Unfinished: The Inspired Life of Elisabetta Sirani
Kelly Evans
Category: Drama
When 17th Century artist Elisabetta Sirani died young of a mysterious illness, all of Italy mourned. Her fame has been eclipsed by her male counterparts, and she’s been doubted, admired, copied, and derided. This is her story.
They called her La Maestra.
Elisabetta Sirani was a talented and prolific artist in Seventeenth Century Italy. Trained by her father, she earned her first official commission when she was only sixteen. Over her short career she produced more than 200 paintings, etchings, and prints, had patrons that included royalty and noble Italian families, ran her own studio, and founded one of the first art schools in Europe exclusively for women. When she died aged only 27 of a mysterious ailment, all of Bologna mourned.
Her fame has been eclipsed by her male counterparts, and her work often claimed as theirs. Doubted, scorned, admired, copied, and underestimated, this is her story.
