Properzia de' Rossi (Bologna, 1490-1530) was a ground-breaking female Italian Renaissance sculptor and one of only four women (Properzia de'Rossi, Sister Plautilla Nelli, Sofonisba Anguissola, and Madonna Lucrezia) to receive a biography in Giorgio Vasari's Vite de’ più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori (The Lives of the Artists, 1550 and 1568).
Argued to be one of the first women in Western European art to professionalise in the field of sculpture, her achievement was gained during a time when sculpture as an art form was believed to be exclusively the prerogative of men.
Properzia de Rossi by Anonimo