"Bricci was a multihyphenate artist active in the mid-17th century, and unique among female artists in that she was not only a painter but also an architect (most famous for a now destroyed Villa Benedetta Il Vascello), sculptor, and amateur musician. The daughter of an artist, Giovanni Bricci, she learned basic skills in his workshop and also worked his connections to meet potential patrons."
"Her career kicked off with an early painting, Santa Maria in Montesanto (1640), rumored to have been partially completed by the Virgin Mary herself (Bricci apparently fell asleep while working on it, and when she awoke, the face of the Virgin was inexplicably complete). This episode spurred the artist to take a vow of chastity, either out of devotion or (more likely) as a convenient excuse to avoid marriage and grant her freedom to paint."
"Bricci's career hit its stride around 1660, when she was in her fifties, thanks in part to the support of her main patron, Abbot Elpidio Benedetti (the Roman art agent for the powerful Cardinal Mazarin). This was also around the time when she created Birth of the Virgin."
Plautilla Bricci (1616-1705) was a pioneering Baroque artist and Italy's first professional female architect, working as a painter, architect, sculptor, and musician in mid-17th century Rome. Despite her accomplishments, her works remain largely overshadowed by more famous contemporaries like Caravaggio. Bricci designed the San Luigi IX chapel at the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi and created the altarpiece Birth of the Virgin around 1660. Her career flourished in her fifties with support from patron Abbot Elpidio Benedetti. A restoration project led by Artemisia Gold aims to bring greater attention to her Birth of the Virgin altarpiece at the Church of Santa Maria in Campo Marzio, highlighting her significant but underrecognized artistic legacy.
Read at Artnet News
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