Properzia de' Rossi

Properzia de' Rossi (c. 1490–1530) was an Italian female Renaissance sculptor. She studied under the Bolognese artist and master engraver Marcantonio Raimondi, who is best known today for his engravings after paintings by Raphael.

Properzia de' Rossi was born in Bologna to a notary named Giovanni Martino Rossi da Modena. As a woman of the Renaissance, she studied painting, music, dance, poetry, and classical literature, and studied drawing under Marcantonio Raimondi. Undecided in her youth as to which outlet of self-expression she wanted to pursue, she found her direction when she tried her hand at sculpture, creating small but intricately detailed works of art on apricot, peach, and cherry stones. The subject of these small "friezes" was often religious, with one of the most famous being a Crucifixion in a peach pit. Although the exact date of her transition from painting to sculpture is unknown, it is evident that it happened by the 1520s when records document her entrance in the competition to decorate the high altar of the sanctuary of the Madonna del Baraccano in Bologna. Sculpting aside, de Rossi was noted for her beauty, intellect, and musical talents. Because she was not born into a family of artists, as were most of her female contemporaries, de Rossi had additional barriers to cross in order to pursue a sculpting career, especially in marble. Nonetheless, she received training at the University of Bologna, and with master engraver Marc Antonio Raimondi.

As she approached her thirties, de' Rossi began working in large scale. Her marble portrait busts from this period brought her to prominence. She won a competition to create sculpture for the west facade of San Petronio in Bologna. Records show that she was paid to create three sibyls, two angels, and a pair of bas-relief panels, including a panel depicting Joseph and Potiphar's Wife. In the scene, Joseph attempts to escape from the wife of an Egyptian officer. The skillfully executed musculature in combination with classical dress reveal de Rossi's knowledge of antiquity. Additionally, the subject matter of Joseph fleeing from his temptress was a prominent subject matter in the early days of the Counter-Reformation, conveying the dangers of immorality associated with female nature. Giorgio Vasari wrote in his "Life of Madonna Properzia de’ Rossi" that de' Rossi was paid "a most beggarly price for her work." He attributed this to the painter Amico Aspertini working to ruin her commissions and pay. The quality of her later marble busts, including a bust of Count Alessandro de Pepoli, earned her the commission for the decorative program on the high altar of Santa Maria del Baraccano in Bologna in 1524. Although pitted against male competitors, de Rossi was the winner of a commission for the west façade of San Petronio, also in Bologna. Part of the commission included a marble panel depicting the Biblical story of Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, often referred to as her most celebrated piece. Here, she shows adeptness for arranging heroic figures in a broad and dynamic style characteristic of Italian Renaissance relief sculpture. Vasari praised this work but also assumed it depicted de Rossi’s personal woes of unrequited love.

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