The National Gallery is one of the greatest art galleries in the world. Founded by Parliament in 1824, the Gallery houses the nation’s collection of paintings in the Western European tradition from the late 13th to the early 20th century. The collection includes works by Artemisia Gentileschi, Bellini, Cezanne, Degas, Leonardo, Monet, Raphael, Rembrandt, Renoir, Rubens, Titian, Turner, Van Dyck, Van Gogh and Velázquez. The Gallery’s key objectives are to care for and enhance the collection and provide the best possible access to visitors.
The National Gallery has launched a restoration and outreach project focusing on an icon in its collection, The Finding of Moses. This is the first time that the Fondation Etrillard has entered into a partnership in the UK.
© The National Gallery, London
One of the few pictures created by leading Italian Baroque painter Orazio Gentileschi (1563-1639) during his residence at the court of Charles I of England, The Finding of Moses (early 1630s) originally hung in the Great Hall of the Queen’s House in Greenwich. Remarkable for its scale (257 by 301 cm), ambition and royal patronage, the painting is of outstanding importance for the English and wider European heritage, and it constitutes one of Gentileschi’s most significant works.
Acquired in 2019 with support from donors, and through public appeal and bequests, it is the first painting by Orazio Gentileschi to have entered the National Gallery’s permanent collection.
Orazio Gentileschi (1563–1639), The Finding of Moses, early 1630s © The National Gallery, London
The painting has been in conservation since the beginning of 2023, and the retouching process began in the Gallery’s Conservation Studio following cleaning, minor structural work including consolidation, and the filling of paint losses and varnishing. In 2024, the retouching stage of the treatment continued before the painting was re-framed. As part of the investigation carried out by the National Gallery’s Scientific Department the whole painting was investigated using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) scanning. This examination revealed changes made during the painting's creation and is critical to enhance the Gallery’s knowledge of Orazio Gentileschi’s painting materials and technique.
In May 2025, The Finding of Moses will be presented to the public for the first time after treatment.
Conservators from the National Gallery at work on Orazio Gentileschi’s The Finding of Moses (early 1630s). © The National Gallery
To ignite curiosity, inspire creativity and foster an appreciation of this 17th-century masterpiece and its history, the National Gallery is sharing its findings as widely as possible and engage a broad audience through different activities.
The Fondation Etrillard is happy to sponsor a ‘Behind-the-Scenes’ Video, in which the conservators, scientists and curators involved in the project present the preliminary results of the examination and treatment. This 15-minute-long video enables the National Gallery to share their fascinating findings and research with their audiences worldwide, both on their website and YouTube channel.
© The National Gallery, London