Sofia Giordano (30 April 1778 – 26 April 1829) was an Italian

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Life and work

Giordano was born to poor parents in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

as Sofia Clerc. Her maiden name has been also given variously as Clerk, Le Clerc, Leclerk, and other variants on the same. Early in life she evinced a talent for drawing, and the painter Pietro Jacopo Palmieri (1737-1804) recommended further study, in which she was supported by banker Giacinto Vinay. At 18 she went to

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 ...

to study

miniature painting Miniature painting may refer to: * Miniature (illuminated manuscript), a small illustration used to decorate an illuminated manuscript * Persian miniature, a small painting on paper in the Persian tradition, for a book or album * Ottoman miniature, ...

and

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

with

Therese Maron Therese Concordia Maron (née Mengs; 1725 – October 10, 1806), was a German (Saxon) painter, for most of her life active in Rome. She was the elder sister of more known painter Anton Raphael Mengs. Therese was born in northern Bohemian t ...

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at the ''Dictionary of Pastellists Before 1800''. During this time she became a member of the

Accademia Nazionale di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

, upon which occasion her portrait, still held by the Accademia, was painted by Giovanni Domenico Cherubini (1754-1815). She produced three pastel copies during this period of her study before turning to painting miniatures on ivory. After a few years Vinay demanded she return to Turin, where she became member of the . In 1803 she married the surgeon Giovanni Giordano, continuing to paint and exhibit under her maiden name. She continued to produce pastels, and began working in

oil on canvas Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

as well. In 1812 the Turin Academy awarded her a gold medal for her work. Giordano had two children and died of a nervous fever. Giordano's work won the acclaim of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, among others. A pastel portrait of Giacinto Vinay is in the collection of the in

Asti Asti ( , , ; pms, Ast ) is a ''comune'' of 74,348 inhabitants (1-1-2021) located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and it is deemed t ...

References

External links

Biography of Giordano
@ the Accademia delle Scienze di Torino website 1778 births 1829 deaths 18th-century Italian painters 18th-century Italian women artists 19th-century Italian painters 19th-century Italian women artists Artists from Turin Italian women painters Pastel artists {{Italy-painter-18thC-stub