A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Rossi, Properzia de
ROSSI, PROPERZIA DE.
It is uncertain when this illustrious artist was born, but various reasons induce us to fix the date towards 1495. The cities of Bologna and Modena still dispute the honour of having produced her; and such is the cloud that rests upon her early days, that it has never been ascertained who were her parents, and some have even been uncertain whether she was a married or single woman—whether the name of Rossi descended to her from a father, or was given by a husband. The latter doubt is entirely set to rest by Georgio Vasari, who, in his biography of celebrated artists, calls Properzia "a virtuous maiden, possessing every merit of her sex, together with science and learning all men may envy."
She began her progress in the arts by learning to draw of Rafmondi, but as the predilection of the age was for sculpture, she soon turned all her attention to that art. Many of her works are still extant and admired. In possession of the Grassi family, at Bologna, is a sculptured representation of our Saviour's passion, where eleven figures are introduced as spectators, each with a characteristic expression, and the whole carved on a peach-stone. She also assisted in the sculptures that adorn the three gates of the façade of St. Petroneus. There is also a very line figure, in marble, of Count Guido di Pepoli, unquestionably her production. She died February 24th., 1530, and Georgio Vasari thus writes:—"The lovely maiden was this day made perfect." All the Bolognese mourned her death, for she was considered a miracle of nature.