Dictionary entry
Edited by Bettina Baumgärtel
Kauffmann (Kauffman), Maria Anna Angelika (Angelica) Catharina
30.10.1741 Chur-5.11.1807 Rome
Paintress, draughtswoman, etcher and musician
Painted portraits, historical, literary, mythological and allegorical paintings and a few genre paintings
Father: Johann Joseph Kauffmann (Schwarzenberg 1707–1782 Venice), painter and fresco artist from the Bregenzer Wald region of Vorarlberg, Austria
Mother: Cleophea Lutz (Cleofea Luz or Lucin) (baptized Chur 1717–1757 Milan), daughter of a Chur midwife, from an impoverished Protestant noble family
Half-brother (?): Franz Joseph Kauffmann (Herrenalb 1734–1818 Aschaffenburg), probably from her father’s first marriage to Maria Sibilla Kauffmann, née Lohr; was active as an artist in Upper Italy, Mainz and Aschaffenburg
Marriage:
1. 22.11.1767 to the self-styled Count Ferdinand de Horn (d. 1780), an impostor and fortune hunter
2. 14.7.1781 to Antonio Zucchi [PDF-File] (Venice 1707–1795 Rome), architecture and vedutà painter
Religion: Catholic
Total oeuvre
• an estimated 800 paintings on canvas and copper
• one fresco cycle (see Ill. 7)
• a few pastels
• numerous drawings [PDF-File], mostly chalk, pencil or pen, some wash
• 41 autograph etchings [PDF-File]. Further editions of her etchings were reworked in aquatint and printed in black, red or brown ink.
Not by her hand: paintings on wood, miniatures on ivory or porcelain, decorations on furniture and other materials, fresco paintings or decorations on ceilings and walls, and stucco works (with the exception of the early fresco cycle in Schwarzenberg) [PDF-File].
Dissemination and transmission of her works
Kauffman’s works were disseminated and handed down in the form of numerous stipple engravings, copper engravings, etchings and mezzotints, and later, too, as lithographs, wood engravings and collotypes. The majority of these prints were produced by German-language, English, French and Italian publishers and were sold all over Europe.
Countless copies and imitations of Kauffman’s works were made by other artists even during her own lifetime and continue to be produced today.
Angelica Kauffman is one of the most copied artists in European art history.
Countries and locations in which Angelica Kauffman lived and worked
1741–1752 Switzerland, Grisons canton: Chur, Morbegno (Valtellina, today part of Italy)
c. 1749–1752 Rorschach on the south side of Lake Constance
1752–1754 Como in Lombardy, at that time Austrian
1754–1757 Northern Italy: first trip to Italy, extended stay in Milan
1757–1758 Austria, Vorarlberg: visits to Schwarzenberg and to Meersburg, Tettnang and Konstanz on the north side of Lake Constance (Germany)
1758/59–1766 second trip to Italy: travels via Morbegno to Lugarno, Milan, Parma, Modena and Bologna; extended study visits to Florence and Rome, apartment on Via Condotti
1763–1764 visits Ischia and Naples
1764–1765 second study visit to Rome, return journey via Bologna to Venice
1766–1781 England: travels via Paris to London, studio in Suffolk Street, Charing Cross;
as from 1767 London, studio in Golden Square
1771 Ireland: summer trip to Dublin and surrounding area
1781–1807 returns to Italy: travels via Flanders, stopover in Schwarzenberg, continues on to Innsbruck, Verona, Padua, stopover in Venice, continues on to Ferrara and Loreto to Rome
1782–1807 Rome, studio at Via Sistina 72, beside the Trinità dei Monti
1782 Naples: first summer residence at court
1784 Naples: second summer residence at court
1785 Naples: third summer residence at court
from 1786 Castel Gandolfo: spends summers at her private villa
1802 travels from Rome via Florence and Milan to Como for convalescent stay; returns with a stopover in Venice, via Padua, Rovigo, Ferrara, Bologna, stopover in Florence, Arezzo, Cortona and Perugia to Rome
1806 Albano: visits spa for her health
until 1807 Rome
Art academy memberships
Bologna: Accademia Clementina, from 5.10.1762 (Ill. 8)
Florence: Accademia del Disegno, 10.10.1762
Rome: Accademia di San Luca, 5.5.1765
London: founding member of the Royal Academy of Arts, 10.12.1768
Venice: Accademia di Venezia, 1782 (Ill. 9)
Citation note:
Baumgärtel, Bettina: Angelica Kauffman – Dictionary entry, in: Angelika Kauffmann Research Project – online, https://www.angelika-kauffmann.de/en/dictionary-entry/ [add date of access here]
