Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D Part 42

Her base rival, by her art and falsehood, finally succeeded in convincing Beltrano that Aniella was unworthy, and in his rage he fatally stabbed her, when, at thirty-six, she was in the prime of her beauty and talent.

She survived long enough to convince her husband of her innocence and to pardon him for his crime, but he fled from Italy and lived the life of an outcast during ten years. He then returned to Naples, where after seven years, tormented by remorse, death came to his release.

Domenici generously praised the works of Aniella, and quoted her master, Stanzioni, as saying that she was the equal of the best painters of her time.

ROSALBA. See Carriera.

ROSSI, PROPERZIA DE. Born in Bologna. 1490-1530. This artist was the first woman to succeed as a sculptor whose works can still be seen. Pupil of Raimondi, she was more or less influenced by Tribolo. In the Church of San Petronio, in her native city, in the eleventh chapel, is a beautiful bas-relief of two angels, executed by Properzia. They are near Tribolo's "Ascension." A relief and a portrait bust in the same church are also ascribed to her.

Her first work in sculpture was a minute representation of the Crucifixion on a peach stone! The executioners, women, soldiers, and disciples were all represented in this infinitesimal s.p.a.ce. She also inserted in a coat of arms a double-headed eagle in silver filigree; eleven peach stones on each side, one set representing eleven apostles with an article of the creed underneath, the other set eleven virgins with the name of a saint and her special attribute on each. Some of these intaglios are still in a private collection in Bologna.

At length Properzia saw the folly of thus belittling her talent, and when the facade of San Petronio was to be enriched with sculpture she asked for a share in the work and presented a bust she had made as a pledge of her ability; she was appointed to execute a portion of the decorations.

She made a bas-relief, the subject being "Joseph and Potiphar's Wife,"

which Vasari called "a lovely picture, sculptured with womanly grace, and more than admirable."

By this time the jealousy of other artists was aroused, and a story was diligently repeated to the effect that Properzia loved a young n.o.bleman who did not care for her, and that the above work, so much admired, represented her own pa.s.sion. Albertini and other artists waged an absolute crusade against her, and so influenced the superintendents of the church that Properzia was obliged to leave the work and her relief was never put in place. Through mortification and grief her health failed, and she died when but forty years old.

In spite of her persecution she was known in all Italy, not only for her sculpture, but for her copper-plate engraving and etching. When Pope Clement VII. went to Bologna for the coronation of Charles V. he asked for Properzia, only to hear that she had been buried that very week.

Her story has been told by Vasari and other writers. She was handsome, accomplished in music, distinguished for her knowledge of science, and withal a good and orderly housewife. "Well calculated to awaken the envy, not of women only, but also of men." Canova ardently admired the work of Properzia that remained in his day, and esteemed her early death as one of the chief misfortunes to the advance of the fine arts in Italy.

ROTKY, BARONESS HANNA. Born at Czernowitz in 1857. She studied portrait painting under Blaas, Swerdts, and Trentino, and has worked princ.i.p.ally in Vienna. Her portrait of Freiherr von Sterneck is in the Military Academy at Wiener-Neustadt.

RUDDER, MME. DE. This lady has made an art of her embroidery, and may be said to have revived this decorative specialty and to have equalled the ancient productions which are so beautiful and valuable.

After her marriage to the well-known sculptor this gifted couple began their collaboration. M. P. Verneuil, in _Brush and Pencil_, November, 1903, writes: "The first result of this joint work was shown in 1894 at the Exposition Cercle pour l'Art, in the form of a panel, called 'The Eagle and the Swan.' It was exhibited afterward at the Secession in Vienna, where it was purchased by a well-known amateur and connoisseur.

Other works were produced in succession, each more interesting than its predecessor. Not daunted by difficulties that would have discouraged the most ambitious and audacious craftswoman, Mme. de Rudder took for a subject 'The Fates,' to decorate a screen. Aside from the artistic interest attaching to this work, it is remarkable for another quality.

