In search of Giulia Lama: a forgotten late-baroque master

a forgotten late-baroque master 

In 2021 the charity Save Venice launched a new initiative, the Women Artists of Venice Program, to identify, conserve and promote the work of some of Venice's under valued or forgotten artists. The most famous of these is Rosalba Carriera, widely celebrated as one of the most successful and innovative women of the 18th Century. Far less well known is her contemporary, Giulia Lama, whose powerful, brooding works would best be characterised as late Baroque: they couldn't be more different from Carriera's light proto-Rococo pastel portraits. Some of the first fruits of Save Venice's project are currently on view in Venice, works by Giulia Lama which have been taken from the churches for which they were painted, examined and conserved. All of them were designed to be hung high on the walls of churches far from the tourist trail - just one of the reasons why her name has become unfamiliar. The current exhibition allows the works to be seen at eye-level, an unparalleled opportunity to see them close at hand. 

I'm very excited to be able to take this opportunity, and while in Venice I will seek out her other works, in museums, churches and confraternities. This talk will report back on everything I find - a chance to discover an exciting artist whose work deserves far greater attention than it has so far received.