DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66024#0048
12
ANGELICA KAUFFMANN
own people. She contrasted the goatherd with the exalted personages with
whom she had been in contact, and the simple villagers were inclined, on their
part, to resent the airs she gave herself, and to be annoyed with her manners
and her costume. Furthermore, her father was always talking, in flattering
terms, not only of his daughter’s skill, but of the way in which she had been
received, and these remarks did not tend to make the first few weeks of Angelica’s
residence in Schwarzenburg as agreeable as they might otherwise have been.
Fortunately, however, the parish priest of the place seems to have taken an
interest in the girl and to have spoken in clear language to her respecting her
own behaviour, and his advice produced the right kind of result, so that, after
a few weeks, she settled down quietly in the place, and was then attracted by
the solitude and sombre beauty of the forests that surrounded the village.
The parish church was at some little distance from the goatherd’s cottage,
and she writes later on of having to rise at daybreak, and to trudge in the depth
of winter for an hour or two along the country road, with the snow nearly
up to her knees, to attend Mass; but this exertion, and her assiduous attention
to her religious duties, a marked characteristic throughout the whole of her life,
soon dispelled her discontent, and the quiet time gave rise to satisfactory results.
The Cardinal Bishop was pleased with the decoration she and her father
carried out. He commissioned other sacred subjects, which were to be painted
on the walls of his own villa, and he welcomed both artists later on to his house,
where he lodged and entertained them in splendid style. He also sat to
Angelica for his own portrait, and then recommended her to various persons
round about, so that she was soon in a position to return to Italy, and to pursue
her work under more favourable circumstances. It was actually in Constance
that the Cardinal’s portrait was finished, and thence the father and daughter
went to the residence of Count de Montfort, where they remained for some
time, while Angelica painted the portraits of various members of his family,
and thus they came back to Milan.
By this time Angelica had developed into an exceedingly beautiful girl.
Her face is described as of extraordinary sweetness and sensibility. She is
spoken of as tall and graceful, quick in intelligence, easily able to speak Italian,
French, English and German, and possessed of a beautiful limpid voice of
extraordinary flexibility, and, moreover, able to play on the clavichord and the
zither with considerable taste. A young musician whom she met at the house
of the Count de Montfort strongly recommended her to take up an operatic
career, and assured her she would have a brilliant success. Her father,
who was not only eager that she should succeed, but greedy for the money
which he anticipated his daughter’s talent would produce, was favourably
disposed towards such a course, and the young musician, who appears to have
been really in love with the girl, pressed very strongly, not only his own suit,
but his recommendation of a romantic career as an opera singer, begging her
to give up her painting and to devote her talents entirely to song.
Once again, an old Italian priest intervened. The Kauffmanns were
ANGELICA KAUFFMANN
own people. She contrasted the goatherd with the exalted personages with
whom she had been in contact, and the simple villagers were inclined, on their
part, to resent the airs she gave herself, and to be annoyed with her manners
and her costume. Furthermore, her father was always talking, in flattering
terms, not only of his daughter’s skill, but of the way in which she had been
received, and these remarks did not tend to make the first few weeks of Angelica’s
residence in Schwarzenburg as agreeable as they might otherwise have been.
Fortunately, however, the parish priest of the place seems to have taken an
interest in the girl and to have spoken in clear language to her respecting her
own behaviour, and his advice produced the right kind of result, so that, after
a few weeks, she settled down quietly in the place, and was then attracted by
the solitude and sombre beauty of the forests that surrounded the village.
The parish church was at some little distance from the goatherd’s cottage,
and she writes later on of having to rise at daybreak, and to trudge in the depth
of winter for an hour or two along the country road, with the snow nearly
up to her knees, to attend Mass; but this exertion, and her assiduous attention
to her religious duties, a marked characteristic throughout the whole of her life,
soon dispelled her discontent, and the quiet time gave rise to satisfactory results.
The Cardinal Bishop was pleased with the decoration she and her father
carried out. He commissioned other sacred subjects, which were to be painted
on the walls of his own villa, and he welcomed both artists later on to his house,
where he lodged and entertained them in splendid style. He also sat to
Angelica for his own portrait, and then recommended her to various persons
round about, so that she was soon in a position to return to Italy, and to pursue
her work under more favourable circumstances. It was actually in Constance
that the Cardinal’s portrait was finished, and thence the father and daughter
went to the residence of Count de Montfort, where they remained for some
time, while Angelica painted the portraits of various members of his family,
and thus they came back to Milan.
By this time Angelica had developed into an exceedingly beautiful girl.
Her face is described as of extraordinary sweetness and sensibility. She is
spoken of as tall and graceful, quick in intelligence, easily able to speak Italian,
French, English and German, and possessed of a beautiful limpid voice of
extraordinary flexibility, and, moreover, able to play on the clavichord and the
zither with considerable taste. A young musician whom she met at the house
of the Count de Montfort strongly recommended her to take up an operatic
career, and assured her she would have a brilliant success. Her father,
who was not only eager that she should succeed, but greedy for the money
which he anticipated his daughter’s talent would produce, was favourably
disposed towards such a course, and the young musician, who appears to have
been really in love with the girl, pressed very strongly, not only his own suit,
but his recommendation of a romantic career as an opera singer, begging her
to give up her painting and to devote her talents entirely to song.
Once again, an old Italian priest intervened. The Kauffmanns were