Portrait of a Lady as a Vestal Virgin

The Swiss-born artist Angelica Kauffman trained with her father Joseph who specialised in mural decoration. A highly talented and precocious painter, her first independent works date from her teenage years. Kauffman lived and worked throughout her life in Italy, moving to Florence in 1762. In Italy she absorbed the Neoclassical ideas that became widespread in artistic circles. During her early yea…