Plautilla Bricci’s Birth of the Virgin, Rome
Plautilla Bricci Birth of the Virgin Restoration Project Sponsorship: $150,000 total budget; $60,000 raised to date, with $90,000 remaining to reach our goal. The project budget supports restoration, diagnostic analysis, documentation, scholarly research, media promotion, project management, and educational programming, including a scholarly Italian-English publication, documentary film, and public exhibition. We are thrilled to announce that $60,000 has already been raised, reflecting strong early support as we continue to secure the remaining funding. We would be tremendously grateful if you would consider making a donation toward the remaining $90,000 needed to complete this important restoration project.
PLAUTILLA BRICCI
First Architect and Painter of Rome
Portrait of an architect, Plautilla Bricci (?) (1655-1660). Private collection, Los Angeles.
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INTRODUCTION
In the Spring of 2026, Artemisia Gold, a non-profit organization dedicated to the restoration and advancement of masterworks by female artists, will undertake its next major initiative – the restoration of Plautilla Bricci’s monumental altarpiece Birth of the Virgin, located in the Church of Santa Maria in Campo Marzio in Rome.
Hailed as the first female architect and painter of Rome, Plautilla Bricci was one of the most extraordinary figures of the 17th century. She stands out as a painter, architect, and polymath—often described as the only “universal” female artist of her time. According to Jane Adams, Founder and CEO of Artemisia Gold and leader of the restoration project, Bricci’s Birth of the Virgin is not only a magnificent artistic achievement but also a remarkable display of female agency for its time. The female Abbess Anna Maria Mazzarino commissioned the female artist Plautilla Bricci to paint a female-dominated composition—the Birth of the Virgin—an unusual occurrence in the 17th century. “That’s very rare and it’s very special.”
Artemisia Gold aims not only to restore the physical integrity and visual brilliance of this remarkable work, but also to advance scholarly understanding of Bricci’s artistic practice, elevate her place within the canon of Baroque art, and share her legacy with a global audience through research, conservation, and education to inspire generations to come.
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PROJECT OVERVIEW
Plautilla Bricci (Rome, 13 August 1616 – Rome, 13 December 1705) was a singular figure of an artist active around the middle of the 17th century, unique among female artists in that, in addition to being a painter and architect, she was also a draughtsman, an amateur musician and even a sculptor.
Plautilla Bricci’s Birth of the Virgin is a magnificent altarpiece (3.53m x 2.23m) located in the first chapel on the right of the Church of Santa Maria in Campo Marzio, located in the heart of Rome, very close to the Parliament and Piazza del Pantheon. The most recent studies point to the painter and “architect” Plautilla Bricci (Coppolaro 2023) as the author of the work on the basis of documentation.
Bricci was famous in her time for having designed the Villa del Vascello on the Colle Gianicolo for Elpidio Benedetti, Cardinal Mazarin’s agent in Rome, as well as the Chapel of St. Louis in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi, for which she executed the architectural design and also the altarpiece. In the same church, the Contarelli chapel also houses Caravaggio’s three paintings of the Stories of St. Matthew. Her stature as a painter and her personality were brought to the attention of the general public with Melania Mazzucco’s novel L’architettrice (2019), and only recently have the catalogue of her works and the context of her activity been fully explored by art-historical studies (Lollobrigida 2021; Primarosa 2022; 2024), up to the exhibition Una Rivoluzione Silenziosa, Plautilla Bricci, Pittrice e Architettrice dedicated to her in 2023 at the Gallerie Nazionali d’Arte Antica in Palazzo Corsini.
The painting is dated to the 1660s and was commissioned by Anna Maria Mazzarino, sister of the powerful cardinal and abbess of the monastery of Santa Maria in Campo Marzio. The scene takes place in an interior, with the figures arranged on different levels. In the foreground is the midwife surrounded by various other helpers, Saint Anne and the newborn Virgin. In the background to the right is the bed with the parturient, assisted by handmaids, surmounted by a large open drape as a backdrop. In the upper part is the divine participation in the scene, with an angel in the center, seated on clouds and surrounded by seraphim.
The work is in a precarious state of conservation and is in desperate need of restoration. For this reason, it was decided to propose a project that would not only contribute to the preservation of the painting and its transmission to the future, but which would also be an opportunity to study – this would be the first – the technique used by the artist, the painting materials, and ultimately retrace the steps that led Plautilla to achieve such a fascinating result. Material choices condition the visual rendering of a painting, so: How
did she design the composition? How did she process it on canvas? Are there compositional changes? What pigments did she use? What was her painting technique? The data that will be acquired can be placed in the context of the studies already available which have traced the painting back to the hand of Plautilla.
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CONSERVATION COMMITTEE
Artemisia Gold has engaged the following distinguished team of experts to complete the project:
- Restoration work: Lorenza M.G.D’Alessandro, Restauratrice Opere d’Arte
- Scientific investigations: Emmebi Diagnostica Artistica
- Art-historical consultancy: Marco Coppolaro PhD, Italian Ministry of Culture
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EDUCATION INITIATIVES
During the scientific investigation and restoration work, filming will be carried out for the production of an educational documentary film. At the end of the restoration, it is planned to hold a public presentation and a didactic exhibition in the church next to the painting, and to produce an Italian-English publication of scientific value for a wide audience. The complex of Santa Maria in Campo Marzio houses the Prosecutor’s Office of the Holy See of the Patriarchate of Antioch and is fully available to host the initiatives outlined here.
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PROJECT INCLUDES:
- Art history research
- Diagnostic testing
- Photographic campaign
- Presentation of new volume
- Press Conference and presentation of project
- National and International press campaign
- Presentation of the painting and comparisons of similar works Inaugural events
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INFO
- Artist: Plautilla Bricci
- Technique: Oil painting on canvas
- Subject: The Birth of the Virgin
- Date: 1660
- Size: 53m x 2.23m
Plautilla Bricci, The Birth of the Virgin, c. 1660. Church of Santa Maria in Campo Marzio, Rome; image courtesy of Consuelo Lollobrigida.
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Church of Santa Maria in Campo Marzio, Rome – Exterior
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Church of Santa Maria in Campo Marzio, Rome – Interior Alter
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Church of Santa Maria in Campo Marzio, Rome, Plautilla Bricci, The Birth of the Virgin, c. 1660
