Lucrezia Quistelli

Lucrezia Quistelli della Mirandola (1541–1594) was an Italian painter.

Biography Lucrezia Quistelli was born on October 19, 1538, in Florence, Italy. Quistelli was baptized in 1541. She is the daughter of Alfonso Quistelli and Giulia Santi. She was known for her paintings and studied under Alessandro Allori. Quistelli married Count Clemente Pietra and they had eight children, six daughters and two sons. She died in 1594, in Florence.

Lucrezia's Family

The Quistelli Family & Creating Connections

Alfonso Quistelli Lucrezia's father, Alfonso Quistelli, began to participate in literary patronage in hopes of elevating the Quistelli's social status in Florence. Through the participation of the literary patronage, he became well acquainted with Benedetto Varchi. They became sufficiently close that Varchi dedicated a pastoral sonnet to Alfonso, a sonnet to his wife Giulia Santi, in memoriam of the loss of Cosmi, Lucrezia's younger brother. Varchi knew Alessandro Allori and Agnolo Bronzino. This connection offers the strongest indication of Allori becoming Lucrezia's tutor. and was friends with Varchi

Artistic Inspiration

Upbringing It is possible that Lucrezia’s artistic inspirations are drawn from her upbringing and setting. Alfonso owned the painting by Jacopo Pontormo, Madonna with Child and Saints. Lucrezia was baptized at the San Procolo church. The San Procolo church had altarpieces created by famous artists such as Filippino Lippi, Lorenzo Monaco, and Ambrogio Lorenzetti. The Capponi Chapel, a Santa Felicita church that was once in close proximity to her, carried Pontormo’s artworks. The Church of San Barnaba, her family’s burial place and where her sister’s and daughter’s vow took place, carried Sandro Botticelli’s San Barnaba Altarpiece and Annunciation. Lucrezia’s Florence upbringing and faith means she possibly acknowledged and was inspired by Suor Plautilla Nelli, the first female artist in Florence. Nelli was a nun and a painter, her artwork was owned by many men in Florence, and she taught women in her art studio. Vasari also mentions Nelli in “the Lives of the Artists.”

Attributed Artworks Lucrezia Quistelli did not create art for money, however, there are some artworks that could possibly be hers. This is because of her training under Alessandro Allori.

Some attributed artworks are:

The Flagellation of Christ, oil on panel, c.1570-80, Florence San Barnaba

Lamentation over the Dead Christ, oil on lead alloy c.1560, 23x20 cm, London: The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery.

Portrait of a Gentleman, Museo de Arte de Sāo Paulo

Artistic Legacy

Vasari’s inclusion of Quistelli is found in his Life of Properzia de’ Rossi, along with fellow women artists Sophonisba Anguissola and Plautilla Nelli. She is also mentioned in Girolamo Tiraboschi’s 1785 treatise, Notizie de’Pittori, Scultori, Incisori, e Architetti. Tiraboschi laments the fact that no other news of her work has survived other than Vasari’s short mention of her. However, one surviving altarpiece of hers can be found at the Church of Santa Maria e San Pietro in Silvano Pietra, "The Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine", an oil-on-canvas painting measuring 180x120 cm (c. 1576). A chapter on Lucrezia Quistelli, authored by Sheila Barker, will be in the forthcoming book, Women Artists in Early Modern Italy: Careers, Fame, and Collectors [Brepols, May 2016].