Marvellously gifted’: Giovanna Garzoni’s first visit to the Medici court

Marvellously gifted’: Giovanna Garzoni’s first visit to the Medici court

Barker's article posits evidence based hypotheses about the art of Garzoni's career, and provides a primary source telling of Garzoni's youth. Garzoni was an acting artist even at adolescence, thought to have had her first patron, Grand Duchess Maria Magdalena as a child. Garzoni's trip to the Medici court in Florence also happened at a young (undetermined) age. Scholars hypothesize that this visit to the court prior to 1625 was when Garzoni encountered several arts influential to her life and work including Ligozzi, notable for scientific depictions of natural objects, and Artemisia Gentileschi. The article features a direct translation of a letter about Garzoni from Cristofano Bronzini to the Tuscan court. He describes he describes as "being about 15 years old, and who was born in [the] fortunate century of 1605." He goes on to praise her heavily not only on her visual art, but for her singing, beauty, calligraphy, and "grace and tenderness." Bronzini discusses how Garzoni paints miniatures on vellum with subject matter of "festoons, plant leaves, flowers, fruits and various animals." Bronzini's description of Garzoni shows that even at the early age of 15, Garzoni had already found her focus in both media and subject matter in art. She was recognized at an early age, and as a result made visits to courts in numerous countries through her long career lending a global influence on her art. Encountering artists in the Medici court and beyond, Garzoni was more fortunate than other women artists in her access to mentors.

Sheila Barker

Barker, Sheila. “‘Marvellously gifted’: Giovanna Garzoni’s first visit to the Medici court.” Burlington Magazine 160 (2018): 654-59.

The Burlington Magazine

2018

Meena Gudapati

The Burlington Magazine

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