Den hellige familie

28 February 1657

First major public commission

At nineteen she receives her first major public commission, from Daniele Granchi, prior of the Carthusian church of the Certosa di Bologna; she will go on to paint at least thirteen public altarpieces.

1660

Opens a painting school for women

She opens a school — the first school of painting for women in Europe outside a convent, open regardless of the women’s artistic and social connections; besides her younger sisters Barbara and Anna Maria she trains at least twelve young women, among them the wood-engraver Veronica Fontana, Caterina Pepoli, Maria Elena Panzacchi, Camelia Lanteri, Lucretia Forni, Veronica Franchi and Ginevra Cantofoli, who was portrayed as Sirani’s rival.

1660

Admitted to the Accademia di San Luca in Rome

In the same year, 1660, she is admitted to the Accademia di San Luca in Rome.

c. 1660

Turns to small devotional images of the Virgin

Around 1660 she begins to concentrate on small devotional images — the Virgin and Child and the Holy Family — which were enormously popular with private collectors; her patrons range from cardinals, kings, princes and dukes to merchants and academics from Bologna and across Europe. Among such works is the Virgin and Child of 1663 (National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington).