Marietta Robusti
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Marietta Robusti (1560? – 1590) was a
Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetians might refer to: * Masters of Venetian painting in 15th-16th centuries * ...
painter of the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
period. She was the daughter of
Tintoretto Jacopo Robusti (late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594), best known as Tintoretto ( ; , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized th ...
(Jacobo Robusti) and sometimes, is referred to as ''Tintoretta''.


Biography

Robusti is mentioned briefly in ''Il Riposo della Pitura e della Scultura'' by Raffaelo Borghini in 1584.Eric Newton, ''Tintoretto''. (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1952), 62. The only known primary source for details of Marietta Robusti's life, however, is in ''Life of Tintoretto'' by
Carlo Ridolfi Carlo Ridolfi (1594–1658) was an Italian art biographer and painter of the Baroque period. Biography Ridolfi was born in Lonigo near Vicenza. He was a pupil of the painter Antonio Vassilacchi (Aliense). He painted a ''Visitation'' for the Og ...
that was published in 1642 about her father. These two sources disagree on the year of her birth: according to Borghini, she was born in 1555, but
Carlo Ridolfi Carlo Ridolfi (1594–1658) was an Italian art biographer and painter of the Baroque period. Biography Ridolfi was born in Lonigo near Vicenza. He was a pupil of the painter Antonio Vassilacchi (Aliense). He painted a ''Visitation'' for the Og ...
indicates that she was born in 1560. She probably was born in 1560 since her death during childbirth is recorded as at the age of thirty in 1590. She lived in
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
all her life. She was the eldest daughter of the painter Jacopo Robusti, from whom she inherited not only his aptitude, but also her nickname, la Tintoretta (translated as female "little dyer", after the occupation of her grandfather as a ''tintore'' or dyer). Because of this, she is known variously as Marietta Robusti, Marietta Tintoretto, or "la Tintoretta". The name of her mother is not known. Ridolfi describes Robusti's close relationship with her father at great length. Not only did she learn at his knee, as a child she would dress as a boy so that she could go everywhere with Tintoretto. She was followed by seven siblings, three half-brothers and four half-sisters born to her stepmother, Tintoretto's wife Faustina Episcopi.Women, Art, and Society Two of her half-brothers became painters as well, the most famous was
Domenico Domenico is an Italian given name for males and may refer to: People * Domenico Alfani, Italian painter * Domenico Allegri, Italian composer * Domenico Alvaro, Italian mobster * Domenico Ambrogi, Italian painter * Domenico Auria, Italian a ...
. Robusti's artistic training consisted of serving an apprenticeship in the collaborative environment of her father's workshop, where she probably contributed to her father's paintings by executing backgrounds and figure blocking, as was the usual distribution of labor in painting workshops of the time. She also served as the subject in many of her father's paintings. It is reported that the grieving Tintorentto created his last portrait of Marietta, postmortem, on her deathbed. Although Robusti's social and economic autonomy was no greater than other artisan women of her time, she had quite a following, changing the ideals of femininity within the arts. After her death, Carlo Ridolfi stated she was one of the most illustrious women of her time, having the same manner of skill as her father while displaying "sentimental femininity, a womanly grace that is strained and resolute". It was said that while Robusti worked in her father's studio, she also worked on altarpieces as an assistant, but her achievements were ascribed to her father. No evidence exists that Robusti received commissions for major religious works such as altarpieces or other church decorations. She was recognized mainly as a portraitist,Grove Art Online, s.v. “Marietta Robusti.” Available from Grove Art, George Mason University Li

accessed 10 February 2008).
however, Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor Maximilian and
King Philip II of Spain King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
both expressed interest in hosting her as a court painter so knowledge of her skills had to be known to contemporaries. Apparently, her father refused their invitations on her behalf because he couldn't bear to part with her. In 1578, Tintoretto arranged for Marietta to marry a Venetian jeweler and silversmith, Mario Augusta, to ensure that she would remain near him. She died during childbirth and was buried in Santa Maria del’Orto in Venice in 1590. After her death, a noticeable decline in the work produced by Tintoretto was ascribed to his grief over the loss of his daughter, rather than the likelihood that he lost his most skillful assistant.


