Giovanna Garzoni Biography

Imagine you are painting some fruits, but the fruits look so realistic
it’s like you can just grab them through the painting. You wondered how
you started out painting religious and symbolic painting to painting
realistic inanimate objects. This is about Giovanna Garzoni, a famous
female artist, whose painting style changed over time.
 The name of the renaissance person I chose is
Giovanna Garzoni. Giovanna Garzoni was born in the
Baroque time period. The Baroque time period is a time
period from 1600-1750. Baroque means relating to a style
of European like music, art, or architecture. Giovanna
Garzoni was born in 1600 in Ascoli Piceno, Italy and died in
1670 meaning she lived for 70 years. Her parents were
Giacomo Garzoni and Isabetta Gaia. Some other family
members in Giovanna’s family are her grandfather, Nicola and her
uncle, Vincenzo which are both from her mother’s side. Both of the
family members were goldsmiths. Her other uncle, Pietro Gaia was a
painter. Giovanna also had a brother named Mattio. “After receiving an
education, in 1630 Garzoni along with her brother Mattio, left Venice for
Naples where she worked for the Spanish viceroy, The Duke of Alacala”
(Wikipedia). Garzoni remained in Naples for one year until she moved to
Rome in 1631. She would travel with Mattio throughout her career as an
artist. Giovanna went to Venice, Italy and stayed there for a few years
attending the calligraphy school of Giacomo Rogni. “Four years later in
1620, Garzoni arrived in Venice and painted Saint Andrew for the
Venetian Church” (The Painted Prism). Giovanna then created a
calligraphy book. It was unknown if Giovanna married or not. Some
historians believe she was once married to Venetian portrait painter
Tiberio Tinelli in 1622 but the marriage was very short-lived because
their marriage was declared invalid. Giovanna Garzoni’s job was an
Italian painter and a botanical illustrator in the Baroque time period.
Giovanna first started out
painting religious,
mythological, and
symbolic paintings.
Giovanna got more
famous when she started
painting more with
tempera and watercolors of botanical subjects and also, when Giovanna
used precision and balance with space and scientific realism while
painting.
Another achievement Giovanna achieved is when she painted Saint
Andrew for the Venetian Church of the Ospedale degli Incurabili. A great
achievement for Giovanna was when she worked for the Spanish
viceroy, the Duke of Alacala. The Duke of Alcala was a Spanish noble
and diplomat. An additional achievement Giovanna accomplished is
when she worked for the Florentine Court. A third achievement is when
Christina of France kept asking Giovanna to serve as a miniaturist for
the Turinese court. Giovanna finally said yes to the offer and became a
miniaturist.
Giovanna was a very important person because she one of the few
women who got an educated, traveled and became a well-known
painter during her time.