The Dubrovnik Museums, in collaboration with the Croatian Conservation Institute, opened the exhibition “A Look Through the Portrait of Marija Ghetaldi-Gondola” on Friday, November 22, 2024, at the Rector’s Palace. The author of the exhibition is Senior Curator of the Dubrovnik Museums, Lucija Vuković, with expert collaborators Ljubo Gamulin, Barbara Knežević-Kuzman, and Nađa Lučić from the Croatian Conservation Institute.

The portrait of Marija Ghetaldi-Gondola by Carmelo Reggio, created around 1812, was displayed in the permanent exhibition in the Music Room of the Cultural-Historical Museum at the Rector’s Palace. A crack was noticed on the portrait, and in 2023, as one of the particularly valuable items in the Museum’s collection, it was sent for conservation and restoration to the Dubrovnik Conservation Department of the Croatian Conservation Institute. During the specialists’ examination, an extraordinary detail was discovered: a dark outline of an eye in the neck area of the portrayed woman. Using a series of non-invasive research methods, a rare finding was revealed—an earlier painting beneath the painted layer. Beneath the portrait of Marija Ghetaldi-Gondola lies another female portrait, accompanied by a partially legible inscription identifying the portrayed woman: Frana Gondola, née Bona. This marked the beginning of unraveling an unusual story about two women and one family.

Thanks to the results of conservation-restoration works, it became possible to contextualize this piece and link it to the collection of portraits by Austrian painter Franz Xaver Span in the Cultural-Historical Museum’s Painting Collection. Archival and historical research uncovered and brought to light lesser-known details from the history of Dubrovnik’s noble Ghetaldi and Gondola families. In addition to the artworks, the exhibition presents the process and outcomes of the conservation-restoration work. At the opening of the exhibition, which can be viewed at the Rector’s Palace until March 31, 2025, the speakers included the exhibition’s author Lucija Vuković, Ivana Svedružić Šeparović, Head of the Service for Departments Outside Zagreb at the Croatian Conservation Institute, and it was officially opened by the Director of the Dubrovnik Museums, Dr. Marija Šiša-Vivek.

The exhibition texts were authored by Ljubo Gamulin, Nađa Lučić, and Lucija Vuković. The visual arrangement was designed by Lucija Vuković and Ljubo Gamulin, who also worked on the graphic design. The conservation-restoration work was carried out by Barbara Knežević Kuzman (program leader), Matea Bačić, Antonio Blašković, Ljubo Gamulin, Pino Gamulin, Katija Kovačić Karamatić, Nađa Lučić, Domagoj Mudronja, Hrvoje Smoljan, Alen Škomrlj, and Goran Tomljenović. The technical setup of the exhibition was completed by Paško Burin, Željko Ćatić, Mišo Lečić, Mišo Kukuruzović, and Ivan Mladošić.

The exhibition was realized in collaboration with the Croatian Conservation Institute, with the support of the City of Dubrovnik and the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia.