The Art and Life of Francesca Alexander (1837-1917)

At 5.30 pm on November 26, 2025, join us at Il Palmerino Cultural Association, in the Colonica di Villa Il Palmerino, for a lecture by US writer and professor Jacqueline Marie Musacchio, entitled: The Art and Life of Francesca Alexander (1837 - 1917), after her recently published book by the same name.

Francesca Alexander and her parents moved from Boston to Florence in 1853 and became part of the city's thriving international community. She was a largely self-taught artist, and both her art and writing focused on Italians, Italian life, and the Italian landscape. Her portraits and nature studies, and her translations of songs and stories, were much admired by her contemporaries, including John Ruskin, who published three of her manuscripts and promoted her work to his followers.

Alexander used her earnings from the sale of these publications, and her art, to fund her many charitable endeavors; both friends and admirers marveled at her saintly character, which they linked to a romantic view of Italy itself. This talk will examine her work, as well as letters, diaries, guidebooks, newspapers, and magazines, to provide a vivid biography of Francesca and her place in history.

Jacqueline Marie Musacchio is Professor of Art at Wellesley College in the United States. A specialist in Italian Renaissance and Baroque art, and Americans in nineteenth-century Italy, her previous publications include the books The Art and Ritual of Childbirth in Renaissance Italy (1999) and Art, Marriage, and Family in the Florentine Renaissance Palace (2008) as well as articles and essays on the Anglo-American population of Italy.