proved herself an apt and diligent pupil. While still a child she was deep in the mysteries of light and shade, of perspective and coloring, working many hours a day and delighting in the ever-increasing mastery which she obtained over her pencil and brush. Her progress at this stage of her career was indeed extraordinary. Nor were the other elements of her education neglected. She studied all the ordinary branches, acquired several languages, read history and poetry with an eagerness and intelligence beyond her years, while of music she made a serious pursuit, devoting to it nearly as much time as to painting. Yet in spite of this unusual mental activity she preserved her health and her simplicity, retaining all the frankness and grace of ordinary childhood.
While residing with her father at Morbegno before she was twelve years of age, the Bishop of Como, who had heard of her talents, came to see her and examined some of her works. Her youth, her beauty, and her modesty so pleased him that he desired to sit to her for his portrait, and this important commission she did not hesitate to undertake. She executed it, moreover, with promptitude and success, fully satisfying the prelate and his friends, who spread the fame of the achievement far and wide. She became the fashionable artist of the moment, orders showered upon her from all sides, and the Duke of Modena became her patron. A portrait of Cardinal Roth, painted shortly afterwards, was still more admired and revealed a great advance in skill. All this occurred before she had ceased to be a child.
At Milan, whither she removed at the age of fifteen, she was placed under the most famous masters of the day and continued her studies with unabated eagerness. Later she traversed Italy, visiting Bologna, Venice, and Rome, feted, admired, and made much of wherever she went.
Winckelmann, who met her at Rome, writes of her to
