Virginia Vezzi
Active in: Italy, France
Alternate names: Virginia da Vezzo
Biography
Virginia Vezzi was born in 1600 in Velletri. Her father, Pompeo Vezzi, was an artist although no surviving paintings by him have been identified. She moved to Rome with her family in 1610 and began to study painting. She likely studied with Marco Tullio Montagna (1594–1649), who was also from Velletri. Around 1623, she entered the studio of Simon Vouet (1590–1649) as his student, where she painted history paintings and miniatures, working in oils and with pastels. By 1624, she was admitted as a member of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Her entrance piece was likely Judith, now in the collection of the Musée d’arts de Nantes.
In 1626, Vezzi married Vouet in the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina. The following year, the couple moved to Paris where Vouet was appointed Premier peintre du Roi and given an apartment in the Louvre. Some works by Vouet have been attributed to Vezzi, although her role in his atelier is unclear. She died in Paris in 1638 at the age of thirty-eight.
Selected Works
Virginia Vezzi, Judith, 1624–26. Oil on canvas, 87 x 74 cm. Musée d’arts de Nantes.
Circle
Friend of
Artemisia Gentileschi
Student of
Student of Marco Tullio Montagna (1594–1649)
Daughter of
Pompeo Vezzi
Wife of
Simon Vouet (1590–1649)
Bibliography
Bruno, Sara. “Virginia Vezzi (1600-1638).” PhD dissertation, Sapienz a Università di Roma, Facolta di Lettere e Filosofia, Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Storico Artistici, 2015.
Caponera, Tatiana, Marco Nocca, and Enrico Petti. Virginia Vezzi: Musa ed Artista: Tesi di Laurea. Viterbo: Tesi di Laurea Beni Culturali, 2006.
Cuzin, Jean Pierre. “Jeunes gens par Simon Vouet et quelques autres: notes sur Vouet portraitiste en Italie.” La Revue du Louvre et des Musées de France 29 (1979): 15-29.
De Beir, Valentine, Francesco Solinas, Alain Tapié ed. De dames van de barok : vrouwelijke schilders in het Italië van de 16de en 17de eeuw. Ghent: MSK, 2018.
Ficacci, Luigi. Claude Mellan, gli anni romani: un incisore tra Vouet e Bernini. Rome: Multigrafica, 1989.
Loire, Stéphane. “Simon Vouet en Italie (1612-1627). Questions d’attributions et de datations.” In Simon Vouet en Italie, edited by O. Bonfait and H. Rousteau-Chambon, 183-233. Rennes: Presses Univ de Rennes, 2011.
Loire, Stéphane ed. Simon Vouet. Paris: Documentation française, 1992.
Theuli, Bonaventura. Teatro Historico di Velletri Insigne Citta, e Capo de Volsci. Velletri: Alfonso dell’Isola, 1644.