About 800 meters from the port of Beirut is the Sirsok mansion. Following a deadly double explosion that rocked the area in August 2020, all of the century-old stained glass windows on the villa’s façade were shattered and part of the roof collapsed, forcing the museum there to close and 57 works of art in need of restoration. .

But a terrible event brought to light a rare treasure. Pierced by glass shards, with a huge 50-centimeter hole above the knee of Hercules, the work “Hercules and the Navel” is recognized by experts as a long-lost painting by the artist Artemisia Gentileschi. This 17th-century Roman Italian artist, a student of Caravaggio, managed to overcome the limitations of her gender and established herself among the most demanding European clients of her day. In the 21st century, Artemisia has become a myth: the number of exhibitions dedicated to her work around the world is increasing, and the prices of her works are constantly rising.

Hercules and the Navel was thought to be an anonymous 17th-century painting discovered after an explosion by a Lebanese explorer. According to the New York Times, Gentileschi experts have identified the painting with the artist.

The Getty Museum restored the painting by removing tooth-sized pieces of glass. Then work with the reverse side of the canvas and color correction will follow. The fully restored work may be on display by the Getty while the Searsock mansion is being renovated.