Born in Switzerland to an Austrian artist, Angelica Kauffman was a remarkable woman, a child prodigy who had to chose early in life between music or painting. She excelled in the latter, and, after a peripatetic upbringing, arrived in London just three years before the foundation of the Royal Academy. Her success in society was unparalleled, and she became a founder member of the illustrious society, even though, as a woman, she couldn’t even appear in the famous group portrait by Zoffany. We will look at her life, her friendships, her success and her struggles, and lament the cancellation of the exhibition that was to be dedicated to her last year.