Lavinia Fontana

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For the racehorse, see Lavinia Fontana (horse).
Lavinia Fontana
Mannerist
Spouse
Gian Paolo Zappi
​
(m. 1577)​
Children11
Parent
ElectedAccademia di San Luca
Patron(s)

Lavinia Fontana (24 August 1552 – 11 August 1614) was an

Mannerist painter active in Bologna and Rome. She is best known for her successful portraiture, but also worked in the genres of mythology and religious painting. She was trained by her father Prospero Fontana who was a teacher at the School of Bologna. She is regarded as the first female career artist in Western Europe as she relied on commissions for her income.[1][2] Her family relied on her career as a painter, and her husband served as her agent and raised their 11 children.[3] She was perhaps the first female artist to paint female nudes, but this is a topic of controversy among art historians.[4]

Biography

Lavinia Fontana was born in

School of Bologna at the time and served as her teacher. Caroline P. Murphy suspects that financial issues may have prompted Prospero to train Lavinia as a painter.[7] Being born as the daughter of a painter allowed her to become an artist in a time where female artists were not widely accepted.[8] Fontana married Gian Paolo Zappi. Instead of offering a dowry as would have been widely accepted in this time Fontana painted to earn an income.[9]

Portrait of Antonietta Gonsalvus, 1583 daughter of Petrus Gonsalvus ("The Hairy Man"),
Portrait of a lady with a dog,
1590s, Auckland Art Gallery[10]

Her earliest known work, Child of the Monkey, was painted in 1575 at the age of 23. Though this work is now lost, another early painting, Christ with the Symbols of the Passion, painted in 1576, is now in the

Constanza Sforza Boncompagni, later served as namesakes or godmothers for Fontana's children.[14] In addition to portraits, she later created large-scale paintings with religious and mythological themes which sometimes included female nudes.[2]

Fontana married Gian Paolo Zappi (alternate spellings include Giovan and Fappi) in June 1577. The couple moved into Prospero's house in Bologna and Lavinia painted professionally, adding Zappi to her signature.[15] She gave birth to 11 children, though only 3 outlived her: Flaminio, Orazio, and Prospero.[16] Zappi took care of the household and served as an agent and painting assistant to his wife, including painting minor elements of paintings such as draperies. Fontana attended classes at the University of Bologna, and was listed as one of the city's 'Donne addottrinate' (women with doctorates) in 1580.[17][18]

Self-Portrait at the Virginals with a Servant, 1577, oil on canvas, 27 x 24 cm, Rome, Accademia di San Luca

Roman period (1603-14)

Fontana and her family moved to Rome in 1604 at the invitation of Pope Clement VIII. She gained the patronage of the Buoncompagni, of which Pope Gregory XIII was a member. She was subsequently appointed as Portraitist in Ordinary at the Vatican.[19] Lavinia thrived in Rome as she had in Bologna and Pope Paul V himself was among her sitters. She was the recipient of numerous honors,[2] including a bronze portrait medallion cast in 1611 by sculptor and architect Felice Antonio Casoni.[20] According to Jean Owens Schaefer, the reverse side of the medal depicts Pittura, an allegorical figure representing painting. He also posits that this is the first visual rendition of Cesare Ripa's 1603 description of Pittura.[21]

British Museum, London
Assunzione della Vergine, 1593, Pieve di Cento, Collegiata di Santa Maria Maggiore

She was the first female elected into the Accademia di San Luca of Rome.[22] She died in the city of Rome on 11 August 1614, and was subsequently buried at Santa Maria sopra Minerva.

Legacy

The Self-Portrait at the Clavichord with a Servant is considered to be her masterpiece. It was painted as a betrothal gift to the Zappi family as evidenced by Fontana describing herself as a virgin in the signature and stating that she painted while looking at herself in a mirror as a testament to the accuracy of the depiction. There are over 100 works that are documented, but only 32 signed and dated works are known today. There are 25 more that can be attributed to her, making hers the largest oeuvre for any female artist prior to 1700. Some of her portraits were once wrongly attributed to her contemporary Guido Reni.

Lavinia's mythology paintings which feature nude figures are being increasingly studied by art historians. Roman gods such as Minerva, Mars, and Venus are depicted in various forms of undress in these paintings. There is little or no basis for other contemporary women artists depicting nude figures in such a way.[23] It has been said that Fontana's work with mythology painting represents possibly the first female artist involvement in the genre.[24]     

Lavinia is immortalized as the subject of Portrait of a Woman (1595) by Paolo Veronese.[25] She was the only woman artist featured in Giulio Mancini's Considerazioni sulla pittura (Considerations on Painting). The naturalism of her paintings is highly praised and the beauty of her paintings is linked to her own physical attractiveness.[26]

Fontana influenced Alberto de' Rossi and Alessandro Tiarini. Aurelio Bonelli may have studied under her.[27] She was a very successful artist who was well commissioned and was able to financially profit from her art. She is a rare example of a woman able to obtain such high levels of success in art during the Renaissance period. Her close attention to detail displayed the wealth of the sitter, and this is what made her so popular among the rich.[28]

