The renowned J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, California, announced that it has received a painting damaged by the Beirut Port explosion for restoration.
The prestigious museum identified the painting, which was rescued from the debris of the Sursock Palace, as the work of the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi, Hercules and Omphale, dating back to the 17th century.
“Hercules and Omphale is one of the most important recent discoveries within the corpus of Artemisia Gentileschi, demonstrating her ambition for depicting historical subjects, something that was virtually unprecedented for a female artist in her day,” stated Timothy Potts, Maria Hummer-Tuttle, and Robert Tuttle Director of the Getty Museum.
It is worth noting that the Lebanese art historian Gregory Buchakjian identified the painting months after the blast.
He published back then an article highlighting Beirut’s cultural loss and attributed the painting to the Italian artist based on unpublished research he conducted during the 1990s.
After its conservation, the painting will go on display at the end of 2023 at the Getty Center in Los Angeles before returning to Sursock Palace in Beirut, which is currently undergoing restoration.
Related: Antiquity Glass Shattered By Beirut Blast On Display At The British Museum
