Giovanna Garzoni

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Self-portrait, around 1650

Giovanna Garzoni (* 1600 in Ascoli Piceno ; † between February 10 and 15, 1670 in Rome ) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period who is known for her still lifes and portraits .

Life

Giovanna Garzoni was the daughter of Giacomo Garzoni from Venice and Isabetta Gaia from Ascoli, who also had Venetian ancestors. From 1615 to 1630 she lived intermittently in Venice, where she studied with her uncle Pietro Gaia, a student of Jacopo Palma the Younger, and with the calligrapher Giacomo Rogni. In 1622 she married the portrait painter Tiberio Tinelli , from whom she separated the following year.

Portrait of her patron Christina of France, 1635

In 1630 she traveled to Naples with her brother Matteo , where she entered the service of Viceroy Fernando Alfán de Ribeira . On the way to Naples she stayed in Rome for some time , where she came into contact with Cassiano Dal Pozzo . In November 1632, at Christina's request, she came to Turin from France and got a job at the court of Vittorio Amadeo I. She created numerous portraits for the court and her first known still lifes were created. After the death of Vittorio Amadeo, she left Turin and probably lived in Paris , possibly also in England.

From 1642 she lived as an established artist in Florence and worked in particular for the Medici  . Her clients and sponsors included Ferdinando II. De 'Medici , his wife Vittoria della Rovere and Leopoldo de' Medici . Garzoni was at the height of her popularity at this time, selling many works and coming to a certain degree of wealth.

In 1651 she settled in Rome, but kept in touch with her clients in Florence. She bought a house near the Accademia di San Luca , with which she was closely connected. It is unclear whether and when she was formally admitted to the Academy, but from 1654 she took part in meetings of the members. In her will of 1666, the childless Garzoni bequeathed her property to the Academy on the condition that a grave was built for her in the church of Santi Luca e Martina . This tomb was created by Mattia de Rossi in 1698, 28 years after her death .

plant

Still life with a bowl of lemons , tempera on vellum , late 1640s

In addition to some oil paintings on canvas, Garzoni mainly created works in tempera , watercolor and gouache on parchment . Her motifs are portraits, calligraphies as well as fruit and flower still lifes, from 1630 increasingly botanical motifs.

She developed a characteristic, almost pointillist technique between painting and drawing. In the style of English miniature painting, she set many tiny dots with a special brush and delicate, densely set lines on the parchment. Her works based on the still life tradition of Orsola Caccia , Panfilo Nuvolone or Fede Galizia show bowls of fruit and vegetables, often combined with flowers, animals or foliage in a simple, symmetrical structure. Her flower still lifes are varied and show an extraordinary wealth of colors.

From around 1630 Garzoni's pictures show a naturalistic, non-idealized representation of plants and animals, which correspond less to contemporary still life painting than to natural history painting in the tradition of Dürer or Leonardo or the model of Jacopo Ligozzi . Garzoni was obviously well versed in botany and also created illustrations for flower books.

literature

Web links

Commons : Giovanna Garzoni  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Garzoni, Giovanna
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian painter
DATE OF BIRTH 1600
PLACE OF BIRTH Ascoli Piceno
DATE OF DEATH between February 10, 1670 and February 15, 1670
Place of death Rome