copies of Holbein's "Madonna," one for the King of
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Roumania, and one as a gift from the city of Darmstadt
to the Czarina Alexandra. Among her most excellent
portraits are those of Friedrich von Schmidt and his son
Henry. Several of her religious paintings ornament Ger-
man churches : " St. Elizabeth" is at Biedenkopf, " Mary's
Departure from the Tomb of Christ" is at Nierstein, and
" Christ with St. Louis and St. Elizabeth " and a Rosary
picture are in the Catholic church at Darmstadt.
Scheffer, Caroline. The daughter of Ary Lamme and
wife of J. B. Scheffer was an artist in the last decades of
the eighteenth century, but the special interest connected
with her is the fact that she was the mother of Ary and
Henry Scheffer. From her artistic standpoint she had
an appreciation of what was needed for the benefit of her
sons. She took them to Paris to study, devoted herself
entirely to their welfare, and died in Paris in 1839.
Schleh, Anna. Bom in Berlin, 1833. Her principal
studies were made in her native city under Schrader,
although she went to Rome in 1868, and finally took up
her residence there. She had, previous to her work in
Rome, painted "The Marys at the Grave." Her later
pictures include "The Citron-Vender" and a number of
portraits for the Henkel family of Donnersmark.
Schmitt-Schenkhi Maria. Bom in Baden, 1837. She
studied her art in Munich, Carlsmhe, and Italy. She
established herself in Munich and painted pictures for
churches, which are in Kirrlach, Mauer, Ztegelhausen,
and other German towns. She also designed church win-
dows, especially for the Liebfrauenkirche at Carlsruhe.
Schurmaniii Anna Maria. Was called by the Dutch
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3o8 WOMEN IN THE FINE ARTS
poets their Sappho and their Comeille. She was bom in
1607, but as her family were Protestants and frequently
changed their residence in order to avoid persecution, the
place of her birth is unknown. When Anna Maria was
eight years old, they went permanently to Utrecht.
This distinguished woman was one of the exceptions *
said to prove rules, for though a prodigy in childhood she
did not become a commonplace or stupid woman. Learn-
ing was her passion and art her recreation. It is difficult
to repeat what is recorded of her unusual attainments and
not feel as if one were being misled by a Munchausen !
But it would be ungracious to lessen a fame almost three
centuries old.
We are told that Anna Maria could speak in Latin
when seven years old, and translated from Seneca at ten.
She acquired the Hebrew, Greek, Samaritan, Arabic,
Chaldaic, Syriac, Ethiopian, Turkish, and Persian lan-
guages with such thoroughness that her admirers claim
that she wrote and spoke them all. She also read with
ease and spoke with finished elegance Italian, Spanish,
English, and French, besides German and her native
tongue.
Anna Maria Schurmann wrote verses in various lan-
guages, but the chief end which her exhaustive studies
served was to aid her in theological research; in this she '
found her greatest satisfaction and deepest interest. She
was respectfully consulted upon important questions by
the scholars of different countries.
At the University of Utrecht an honorable place was
reserved for her in the lecture-rooms, and she frequently
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took part in the learned discussions there. The profes-
sors of the University of Leyden paid her the compliment
of erecting a tribune where she could hear all that passed
in the lecture-room without being seen by the audience.
As an artist the Schurmann reached such excellence
that the painter Honthorst valued a portrait by her at a
thousand Dutch florins — about four hundred and thirty
dollars — an enormous sum when we remember that the
works of her contemporary, Albert Cuyp, were sold for
thirty florins ! and no higher price was paid for his works
before the middle of the eighteenth century. A few years
ago his picture, called " Morning Light," was sold at a
public sale in London for twenty-five thousand dollars.
How astonishing that a celebrated artist like Honthorst,
who painted in Utrecht when Cuyp painted in Dort,
should have valued a portrait by Anna Maria Schurmann
at the price of thirty-three works by Cuyp ! Such facts
as these suggest a question regarding the relative value
of the works of more modem artists. Will the judgments
of the present be thus reversed in the future ?
This extraordinary woman filled the measure of possi-
bilities by carving in wood and ivory, engraving on crystal
and copper, and having a fine musical talent, playing on
several instruments. When it is added that she was of a
lovable nature and attractive in manner, one is not sur-
prised that her contemporaries called her " the wonder of
creation."
Volsius was her friend and taught her Hebrew. She
was intimately associated with such scholars as Salmatius
and Heinsius, and was in correspondence with scholars,
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3IO WOMEN IN THE FINE ARTS
phUosophers, and theologians regarding important ques-
tions of her time.
