Veronica Stern Telli

Exhibitions:

• A Cabinet of Curiosities

Essay:

Alongside Rosalba Carriera, Veronica Stern Telli was one of the most successful female Italian artists of the 18th century. Veronica was the daughter of Ignaz Stern (1679 - 1748), an Austrian painter who moved to Rome c.1724 where Veronica lived for the rest of her life. The Sterns were a family of artists and architects who often employed decorative architectural schemes for interiors. Veronica joined the Accademia di San Luca in 1742 and married a Signor Telli.

Although little is known about Veronica's early life, her personal and family relationships put her in the centre of a prestigious milieu of artists. Like many women artists of the period, her family background provided an apt foundation for her future career. Her father Ignaz and brother Ludovico painted large religious commissions for the Church and Roman nobility. However, these same commissions were denied to Veronica.

As Oliver Tostman has pointed out, Telli’s career as a miniaturist was likely, in part at least, a decision governed by her sex; ‘…Renaissance and Baroque women artists were often encouraged by (male) teachers and writers, often their fathers, to work small’.

Identified and attributed works by Veronica Stern Telli are rare. Like many other women artists her career also led her to paint copies after desirable Italian painters; she was often employed to reproduce paintings in miniature scale. During the 1740’s, Stern is documented as working for the Catholic Stuart princes during their exile in Rome, where they employed her to produce miniatures based on larger portraits. She also seems to have been well-acquainted with the highly fashionable Pompeo Batoni (1708-1787) and made copies in miniature of his portraits.

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Princess Benedetta d'Este (1697 – 1777) was the eldest child of Duke Rinaldo d'Este and Duchess Charlotte of Brunswick-Lüneburg. She was highly educated in the courts of Italy. She spoke multiple languages and loved art and music. In our portrait miniature Benedetta is covered in garlands of flowers and may be representing an allegory of spring.

Benedetta met James Stewart (1688 - 1766) the Jacobite claimant to the throne of England in Modena in 1717. They fell in love, but sadly Benedetta's father would not allow the courtship to continue as he wished to maintain good relations with George I and the Hanover dynasty in Britain. Heartbroken, Benedetta never married and died in Modena at the age of 80.

Like many of Veronica's works this miniature portrait is a copy of a larger pastel portrait of Benedetta d'Este by Rosalba Carriera created in 1723 (Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Gal. No. P3). It is also worth noting that Telli was patronised by James Stewart and his circle who may have commissioned this work.

We are grateful to Emma Rutherford for proposing the attribution to Veronica Stern Telli after first-hand inspection.

Provenance:

Private collection, UK