Portrait of a Lady as a Vestal Virgin

The Swiss-born artist Angelica Kauffman trained with her father Joseph, who specialized in mural decoration. A highly talented and precocious painter, her first independent works date from her teenage years. Kauffman lived and worked in Italy for most of her life, moving to Florence in 1762. In Italy she absorbed the Neoclassical ideas that became widespread in artistic circles. During her early years in Rome (around 1763), Kauffman studied classical sculpture and perfected technical issues such as perspective.

In 1766, Kauffman left for England in the company of Lady Wentworth and a few days after her arrival visited the studio of Joshua Reynolds. Kauffman arrived in England at a fortuitous moment when the precepts of the new style had begun to take firm hold. Two years later she was involved in the foundation of the Royal Academy, where she exhibited her works. Throughout her career Kauffman worked as a history painter and on the decoration of interiors but she was primarily appreciated for her portraits.

This portrait follows a popular model of the day with the sitter presented as if recreating a moment from classical antiquity, in this case making a sacrifice to Minerva. The goddess of wisdom and one of the principal deities of the Roman pantheon is depicted as a sculpture in the background on the left, wearing a helmet and holding a shield. The foot of the fine bronze burner on which the sitter makes her sacrifice is decorated with a serpent—another symbol of Minerva—and has a garland of real flowers twined around it. The background planes are executed with an extremely free brushstroke and highly diluted pigment used to depict the interior walls and a garden on the left. The handling is tighter in the figure, particularly on her face and hair. 

- Mar Borobia

We present today's work thanks to the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.  <3

P.S. If you would like to learn more about Women Artists, please check our Women Artists Notebook!  : )

P.P.S. Angelica Kauffman was a true Queen of Neoclassical art; here's more on her!