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The final restoration project by the nonprofit Advancing Women Artists group features works by Violante Ferroni, an 18th century prodigy about whom little is known today. (Francesco Cacchiani/AWA)
Florence is one of the main stops on any art lover’s European itinerary. At the Uffizi Galleries, visitors can have their fill of works by Renaissance masters Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael.
Of course, none of these artists are women.
“I started going into museum storages and attics and checking what was actually there, what works by women,” says Linda Falcone, the director of Advancing Women Artists. “It was something that had never been done before because no one had ever before asked the question, ‘Where are the women?’