Treasures from the Archive - The Grand Duke, the Painter, and Her Antidote - December 2009
The Grand Duke, the Painter, and Her Antidote
When Giovanna Garzoni began working for the Medici family in the 1640s, she had already attained a good degree of celebrity, not just in Italy but also throughout Europe. Her artistic production in Florence features both large and small portraits of her patrons as well as mythical and religious subjects, animals, still-lives, scientific illustrations, and copies of celebrated paintings. Most of her works are now in the Pitti Palace as well as the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Giovanna personally bequeathed a collection of twenty-two drawings of insects, fruit and flowers to the Accademia. Her painting style is often described as a skillful hybrid of still-life and scientific painting, characterized by clear and precise marks, innovative choice of subjects, and by the use of delicate and at times almost insubstantial tonalities.
“My humble devotion to your Highness makes me suffer more for my inability to serve you, because of my continuing sickness, than for the pain caused by the sickness itself. For a long time I have been deeply affected by catarrhal fluxes which hinder both my breathing and my sight. Therefore I humbly resort to the generous benevolence of your Highness begging you to honor your most humble servant with some of your precious oil against venom…”Giovanna Garzoni (Rome) to Ferdinand II (Florence), 16 March 1669. Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Mediceo del Principato 1082, part IV, fol. 1603.
The unpublished letter, written from Rome, reveals new and important details about the last months of Garzoni’s life. It also sheds light on the relation of trust and intimacy that had developed between the artist and Grand Duke Ferdinand II. Before this document was unearthed, all we knew of the very last period of her life was that on 23 November 1669, after her ill-health had forced her to terminate her career, she asked the Grand Duke to help solve problems concerning some of her properties in Florence.
The present document now informs us that her “catarrhal fluxes,” which deeply affected both her sight and her breath, had been ongoing for one year. She also expresses deep regret that her poor health prevented her from painting. For this reason, she requested that he send her the “precious oil against venom,” an all-purpose antidote against poisons.
Though referring to herself as Ferdinand’s “most humble servant,” this letter underscores the close rapport between artist and patron. The extraordi nary aspect of this letter is that a painter---a female painter, at that---would take the liberty of asking the Grand Duke for a cure for her condition.
Whether or not the oil was sent----and to what degree it helped her---remains unknown. What is known, however, is that Giovanna Garzoni would die less than a year later.
Roberta Piccinelli, Compagnia di San Paolo Fellow (2009-2012), joined the Medici Archive Project this September. Her book entitled Collezionismo a corte. I Gonzaga Nevers e la “superbissima Galeria” di Mantova (1630-1707) will be out in 2010.
