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Art sleuth and artisan Poiret Masse searches for Violante Siries Cerroti’s ‘voice’
Interview by Linda Falcone
Article Source:
Autumn/Winter 2024-25, Issue 06
Florence’s Tuscan Capuchin Museum was the brainchild of Father Atanasio Andreini (d. 2013), who, in the 1990s, began compiling objects and artwork from closing Tuscan monasteries and curating their restoration. Eight hundred of the most representative items in this collection found a home – either on display or in storage – in the eighteenth-century loggia above the vault of the Church of San Francesco a Montughi, which officially became a wunderkammer museum in 2018.
The museum’s current director Friar Francesco Mori reached out to Florence-based writer, potter and part-time art sleuth Poiret Masse, after reading the book The Lady Who Paints (Pacini Editore, 2016), which features Masse’s seminal research on eighteenth-century artist Violante Siriès Cerroti. Did she know that the Capuchins had a signed Saint Francis by Violante, he wondered, and would she like to see it? As author of one of the most often cited essays on the artist, Poiret’s “conversation with Violante” is still happening today, through archive hunting and auction haunting. This new Capuchin clue provides Restoration Conversations the opportunity to learn more about Poiret’s continued quest.
Restoration Conversations: The National Gallery of London’s ‘Saint Francis of Assisi’ exhibition last year emphasised the modernity and relevance of Saint Francis in today’s world. Tell us about Violante Siriès Cerotti’s ‘newest’ devotional work at the Capuchin museum.
Poiret Masse: Violante’s Saint Francis is a full-length, frontal portrait of the saint dressed in a humble hooded brown habit, tied at the waist with a knotted rope and a crucifix. His hands and feet bear the stigmata, and he gives the gesture of blessing with his right hand, while holding the Gospel in his left. This depiction was likely made for the Church of San Ludovico, in the Tuscan town of Montevarchi. Its high altar used to host a Coronation of the Virgin with Saints (1500-1508) by Botticelli and his workshop, which included an image of Saint Francis enraptured by this holy vision. Violante’s rendition recalls some of the oldest characterisations of Francis, which are more icon-like and without the birds and animals with which he appears in later imagery. The figure exudes gentleness and he appears to be making a direct appeal to the devotee to meditate on Franciscan compassion. Despite the figure’s more archaic iconography, Saint Francis is painted in Violante’s soft and gentle style. He is very sweet. When I first saw him, it was like meeting a friend.
RC: What circumstances surround the painting’s creation and how does it compare to the artist’s other works?
PM: Saint Francis is a signed and dated work, which provides a standard for comparison that will prove useful for identifying and attributing other works to Violante. Remarkably, the painting itself records the circumstances of its commission: it was paid for with alms by Father Felice Antonio Bicilotti, in 1765. Beyond recognizable details that bring to mind the features of Violante’s characters from other works – fingers, lips and eyes – Saint Francis displays other trademarks of Violante’s style: a rather mannered presentation of the figure, vibrant colors and a pleasing lightness of touch. Stylistic influences of her teachers can be found in her works as well; the impressive list includes Medici court portraitist and skillful pastellist Giovanna Fratellini, French court portraitist Hyacinthe Rigaud, celebrated Rococo painter François Boucher and Florentine artist Francesco Conti, known for his devotional works. This is all about hammering down secure attributions and using them as a reference. Again, to achieve this goal, it’s important to look at the signed and dated works in her oeuvre and compare them to other works in question.
RC: What kinds of sources do you seek out when trying to piece together Violante’s story?
PM: This fall, a 2020 paper by Oronzo Brunetti on Violante’s father-in-law led me to Francesco’s will in the State Archive of Rome, where Violante’s name appears. Francesco Cerroti, a highly successful stonemason from Settingano, justifies the exclusion of his first-born son Giuseppe [Violante’s husband] from further inheritance, citing the twelve thousand piastre given to Giuseppe upon his ‘emancipation’. The will also mentions two thousand piastre provided as a generous dowry for Violante, in addition to other gifts given to her including gioie, argenti, abiti, ed altro – jewellery, silverware, clothing and other items. The will also cites Giuseppe’s comfortable life conditions, compared to that of his brothers. The fact that Giuseppe received a great deal of money upon his marriage to Violante suggests she was quite a catch! Perhaps she was seen as having earning potential, since her works formed part of the grand ducal collection.
RC: How did Violante go about securing commissions and where are they?
PM: The picture coming into view is that Violante Siriès Cerroti was in the circle of entrepreneurial artisans to which her father Louis Siriès and father-in-law belonged. They were artisans, but they were cleverly oriented in the business of getting work and creating professional opportunities. They were good at positioning themselves and giving themselves an edge in a changing market. Seeing Violante in that light, makes it easier to imagine her having the drive to paint and to make her way in the professional world. Archival evidence suggests the Sansedoni family of Siena were very good patrons of hers. There are clearly a number of paintings down that road. She has considerable geographical range – from a cloistered monastery in Pistoia to the estate of a British naval captain in Wales. We know that several of her works ended up in Britain via private collectors. As pieces of the mosaic emerge, they form a richer picture of Violante inserted in the circle of artists and artisans who embellished the period. They show an active, working artist who made use of her considerable access to patronage, finding a place in the market and adapting to suit a range of contexts.
RC: What most inspires you about Violante Siriès Cerroti?
PM: I confess I still don’t know Violante as I would like to. She must have had a forceful personality and an impressive can-do energy, but the sweetness of her style belies that forcefulness. I keep listening for her voice. Without letters or direct quotes, we are lacking her words, which are something I continue to look for. With every clue you pursue, you find more, and there are so many paintings whose stories need to be fleshed out.
Since the publication of The Lady Who Paints, I have received messages from scholars all over Italy, who have uncovered several pieces of the puzzle, and her works are emerging at auction.
A full retrieval of Violante’s oeuvre can only happen over time, and I can’t speak too soon. I certainly can’t put words in Violante’s mouth, but her ‘silence’ compels me to keep plugging along, pursuing clues. There has not been a large movement to study Violante’s period, which is still rather murky. For years, eighteenth-century artists were considered ‘second-tier’ in the Florentine perspective, and scholars are only beginning to turn their attention to it. I think placing value judgements on artwork gets us into trouble. The reality is that we value things based on how well we understand them. I find the words of Vietnamese monk and civil rights activist Thich Nhat Hanh relevant in this context. ‘Understanding” he said, “is love’s other name.”
Potter, writer and part-time art sleuth Poiret Masse was born in San Francisco, California, and has been living in Florence, Italy since 2015. “I’ve always made things with my hands,” she says, “but find that my Art History and Fine Art backgrounds inform my ceramics practice. Researching eighteenth-century Florentine painter Violante Siriès Cerroti for Advancing Women Artists from 2015 to 2017, opened up that period in the city’s history to me, feeding my ceramics with curvaceous Baroque lines. The experience of combing Medici and Lorraine-era inventories searching for Violante’s paintings among their recorded artworks, objects, and furnishings, inspired my ceramics company La Guardaroba Firenze.” Poiret’s quest for Violante’s voice continues today, nine years on and counting.
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