L’importanza di firmarsi Artemisia. Su una Susanna della Gentileschi nella collezione di Benedetto Luti

In 1714 the painter Benedetto Luti had a copy made of a Susanna and the Elders by Artemisia Gentileschi in his collection, and sent it to Lothar Franz von Schönborn’s court advisor to judge whether the original was worthy of being presented to the German patron. The answer was positive and the painting was sent to Pommersfelden, where it is still today; however it was sent as the work of Orazio Gentileschi, despite bearing the signature of his daughter Artemisia. This paper – through the discovery of the copy and the examination of the entire archival documentation – re-contextualizes the gift of the Susanna as part of the negotiation for the conferment of the title of knight of the Holy Roman Empire to Luti and investigates the aesthetic and social demands that may have been behind its misattribution to Artemisia’s father.