Johanna Juliana Friederike Bacciarelli

Johanna Juliana Friederike Bacciarelli, née Richter (21 May 1733–1809 or later), was a German miniaturist, pastelist and court painter to the Polish kings.

Early life and education

Johanna was born on 21 May,^[1][2] 1733 in Dresden,^[1][3] in the artistic Richter family.^[1] She studied painting with Charles Hutin and Marcello Bacciarelli.^[3]

Career

In 1753, she began working at the Dresden court^[3] and two years later married Bacciarelli.^[1][3] She spent the years 1756–1764 in Warsaw,^[1][3] and on 8 December, 1759, she received the title of court painter of Augustus III of Poland.^[1] In 1764, she received the title of académicienne agregée at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts,^[1][2][3] later becoming its honorary member.^[1] She spent the years 1764–1766 in Vienna,^[1] where she created miniature copies of paintings for Elżbieta Grabowska,^[3] then she returned with her husband to Warsaw.^[1][3]

Johanna created miniatures, medallions and pastels.^[2] She mainly portrayed nobility and kings, including Stanisław August Poniatowski,^[1] painting portrait miniatures on ivory, which was unusual in Poland at the time.^[1] Like Hutin, she used the technique of dry pointillism, limiting the use of pigments.^[4] She taught many artists who went on to create the Warsaw school of miniature: Wincenty de Lesseur, Józef Kosiński, Franciszek Olexiński and Stanisław Marszałkiewicz.^[3] As she rarely signed her works, most of the works were attributed to her according to tradition.^[3]

Works attributed to Bacciarelli and her workshop can be found in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw.^[5]

Illness and death

She suffered from epilepsy.^[3] She died in Warsaw,^[1][3] probably on 26 February,^[1] 1809,^[1][3] or in 1811 or 1812.^[1]

Johanna's two daughters, Anna and Manon, continued the family's artistic traditions by learning to draw.^[6] After studying with both parents, Anna became a miniaturist^[1][3] and a singer.^[1]

References