Rosina Ferrara

Rosina Ferrara (1861–1934) was an Italian artist's model from the island of Capri, who became the favorite muse of American expatriate artist John Singer Sargent. Captivated by her exotic beauty, a variety of 19th-century artists, including Charles Sprague Pearce, Frank Hyde, and George Randolph Barse, made works of art of her. Ferrara was featured in the 2003 art exhibit "Sargent's Women" at New York City's Adelson Galleries, as well as in the book Sargent's Women published that year.

At about the age of thirty, Ferrara married Barse and they moved to the United States, settling in Westchester County, New York.

Background In the 19th century, American and European painters and writers traveled to the island of Capri for its beautiful coastline, blue-green water, architecture, relaxed and rich culture and the "exceptional beauty of its people" who are a mix of descendants of Roman, Greek, and Phoenician people. For instance, inspired by the beautiful women from Capri and Naples, Alphonse de Lamartine wrote the romantic novel Graziella.

Biography Frank Hyde, Rosina. Rosina reclined sensually on a couch, clad in a seductive classical toga while another young girl performs on a flute

Of Greek ancestry, Ferrara was born in Anacapri on the island of Capri in 1861. She is considered a descendant of Barbarossa, a 16th-century pirate.

Beginning in the 1870s, she modeled for European and American artists, including British artist Frank Hyde, who had a studio in the former Santa Teresa monastery.