Angelica Kauffmann(1741–1807)
Born in Switzerland, Kauffmann's talent showed early. She travelled to Italy in her teens, settling in Rome in 1763, studying classical culture and becoming part of the neo-classical circle of artists. Her gift for languages made her popular with Grand Tourists and she made a reputation as a portraitist.
She was brought to London by Lady Wentworth and became a close friend of Sir Joshua Reynolds, exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy. Her chief interest was history painting - the most lucrative form of the art and an essential element of neo-classical painting. Such subjects as The Return of Telemachus were painted during this period, but the English market for it was smaller than on the continent and eventually she moved abroad.
