Emilia Zampetti Nava

Emilia Zampetti Nava was born on January 8, 1883, in Camerino, Italy. After earning a diploma as a gardening teacher in the Marche region, she moved to Rome in 1900 to enroll at the Academy of Fine Arts and the Free School of the International Artistic Circle. She was among the first female artists to attend these courses and joined the "In arte libertas" group, which advocated a return to painting from life, blending verism and symbolism. She trained under painters Giuseppe Cellini and Camillo Innocenti and developed friendships with artists such as Duilio Cambellotti and Antonio Mancini, who influenced her early work.
Emilia regularly exhibited at the Society of Amateurs and Cultivators of Fine Arts in Rome from 1907 to 1910, gaining recognition for her portraits and self-portraits characterized by lively brushwork and freedom of color, while maintaining ties to 19th-century realist traditions. In 1912, she married painter Ettore Nava, sharing her artistic life with him. Her career also extended to Buenos Aires, strengthening her international artistic presence.
Her artistic output mainly includes portraits of family and friends, as well as still lifes and mixed media works. Emilia Zampetti Nava passed away in Rome in 1970, leaving a significant legacy in early 20th-century Italian painting.