User:JaneClawsten/Violante Ferroni

Violante Ferroni (1720 – unknown) was a female Italian painter in Florence. She is best known for the medallion paintings of St. John in San Giovanni di Dio.

Biography
Ferroni was born in Florence in 1720. She studied painting under Gian Domenico Ferretti, and may have been the model for Feretti's Portrait of a Lady dressed as Diana. She attended the Accademia del Disegno in 1736. Her art was exhibited in the Accademia di San Luca exhibit in 1737 and 1776. Her work was exhibited in the Uffizi Gallery.

Francesco Maria Niccolò Gabburri, head of the Academy, included Ferroni in his book of biographies about contemporary artists. He wrote the following praise:"“This witty and respectable young lady, after an in-depth and careful study of drawing, is now, in 1740, at the age of about 20, learning to paint portraits and historical scenes using oil paint and pastels. Her talent is most evident when she paints scenes of her own composition with oil paints, a medium in which she is also adept at colour mixing. So, Florence has reason to hope that she, in time, will get better and better at painting, especially because she is so enamoured of art that she never gets tired of improving her technique.“"

San Giovanni di Dio paintings
She painted two fresco medallions at San Giovanni di Dio Hospital in Florence.

Each oval painting measures 8 x 11.5" and resides in the atrium of the Hospital, which was previously the home of the Vespucci family. The paintings depict "Saint John of God heals plague victims" and "Saint John of God gives bread to the poor." This was a major commission for Ferroni, as most female artists of the time typically created small scale devotional or still life pieces.