Anna Maria Schurmann was singularly free from ego-
tism. She rarely consented to publish her writings,
though often urged to do so. She avoided publicity and
refused complimentary attentions which were urged upon
her, conducting herself with a modesty as rare as her en-
dowments.
In 1664, when travelling with her brother, she became
acquainted with Labadie, the celebrated French enthu-
siast who preached new doctrines. He had many disciples
called Labadists. He taught that God used deceit with
man when He judged it well for man to be deceived;
that contemplation led to perfection; that self-mortifica-
tion, self-denial, and prayer were necessary to a godly life ;
and that the Holy Spirit constantly made new revelations
to the human beings prepared to receive them.
Anna Maria Schurmann heard these doctrines when
prostrated by a double sorrow, the deaths of her father
and brother. She put aside all other interests and de-
voted herself to those of the Labadists. It is said .that
after the death of Labadie she gathered his disciples to-
gether and conducted them to Vivert, in Friesland.
William Penn saw her there, and in his account of the
meeting he tells how much he was impressed by her grave
solemnity and vigorous intellect.
From this time she devoted her fortune to charity and
died in poverty at the age of seventy-one. Besides her
fam6 as an artist and a scholar, her name was renowned
for purity of heart and fervent religious feeling. Her
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virtues were many and her few faults were such as could
not belong to an ignoble nature.
Scudder, Janet. Medal at Columbian Exposition, 1 893.
Two of her medallion portraits are in the Luxembourg,
Paris. Member of the National Sculpture Society, New
York. Bom in Terre Haute, Indiana. Pupil of Rebisso
in Cincinnati, of Lorado Taft in Chicago, and of Frederic
MacMonnies in Paris.
At the Chicago Exposition Miss Scudder exhibited two
heroic-sized statues representing Illinois and Indiana.
The portraits purchased by the French Government are
of American women and are the first work of an Ameri-
can woman sculptor to be admitted to the Luxembourg.
These medallions are in bas-relief in marble, framed in
bronze. Casts from them have been made in gold and
silver. The first is said to be the largest medallion ever
made in gold ; it is about four inches long.
To the Pan-American Exposition Miss Scudder con-
tributed four boys standing on a snail, which made a part
of the " Fountain of Abundance." She has exhibited in
New York and Philadelphia a fountain, representing a
boy dancing hilariously and snapping his fingers at four
huge frogs round his pedestal. The water spurts from
the mouths of the frogs and covers the naked child.
Miss Scudder is commissioned to make a portrait statue
of heroic size for the St. Louis Exposition. She will no
doubt exhibit smaller works there. Portraits are her
specialty, and in these she has made a success, as is proved
by the appreciation of her work in Paris.
A memorial figure in marble is in Woodlawn Ceme-
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312 WOMEN IN THE FINE ARTS
tery, also a cinerary urn in stone and bronze; a bronze
memorial tablet is in Union College. Miss Scudder also
made the seal for the Bar Association of New York.
Searsi Sarah C. Medal at Chicago, 1893; William
Evans prize, American Water-Color Society, New York ;
honorable mention, Paris Exposition, 1900; bronze medal
at Buffalo, 1901 ; silver medal at Charleston, South Caro-
lina. Member of the New York Water-Color Club, Boston
Art Students* Association, National Arts Club, Boston
Water-Color Club. Bom in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Pupil of Ross Turner, Joseph de Camp, Edmund C. Tar-
bell, and George de Forest Brush. Mrs. Sears has also
studied by herself with the criticism of masters.
She paints portraits, figures, and flowers, and is much
interested in the applied arts. Of her exhibition at the
Boston Art Club, 1903, a critic writes: "Nothing could
be more brilliant in point of color than the group of seven
water-color pictures of a sunny flower-garden by Mrs.
Sears. In these works pure and limpid color has been
pushed to its extreme capacity, under full daylight condi-
tions, with a splendor of brightness which never crosses
the line of crudity, but holds the same relative values as
we see in nature, the utmost force of local color coura-
geously set forth and contrasted without apparent artifice,
blending into an harmonious unity of tone. Two of these
pictures are especially fine, with their cool backgrounds
of sombre pines to set off the magnificent masses of
flowers in the foreground."
At the exhibition of the Philadelphia Water-Color Club,
1903, the Press said: " Jhese brilliant and overpowering
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JANET SCUDDER
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WOMEN IN THE FINE ARTS 313
combinations of color carry to a limit not before reached
the decorative possibilities of flowers."
