| Elisabetta Sirani, born on January 8, 1638, was a very | | | | an established painter. The school turned into a |
| famous Italian artist from the School of Bologna. She | | | | platform for young female artists, as during that era |
| was a Baroque virtuoso painter and had learned the | | | | no other institute trained women painters. Apart from |
| finesse from her father Giovanni Andre Sirani | | | | being an excellent artist, she was also a good |
| (1610-70), who himself was a renowned artist of his | | | | musician and a poet. Sirani has produced around 200 |
| times. Elisabetta was a follower of a famed | | | | drawings, paintings, and etchings. 'Portia Wounding |
| Bolognese religious painter Guido Reni (1575-1642). By | | | | Her Thigh' (1664), 'Assumption of the Virgin,' 'Saint |
| the young age of seventeen, she was a professional | | | | Eustache,' 'Judith with the Head of Holofernes' (1658), |
| engraver and painter. In her nineteenth year, | | | | 'Madonna with child and Infant Saint John,' 'Saint |
| Elisabetta started working independently, while also | | | | Jerome,' and 'Portrait of Anna Maria Ranuzzi' (1665) |
| assisting in her family workshop. She painted | | | | are few of her most celebrated works. |
| large-scale pictures in the full view of large audiences | | | | In 1665, at the young age of twenty-seven Sirani bid |
| to dispel the gossip that her paintings were made by | | | | adieu to the world. There has been a lot of mystery |
| her father. Her works centered on the scriptural, | | | | surrounding her death. Some rumors suggest that her |
| historical, and mythological themes. The light effect | | | | jealous house cleaner poisoned her. She was |
| and the flow of brush strokes imparted a unique and | | | | however, acquitted of any foul play because the |
| neat Baroque touch to her works. | | | | autopsy detected perforated ulcers as the cause of |
| In 1658, when Sirani was at the pinnacle of popularity, | | | | Elisabetta's death. Another rumor suggests that the |
| the Church of Cerosini employed her to paint 'The | | | | premature death of her father and the sudden |
| Baptism of Christ' on its walls. In 1664, the Prince of | | | | responsibility of the family brought upon her a lot of |
| Tuscany commissioned her to paint his portrait and | | | | stress, which caused her death. Distinguished crowds |
| Madonna. Elisabetta had several nobles and wealthy | | | | at the large public funeral arranged paid her tribute. |
| royals as her patrons. The Grand Duke Cosimo III de | | | | Elisabetta was laid to rest in her father's tomb. She |
| Medici was one her ardent admirers. | | | | spread her legacy through her teachings, which her |
| At the tender age of fourteen, Sirani owned an art | | | | pupils, including her sisters Barbara and Anna Maria, |
| studio and opened a School of Arts for women | | | | took forward. |
| painters. This was even before she herself became | | | | |
