Review

Reviewed Work(s): Elisabetta Sirani 'Virtuosa': Women's Cultural Production in Early

Modern Bologna by Adelina Modesti
Review by: BABETTE BOHN
Source: The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 159, No. 1371 (June 2017), pp. 480-481
Published by: Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd.
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44869939
Accessed: 15-06-2023 14:06 +00:00

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BOOKS

make their appearance yet be again: for his selection of reproduc- shares his discovery of yet another rare sur-
'Although
commended
it is the printmakers whotions sold theirand
throughout, own
his publisher congrat- vivor, idiosyncratic technique or particular
work to collectors who dominate the his- ulated on their resolution, which enables a decision by a printer or publisher.
reader with a magnifying glass to decipher
tories of printmaking, theirs was a cottage Griffiths's attention to detail is virtually
industry compared to these magnates'.even Butthe smallest lettering on the largest superhuman, and the tempo, style and or-
the vanished cheap print is implied in print
every- the price, for example, on a Piranesi ganisation of his prose is such that ours keeps
Veduta that is reduced by two-thirds. Griffith pace. Only at the book's very end, in the
section; for instance, in 'The buyer' Griffiths
was whatever images would be inform- Glossary, do we glimpse his focus flagging:
provides
comments that 'the market [for prints]
far larger than for books, since the buyer ative,
didincluding trade cards and catalogues, 'plate' is listed twice, but 'mark' is omitted
not need to be literate'. and he indulges his own taste for the beauti- after its reiteration to describe the impression
Fortunately, the print collection with ful or dramatic, which should encourage any left in paper by the printing matrix's edges.
which Griffiths has enjoyed a lifetime of prospective buyer of this expensive book. He And Gutenberg has invented the lithograph!
familiarity, that of the British Museum (andmust have chosen for full-page illustration But these slips are as nothing on the part of
Library), has enough of these scarce ephem- a sixteenth- century table top made up ofthis author. Antony Griffiths has given schol-
engraved ivory plaques - which would have ars and, more simply, enthusiasts of every
era, along with every other sort of print, to
illustrate his points; among the 340 repro-been impossible to use as printing plates - aspect of pre-photographic visual culture a
ductions only eleven are from other collec- simply because it is splendid (p. no). revolutionary understanding of its history in
tions. And even in the 'List of illustrations' At one point Griffiths expresses reserv- prints, and a titanic resource for future study.
he has found an opportunity to increase ations the about the reproductions, yet only in
information quotient of this book; not only the context of his appreciation of the visual 1 A. Stijnman: Engraving and Etching 1400-2000: A
does the itemisation of each print that beauties
was of their originals: 'The brilliance of History of the Development of Manual Intaglio Printmaking
Processes, London 2012, Appendix 3: 'Terms in Print
given or bequeathed to the museum provide the reflection of light on a line of ink stand-Addresses'.
the appropriate credit, the source for all ing thein relief on the paper after having been
purchased prints is also identified, in a con- printed from a sharply cut line in a copper
tinuation of the book's consistent appreci- plate cannot be reproduced on the pages of
ation for the trade. a book'. Elsewhere he meditates on the dia-
The illustrations are superb. The first logue of lustrous engraving and rugose etch-
Elisabetta Sirani 'Virtuosa': Women's
chapter of 'Part I, Print Production', 'The ing exploited by eighteenth- century British
technology and its implications' - per- printmakers such as William Woollett and Cultural Production in Early Modern
haps an unnecessarily intimidating title for Robert Strange, among the occasionalBologna.
in- By Adelina Modesti. 449 pp.
inci. 32 col. & 180 b. & w. ills. (Brepols,
a chapter that is a pleasure to read - starts stances where he reveals a personal response
with a promise of treats to come: a stunning to the physical qualities of the objects ofTurnhout,
his 2014), €150. ISBN 978-2-503-
full-colour pairing of a Blake engraving with study. These are outnumbered in the 53584-5.
text
its gleaming copper plate. The author is to by his palpable sense of excitement when he
Reviewed by BABETTE BOHN
34. Portrait of Jan Six,
by Rembrandt.
the bolognese painter Elisabetta Sirani
1647. Etching and
drypoint, 24.6 by (1638-65) was effusively praised by her
19. i cm. (British well-informed biographer, Malvasia, for her
Museum, London, spirited inventions.1 Malvasia knew Sirani
F,6.7O).
personally, visited her studio and collected
her works, expressing his particular admira-
tion for her rapid, self-assured wash drawing
technique. Sirani was a resourceful history
painter whose gender played a role in in-
spiring her original interpretations (Fig.35).
Some seventy per cent of her paintings are
signed, indicating a concern for claiming
authorship of her works and supplying
helpful corroboration for scholars. Modern
Sirani studies began during the 1970s,2 and
several scholars have since examined her
works.
The book reviewed here is the first Sirani
monograph in English, adding her to the short
list of women artists from early modern Italy
to receive a comprehensive study. The author,
after studying the artist for many years, has
assembled an impressive number of paintings,
also providing new documentary informa-
tion. Modesti's book is a translation (with
some revisions) of her Italian monograph
of 2004, with the addition of a catalogue
raisonné of the paintings. She also discusses
Bolognese noblewomen, some of whom were
Sirani 's patrons, and examines what she terms
Sirani 's 'academy' of women artists.
Notwithstanding some useful contribu-
tions, this monograph is uneven and often
unauthoritative. Some forty of the 149

