Elisabetta Sirani (b. Bologne, Italy 1638, d. s.p. 1665)
Portrait of Signora Ortensia Leoni Cordini as Saint Dorothy. Signed and dated ELISA.TA SIRANI F. MDCLX (1660). Oil on canvas. 59×50 cm.
The story of the overlooked female painters has been told many times in recent years and with good reason. But when it comes to the Bolognese Baroque painter Elisabetta Sirani, the story actually doesn’t fit. She was gifted with an indisputable artistic talent, business acumen, support from her family and the fact that her hometown of Bologna was among the most progressive and liberal Italian cities of the time, which in no way looked down on women who wanted to pursue an artistic career. Elisabetta received a thorough education from her father Giovanni Andrea Sirani, who was a student of the Bolognese master Guido Reni, and already at the age of 17 she was considered a professional. She painted and drew diligently, while thorough training with the etching needle meant that she was one of the first female artists to master this discipline as well. When Elisabetta was in her mid-twenties, her father fell ill, and she therefore became responsible for the family’s workshop. She developed a practice in which she offered education to young women so that they would not, as was the custom, be apprenticed to their husbands, fathers or brothers. In addition to opening one of Europe's first schools for female painters, she can also take credit for much of the artistic development that arose among subsequent generations of female painters.
Elisabetta steadily and surely moved away from Guido Reni's classical influence and began to work quickly, virtuosically and expressively. The present portrait is an excellent example of this style, with broad but confident brushstrokes, elegant use of light and shadow and a rich palette. The woman in the painting is the Bolognese noblewoman Ortensia Leoni Cordini. She is portrayed as the Christian martyr Dorothea, who was executed by the Romans in ca. 300 AD, because she refused to be married on the grounds that she was already married to Christ. A Roman made fun of her and asked her to make her husband send him fruits and flowers. An angel appeared with a basket of roses and apples and the man converted to Christianity. The strong woman was a consistent theme for Elisabetta. Other examples in her production are 'Judith', who beheaded Holofernes, and 'Timoclea', who pushed her rapist down a well.
The portrait is elegantly signed and dated on the woman's collar: MDCLX (1660). The date makes this newly discovered work the earliest known portrait by Sirani, apart from her self-portraits. So far, it has been believed that the earliest portrait was another version of the present portrait dated 1661, now at the Chazen Museum of Art, Wisconsin (Inv. No. 60.5.2). In the Wisconsin version, however, Ortensia Cordini wears both a necklace and a tiara.
In 1662, at the height of her career and only two years after the execution of the present portrait, the Florentine painter Il Volterrano called Elisabetta “the best brush now in Bologna”.
Her extremely sure hand meant that in a career spanning just 11 years she painted around 200 paintings – mostly historically themed. The portraits are rarer, and only about fourteen are known to exist today. She was known to be able to paint portraits like the one offered here in just one session with the model. Another reason for the large production was that Elisabetta could fully devote herself to art. She was unmarried, had no children and was therefore free from domestic duties, which were otherwise often imposed on women of the time and made any dream of becoming a full-time artist impossible.
Throughout her short career, Elisabetta also showed numerous examples of her great talent for business. She gifted works to important clients to pave the way for future commissions, she invited important clients to the studio where they could see her work, and finally she was diligent about signing the paintings to drive home the point that she was a professional painter in her own right and not just another follower of Guido Reni. She died suddenly at the age of just 27 and was canonized as a martyr, just as Saint Dorothea had been 1300 years earlier. Her funeral became an event for all of Bologna, and she was buried next to her great idol and role model Guido Reni.
Elisabetta Sirani could look back on a career that few men of the time could dream of, and her works could be found in Europe's most important collections.
Literature: B. Bohn, “Women Artists, Their Patrons, and Their Publics in Early Modern Bologna”, 2021. A. Modesti, “Maestra Elisabetta Sirani 'Virtuosa del Pennello'”, 2018.
Provenance: Swedish private collection since the 1920s.
We thank Professor Raffaella Morselli, who, after examining the painting, confirms the attribution to Elisabetta Sirani.
Please note: The item is subject to the Anti-Money Laundering Act. In the event of a hammer price of DKK 50,000 or more, including buyer’s premium, the buyer must submit a copy of a valid photo ID and proof of address in order to collect the item.
Paintings and drawings, 29 November 2022