Ersilia Caetani-Lovatelli or Ersilia Caetani (12 October 1840 – 22 December 1925) was an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
aristocrat, art historian, cultural historian and archaeologist.
Personal life
Caetani-Lovatelli was born in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
in 1840 to
Michelangelo Caetani, Duke of Sermoneta, Prince of Teano and the Polish Countess Calixta Rzewuska (1810-1842). Her mother was from an important
Rzewuski family
The House of Rzewuski ( pl, Rzewuscy) was an important Polish noble family (magnates) in the 17th century during the era of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
History
The family originated from the village Bejdy near the town of Łosice i ...
, while her father's aristocratic
Caetani family had featured in the history of Rome and Pisa. She learnt Greek, Latin and Sanskrit. Lovatelli was the first woman to become a member of the
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei
The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...
, which is the oldest Italian scientific academy.
[Ersilia Lovatelli]
Grace Mary Crowfoot, Brown.edu, Retrieved 12 October 2016
When she was a widow she would open her salon at the
Caetani Palace on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The salon attracted writers and composers such as
Stendhal,
Honoré de Balzac
Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 179 ...
Nikolai Gogol and
Franz Liszt. Actually the salon operated from 1870 to 1915 and her husband died in 1879. Caetani-Lovatelli was interested in archaeology and history and published papers on several subjects. Lovatelli describes an urn in just one of her papers from 1879. In her paper "Di un vaso cinerario con rappresentanze relative ai misteri di Eleusi", her style is evident. She talks within the scientific methods required but she pulls in other related and referenced works. This differed from her male contemporaries.
Caetani-Lovatelli joined several academic societies. Around 1915 was the end of the salons in Italy as society became embroiled in the first world war.
Caetani-Lovatelli died in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
in 1925.
[
]
Personal life
In 1859 she married Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
Giacomo ''Giovanni'' Lovatelli (1832-1879), son of Count Francesco Lovatelli (1808-1856) and Donna
Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian.
People
* Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name
* Roberto Di Donna (born 1968), ...
Costanza Chigi Albani della Rovere (1807-1879). They had two sons and three daughters:
* Giovanni Lovatelli (b. 1859)
* Kalista Lovatelli (b. 1860)
* Witold Lovatelli (b. 1869)
* Rosalia Lovatelli (b. 1872); married Carlo Gabrielli-Wiseman (1868-1944)
* Philipp Lovatelli (b. 1874); married Adelaida Keen Vargas (b. 1879) and adopted her son, Loffredo Gaetani dell'Aquila d'Aragona Lovatelli
Professional life
Ersilia's work focused on Roman life, including ancient Roman dress, inscriptions, traditions, private life, and poetry. She wrote about archaeological field techniques and philology.
See also
* Lovatelli urn
The ''Lovatelli urn'' is a 1st century BCE marble funerary urn from the early Roman imperial period. It is thought to depict Persephone, Demeter and Triptolemus, the triad of the Eleusinian mysteries, however, there are several different compet ...
References
External links
Publications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caetani-Lovatelli, Ersilia
1840 births
1925 deaths
Archaeologists from Rome
Italian art historians
Italian women archaeologists
Italian salon-holders
Members of the Lincean Academy
House of Caetani
