The Portrait of Marija Ghetaldi-Gondola by Carmelo Reggio, painted around 1812, is on show in the permanent display in the Music Room of the Cultural History Museum of Dubrovnik Museums in the Rector's Palace. A crack was observed on the portrait, and in 2023 this exceptionally valuable object belonging to the Museum’s permanent display was sent for conservation to the Dubrovnik Conservation Department of the Croatian Conservation Institute. On expert inspection, an unusual detail was observed: the dark contour of an eye in the area of the neck of the woman portrayed was seen. A number of non-invasive analytical methods revealed a rare finding: the existence of an earlier painting under the paint film. Underneath the Portrait of Marija Ghetaldi-Gondola was another portrait of a woman: of Frana Gondola née Bona. This was the beginning of the unriddling of an uncommon story of two women and one family.
EXHIBITION ORGANIZATION
Dubrovački muzeji
Hrvatski restauratorski zavod
EXHIBITION CREATED BY
Lucija Vuković
EXPERT ASSOCIATES
Ljubo Gamulin
Barbara Knežević Kuzman
Nađa Lučić
AUTHORS OF TEXTS
Ljubo Gamulin
Nađa Lučić
Lucija Vuković
DISPLAY BY
Ljubo Gamulin
Lucija Vuković
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Ljubo Gamulin
CONSERVATION WORKS
Barbara Knežević Kuzman (programme head)
Matea Bačić
Antonio Blašković
Ljubo Gamulin
Pino Gamulin
Katija Kovačić Karamatić
Nađa Lučić
Domagoj Mudronja
Hrvoje Smoljan
Alen Škomrlj
Goran Tomljenović
TECHNICAL SET-UP
Pasko Burin
Željko Ćatić
Mišo Lečić
Mišo Kukuruzović
Ivan Mladošić
The exhibition was produced in collaboration with Croatian Conservation Institute with the support of the City of Dubrovnik and the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia.