Giulia Lama

She was born in the seventeenth century, around 1685 to 1690, but there is limited biographical information about Giulia Lama, and she was largely ignored by eighteenth century Venetian art historians. The most significant information is included in a letter from Abbé Conti to Madame de Caylus, dated March 1720, revealing his 'discovery' of Lama in Venice and comparing her work in terms of quality to that of the renowned Rosalba Carriera. However, Giulia's personality and art were quite distinct from the celebrated Venetian portraitist. She had an elusive and spiritual personality; Lama studied mathematics in her youth with the renowned P. Mattei and was known as a poet. She admired the work of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, of whom she might have been a direct pupil. This artist painted a portrait of her dated around 1720 that belongs to the Thyssen collection, that was identified as her thanks to the self-portrait that she sent to the Uffizi in 1725. According to Abbé Conti, she was pursued by contemporary painters, though her 'virtue triumphed over her enemies.'

A.M. Zanetti mentions several of her works, including the notable 'Crucifixion' in the church of San Vitale. Her painting, characterized by its intensity and anti-academic style, follows the Venetian 'neotenebrismo' of Piazzetta, the young Tiepolo, Langetti, and Zanchi. Some noteworthy examples include 'Samson and Delilah,' in a private collection, and particularly the 'Martyrdom of Saint Eurosia,' at Ca' Rezzonico in Venice. There are numerous drawings attributed to her, executed in black pencil and charcoal, that exhibit a style reminiscent of Piazzetta (Mena, M.: Catalogue of Drawings, VII, Italian Drawings of the 18th and 19th Centuries, Museo del Prado, 1990, p. 94).