Rome Venice
Where did Giovanna Garzoni work from 1616 to 1630?
Giovanna Garzoni Giovanna Garzoni ( 1600–1670 ) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period . She began her career painting religious , mythological , and allegorical subjects but gained fame for her botanical subjects painted in tempera and watercolour . Her works were praised for their precision and balance and for the exactitude of the objects depicted . She was often called the Chaste Giovanna due to her vow to remain a virgin . Scholars have speculated Garzoni may have been influenced by fellow botanical painter Jacopo Ligozzi although details about Garzonis training are unknown . Early life . Giovanna Garzoni was born in 1600 in Ascoli Piceno in the Marche district of Italy to Giacomo Garzoni and Isabetta Gaia . Both of Garzonis parents were of Venetian origin and are believed to have come from a long line of Venetian painters - a fact that is often disputed . Garzonis grandfather Nicola and Uncle Vincenzo from her mothers side were both goldsmiths while her other uncle , Pietro Gaia , was a painter who studied under Palma the Younger . Historians have widely speculated that Garzoni started off her career as an apprentice under her uncle sometime before 1615 . Garzoni also had a brother , Mattio , with whom she would travel throughout her career . Career . Garzonis first known commission was in the city where she grew up , Rome . It was in 1616 , from the chemist Giovanni Vorvino to paint a herbarium . Four years later in 1620 Garzoni arrived in Venice and painted a Saint Andrew for the Venetian Church of the Ospedale degli Incurabili . Garzoni stayed in Venice for a few more years and during that time attended the Calligraphy school of Giacomo Rogni . Shortly after her studies , Garzoni produced a book of cursive characters called the Libro decaratteri Cancellereschi Corsivi . After finishing her education , Garzoni and her brother Mattio left Venice in 1630 for Naples where she worked for the Spanish viceroy , the Duke of Alacala . Garzoni remained in Naples for a year before returning to Rome in 1631 . Garzonis stay in Rome was short lived however , due to Christina of Frances persistent efforts to have the artist come to Turin to serve as the miniaturist for the Turinese court . Garzoni reached Turin in 1632 and lived there until 1637 . After staying in Turin , Garzoni became familiar with the work of fellow artists Fede Galizia and Panfilo Nuvolone . A few years later in 1640 , Garzoni arrived in Paris and stayed there until 1642 when she went to Rome . Garzoni traveled back and forth from Rome to Florence until 1651 where her primary clients were in the Medici Family , particularly Grand Duke Ferdinando II , Grand Duchess Victoria , and Cardinal Giovan Carlo . After serving the Medici Court , Garzoni decided to settle in Rome in 1651 where she worked continue producing work for the Florentine Court . As well as painting , Garzoni attended the Accademia di San Luca , where she followed events and discussion aimed at educating , socializing , and professionalizing painters , architects and sculptors of Rome . It is noted by several historians that Garzonis pieces were so well received by the public ; she was able to ask any price for her paintings . Notable works and clients . Plate with White Beans : Plate with White Beans was one of the several works of art commissioned by the Medici family . The still life , painted sometime between 1650-1662 , is a naturalistic study of beans in various stages of ripeness and decay . It is collection of the Galleria Palatina in Florence . Portrait of Carlo Emanuele I , Duke of Savory : Created between 1623–1637 when Garzoni was invited to work for the court of Turin by Christina of France in 1632 , this painting is now located in Palazzo Reale , Turin and was last restored in 1995 . Still Life with a Basket of Fruit , a Vase with Carnations and Shells on a Table : This gouache on vellum piece is one of the twenty still-life miniatures that Garzoni produced for the Medici family from the years 1650–1662 . The piece depicts carnations , conch shells , as well as a basket of fruit . Due to her work for the Medici Court , Garzoni became a favorite within the Florentine court for her depictions of nature and botanical subjects . It is now located in the Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay Collection in Washington , DC . Two important manuscript notebooks by Garzoni exist . The rare books library in Washington DC , Dumbarton Oaks , contains a self-portrait of the elderly artist , in addition to a number of botanical studies . Another album , held by the Accademia di San Luca , the artists institute to which Garzoni left her estate , includes flower studies and still lifes . Personal life . It is believed by historians that Garzoni never married , but others speculate that the artist was once married to Venetian portrait painter Tiberio Tinelli in 1622 . If so , the marriage was short lived , possibly resulting in separation in 1624 . Death . In 1666 , Garzoni devised a will that left her estate to the Church of Santa Martina , the church of the Accademia di San Luca on the basis that she would be buried in the church . Garzoni died in Rome in February 1670 at the age of 70 . Today , Garzonis tomb remains at the Church of Santa Martina but it was not interred there until 1698 , nearly 29 years after her death . Roman painter Giuseppe Ghezzis portrait of Garzoni is also located at the Accademia . Sources . - Ferraro , Joanne M . Marriage Wars in Late Renaissance Venice . ( New York : Oxford University Press , 2001 ) . - Fortune , Jane , and Linda Falcone . Invisible Women . ( Florence : The Florentine Press , 2010 ) . - Frick , Carole Collier , Stefania Biancani , and Elizabeth S . G . Nicholson . Italian Women Artists : from Renaissance to Baroque . ( Milano : Skira , 2007 ) . - McTighe , Sheila . Foods and the Body in Italian Genre Paintings , about 1580 : Campi , Passarotti , Carracci . The Art Bulletin , College Art Association 86 ( 2004 ) :301–323 , doi 10.2307/3177419 . - Anon . The Flowering of Florence : Botanical Art for the Medici . National Gallery of Art . Accessed October 22 , 2014 . . - The History of the Accademia di San Luca , c . 1590–1635 : Archived from the Archivio di Stato di Roma . National Gallery of Art . . - Vigué , Jordi . Great Women Masters of Art . ( New York : Watson-Guptill , 2003 ) . External links . - Accademia of San Luca - Giovanna Garzoni Getty Museum - National Gallery of Art - Web Gallery of Art ( images ) - Cleveland Institute of Art - Giovanna Garzoni Notebook : Garzoni , Giovanna , 1600–1670 . Piante varie . ca . 1650 . RARE RBR G-3-3 . Dumbarton Oaks Research Library , Washington , DC - CLARA Database of Women Artists