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Giovanna Maria Felice, wearing Italian costume
1771
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
52.7 × 39.4 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM and Family through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2020
Gallery location
18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
The granddaughter of the portraitist William Aikman, Anne Forbes studied in Rome in around 1770, where she was educated by the Scottish artists Gavin Hamilton and James Nevay. Little is still known about the details of her life; however, she exhibited portraits at the Royal Academy in London from 1772 while she attempted to fashion a career in the English capital. She was ultimately unsuccessful in this and returned to Scotland, where in 1788 she was appointed Portrait Painter to the Societyof Antiquaries in Edinburgh, and where she was able to make a moderate living as a portraitist and art teacher.