QUEEN CASIMIRA with Katrina Grant

Queen Maria Casimira Sobieski, the widowed queen of Poland, moved to Rome in 1699. She was a great patron of opera and a member of the prestigious Arcadian Academy. In 1708 she constructed her own private theatre in the Palazzo Zuccari. However, biographers have typically painted her as opportunistic and scheming and she remains a shadowy figure in early 18th century Rome despite her patronage of such leading artists as Domenico Scarlatti and Filippo Juvarra.

Katrina Grant completed her PhD at The University of Melbourne in 2011 on the topic The Theatrical Baroque Garden: Garden and Theatre in Italy 1600-1750. She is a founding editor of the online art history journal emaj and the editor of the Melbourne Art Network.

Jerzy Eleuter Szymonowicz Siemiginowski (circa 1660 – circa 1711), Allegory of Spring with portrait of Queen Maria Casimira (detail), 1680s, Wilanow Palace Museum, Poland