Mrs. Sears' honors have been awarded to her portraits.
Seidleii Caroline Luise. Bom in Jena, 1786; died in
Weimar, 1866. Her early studies were made in Gotha
with Doell; in 181 1 she went to Dresden, where she be-
came a pupil of G. von Kiigelgen; in 181 7 Langer re-
ceived her into his Munich studio; and between 181 8 and
1823 she was in Italy, making special studies of Vanucci
and Raphael. In 1823 she was appointed instructor of •
the royal princesses* at Weimar, and in 1824 inspector of
the gallery there, and later became court painter. Among
her works are a portrait of Goethe, a picture of " Ulysses
and the Sirens," and one of " Christ, the Compassionate,"
which is in the church at Schestadt, Holstein.
Serrano y Bartolom^, Joaquina. Bom in Fermoselle.
Pupil in Madrid of Juan Espalter, of the School of Arts
and Crafts, and of the School of Painting. She sent four
pictures to the Exposition of 1876 in Madrid: the por-
trait of a young woman, a still-life subject, a bunch of
grapes, and a " Peasant Girl "—the last two are in the
Museum of Murcia. In 1878 she sent "A Kitchen Maid
on Saturday," a study, a flower piece, and two still-life
pictures; and in 1881 two portraits and some landscapes.
Her portrait of the painter Fortuny, which belongs to the
Society of Authors and Artists, gained her a membership
in that Society. Two other excellent portraits are those
of her teacher, Espalter, and General Trillo.
Sewelli Amanda Brewster. Bronze medal, Chicago,
1893; bronze medal, Buffalo, 1901 ; silver medal, Charles-
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314 WOMEN IN THE FINE ARTS
ton; Clarke prize, Academy of Design, 1903. Member
of the Woman's Art Club and an associate of National
Academy of Design. Bom in Northern New York.
Pupil at Cooper Union imder Douglas Volk and R. Swain
Gifford, and of Art Students' League under William Chase
and William Sartain; also of Julian's Academy under
Tony Robert Fleury and Bouguereau, and of Carolus
Duran.
Mrs. Sewell's " A Village Incident " is owned by the
•Philadelphia Social Art Club; "Where Roses Bloom" is
in the Boston Art Club; portrait of Prof essor William R.
Ware is in the Library of Columbia University. Her
portrait of Amalia Kiissner will be exhibited and pub-
lished.
Mrs. Sewell is the first woman to take the Clarke prize.
She has been a careful student in the arrangement of
portraits in order to make attractive pictures as well as
satisfactory likenesses. Of the pictures she exhibited at
the Academy of Design, winter of 1903, Charles H.
Caffin writes:
" The portrait of Mrs. Charles S. Dodge, by Mrs. A.
Brewster Sewell, is the finest example in the exhibition
of pictorial treatment, the lady being wrapped in a brown
velvet cloak with broad edges of brown fur, and seated
before a background of dark foliage. It is a most distin-
guished canvas, though one may object to the too obvious
affectation of the arrangement of the hands and of the
gesture of the head — features which will jar upon many
eyes and detract from the general handsomeness. The
same lady sends a large classical subject, the ' Sacred
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WOMEN IN THE FINE ARTS 315
Hecatomb/ to which the Clarke prize was awarded. It
represents a forest scene lit by slanting sunlight, through
which winds a string of bulls, the foremost accompanied
by a band of youths and maidens with dance and song.
The light effects are managed very skilfully and with con-
vincing truth, and the figures are free and animated in
movement, though the flesh tints are scarcely agreeable.
It is a decorative composition that might be fitly placed
in a large hall in some country house."
Seydelmann, ApoUonie. Member of the Dresden
Academy. Bom at Trieste about 1768; died in Dresden,
1840. Pupil of J. C. Se)'delmann, whom she married.
Later she went to Italy and there studied miniature paint-
ing under Madame Maron.
She is best known for her excellent copies of old pict-
ures, and especially by her copy of the Sistine Madonna,
from which Miiller's engraving was made.
Shaw, Annie C. The first woman elected Academi-
cian in the Academy of Design, Chicago, 1876. Bom at
Troy, New York. Pupil of H. C. Ford. Landscape
painter. Among her works are ** On the Calumet," " Wil-
low Island," " Keene Valley, New York," " Returning
from the Fair," 1878, which was exhibited in Chicago,
New York, and Boston. To the Centennial, Philadelphia,
1876, she sent her "Illinois Prairie."
