Elisabetta Sirani

Commissioned by Count Annibale Ranuzzi, according to Count Carlo Cesare Malvasia; 
By descent to Count Girolamo Ranuzzi (see inventory taken after his death on March 13, 1788);
Anonymous sale, Stockholm, Bukowski, 29 May 2007, lot 434, for SEK 1,725,000 ($250,000);
With Adam Williams, New York;
From whom acquired by the present owner.

Count Carlo Malvasia, Inventory of the estate of Count Girolamo Ranuzzi, 1788; 
A. Modesti, “Patrons as Agents and Artists as Dealers in Seicento Bologna,” in The art market in Italy : 15th-17th centuries; Il mercato dell'arte in Italia : secc. XV-XVII, Modena 2003, p. 379, note 9;
A. Modesti, Elisabetta Sirani, 'Virtuosa', Women's Cultural Production in Early Modern Bologna, Turnhout 2014, p. 342-3, cat. no. 119, reproduced p. 342 and on the cover.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This work is restored and could be hung in its current condition. The varnish is very bright and could be adjusted. The lining is recent and presents the surface quite well, although there is cupping. A few retouches are visible under ultraviolet light, but there are none of any note. The shadow on the left arm of cupid has received some retouches. There are also retouches on the edges and in the hair of Venus. The faces and bodies of both figures are very well preserved.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

A rare and talented artist in 17th-century Bologna, Elisabetta Sirani achieved international fame during her lifetime, while her sudden and mysterious death at just twenty-seven only added to her renown in her native city. Painted a year before she died, this dynamic and colorful composition of Venus and Cupid is a splendid example of the artist's later work.  The elegant and sumptuous Venus looks out at the viewer, her right hand gesturing toward the playful cupid, who has shot two arrows at the tree in the background. The undulating figures and bright, warm colors are typical of the artist's late work. 

Sirani likely received her initial training from her father, Giovanni Andrea Sirani, who was principal assistant in the workshop of Guido Reni. By the age of twenty, however, she was head of her own workshop and was later the first woman to found an academy of design for female artists.   Sirani enjoyed enormous success, forging a prolific career as a painter and draftsman and becoming one of the the most celebrated Bolognese artists of the mid-seventeenth century.  After her early death in 1665, the entire city of Bologna went into mourning and arranged a magnificent funeral; as a final tribute, she was buried next to Guido Reni.