Dr Adelina Modesti is Honorary Senior Fellow in the School of Culture and Communication (Art History) at the University of Melbourne. Recent publications include Women's Patronage and Gendered Cultural Networks in Early Modern Europe: Vittoria della Rovere, Grand Duchess of Tuscany and Elisabetta Sirani ‘Virtuosa’: Women’s cultural production in early modern Bologna
‘Modesti’s account of the paintings demonstrates that, while Sirani naturally learned from the work of others, her compositions and execution were original. Sirani’s career was a brief shooting star, but, thanks to this book, Elisabetta Sirani shines once again.’ – Gervase Rosser, Art Quarterly Shortlisted for the 2024 Sixteenth Century Society Natalie Zemon Davis Prize Shortlisted for the 2024 Italian Art Society Book Prize 'Organized into five chapters with an updated bibliography, a chronological list of two hundred authenticated paintings, and sixty-five superb color reproductions, Elisabetta Sirani is a brilliant cultural biography based on extensive archival research integrated with recent scholarship.' – Renaissance Quarterly