Engraved Portrait

Milan: N.p., 1812. Folio sheet. Image size 120 x 97 mm. (4 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches); sheet size 305 x 227 mm. (12 x 9 inches). Designed by Maria Longhi and engraved by Ernesta Bisi. With small blind stamp inititals below the image; some minor foxing, mounted and ready for framing. An appealing copperplate engraved portrait by the author of Instituzioni analitiche ad uso della gioventu, a mathematical text written for students by the noted mathematician Maria Gaetana Agnesi. Her work provided a synthesis for contemporary mathematical research and demonstrated the connections among the numerous branches of mathematical study. As her book was written for young students of mathematics, this synthesis was extremely useful as a pedological tool. Agnesi's work was translated into both English and French and garnered her a reputation as one of the first women to achieve international fame in the field. Maria Agnesi was born into a wealthy family in Milan. She was identified as a child prodigy and her father encouraged her to study and introduced her to many of the most prominent thinkers in Milan. By her teen years she was fluent in seven languages. While maintaining her father's household, she pursued her studies at the University of Bologna, where after the publication of her book was the first women appointed to the faculty. After the death of her father in the 1750's she dedicated herself and her income to the poor of Milan and was recognized by the city fathers for her contributions. This portrait was engraved by Ernesta Legnani Bisi, a highly regarded portrait painter who studied in Milan under the direction of Giuseppe Longi. A copy of this image appears on the Smithsonian Institutes blog about Agnesi. It was originally published in 1812 by Giuseppe Longhi in his work Vite e ritratti di illustri Italiani. See: https://http://blog.library.si.edu/blog/2017/07/31/agnesi. (266). (Inventory #: 266)