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This is the first book to examine the art and life of Boston-born artist Francesca Alexander (1837–1917). Francesca and her parents moved to Florence in 1853 and became part of a thriving international community. She was a largely self-taught artist, and both her art and writing focused on Italians and Italian life. Her portraits and nature studies, and her translations of songs and stories, were much admired by her contemporaries, including John Ruskin, who published three of her manuscripts and promoted her work to his followers. She used her earnings from the sale of these publications, and her art, to fund her many charitable endeavours; both friends and admirers marvelled at her saintly character, which they linked to a romantic view of Italy itself. Nonetheless, in spite of her celebrity on both sides of the Atlantic, she and her work have been largely forgotten.
Drawing on her work, as well as other sources including letters, diaries, guidebooks, newspapers and magazines, this book provides a vivid biography of Francesca Alexander, her art, and her place in history.
‘Jacqueline Marie Musacchio’s thoughtful biography The Art and Life of Francesca Alexander 1837–1917 (2025) brings the artist’s story out of the shadows and illuminates the fascinating cross-cultural context in which she worked.’ Lauren Moya Ford, Hyperallergic
Jacqueline Marie Musacchio is Professor of Art at Wellesley College, Massachusetts. A specialist in Italian Renaissance and Baroque art, and Americans in nineteenth-century Italy, her previous publications include the books The Art and Ritual of Childbirth in Renaissance Italy (1999) and Art, Marriage, and Family in the Florentine Renaissance Palace (2008) as well as articles and essays on the Anglo-American population of Italy.
Prologue; 1 From Boston To Florence; 2 'Truly An Artist's Home'; 3 Fanny And Her Poor; 4 Francesca; 5 'A Medieaval Saint'; Epilogue