Portrait of the Marchesa Marianna Waldstein di Santa-Cruz

A portrait of the Marchesa di Santa-Cruz, who was herself an amateur painter of miniatures. The painting was donated to the Academy as Appiani’s dono d’ingresso (reception piece) in 1803. Appiani’s is a depiction of a florid, mediterranean beauty that has reached full maturity: a vivacious pair of large black eyes, a fine nose, flushed cheeks, a knowing smile, a small chin, a long neck and a generous bosom. It is a penetrating and sensitive character study of a cultured, refined and emancipated woman, and at the same time a demonstration of the artist’s virtuosity, making of a face an archetype and the mirror for an entire era.
[P. Di Natale]