Marianna Candidi Dionigi (1756-1826) born in Rome, was an Italian painter, writer and salonnière who took an interest in archaeology. She wrote archaeological descriptions of buildings and monuments during a journey in Lazio.

Biography

Dionigi was born to Giuseppe and Maddalena Candidi Scilla, an aristocratic Roman family, in 1756. She was well educated, speaking various languages, and an excellent musician. She also took an interest in both archaeology and painting, studying initially under the landscape painter

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, then studying at the Academy of Fine Arts of Perugia. left, Paesaggio by Dionigi Dionigi wrote a monograph on painting and about her travels through Lazio. The story is told in a series of letters from a 50 year old woman. She describes archaeological sites and each letter was accompanied by a sketch. She describes five towns south of Rome which had been believed to have been founded by the mythological god

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. Each of the etchings were detailed and accurate. Moreover Dioigi included plans and elevations and transcribed inscriptions. She was a salon hostess and she was a friend of Vincenzo Monti, Shelley,

Antonio Canova Antonio Canova (; 1 November 1757 – 13 October 1822) was an Italian Neoclassical sculptor, famous for his marble sculptures. Often regarded as the greatest of the Neoclassical artists,. his sculpture was inspired by the Baroque and the cl ...

, Giacomo Leopardi and the archeologist

Jean Baptiste d'Agincourt Jean Baptiste Louis George Seroux D'Agincourt (5 April 1730 – 24 September 1814) was a French archaeologist and historian. Born in Beauvais, he was a descendant of the counts of Namur, and in his youth he served as an officer in a regiment of ...

. As a young woman she married the jurist Domenico Dionigi, a Count of the Lateran Palace and aristocrat from Ferrara. They had seven children. Her drawings and paintings were displayed at the Palazzo della Cancelleria, the Accademia di San Luca, and the Reggia di Caserta. She died in Lanuvio.Famous people
Comune di Ferentino, personaggi illustri, Retrieved 12 October 2016 Dionigi died in 1826 in Lanuvio.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dionigi, Marianna Candidi 1756 births 1826 deaths 18th-century Italian painters 19th-century Italian painters Italian women painters 19th-century Italian women artists 18th-century Italian women artists Italian salon-holders