" Retuming from the Fair " shows a group of Aldemey
cattle in a road curving through a forest. At the time
of its exhibition an art critic wrote: "The eye of the
spectator is stmck with the rich mass of foliage, passing
from the light green of the birches in the foreground,
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where the light breaks through, to the dark green of the
dense forest, shading into the brownish tints of the early
September-tinged leaves. Farther on, the eye is carried
back through a beautiful vista formed by the road leading
through the centre of the picture, giving a fine perspec-
tive and distance through a leafy archway of elms and
other forest trees that gracefully mingle their branches
overhead, through which one catches a glimpse of deep
blue sky. As the eye follows this roadway to its distant
part the sun lights up the sky, tingeing with a mellow
light the group of small trees and willows, contrasting
beautifully with the almost sombre tones of the dense
forest in the middle distance."
Shrimpton, Ada M. Has exhibited at the Royal Acad-
emy, Rojral Institute of Water-Colors, British Artists, and
principal provincial galleries in England and in Australia;
also at the Paris Salon. Member of Society of Women
Artists, London. Bom in Old Alresford, Hampshire.
Pupil of John Sparkes at South Kensington, and of Jean
Paul Laurens and Benjamin Constant in Paris.
This artist has painted principally figure subjects,
among which are "Cedric's Daughter," "Thoughts of
Youth are Long Thoughts," " Dream of the Past," " Pippa
Passes," " Dorothy's Bridesmaid's Dress," etc., etc. Re-
cently she has devoted herself to portraits of ladies and
children, in both oil and water-colors.
Sirani, Elisabetta. Has been praised as a woman and
as an artist by Lanzi, Malvasia, Picinardi,- and other writ-
ers until one must believe that in spite of the exag-
geration of her personal qualities and her artistic genius.
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she was a singularly admirable woman and a gifted
artist.
She was bom in Bologna about. 1640, and, like Arte-
misia Gentileschi, was the daughter of a painter of the
school of Guido Reni, whose follower Elisabetta also be-
came. From the study of her master she seems to have
acquired the power to perceive and reproduce the great-
est possible beauty with which her subjects could be
invested.
She worked with such rapidity that she was accused of
profiting by her father's assistance, and in order to refute
this accusation it was arranged that the Duchess of Bruns-
wick, the Duchess of Mirandola, Duke Cosimo, and
others should meet in her studio, on which occasion Elisa-
betta charmed and astonished her guests by the ease and
perfection with which she sketched in and shaded draw-
ings of the subjects which one person after another sug-
gested to her.
Her large picture of the " Baptism of Christ " was com-
pleted when the artist was but twenty years old. Malvasia
gives a list of one hundred and twenty pictures executed
by Elisabetta, and yet she was but twenty-five when her
mysterious death occurred.
In the Pinacoteca of Bologna is the "St. Anthony
Adoring the Virgin and Infant Jesus," by the Sirani,
which is much admired; several other works of hers are
in her native city. "The Death of Abel " is in the Gal-
lery of Turin; the "Charity," in the Sciarra Palace in
Rome; "Cupids" and a picture of "Martha and Mary,"
in the Vienna Gallery; an "Infant Jesus " and a picture
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3i8 WOMEN IN THE FINE ARTS
called " A Subject after Guido " are in the Hermitage at
Petersburg.
Her composition wa3 graceful and refined, her drawing
good, her color fresh and sweet, with a resemblance to
Guido Reni in the half tones. She was especially happy
in the heads of the Madonna and the Magdalene, impart-
ing to them an expression of exalted tenderness.
Her paintings on copper and her etchings were most
attractive; indeed, all her works revealed the innate grace
and refinement of her nature.
Aside from her art the Sirani was a most interesting
woman. She was very beautiful in person, and the sweet-
ness of her temper made her a favorite with her friends,
while her charming voice and fine musical talent added
to her many attractions. Her admirers have also com-
mended her taste in dress, which was very simple, and
have even praised her moderation in eating ! She was
skilled in domestic matters and accustomed to rise at
dawn to attend to her household affairs, not permitting
her art to interfere with the more homely duties of her
life. One writer says that "her devoted filial affection,
her feminine grace, and the artless benignity of her man-
ners rounded out a character regarded as an ideal of per-
fection by her friends."
It may be that her tragic fate caused an exaggerated
estimate to be made of her both as a woman and an artist.
The actual cause of her death is unknown. There have
been many theories concerning it. It was very generally
believed that she was poisoned, although neither the reason
for the crime nor the name of its perpetrator was known.
