Giovanna Garzoni
Encyclopedia
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
painter of the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
era. She was unusual for Italian artists of thetime for two reasons: first, in that her themes were mainly decorative and luscious still-lifes of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, and second, because she was a woman.
Garzoni was born in Ascoli Piceno
Ascoli Piceno
Ascoli Piceno is a town and comune in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. Its population is c. 51,400.-Geography:...
. Her training was with an otherwise unknown painter from her native town of Ascoli Piceno
Ascoli Piceno
Ascoli Piceno is a town and comune in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. Its population is c. 51,400.-Geography:...
. She gained substantial success at her trade in Rome, Venice, Florence (1642–1651), Naples, and Turin. She was patronized by Cassiano dal Pozzo
Cassiano dal Pozzo
Cassiano dal Pozzo was an Italian scholar and patron of arts. The secretary of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, he was an antiquary in the classicizing circle of Rome, and a long-term friend and patron of Nicolas Poussin, whom he supported from his earliest arrival in Rome: Poussin in a letter...
and Anna Colonna
Anna Colonna
Anna Colonna was an Italian noblewoman of the Colonna and Barberini families and Princess of Paliano-Biography:Colonna was born in 1601; the daughter of Filippo Colonna, Prince of Paliano and Lucrezia Tomacelli, dei signori di Galatro, and was thus Princess of Paliano.On 14 October 1627, at age...
, the wife of Taddeo Barberini
Taddeo Barberini
Taddeo Barberini was an Italian nobleman of the House of Barberini who became Prince of Palestrina and Gonfalonier of the Church; commander of the Papal Army. He was a nephew of Pope Urban VIII and brother of Cardinals Francesco Barberini and Antonio Barberini...
. In Turin she painted for Carlo Emanuele II, Duke of Savoy
Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy
Charles Emmanuel II was the Duke of Savoy from 1638 to 1675 and under regency of his mother Christine Marie of France until 1663. He was also Marquis of Saluzzo, Count of Aosta, Geneva, Moriana and Nice, as well as claimant king of Cyprus and Jerusalem...
. She returns to Rome in the 1650s. In 1666, Garzoni bequeathed her entire estate to the Roman painters' guild the Accademia di San Luca
Accademia di San Luca
The Accademia di San Luca, was founded in 1577 as an association of artists in Rome, under the directorship of Federico Zuccari, with the purpose of elevating the work of "artists", which included painters, sculptors and architects, above that of mere craftsmen. Other founders included Girolamo...
, on condition that they build her tomb in their church of Santi Luca e Martina
Santi Luca e Martina
Santi Luca e Martina is a church in Rome, Italy, situated between the Roman Forum and the Forum of Caesar and close to the Arch of Septimus Severus.-History:...
. Her tomb monument by Mattia De Rossi
Mattia de Rossi
Mattia de Rossi was an Italian architect of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome and surrounding towns.Born in Rome to a family of architects and artisans, he rose to prominence under the mentorship of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and even inherited the position as chief architect of the Fabbrica di...
is to the right of the entrance. Laura Bernasconi
Laura Bernasconi
Laura Bernasconi was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, known to be active in 1674. Born and died in Rome, she trained with Mario Nuzzi, and like him, painted still life paintings of flowers. This same thematic had been favored by Giovanna Garzoni, another woman painter in Rome who died in...
was also a woman painter of still-life flowers in Rome in the 1670s. In Rome, she would have been a contemporary of Caterina Ginnasi
Caterina Ginnasi
Caterina Ginnasi was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Rome. She was the pupil of the painter Giovanni Lanfranco. In Rome, she painted altarpieces for the church of Santa Lucia. She was the niece of the patron and builder of the church, Cardinal Ginnasi. She would have...
.
It is likely that in Naples she was exposed to the still-lifes of Giovan Battista Ruoppolo
Giovan Battista Ruoppolo
Giovan Battista Ruoppolo was a Neapolitan painter from the Baroque era, notable for painting still-lifes. He was a disciple of Paolo Porpora , a contemporary of Salvatore Rosa. Additional Porpora pupils who formed a school of still-life painters in Naples were Giovan Battista and Giuseppe Recco,...
and his contemporaries. Others cite Jacopo Ligozzi
Jacopo Ligozzi
Jacopo Ligozzi was an Italian painter, illustrator, designer, and miniaturist of the late Renaissance and early Mannerist styles.-Biography:...
or Fede Galizia
Fede Galizia
Fede Galizia was an Italian Renaissance painter, a pioneer of the still life genre.- Life:Fede Gallizi, better known as Galizia, was born in Milan in 1578. Her father, Nunzio Galizia, also a painter of miniatures, had moved to Milan from Trento. Fede learned to paint from him...
as possible influences in her choice of still life topics.
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
, in a short biography below a painting attributed to her, claims she traveled to Northern Europehttp://www.clevelandart.org/explore/searchlist.asp?searchText=Garzoni&display=list.