The artist yielded to the instinctive liking that she had for useful art--she ornamented a useful article--and in mastering the technical difficulties of her work she created the new method called 're-embroidery.' For the dresses of her 'Fates' ancient silks were utilized for a background. Some of the pieces had moth-holes, which necessitated the addition of 'supplementary ornamental motives,'

'embroidered on cloth to conceal the defects.' The discovery of 're-embroidery' was the result of this enforced expedient.

"This screen, finished in 1896, was exhibited at the Cercle Artistique, Brussels, where the mayor, M. Buls, saw it. Realizing the possibilities of the method and the skill of the artist, he gave an order to Mme. de Rudder to decorate the Marriage Hall of the Hotel de Ville. This order was delivered in 1896. During this period Mme. de Rudder worked feverishly. About the same time that the order for the Hotel de Ville was given, she received from M. Van Yssendyck, architect of the Hotel Provincial in Ghent, a commission to design and embroider six large allegorical panels. One of them represented 'Wisdom' in the habiliments of Minerva, modernized, holding an olive branch. The five others were 'Justice,' holding a thistle, symbolizing law; 'Eloquence,' crowned with roses and holding a lyre; 'Strength,' bending an oak branch; 'Truth,'

crus.h.i.+ng a serpent and bearing a mirror and some lilies; and 'Prudence,'

with the horn of plenty and some holly. These six panels are remarkable for the beautiful decorative feeling that suffuses their composition. The tricks of workmans.h.i.+p are varied, and all combine to give a wonderful effect. Contrary to the form of presenting the 'Fates,' all the figures are draped."

Her next important commission was for eight large panels, intended to decorate the Congo Free State department in the Brussels Exposition.

These panels represent the "Triumph of Civilization over Barbarism," and are now in the Museum at Tervueren. They are curious in their symbols of fetichism, and have an attraction that one can scarcely explain. The above are but a part of her important works, and naturally, when not absorbed by these, Mme. de Rudder executes some smaller pieces which are marvels of patience in their exquisite detail.

Perhaps her panels of the "Four Seasons" may be called her _chef-d'oeuvre_. The writer quoted above also says:

"To Mme. de Rudder must be given the credit for the interpretation of work demanding large and varied decorative effect, while in the creation of true artistic composition she easily stands at the head of the limited coterie of men and women who have mastered this delicate and difficult art. She is a leader in her peculiar craft."

RUDE, MME. SOPHIE FReMIET. 1797-1867. Medal at Paris Salon, 1833.

Born in Dijon. This artist painted historical and genre subjects as well as portraits. Her picture of the "Sleeping Virgin," 1831, and that of the "Arrest of the d.u.c.h.ess of Burgundy in Bruges," 1841, are in the Dijon Museum.

RUYSCH, RACHEL. The perfection of flower-painting is seen in the works of Rachel Ruysch. The daughter of a distinguished professor of anatomy, she was born at Amsterdam in 1664. She was for a time a pupil of William van Aelst, but soon studied from nature alone. Some art critics esteem her works superior to those of De Heem and Van Huysum. Let that be as it may, the pictures with which she was no doubt dissatisfied when they pa.s.sed from her hand more than two centuries ago are greatly valued to-day and her genius is undisputed.

When thirty years old Rachel Ruysch married the portrait painter, Julian van Pool. She bore him ten children, but in the midst of all her cares she never laid her brush aside. Her reputation extended to every court of Europe. She received many honors, and was elected to the Academical Society at The Hague. She was received with distinguished courtesies on the two occasions when she visited Dusseldorf.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Alinari, Photo.

In the Pitti Gallery, Florence

FRUIT, FLOWERS, AND INSECTS

RACHEL RUYSCH]

The Elector John of Pfalz appointed her painter at his court, and beyond paying her generously for her pictures, bestowed valuable gifts on her.

The Elector sent several of her works to the Grand Duke of Tuscany and to other distinguished rulers of that day.

