Support for the Women Artists of Venice program has been received from:

Donna Malin; The Diane Apostolos-Cappadona Trust in Memory of Her Mother, Stacia Apostolos; Anonymous in Memory of Bernice F. Davidson; Manitou Fund through Nora McNeely Hurley; Lafayette 148 New York; Wayne and Alicia Gregory Family Foundation; Anonymous; The Boston Chapter of Save Venice; Richard & Jill Almeida; Rebecca Nemser; Sallymoon & Alan Bentz; Nancy Piraquive; Young Friends of Save Venice through the Camalotte Foundation; Estate of Cara De Silva; Irina Tolstoy & John G. Gans; Patricia N. Olsen; Anne H. Fitzpatrick; Susan Angelastro in Memory of Her Sister, Amy Angelastro; Young Friends of Save Venice, Boston; Sarah Ilchman Hollinger in honor of Frederick Ilchman; and Dr. Frederick Ilchman.

Although women artists are documented throughout the history of Venetian art, we know relatively little about their lives and production, with a few exceptions. In recent decades a growing body of research in Bologna and Florence has resurrected previously unknown female artists and artisans, allowing their achievements in those cities to be more fully appreciated. The time is ripe for an investigation on a similar scale in Venice and its territories under the Republic.

Save Venice is spearheading an effort to recover the history of women artists and artisans who were born in or active in Venice in the early modern period. This program of art conservation, scientific and scholarly research, aims to coordinate the findings and foster dialogue through ambitious conferences, publications, and exhibitions. The Women Artists of Venice program, or WAV, builds upon the successes of systematic restoration treatments and publications sponsored by Save Venice in recent years, such as those dedicated to Vittore Carpaccio (c. 1465-1525), Jacopo Tintoretto (c. 1519- 1594), and other Venetian artists.

The art history track of WAV is led by Tracy E. Cooper, professor at Temple University and member of the board of Save Venice. The art conservation track of WAV is led by Melissa Conn, Director of the Venice Office of Save Venice. In consultation with the board of Save Venice and a wide network of specialists, they are directing a robust program to synthesize existing scholarship and enable new research, eventually disseminating the results to the public.

Since Save Venice launched Women Artists of Venice in 2021 conservation treatments have included works by Giovanna Garzoni (1600-1670), Sister Isabella Piccini (1644 – 1734), Giulia Lama (1681-1747), Rosalba Carriera (1673-1757), and Marianna Carlevarijs (1703-1750) held in Venetian churches and museum collections. 

These interventions have led to new discoveries and a better understanding of the working methods of these artists, thanks to scientific investigations using pigment analysis, x-ray and infrared photography.

The research track of the WAV program, led by Board member Tracy E. Cooper, professor at Temple University, has identified a remarkable count of more than 100 women artists and artisans whose histories and works are being studied and tracked in a dedicated WAV database. Public access to this database will soon be available through an online portal, which is slated for publication in 2026.

Work on the database began in 2022 under the guidance of WAV Research Associate Fellow Susan Nalezyty, and continues with current WAV Research Fellows Emma Holter and Nora Gietz.

The volume Women Artists and Artisans in Venice and the Veneto, 1400-1750: Uncovering the Female Presence, edited by Tracy Cooper, is a book of essays highlighting the lives, careers, and works of art of women artists and artisans in Venice and its territories from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The collection represents the first fruits of Save Venice’s Women Artists of Venice (WAV) research program, which were presented at the Renaissance Society of America’s 2022 annual conference held in Dublin, Ireland.

The volume was published in September 2024 by Amsterdam University Press. The digital edition is available, for free, through Open Access at the following link: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edit/10.5117/9789048559718/women-artists-artisans-venice-veneto-1400-1750-tracy-cooper
The print edition can be ordered through Routledge and Amazon.com within the United States.

The special exhibition  Eye to Eye with Giulia Lama: A Woman Artist in 18th-Century Venice  featured five canvases recently restored thanks to Save Venice’s  Women Artists of Venice (WAV)  program.

From  February 8, 2024  through  June 8, 2024 , Giulia Lama’s  Four Evangelists  from the church of San Marziale were displayed at the  Pinacoteca Manfrediniana  and the  Virgin in Prayer  from the church of Santa Maria Assunta on Malamocco in the nearby Sacristy of the  Basilica della Salute . As these paintings are normally displayed up high in their respective churches, this exhibition allowed visitors the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view them up close following the recent transformative conservation treatments.

The exhibition was organized by Save Venice in collaboration with the Diocese Patriarchate of Venice, Pinacoteca Manfrediniana, Basilica della Salute, and  UniSVe .

For more information about Save Venice’s Women Artists of Venice sponsorship opportunities, contact kim@savevenice.org