Angelica Kauffman

Maria Anna Angelika Kauffmann was born in Switzerland on 30 October 1741 and built a career that straddled London and Rome at a time when both cities mostly shut women out of serious art. She worked across history painting, portraiture, landscape, and decoration — the full studio range, not the narrow genres women were expected to stick to. In 1768 she and Mary Moser became the only two female founding members of the Royal Academy of Art in London, a recognition that wouldn't be repeated for generations. She kept working across Europe until her death on 5 November 1807, leaving a body of work…