Francesca Caccini

Inspired by one of the earliest opera composers, turning out to be a court musician for the Medici in Florence in the first half of the 17th century and a woman, I decided to have a little bit of fun with coloured paper and cutout-illustration. Growing up in a family of musicians music seemed to surround Francesca Caccini all her life. She was a respected singer (hence the byname "la Cecchina"), capable of playing several instruments, a music teacher and a composer. Sadly a lot of her work got lost in time, but there's still the comedy-ballet opera she composed for the visit of the polish crown prince, who enjoyed it so much he had it staged later in Warschau to make in the first italian opera being staged outside of italy. The story features a passage from L'Orlando furioso, an at that time quite popular epos, featuring the androgynous Melissa coming to rescue the knight Ruggiero from the alluring and myterious magician Alcina who has a tendency to turn exlovers into flowers for her garden.