Anna Maria Arduino

Anna Maria Arduino (1672–1700) was an Italian regent, socialite, painter and writer.^[1][2] She was the regent of the Principality of Piombino during the minority of her son Prince Niccolò II Ludovisi in 1699–1700.

Anna Maria Arduino
Anna Maria Arduino (1819)
Born	1672 Messina, Italy
Died	29 December 1700(1700-12-29) (aged 27–28) Naples, Italy
Other names	Getilde Faresia, Maria Ardoini Lodovisia
Education	Pontifical Academy of Arcadia
Title	Princess of Piombino, from Messina

Life

She was born in Messina, Italy in 1672, to Giovanna Furnari and Paolo Arduino, the Prince of Polizzi and Marquis of Floresta.^[3] She was a descendant of the Notarbartolo family, an aristocratic family of the Sicilian nobility. She authored writings and attended school under the pseudonym Getilde Faresia.

She was married in 1697 to the Prince of Piombino, Giovan Battista Ludovisi (1647– 24 August 1699) and together they had a child named Niccolò II Ludovisi (c.1698–1699) and lived in Rome. She attended the Pontifical Academy of Arcadia (Accademia dell'Arcadia) in 1697.^[4]

She wrote poems and sonnets in Latin and Italian under the pseudonym Getilde Faresia.^[5]

Her spouse died in 1699 and the principality succession fell to Niccolò II Ludovisi for a few months, after his father's death, and Anna Maria Arduino served as the Regent during his minority.

That same year, in 1699 her young son died. Arduino died shortly after in Naples, Italy on 29 December 1700 at the age of 28. She is buried in the church of San Diego all'Ospedaletto, her grave is shared with her son and the sepulchres are marked by two marble bas-reliefs that depict the son and the half-length of the mother, they were sculpted between 1703 and 1704 by Giacomo Colombo.^[6][7][8]

References

1. Vittorini, Elio (1973). Women of Messina. Frances Frenaye (translator), Frances Keene (translator). New Directions Publishing Corporation. ISBN 9780811204965.
2. Grosso Cacopardo, Giuseppe (1972). Memorie de'pittori Messinesi. Volume 31 of Italica Gens: Repertori di Bio-Bibliografia Italiana. Forni. ISBN 9788827109267.
3. Fiume, Marinella (2006). Siciliane: Dizionario Biografico (in Italian). E. Romeo. p. 195. ISBN 978-88-7428-057-5.
4. "Donne in Arcadia (1690-1800)". www.arcadia.uzh.ch. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
5. "Ardoini Lodovisi, Anna Maria". New Women Writers. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
6. "Giacomo Colombo". Immacolata di Torre del Greco. 2009. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
7. Moral, Roberto Alonso (2013). The Immaculate Conception by Giacomo Colombo, a sculpture in its Italian context (PDF). Bilbao Fine Arts Museum Foundation, Bilbao Museum of Fine Arts Foundation. p. 6.
8. Borrelli, Gian Giotto (2005). Sculture in legno di età Barocca in Basilicata [Baroque Wood Carvings in Basilicata] (in Italian). Paparo Edizioni. ISBN 9788887111385.