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By some she was believed to have been sacrificed to the
same professional jealousy that destroyed Domenichino ;
others accepted the theory that a princely lover who had
made unworthy proposals to her, which she had scorned,
had revenged himself by her murder. At length a ser-
vant, Lucia Tolomelli, who had been a long time in the
Sirani family, was suspected of having poisoned her young
mistress, was arrested, tried, and banished. But after a
time the father of Elisabetta, finding no convincing reason
to believe her guilty, obtained her pardon.
Whatever may have been the cause of the artist's death,
the effect upon her native city was overwhelming and the
day of her burial was one of general mourning, the cere-
mony being attended with great pomp. She was buried
beside Guido Reni, in the Chapel of Our Lady of the
Rosary, in the magnificent Church of the Dominicans.
Poets and orators vied with each other in sounding her
praises, and a book called " II Penello Lagrimato," pub-
lished at Bologna soon after her death, is a collection of
orations, sonnets, odes, epitaphs, and anagrams, in Latin
and Italian, setting forth the love which her native city
bore to this beautiful woman, and rehearsing again and
again her charms and her virtues.
In the Ercolani Gallery there is a picture of Elisabetta
painting a portrait of her father. It is said that she also
painted a portrait of herself looking up with a spiritual
expression, which is in a private collection and seen by
few people.
Smithy Jessie Willcox. Mary Smith prize, Pennsyl-
vania Academy of Fine Arts, 1903. Member of the
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320 WOMEN IN THE FINE ARTS
Plastic Club and a fellow of the Academy, Philadelphia.
Bom in Philadelphia, where she was a pupil of the Acad-
emy; also studied under Thomas Eakins, Thomas P.
Anschutz, and Howard Pyle.
Miss Smith is essentially an illustrator and her work is
seen in all the leading American magazines. "The
Child's Calendar " is the work of this artist.
Sonrel, Mile. E. Honorable mention, Paris, 1893;
third-class medal, 1895 ; bronze medal, Paris Exposition,
1900. At the Salon des Artistes Fran5ais, 1902, she ex-
hibited "Sybille" and "Monica"; in 1903, "The Dance
of Terpsichore " and " Princesse Lointaine."
\No reply to circular^
Spaniel Maria. Silver medal, Naples, 1859, for a pict-
ure of a "Contadina of Sorrento." Born in Naples,
1843. Pupil of her father, Raffaele Span6, imder whose
direction she made a thorough study of figure painting,
the results of which are evident in her excellent portraits
and historical subjects. She has also been greatly inter-
ested in landscape painting, in which she has been suc-
cessful. " A Confidence " was bought by the Gallery at
Capodimonte, and two of her pictures were acquired by
the Provincial Council of Naples — a "Contadina," life
size, and a " Country Farmyard." One of her best pict-
ures is " Bice at the Castle of Rosate."
Spilimberg, Irene di. Born in Udina, 1540. Her fam-
ily was of German origin and exalted position. She was
educated in Venice with great care and all the advantages
that wealth could command. She was much in the society
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WOMEN IN THE FINE ARTS 321
of learned men, which she preferred before that of the
world of fashion.
Titian was her master in painting. Lanzi and Rudolfi
praised her as an artist, and her fame now rests on the
testimony of those who saw her works rather than on the
pictures themselves, some of which are said to be in pri-
vate collections in Italy. Titian painted her portrait as a
tribute to her beauty; Tasso celebrated her intellectual
charm in a sonnet, and yet she was but nineteen years
old when she died.
Twenty years later a collection of orations and poems
was published, all of which set forth her attractions and
acquirements, and emphasized the sadness of her early
death and the loss that the world had sufifered thereby.
When one remembers how soon after death those who
have done a life work are forgotten, such a memorial to
one so young is worthy of note.
SpttiTi Gertrude E. Associate member of Royal Cana-
dian Academy and member of the Ontario Society- of
Arts. Bom in Scarborough, England. Pupil of the
Lambeth Art School in drawing, of E. H. Holder in
painting, in England; also of George B. Bridgman in
New York. This artist usually paints small pictures of
rural scenery in England and Wales — little stone cot-
tages, bridges, river and mountain scenes. " Castle Rock,
North Devon," \vas exhibited at Buffalo, and is owned
by Herbert Mason, Esq., of Toronto. " A Peep at Snow-
don " and " Dutch Farm Door, Ontario," are in Montreal
collections. Her works have been exhibited in London
at the Royal Society of British Artists and the Society