PROPERZIA DE’ ROSSI
She is one of the figures who contributed to the construction of the Basilica of St. Petronio, as well as one of the first female sculptors. Properzia de ‘Rossi, daughter of a notary, was a Renaissance artist. The chronicles describe her as a fanciful, fickle and indomitable character, uncaring to transgress the dictates of the official artistic code. Her competitive spirit suggested her bold choices, always precluded to women: the practice of sculpture, in fact, with a predilection for the “roughness of the marbles” and “the harshness of the iron”, as well as the interest in “mechanical things “
According to the legend (and Vasari) the woman sculptor would have had an unrequited love for Antonio Galeazzo Malvasia. But beyond any alleged biographical scandal, what remains of Properzia is the value of the artwork. For San Petronio, where she worked from 1525 after winning a competition for the construction of two panles, the sculptor performed “Giuseppe and wife of Putifarre”.