheba. Have a look for a better understanding of the ”controversial” techniques used.

Shedding Light on Artemisia

Artemisia spend seven years in Florence and AWA has spent at least that much time working to rediscover her many gifts to the art world. Our David and Bathsheba Project is the fascinating recovery of her little-known masterwork.

A Sculpture Wounded

Santa Maria del Carmine’s ancient cloister hosts Felicie de Fauveau’s Monument to Anne de la Pierre, damaged during the Nazi occupation of Florence in the Second World War. Here’s how AWA restored history.