Elisabetta Sirani - The Woman Who Used Shadows

(This is Elisabetta Sirani in her Self-Portrait in 1658 at the age of twenty.)

The female artist I chose to write on this week is Elisabetta Sirani. She lived during the 17^th century, and died at only twenty-seven. Yet by the time, she was nineteen she worked as a painter, in her work she supported her whole family, because her father had gout and could no longer support them. Like Lavinia Fontana, she lived in Bologna, where she painted, and received patrons such as the Grand Duke Cosimo III de Medici. Although we have not mentioned the Medici family much in class, they were a very powerful banking family in Italy with many connections to famous artists who functioned as their patrons. Before her death, Elisabetta taught other young women to paint, including her two sisters and more young women from the area.

As for her painting style, Elisabetta painted in the Baroque style, using details as well as dramatic lighting on her subjects. People would come to watch her paint, even in large audiences because her skill and speed were both noted regularly. Scholars estimate that she painted around 200 paintings in her short life. Three common topics of her paintings were self-portraits, Judith with the head of Holofernes, and the Virgin and Child. Her paintings of the Virgin and Child show the importance of the love between Mary and the Christ-child. She presents Judith in a powerful stance showing her strength as well as her femininity by the choice of clothing. Finally, in her self-portraits she shows herself in women’s dress, but also is quick to place herself with the tools of her trade.

All information came from:

http://www.nmwa.org/explore/artist-profiles/elisabetta-sirani