Plautilla Bricci

Villa il Vascello (also known as Villa Benedetti) sketched in its ruins. Plautilla Bricci (; or Plautilla Brizio; 1616-1705) was a 17th-century Roman architect, painter, and sculptor; she was the only female architect of her day. Her most famous work is the Villa Benedetti (Villa il Vascello) near the Porta San Pancrazio, Rome. She also designed the third chapel on the left aisle in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, dedicated to St. Louis, having also painted the altarpiece in this chapel.

Family Plautilla Bricci is recorded in the Parrochia di San Lorenzo-in-Lucina, Libro di Baptesimo (Parish of San Lorenzo-in-Lucina, Book of Baptism) to have been born to Giovanni Bricci and Chiara Recupita. She also received training from her father's friend, Cavalier d’Arpino. In 1677, Plautilla moved with her brother to a house given to her by Elpidio Benedetti. When her brother died in 1692, she moved to the monastery of Santa Margherita in Trastevere where she died in 1705. She is buried next to her brother in Santa Maria in Trastevere. She never married.

Legacy Filippo Baldinucci praised her skills in his biography of contemporary artists. Antonio degli Effetti described his cabinet in the Studiolo di pittura nella Galleria della Ricchezza, and it also features in Giovanni Pietro Bellori's Nota delli Musei. Elpidio described the design of his villa in the book Villa benedetta discritta published in 1677 under the pseudonym of Matteo Mayer. In this book he claimed that Basilio designed it, but the building contract and drawings show Plautilla was the lead architect. In November 2021 to April 2022, an exhibition opened at the Gallery of Palazzo Corsini in Rome. The curator, Yuri Primarosa, depicts Plautilla's life and work. Sketches, paintings, and photographs of the Roman artist's work are displayed alongside published articles produced by Primarosa.