Louisa Grace Bartolini (14 February 1818 – 3 May 1865) was a British writer and artist known as the "Virgin of Ossian". She was born Louisa Grace in Bristol into an Irish Catholic family of Italian descent; all four of the children were taught Italian. Her father was Sir William Grace, a baronet. In 1828, the family moved to

Sorèze Sorèze (; oc, Sorese ca, Sorese) is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France. See also * Communes of the Tarn department The following is a list of the 314 communes of the Tarn department of France. The communes cooperate i ...

, where she completed her early studies in art and languages. Her first poems were written in Italian and French. She came to Tuscany in the late 1830s. In 1841, she moved to

Pistoia Pistoia (, is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typi ...

. She contributed to various periodicals including ''La gioventù'' and '. She also translated works by American and British contemporary poets into Italian. Bartolini's

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

attracted the top Italian intellectuals of her time, including Giosuè Carducci. In 1860, she married Francesco Bartolini, an engineer from Pistoia. Bartolini died in Pistoia at the age of 47. Her artwork, which includes

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

drawings, watercolours and oil paintings, and manuscripts are held in the

Biblioteca Marucelliana The Marucelliana Library or Biblioteca Marucelliana, is a public library, founded by the mid-18th century, and located on Via Camillo Cavour # 43, in Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. History The library was opened to the public on September 18 ...

in Florence. In 1998, the Biblioteca held an exhibition of her work entitled ''La vergine d'Ossian'' ("The virgin of Ossian").

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartolini, Louisa Grace 1818 births 1865 deaths 19th-century British painters 19th-century British women artists 19th-century British women writers 19th-century British writers Artists from Bristol Italian women poets Italian women painters 19th-century Italian women writers Daughters of baronets