Properzia de' Rossi
Properzia de' Rossi (c. 1490 Bologna – 1530 Bologna) was a ground-breaking female Italian Renaissance sculptor, one of only four women to receive a biography in Vasari's Lives of the Artists. According to Vasari, she taught herself to carve by working with peach-stones. At the end of her life, she was sought out by the Pope Clement VII, however, she died while he was on his way to meet her. Biography Properzia de' Rossi was born in Bologna; she was the daughter of a notary named Giovanni Martino Rossi da Modena. Unusually for early modern female artists, she was not the daughter of an artist. She appears to have studied painting, music, dance, poetry, and classical literature. She is also said to have studied with a sculptor at the University of Bologna. Vasari stated she was expert in "household matters" as well as many sciences and played and sang "better than any other woman of her city". Undecided in her youth as to which outlet of self-expression she wanted to pursue, she found her direction when she tried her hand at sculpture, creating small but intricately detailed works of art on apricot, peach, and cherry stones according to some sources,