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

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

Early life

Giovanna Baccelli was born Giovanna Francesca Antonia Giuseppa Zanerini in Venice in 1753.[1] 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, making her first appearance in 1774. She had an acclaimed career and appeared with Gaetan Vestris and his son Auguste in a number of important ballets devised by Jean-Georges Noverre during the 1780-1 season. Baccelli also performed to acclaim in Venice in 1783-4, and at the Paris Opéra in 1788.[1]

She was the mistress of John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset. Dorset commissioned a painting of her in the costume from the ballet Les Amans Surpris which she performed in 1780–81 from Thomas Gainsborough.[1] It is considered to be one of Gainsborough's later masterpieces. Dorset 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.[1] Baccelli was also painted by Ozias Humphrey, John Graham and Gainsborough Dupont (c.1795, which is held in the Royal Collection).[1]

Wang-y-tong, one of the earliest Chinese people known to have visited Britain, featured in sketches for her Reynolds portrait and was himself painted by Reynolds. He is reputed to have been her page for a short time.[2][3]

When made Ambassador to France in 1783, Dorset took Baccelli 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).[4]

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.[5][6]

Death

Baccelli died in 1801.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "'Giovanna Baccelli', Thomas Gainsborough, exhibited 1782".
  2. ↑ BARNES, Linda L. (30 June 2009). Needles, Herbs, Gods, and Ghosts: China, Healing, and the West to 1848. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02054-2.
  3. ↑ Trust, National. "Huang Ya Dong ('Wang-Y-Tong') (c.1753 - ?) 129924". www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  4. ↑ Jeremy Black. British Diplomats and Diplomacy: 1688-1800 University of Exeter Press, 2001 - 244 pages p. 107
  5. ↑ Sackville-West, Robert (2010) Inheritance: The Story of Knole and the Sackvilles. Walker & Co., New York
  6. ↑ 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.

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