Anna Risi

Italian painting model. Muse and mistress of German painter Anselm Feuerbach

Anna Risi
Portrait of Risi by Frederic Leighton
Born	14 July 1839 Genzano di Roma, Papal States
Died	18 May 1900 (aged 60) Rome, Kingdom of Italy
Occupation	Art model
Era	Aestheticism
Known for	Popular model for paintings
Partner	Anselm Feuerbach

Anna Risi (14 July 1839 – 18 May 1900), nicknamed Nanna, was a popular Italian art model. She was a muse and mistress of German painter Anselm Feuerbach,^[1] who admired her beauty so much that he painted her at least twenty times.^[2]

Biography

Risi was married to a cobbler and lived in Trastevere, a village neighborhood in Rome with a history as working class. Her striking features caught the eye of various artists who came to the city for inspiration, and she modeled for a number of paintings and sculptures in her early 20s. But it wasn't until Frederic Leighton, who would become the President of the Royal Academy in London, that her face became known to the world. Leighton's series of paintings of Risi caught the eye of the Prince of Wales and other notables, canonizing her forever.^[3]

From there, Risi became the obsession of Anselm Feuerbach, who painted dozens of paintings of his muse and lover. By then, Risi had left her family and was living with the artist. Feuerbach and his family did much to improve Risi's circumstances and style, but the artist was irritable and suffered from syphilis. Risi ran off with a "rich Englishman", only to return to Feuerbach and beg him forgiveness. He had a new muse at that time, so he rejected her.^[4] He wrote: "Yesterday her predecessor accosted me in greatly reduced circumstances", "But I merely waved to her from a distance".

Today, Feuerbach's works of Risi are housed in Wiesbaden, Germany.^[5]

Gallery

Risi depicted as Vipsania in A Roman Woman by Feuerbach
Risi as Pavonia in Pavonia by Leighton
Risi as Medea in Medea mit dem Dolch (Medea with the Dagger) by Feuerbach
Sculpture of Risi by Auguste Clésinger

References

^ Schabow, Marie (2011). Anna Risi bei Feuerbach und Leighton - ein Vergleich. GRIN. ISBN 9783656064299.
^ Pound, Cath (August 10, 2018). "A new exhibition looks at how love has been portrayed in art over centuries". BBC. Retrieved 2020-07-04.
^ Bregman, Alexandra (November 1, 2022). "Scorned Muse: Anna Risi, Tragedy and Icon". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
^ "https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/artdok/5670/1/Winter_Anselm_Feuerbach_und_sein_roemisches_Modell_Anna_Risi_2011.pdf"
^ "https://museum-wiesbaden.de/en/exhibitions/nanna/459"