48O JUNE 2OI7 • CLIX . THE BURLINGTON MAGAZINE

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 BOOKS

Fiji: Art and Life in the Pacific. By Steven

Hooper. 288 pp. incl. 414 col. ills. (Fiji Mus-
eum, Suva, and University of East Anglia,
Norwich, 2016), £40. ISBN 978-0946009-69-
5 (HB); ¿25. ISBN 978-0946009-70-1 (PB).

Reviewed by HERMIONE WATERFIELD

Steven hooper's book is a fundamental

reference work for collectors of Fijian art
and academic researchers on the history
and culture of the Fiji islands. Published to
coincide with the exhibition Fiji : Art & Life in
the Pacific at the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich
(closed 1 2th February), it is not only a full
catalogue, but sits independently as a scholarly
work and as a visual guide to delight the eye
of any connoisseur.
The first three chapters provide a historical
overview and give detailed information about
the cultural context in which works of art
were made. The important role of exchange
in Fijian society is emphasised, with objects
being regarded as embodiments of crucial
relationships, including those with Europeans,
35. Portia wounding her thigh, by Elisabetta Sirani. 1664. Canvas, 101 by 138 cm. (Collezioni d'Arte di Storia
della Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio, Bologna).
which led to many ending up in European
museums. There are good maps, a useful
timeline of Fijian history and a glossary as well
paintings ascribed to Sirani Camillohere Ercolani's
are un- collection (pp.307-08), as an extensive bibliography and index. Over
convincing attributions. Although but although the 1677 inventory includes
scholars half the volume is devoted to the catalogue,
disagree on questions of connoisseurship, two paintings with these subjects, neither with is
brilliant photographs of an enormous
Modesti's methodological apparatus attributed to Sirani. is nei- variety of ornaments, bowls, weapons, figure
ther clear nor persuasive. She Ararely crucial issue requiring careful attention sculpture, the notorious cannibal forks, bark
specifies
whether she has seen a work to in thesources
primary is Sirani 's role in promot- cloths, pottery, basketry and much else, all
original;
many attributions are simply ing the pronounced
growing number of women artists in attesting to the extraordinary creativity of
but never explained; someBologna. newly suggests that Sirani's im- Fijians. Exceptional is a sequence of whale
ascribed
Modesti
drawings are mentioned only pactin waspassing
due above allbut to her role as a teacher, ivory and pearl shell breastplates, many with
not illustrated; sometimes she she 'certainly taught the majority of additional photographs of back views that
sinceacknowledges
earlier sources, but often she fails artists
the women to cred-practising in Bologna in show the fixing technique. Ivory from the
it prior scholarship. These and the second other the seventeenth century' teeth of sperm whales was highly valued,
issues
half of
compromise the book's reliability. (p. 2). This claim is contradicted by the late 'more valued there than gold' according to
As Malvasia first emphasised, birthdates Siraniof manyex- alleged pupils. Malvasia an early nineteenth-century trader. Fijians
celled at drawing, but this important specifies a directaspectrelationship between Sirani did not hunt whales, but obtained teeth