The advance of years in no wise dulled her powers. Her pictures painted when eighty years old are as delicately finished as those of many years earlier. She died when eighty-six, "respected by the great, beloved even by her rivals, praised by all who knew her."

The pictures by Rachel Ruysch are honorably placed in many public galleries; in those of Florence and Turin, as well as at Amsterdam, The Hague, Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, and Munich, they are much valued.

Although these pictures are characterized by extreme delicacy of touch, softness, and lightness, this artist knew how so to combine these qualities as to impart an effect of strength to her painting. Her rendering of separate flowers was exquisite, and her roses, either by themselves or combined with other flowers, are especially beautiful. She painted fruits in perfection, and the insects and b.u.t.terflies which she sometimes added are admirably executed.

The chief criticism that can be made of her pictures is that she was less skilful in the grouping of her flowers than in their painting. Many of her works are in private galleries, especially in Holland. They are rarely sold; in London, about thirty years ago, a small "Bouquet of Flowers with Insects" was sold for more than two thousand dollars, and is now of double that value.

Her pictures have the same clearness and individuality that are seen in her portrait, in which she has short hair, a simple low-cut dress, with a necklace of beads about the throat.

SALLES, ADELHEID. Born in Dresden, 1825; died in Paris, 1890. Pupil of Bernhard and Jacquand, she established her studio in Paris. Many of her works are in museums: "Elijah in the Desert," at Lyons; "The Legend of the Alyscamps," at Nimes; "The Village Maiden," at Gren.o.ble; "Field Flowers," at Havre, etc. She also painted portraits and historical subjects, among which are "Psyche in Olympus," "The Daughters of Jerusalem in the Babylonian Captivity," and the "Daughter of Jairus."

She was a sister of E. Puyroche-Wagner.

SARTAIN, EMILY. Medal at Philadelphia Exhibition, 1876; Mary Smith prize at the Pennsylvania Academy for best painting by a woman, in 1881 and 1883. Born in Philadelphia, 1841. Miss Sartain has been the princ.i.p.al of the Philadelphia School of Design for Women since 1886.

She studied engraving under her father, John Sartain, and with Luminais in Paris. She engraved and etched book ill.u.s.trations and numerous larger prints. She is also a painter of portraits and genre pictures, and has exhibited at the Salon des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Miss Sartain has been appointed as delegate from the United States to the International Congress on Instruction in Drawing to be held at Berne next August. Her appointment was recommended by the Secretary of the Interior, the United States Commissioner of Education, and Prof. J. H. Gore. Miss Sartain has also received letters from Switzerland from M. Leon Genoud, president of the Swiss Commission, begging her to accept the appointment.

SCHAEFER, MARIA. First-cla.s.s medal, Bene-merenti, Roumania. Born in Dresden, 1854. Her first studies were made in Darmstadt under A. Noack; later she was a pupil of Budde and Bauer in Dusseldorf, and finally of Eisenmenger in Vienna. After travelling in Italy in 1879, she settled in Darmstadt. She made several beautiful copies of Holbein's "Madonna," one for the King of Roumania, and one as a gift from the city of Darmstadt to the Czarina Alexandra. Among her most excellent portraits are those of Friedrich von Schmidt and his son Henry. Several of her religious paintings ornament German churches: "St. Elizabeth" is at Biedenkopf, "Mary's Departure from the Tomb of Christ" is at Nierstein, and "Christ with St. Louis and St. Elizabeth" and a Rosary picture are in the Catholic church at Darmstadt.

SCHEFFER, CAROLINE. The daughter of Ary Lamme and wife of J. B.

Scheffer was an artist in the last decades of the eighteenth century, but the special interest connected with her is the fact that she was the mother of Ary and Henry Scheffer. From her artistic standpoint she had an appreciation of what was needed for the benefit of her sons. She took them to Paris to study, devoted herself entirely to their welfare, and died in Paris in 1839.