Properzia de' Rossi was born in Bologna; she was the daughter of a notary named Giovanni Martino Rossi da Modena. Unusually for early modern female artists, she was not the daughter of an artist. She appears to have studied painting, music, dance, poetry, and classical literature. She is also said to have studied with a sculptor at the University of Bologna."Properzia de Rossi." CLARA Database of Women Artists. National Museum of Women in the Arts, 2008. Web. 13 February 2017. Vasari stated she was expert in "household matters" as well as many sciences and played and sang "better than any other woman of her city". Undecided in her youth as to which outlet of self-expression she wanted to pursue, she found her direction when she tried her hand at sculpture, creating small but intricately detailed works of art on apricot, peach, and cherry stones according to some sources, though this may have been a fabrication by Vasari meant to explain how a woman came to know how to sculpt. The subject of these small "friezes" was often religious, with one of the most famous being a Passion of Christ with Apostles and Crucifixion in a peach stone. This has been identified as part of a necklace in the Palazzo Bonamini-Pepoli, Pesaro. Further examples are in the Uffizi and Museo Civico, Bologna. Vasari also noted she copied in pen and ink drawings by Raphael. Vasari described her as married.