of her production is not effectively and only threetreated women (her two sisters and from stranded specimens and from European
in the book. Drawing mediaGinevra Cantofoli); he mentions ten others traders, naval captains and missionaries. Many
and inventory
numbers are sometimes incorrect, who followed makingSirani's example (' seguono l'esem- of the finest objects are either made from or
it difficult to trace cited works. The discus- pio '), but never calls them her pupils.3 Sirani's embellished with whale ivory, denoting their
sion of one drawing, a male nude (fig. 113b; success unquestionably promoted the rise ofchiefly status.
formerly Sotheby's, Milan, sale date not women artists in Bologna, but her influence Objects are placed in their cultural context,
given), illustrates these difficulties. Modestishould be understood in conjunction with either in the introductory chapters or in the
considers it preparatory for a paintingother of factors, such as the growing number of extensive captions in the catalogue, which
Angelica and Ruggiero (Modesti no. 147; Cassa male painters in the city with female students provide full provenance information. The
di Risparmio, Cesena, there ascribed who to were not relatives. Despite its contribu- exhibits are mainly drawn from British
Giovanni Andrea Sirani), but apart fromtions, a Modesti's book lacks a full consider- collections, especially from Cambridge and the
similar neckline, there is little relationship ation of the unusual Bolognese environment. British Museum, London. The first resident
between the drawn and painted figures. Governor of Fiji after cession in 1874 was Sir
The author argues that this sketch confirms 1 C.C. Malvasia: Felsina pittrice: vite de ' pittori bolog- Arthur Gordon.1 Encouraged by Augustus
that Sirani drew the male nude from life nesi, Bologna 1678, II, p.479; ed. G.R Zanotti, 1841, Franks at the British Museum, he appreciated
(pp.104- 05), a claim that would contradict II, p.402. the products of the local people, and soon
virtually all previous understanding of 2 F.the
Frisoni: 'La vera Sirani', Paragone 29 (1978), Government House was decorated with
restrictions on life drawing for women pp.3-18;
art-A.S. Harris and L. Nochlin: Women Artists: lengths of bark cloth, clubs, bowls and many
ists. Modesti explains neither this assertion 1350-1950, Los Angeles 1976. other objects. Those in his entourage were also
nor the attribution. 3 Malvasia, op. cit. (note 1), 1678, II, p.487; 1841, II,
enthusiastic collectors, and it is lucky for us that
p.407. The ten mentioned by Malvasia include Teresa
The book provides new documentation on Muratori, who was four at the time of Sirani's death; an intrepid lady visitor, Constance Gordon
Sirani and occasionally on other Bolognese Elena Maria Panzacchia, aged six; Teresa Coriolani, Cumming, painted innumerable watercolours
artists. But some archival references are of the artefacts in Goverment House (Fig. 3 6),
aged eight; and Maria Oriana Galli, who was nine.
inaccurate. In one case Modesti cites a doc- The confusion about some women's training in as well as landscapes. Another long-term
ument allegedly confirming the presence
Bologna began with Marcello Oretti and Luigi Crespi guest, young Baron Anatole von Hügel, also
of Sirani 's Amore and Amorino in Count in the eighteenth century. acquired a large number of objects that are

THE BURLINGTON MAGAZINE • CLIX • JUNE 2OI7 4^ 1

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