Introduction

This book of eleven essays documents the lives, careers, and works of art of women artists and artisans in Venice and its territories from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The collection represents the first fruits of a new research program launched by Save Venice Inc., Women Artists of Venice, directed by Professor Tracy Cooper, of Temple University, in conjunction with a conservation program, led by Melissa Conn, Director Venice Office, Save Venice Inc. This partnership between research and conservation fosters a form of collaboration that unites cutting-edge scholarship on women artists with state-of-the art conservation of the objects they created. The productive interaction that results from both investigation of the historical record and the material state of works produced or associated with women artists can be seen in essays throughout this volume. The subtitle, “Uncovering the Female Presence,” evokes the potential for raising new awareness of works that have receded from public view, sometimes quite literally. A telling example can be found in an ensemble of monumental works of the Four Evangelists by Giulia Lama (1681–1747) in the church of San Marziale, which were foundational in conceiving the Women Artists of Venice program as Save Venice took up their conservation in 2021 (discussed more fully in chapter 10). “Before” and “after” details of the head of Saint Matthew (fig. 0.1a-b) illustrate a dramatic difference in chromatic chiaroscuro and legibility following treatment. The preceding lack of visibility, compounded by the site conditions, corresponded to a general neglect that the Women Artists of Venice program aims to redress more broadly. Results will be disseminated over a variety of platforms, including publications, conferences, exhibitions, and a sustainable digital repository of women’s achievements, currently in development under Tracy Cooper and Susan Nalezyty.