Capriccio of the Roman Campagna with Column, 1780s-1790s. Maria Luigia Raggi. Gouache on paper laid down on canvas. Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust.
Maria Luigi Raggi was one of the most elusive and fascinating landscape painters of her era. A member of a prominent Genoese family, Raggi was forced to enter a convent in Genoa at the age of 18, as young women often were, where she learned to paint. Assigned a new name, Sister Maria Luisa Domenica Vittoria, her artistic persona only started to develop once pieces bearing the monogram “M.l.r.” surfaced. It wasn’t until 2003, after the discovery of three artworks signed with her full name, that her true identity was finally revealed.
Here, decaying ruins blend into the landscapes around them. Inspired by real places, these views are imaginary, meant to show the artist’s inventiveness. Each is known as a “capriccio,” a term for a composition that combines real and imagined elements. Capricci were popular souvenirs from the Grand Tour, a cultural tour of Europe undertaken by the elite as part of their formal education.
