Giovanna Baccelli

Giovanna Baccelli, real name Giovanna Francesca Antonia Giuseppe Zanerini, (1753–1801) was a Venetian ballerina who was the principal ballerina at the King's Theatre, Haymarket.

Thomas Gainsborough, Giovanna Baccelli. Oil on canvas, c. 1782. Tate Gallery, London.

Early life

Giovanna Baccelli was born Giovanna Francesca Antonia Giuseppe Zanerini in Venice in 1753. She took her mother's name of Baccelli as her stage name.[1]

Career

She was the principal ballerina at the King's Theatre, Haymarket.

She was the mistress of John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset. Dorset commissioned a painting of her (above) in 1780–81 from Thomas Gainsborough, which is considered to be one of Gainsborough's later masterpieces. He also commissioned a painting by Joshua Reynolds and a sculpture showing her nude and prone on a divan and cushions; this is still to be found at Knole. When made Ambassador to France, Dorset even took her to Paris with him, and she danced at the Opera by invitation. (When he was made Knight of the Garter (KG), she wore the blue ribbon of the Garter while dancing)[2]

Children

Dorset and Giovanna had a son together: John Frederick Sackville (1778–1796), who was raised by his father at Paris and Knole after the couple parted in 1789.[3][4]

Death

Baccelli died in 1801.

References
  1. http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gainsborough-giovanna-baccelli-t02000/text-summary
  2. Jeremy Black. British Diplomats and Diplomacy: 1688-1800 University of Exeter Press, 2001 - 244 pages p. 107
  3. Sackville-West, Robert (2010) Inheritance: The Story of Knole and the Sackvilles. Walker & Co., New York
  4. This illegitimate son himself fathered an illegitimate son Sackville Sackville who died without issue. Giovanna herself had a relationship with Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke (d. 1794) until his death, and finally with a Mr. James Carey, with whom she remained until her death in 1801. This French blog (Album vénitien) claims that she married Carey, and that Dorset made her an annuity of 400 pounds.

Media related to Giovanna Baccelli at Wikimedia Commons


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