After devastation and decades of obscurity, a 17th-century painting finds new life and recognition at the Getty Center.
From the wreckage of the 2020 Beirut explosion has emerged an extraordinary story of loss, resilience, and rediscovery. A monumental oil-on-canvas painting, “Hercules and Omphale,” once hanging quietly in a private palace, was shattered by flying glass and buried under debris. More than three years of painstaking restoration later, the work is now on public view for the very first time at the Getty Center in Los Angeles.
The painting, dated to the 1630s, has finally been attributed to Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the most celebrated yet long-overlooked female painters of the Italian Baroque. Known for giving her women power and presence, Gentileschi brings the myth of Hercules and Omphale to life with subverted gender roles: the mighty hero is shown weaving under Omphale’s command, while intimacy and tension glow between the figures.
For centuries, the canvas passed quietly through just three private collections before resting in Beirut’s Sursock Palace, home to the Sursock family for generations. The explosion that tore through the city killed more than 200 people, devastated the palace, and fatally injured its 98-year-old matriarch, Yvonne Sursock Cochrane. The blast sent glass through the painting, leaving holes and a dramatic L-shaped tear across Hercules’ knee.
“It was really severe. It’s probably the worst damage I’ve ever seen,” said Ulrich Birkmaier, the Getty Museum’s senior conservator of painting, in a phone call with CNN.
Already weakened by humidity, flaking paint, cracks, and centuries-old restoration attempts, the artwork seemed nearly beyond saving. Yet, through X-rays, mapping technologies, and meticulous handwork, conservators slowly brought Gentileschi’s vision back to light.
“You’ll always see some scars of the damage,” he said.
The explosion also sparked a deeper investigation into the painting’s origins. Lebanese art historian Gregory Buchakjian had long suspected the work was by Gentileschi, and in 2020, his research finally gained wider recognition, leading scholars to agree on her authorship. The rediscovery adds to a growing list of works by Gentileschi that are only now being properly credited after centuries of neglect.
“She was very, very famous during her day, but all but forgotten in the centuries after, which is true for many Baroque painters, but for women, of course, particularly,” Birkmaier said.
The restoration itself became a journey of revelation, as layers of discolored varnish were removed and Gentileschi’s luminous colors and emotional depth reemerged.
“You have this painting in pieces, and all you see is the damage and the discolored varnish and the old restoration and the big holes, and then little by little, as you work on it… the image emerges again,” he recalled. “It’s a really interesting process of discovery. I wanted to do her justice.”
Now displayed in the exhibition “Artemisia’s Strong Women: Rescuing a Masterpiece,” the painting not only represents a triumph of conservation but also a powerful correction of art history, honoring a woman whose talent rivals the greatest masters of her time.
This story reminds us that art, like humanity, can survive even the deepest wounds. The scars left on Gentileschi’s painting are not flaws but symbols of endurance — proof that beauty, truth, and forgotten voices can be restored when we choose to value and protect our shared cultural heritage.
Source:
- https://youtu.be/S2GQYtqPLNE?si=BR0r3fSdDvwaFVMB
- https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/12/style/artemisia-gentileschi-painting-beirut-explosion
- https://aistudio.google.com/
- https://chatgpt.com/
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