Maria Cosway

The exposition Maria Cosway – 1760-1838 – The unique itinerary of an artist, running from May to October 2024 at the birth-house museum of Pasquale Paoli.
It retells the life path of a brilliant woman whom was predestined to a grand artistic carrier in British high society and who, counter to all expectations, found her true emancipation in and abandoned her first calling for her  dedication to the education of young girls.
Her loyal friend pasquale Paoli was there with her during every stage of her unique life. Her letters to Maria Cosway inter-puncture Maria’s life run like a red thread both trough Maria’s life and the different sections of the exhibition.
This exhibition dedicated to Maria Cosway is the result of over two years of hard work and intense collaboration between renowned British and Italian institutions and is accomplished by an exhibition catalogue in french and English. Richly illustrated and documented by renown art historians that specialize in the 18th century and under the direction of Amandine Rabier the curator of the exhibition.
This exhibitions is also a golden chance for the the Merusaglia museum to shake off it’s local roots to shine and show its true worth on the international stage.
From her formative years in Toscany  the destiny of Maria Cosway was set in stone, she would become a painter.
In Florence and Rome British artists on the Grand Tour saw in her the talent to become a great painter of historical art.
At just 22 her oeuvre’s debut at the Royal Academy of Arts in London was an immediate success. Married to Richard Cosway the official painter to the prince of Wales (the future king George IV) she lived a sumptuous lifestyle and received all the greats of London’s High Society in her musical salons. Friend to Tomas Jefferson, Letizia Bonaparte, Cardinal Fesch, the painter Jacques Louis David and the sculptor Antonio Canova she weaved a web of connections and influence all across the world.
Nicknamed “the tenth muse” by Pasquale Paoli she attracted the eyes of all but kept searching for her true place.
Defying all predictions she would ultimately find her true calling and emancipation in the education of young girls.
The exhibition and catalogue both show you the unique life journey of this extraordinary woman.