A short-lived Baroque virtuoso painter, Elisabetta Sirani (1638-1665) of Bologna, Italy, was one of the first successful female artists in an era that denied academy training to women. Educated in voice, harp, poetry, classical literature, and the Bible, she drew on a wealth of influences for subjects. In a brief career, she etched 14 plates and turned out an astonishing collection of oil paintings of allegorical and dramatic art from historical, scriptural, and mythological subjects.

Elisabetta, Barbara, and Anna Maria Sirani were the three artistic daughters of painter and art teacher Giovanni (or Gian) Andrea Sirani, a follower of renowned Bolognese religious etcher-painter Guido Reni. Elisabetta was born on January 8, 1638. A beauty known for modesty and hard work, she studied classic models from antiquity and perused the best canvases and statuary of 16th- and 17th-century Italian painters from her home town as well as Florence and Rome. Unlike men...