Self-portrait

Swiss artist Angelica Kauffman spent only 15 years in England, but made a significant impact on the 18th-century London art scene and become one of only two female Founder Members of the Royal Academy.

Born in Chur, Switzerland in 1741, Kauffman was quickly recognised as a child prodigy. Her father, a painter himself, gave her drawing lessons from a young age as the family moved between Austria, Switzerland and Italy. In Italy she established a reputation as an artist and was elected a member of the Roman Accademia di San Luca at the age of 23.

Kauffman painted portraits and landscapes, but identified herself primarily as a history painter (depicting scenes drawn from classical history and mythology, the Bible, and recent historical events). During this period, women were still prohibited from drawing nude models and could only draw the male figure from existing casts.