Active in: Italy and France
Alternate names: Violante Beatrice Siries, Violante Siriès, Violante Cerotti

Biography

Born in Florence in 1709, Violante Beatrice Siries Cerroti established herself as a successful portraitist by the 1730s, gaining the patronage of the Medici and Gondi families. Beginning in 1725, she studied with Filippo della Valle (1698–1768) and later studied with the painter and pastellist Giovanna Fratellini (1666–1731). In 1726, her father was appointed as one of the goldsmiths in the court of Louis XV and the family moved to Paris. There, she studied with Jacques François Deylen (1684–1761), Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743), and François Boucher (1703–1770). In 1730, she received her first major commission for a life-size portrait of Monsieur and Madame Nourry, members of the court of Louis XV. In 1731, Fratellini died and Cerroti gained the patronage of the Medici family, returning to Florence with her family the following year where she continued her studies with Francesco Conti (1681–1760).

On March 14, 1733, Cerroti was admitted with privileges to the Accademia delle Arte del Disegno in Florence. She exhibited with the group several times, including at the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata in 1737. In 1735, she received a significant commission from Guillaume Ernest de Caters (1703–1787) for a group portrait of the family of Emperor Charles VI, although this portrait has since been lost. Cerroti made several self-portraits during this period, including one commissioned by Gian Gastone de’Medici (d.1737), now held in the Uffizi.

In 1737, she married Giuseppe Cerotti, son of Francesco Cerotti, a stonemason working in the grand ducal and pontifical construction office. The couple had four children between 1740 and 1748. In 1767, Cerroti painted The Virgin Mary Presents the Baby Jesus to Santa Maria Maddalena de\' Pazzi, likely commissioned by the priest Domenico Chiavistelli for the newly built sacristy of the Santa Maria de\’Pazzi church in Florence. The painting was restored by Advancing Women Artists in 2016.

Over the course of her career, Cerroti took on several students, including Anna Bacherini Piattoli (1720–1788) and Maria Cosway (1760–1838), who began studying with Cerroti when she was just eight years old. Cerroti died on April 30, 1783, in Florence.

Selected Works

Violante Beatrice Siries Cerroti, The Virgin Mary Presents the Baby Jesus to Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi, 1767. Oil on canvas. Santa Maria de’Pazzi, Florence

Violante Beatrice Siries Cerroti, Self-Portrait Holding a Portrait of her Father, 1734. Oil on canvas, 77 x 60 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.