Resources
Annotated Bibliography
If you would like to learn more from scholarly resources on the life and work of Giovanna Garzoni, view our brief annotated bibliography of sources below.
Barker, Sheila. “‘Marvellously gifted’: Giovanna Garzoni’s first visit to the Medici court.” Burlington Magazine 160 (2018): 654-59.
Barker's article posits evidence based hypotheses about the art of Garzoni's career, and provides a primary source telling of Garzoni's youth. Garzoni was an acting artist even at adolescence, thought to have had her first patron, Grand Duchess Maria Magdalena as a child. Garzoni's trip to the Medici court in Florence also happened at a young (undetermined) age. Scholars hypothesize that this visit to the court prior to 1625 was when Garzoni encountered several arts influential to her life and work including Ligozzi, notable for scientific depictions of natural objects, and Artemisia Gentileschi. The article features a direct translation of a letter about Garzoni from Cristofano Bronzini to the Tuscan court. He describes he describes as "being about 15 years old, and who was born in [the] fortunate century of 1605." He goes on to praise her heavily not only on her visual art, but for her singing, beauty, calligraphy, and "grace and tenderness." Bronzini discusses how Garzoni paints miniatures on vellum with subject matter of "festoons, plant leaves, flowers, fruits and various animals." Bronzini's description of Garzoni shows that even at the early age of 15, Garzoni had already found her focus in both media and subject matter in art. She was recognized at an early age, and as a result made visits to courts in numerous countries through her long career lending a global influence on her art. Encountering artists in the Medici court and beyond, Garzoni was more fortunate than other women artists in her access to mentors.
Barker, Sheila, and Sheila Barker. “The Universe of Giovanna Garzoni. Art, Mobility, and the Global Turn in the Geographical Imaginary.” Essay. In "The Immensity of the Universe" in the Art of Giovanna Garzoni, 16–29. Sillabe, 2020.
Sheila Barker’s essay, “The Universe of Giovanna Garzoni. Art, Mobility, and the Global Turn in the Geographical Imaginary” provides an examination of the influences that shaped Giovanna Garzoni’s life, career, and art. Barker argues that Garzoni’s work was greatly influenced by her ability to travel and have contact with foreign people, objects, and places. Barker describes Garzoni as a “universal artist” who was capable of working in varied media and creating artwork in many different genres. Furthermore, Barker suggests that Garzoni’s artwork showcases Garzoni’s inspiration from places around the world. Garzoni’s “universal” artistry and her interest in the world can be seen in Garzoni’s ability to combine the unfamiliar with the familiar and explore various geographic areas through her work. Throughout the essay, Barker discusses evidence including Garzoni’s notebooks, letters, and artworks. The essay includes several color images of Garzoni’s work and artworks by other artists from which she may have drawn inspiration. Overall, this essay provides significant scholarship on the topic of geographic influences on Giovanna Garzoni’s work.
Garrard D., Mary. “The Not-So-Still Lifes of Giovanna Garzoni.” Essay. In "The Immensity of the Universe" in the Art of Giovanna Garzoni, 62-77. Sillabe, 2020.
Mary D. Garrard's essay within Sheila Barker's catalogue discusses the work of Giovanna Garzoni (1600-1670), an Italian Baroque painter who is known for her impactful still life works. Garrard states that although Garzoni is famous for her still lifes, she also created religious works for Charles Emanuel II and Christine de France when she was working in Turin. Garrard also outlines many of Garzoni's tendencies and symbolisms throughout her works. For example, her attention to detail with fruits such as figs contain allusions to male and female genitalia, which illustrate and underscore the power of sexual reproduction in plants and animals. Garrard also believes that Garzoni's inclusion of brown spots are intentional symbols of natural decaying. This source proceeds to compare the work of Garzoni with that of Fede Galizia (1578-1630), another Italian still life painter. This source asserts Galizia as the creator of this still life movement, but acknowledges that Garzoni included more variety in her fruit subjects. Garrard takes note of the geographic contexts of these works, discussing Garzoni's time in Florence with the Medici, and Galizia's time in Milan and the Lombardy region of Italy more broadly. This source discusses still life works from different Baroque artists, including many of Garzoni's works, such as "A Plate of Figs" and "Still Life with Birds and Fruit", Galizia's works such as "Peaches on a Stand, with Apples and Jasmine", and also the works of Caravaggio, like his "Basket of Fruit". Garrard's inclusion of other Italian still lifes provides historical and artistic context to Garzoni's pieces that this exhibit explores.
Steinkraus, Emma. “The Protofeminist Insects of Giovanna Garzoni and Maria Sibylla Merian.” Art Herstory, August 9, 2019. https://artherstory.net/protofeminist-insects-in-art/.
Giovanna Garzoni and Maria Sibylla Merian lived two unusual lives for female artists at the time. Both of them left their husbands and both are renowned for their work in still lifes. Yet this article argues that their most powerful connector is how they portray insects within their pieces. At the time of both of their existences, entomology was making massive discoveries and many of these tore down the previous patriarchal views that were had about the animal kingdom. For example, the presence of a queen bee rather than a king as previously thought was argued by Charles Butler in 1609. Garzoni and Merian presented insects as more than just species to study, but rather active and dynamic creatures that had life. Furthermore, Steinkraus argues that they both acknowledge the matriarchal hierarchies discovered within insects, like bee hives, presenting these insects as powerful and perhaps pushing forth an ideology of feminism from their portrayal of bugs. However, there are many other reasons other than Steinkraus's argument that also contribute to the presence of insects such as bees. For example, the Barberini family was important for the patronage of Garzoni and the bee was a symbol of their family and power, thus potentially influencing Garzoni's decision to paint bees in certain pieces. Regardless, entomology was still ripe with discoveries at the time that Garzoni drew these insects, showing her acknowledgment and use of new material, potentially from her position with the Medici family. Garzoni has managed to capture a moment in time with her works of art, yet while it may be entitled a still life, the insects in her drawings are anything but. Alive with energy, they almost burst off the page at the viewer, creating an overall engaging experience for the viewer.