| Abstract | Marietta Robusti, known also as Marietta Tintoretta, is recognized today primarily as a beloved pupil of her famous father, Jacopo Tintoretto. Before her premature death around 1590, Robusti earned international fame for her painted portraits and was praised by contemporary biographers. Though she was never granted the opportunity to practice autonomously outside of her father’s workshop, her role within it was multifaceted, working as an assistant, a portraitist, and most likely a model. Robusti was one of the earliest examples of a new but growing tradition of female painters being trained by their fathers in Cinquecento Italy. Robusti’s artistic legacy, however, is established by her biographers in terms of virtuous qualities pertaining to her gender and the adoration of her father rather than artistic achievement. As a result, no extant works by Robusti are securely known today. Chapter one discusses Marietta Robusti and the Tintoretto bottega, along with the rise of women artists in Cinquecento Venice and Renaissance constructs of feminine virtu in early modern biographies. The second chapter critically considers Robusti’s historiography, with specific attention to her earliest biographers and their gendered treatment of Robusti and her work. Chapter two also examines the trend of collecting works by women artists as curiosities. Chapter three includes a critical discussion of Robusti’s highly disputed oeuvre and range of paintings documented in collection history. |
