Anna Maria Crescimbeni

Anna Maria Crescimbeni (November 22, 1772 – February 25, 1863) was an Italian painter based in Bologna.

Largely forgotten, she was among the first women to be admitted as an honorary member of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna. Like other of her colleagues, she was rediscovered in the 2010s. She was the daughter of the painter Angelo Crescimbeni, who died when she was 9 years old.

Presumably due to her father's influence in the art world, in 1793 circa she was admitted as a pupil in the atelier of Jacopo Alessandro Calvi, with whom she would maintain a strong bond all her life.

Career St Andrew's vocation to the Apostolate, St. Andrew church in Castel Maggiore, Italy. She painted religious paintings, mostly oils on canvas for churches in Bologna and Northern Italy. Her patrons included religious institutions such as the Congregazione di San Luigi Gonzaga, and some influential noble families, members of the Bolognese Senate, such as Bentivoglio (a painting of the Beata Elena dall'Oglio) and Marescalchi families (for a painting exhibed at the Gallery of the Count Ferdinando Marescalchi).

Occasionally, she painted also mythological subjects for her commissioners of London.

In 1830 she is at the top of her career when Gaetano Giordani write about her in the book Notizie delle donne pittrici di Bologna. and she worked until late in life: she restored a painting by Garofalini when she was 70 years old on behalf of the Marquis Virgilio Davia. She lived for a long time in Palazzo Benati in Castiglione street, her sister's residence, but in 1854, at the death of Teresa, the painter needed to leave the place. A difficult period began for Maria Crescimbeni: she was in poor health and lost her sight. Her last residence was in a modest flat in Fondazza street, Bologna. Anna Maria Crescimbeni died in 1863 in Bologna.

Works Works currently available in Italy: St. Anne, St. Joachim and the Virgin Child (Sant'Anna, San Gioacchino e la Vergine bambina), San Giovanni Battista dei Celestini, Bologna, c. 1832. St Maurus Abbot heals a sick woman (San Mauro abate risana un'inferma), Santa Maria dei Servi church, Bologna, before 1845. Saints Luigi Gonzaga, Francesco Saverio, Ignatius of Loyola (SS. Luigi Gonzaga, Francesco Saverio, Ignazio di Loyola), oil on canvas, St. Isaiah Church, Bologna, before 1845. Via Crucis, San Mamante church, Lovoleto, Granarolo dell'Emilia, oil on canvas, c. 1793; the Lamentation is inspired by Annibale Carracci's Pietà in the Museo di Capodimonte, Napoli. Madonna with Child (La Madonna e il Bambino), San Mamante church, Lovoleto, Granarolo dell'Emilia, before 1815. (in collaboration with Calvi) SS. Luigi Gonzaga, Carlo Borromeo, Ponziano Papa martire, Antonio Abate e Antonio da Padova, San Mamante church, Lovoleto, Granarolo dell'Emilia. Assumption of Mary (S. Maria Assunta in Cielo), oil on canvas, Assumption of Mary church in Merlano, Valsamoggia, between 1832 and 1851 Lost or unidentified works: Portrait of Jacopo Calvi, 1815? unidentified work, San Giorgio in Poggiale church, Bologna.