Attributions and assessment

Since conventions of the time dictated that women remain in domestic spheres and were not welcome in the public world of art production and sale, Robusti and her female contemporaries only gained access to participate in the professional art world through their male relatives who were recognized as artists. Given the suppression of recognition of her work, until modern times the only painting that had been attributed conclusively to Marietta Robusti was her ''Self-portrait'' (c. 1580;
Uffizi Gallery The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of ...
, Florence). This portrait depicts Marietta posed before a harpsichord, holding a musical text that has been identified as a madrigal by
Philippe Verdelot Philippe Verdelot (1480 to 1485–1530 to 1540) was a French composer of the Renaissance, who spent most of his life in Italy. He is commonly considered to be the father of the Italian madrigal, and certainly was one of its earliest and most pro ...
, "Madonna per voi ardo". It has been postulated by one reviewer that the inclusion of the text of this madrigal, whose opening lines are "My Lady, I burn with love for you and you do not believe it", suggests that the painting was created for a specific male viewer.Katherine A. McIver, "Lavinia Fontana's 'Self-Portrait Making Music'," Woman's Art Journal 19, no. 1 (Spring-Summer 1998): 3-8. This speculation suggests that it might have been intended for viewing by her husband. Other attributions now include three more paintings. ''Old Man and a Boy'' (c. 1585;
Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...
, Vienna) that was long considered one of the finest portraits by her father, was revealed in 1920 to be painted by Marietta Robusti. ''Portrait of Ottavio Strada'' (
Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the S ...
, Amsterdam) now is attributed to her rather than to her father. ''Portrait of Two Men'' (
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister The (, ''Old Masters Gallery'') in Dresden, Germany, displays around 750 paintings from the 15th to the 18th centuries. It includes major Italian Renaissance painting, Italian Renaissance works as well as Dutch Golden Age painting, Dutch and F ...
, Dresden) that is signed "MR" is thought to be the only surviving work known to be signed by Marietta Robusti.


Inspiration for Romantic artists

Following Marietta Robusti's death she became a muse for Romantic painters such as
Léon Cogniet Léon Cogniet (29 August 1794 – 20 November 1880) was a French history and portrait painter. He is probably best remembered as a teacher, with more than one hundred notable students. Biography He was born in Paris. His father was a painter ...
who produced ''Tintoretto Painting His Dead Daughter'' in 1846.
Eleuterio Pagliano Eleuterio Pagliano (2 May 1826 – 5 January 1903) was an Italian painter of the Romanticism, Romantic period as well as an activist and fighter of the ''Risorgimento''. Biography Pagliano was born in Casale Monferrato in the Kingdom of Sardin ...
painted ''Tintoretto and His Daughter'' in 1861. The trope of women artists being transformed from creators to subjects for male counterparts made her a motif for male creativity, displaying a dying muse of "quietly suffering femininity".


Notes


References

* Chadwick, Whitney. ''Women, Art, and Society''. 6th ed. London: Thames & Hudson, 2020, 22-26. * McIver, Katherine A. "Lavinia Fontana's 'Self-Portrait Making Music'," ''Woman's Art Journal'' 19, no. 1 (Spring-Summer 1998): 3-8. * Newton, Eric. ''Tintoretto''. London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1952. * Niceley, H. T. "A Door Ajar: The Professional Position of Women Artists," ''Art Education'' 45, no. 2 (Mar., 1992): 6-13. * Ridolfi, Carlo. ''The Life of Tintoretto and of his children Domenico and Marietta''. Translated by Catherine Enggass and Robert Enggass. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1984. * Wasmer, Marc-Joachim. Die Künstlertochter Marietta Robusti, genannt Tintoretta, in: "Unser Kopf ist rund, damit das Denken die Richtung wechseln kann." Festschrift für Franz Zelger, ed. Matthias Wohlgemut, in collaboration with Marc Fehlmann, Zurich 2001, 463–494.


External links


''Self Portrait'' at Scholars Resource
(thumbnail)
''Portrait of Ottavio Strada'' at Web Gallery of Art

Marietta Robusti in ''Dictionary of Painters and Engravers: Biographical and Critical''
by Michael Bryan
La Renaissance- WebMuseum, Paris
by Nicolas Pioch {{DEFAULTSORT:Robusti, Marietta 1560s births 1590 deaths 16th-century Italian painters Painters from the Republic of Venice Italian Renaissance painters Italian portrait painters Italian women painters 16th-century Venetian people Muses (persons) 16th-century Venetian women 16th-century Italian women artists Tintoretto