Religious Works

Fontana created a substantial number of extensive altar pieces, and it is believed that she may be one of the first female painters to have done this.[29] Educated in painting as a means of Christian formation, her paintings reveal Biblical narratives.[30] Fontana followed Paleotti’s Counter-Reformation principles in art theory.[31] In 1593, Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti commissioned the Assumption of the Virgin, created by Fontana for the chapel altarpiece of the church of San Pietro in Bologna.[30] Fontana painted another Assumption of the Virgin in 1593 at the church of San Francesco Oltre Reno at Pieve di Cento, which was commissioned by the Bentivoglio family and placed in the family chapel.[30] Fontana was also commissioned for works by two popes, Gregory XIII and Clement VIII.[32]

Artistry

Artistic influences

Lavinia's youthful style resembled that of her father, Prospero. As a student of Ludovico Carracci, she gradually adopted the Carracciesque style, with strong quasi-Venetian coloring.[1]

Sofonisba Anguissola, Caterina Vigri, and Properzia de' Rossi may have influenced Fontana's artistic career.[33]

The Counter-Reformation and the Council of Trent's recommendations for religious art defined Fontana's treatment of subjects and themes in her paintings (see Rocco, Devout Hand for more on this topic). Excellent status as a daughter, wife, and mother was a prerequisite to her career due to the moral standards of the day.[33] Demand for portraits of family and children rose due to the Roman Catholic Church's emphasis on family values.[34]

Style

The influence of Mannerism is noticeable in Fontana's close attention to detail in her paintings and the significance of the materials surrounding the subject.[35] Fontana's self-portraiture strikes a balance between presenting the artist as a distinguished lady and as a professional artist. This depiction of two coexisting roles was common for sixteenth-century women artists.[36]

Controversy

Nudity

Minerva Dressing (1613) by Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614). Galleria Borghese, Rome

Among art historians, there is a controversy over Fontana's depiction of the nude female, and male form in her paintings.[1] Liana De Girolami Cheney argues that the naturalism of the figures may indicate that Fontana used live nude models.[37] Caroline P. Murphy argues that while body parts are well rendered, the figures as a whole are disproportionate, similar to Prospero's rendering of human anatomy. Additionally, Murphy points out that during Lavinia's lifetime, it was socially unacceptable for women to be exposed to nudity; if it was discovered that she used live nude models, her reputation would be tarnished. She instead suggests that like Sofonisba Anguissola, Fontana had family members model for her.[38] Further, Linda Nochlin explains that the art academy barred women from viewing any nude body, despite this being a crucial part of training.[39]

Major works

  • Mystic marriage of Saint Catherine, 1574-77 – National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
    Mystic marriage of Saint Catherine, 1574-77 – National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
  • Assumption of the Virgin with Saints Peter Chrysologus and Cassian, 1584 – Palazzo Comunale, Imola
    Assumption of the Virgin with Saints Peter Chrysologus and Cassian, 1584 – Palazzo Comunale, Imola
  • Ritratto della famiglia Maselli, c. 1565–1614, oil on canvas
    Ritratto della famiglia Maselli, c. 1565–1614, oil on canvas
  • Ritratto di Bianca Lucia Aliprandi
    Ritratto di Bianca Lucia Aliprandi
  • Wedding Feast at Cana
    Wedding Feast at Cana
  • Christ appears to Mary Magdalen. Noli me tangere, 1581 – Uffizi, Florence
    Christ appears to Mary Magdalen. Noli me tangere, 1581 – Uffizi, Florence
  • Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well
    Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well
  • Judith and Holofernes
    Judith and Holofernes
  • Ritratto di Costanza Alidosi, ca. 1595
    Ritratto di Costanza Alidosi, ca. 1595

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lavinia Fontana.

Notes

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-300-09913-3
    .
  2. ^ a b c "Artist Profile: Lavinia Fontana". National Museum of Women in the Arts. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  3. ISBN 978-3-7913-3956-6
    .
  4. OCLC 956553105
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0714878775
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0-300-09913-3
    .
  7. ISBN 978-0-300-09913-3
    .
  8. ^ "Lavinia Fontana: Renaissance Artist". Smith College Museum of Art. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  9. OCLC 929654491.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link
    )
  10. ^ "Portrait of a lady with a dog". Auckland Art Gallery. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Collection Overview". Rollins College. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  12. ISBN 978-0-300-09913-3
    .
  13. doi:10.1111/j.1477-4658.1996.tb00356.x
    – via JSTOR.
  14. JSTOR 24412268
    .
  15. ^ Fortunati, Vera (1998). "Lavinia Fontana: A Woman Artist in the Age of the Counter-Reformation". Lavinia Fontana of Bologna 1552-1614. Milan: Electa. p. 15.
  16. JSTOR 1357879
    .
  17. ^ "Brooklyn Museum: Lavinia Fontana". www.brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  18. ISBN 978-0-300-09913-3
    .
  19. ISBN 978-1-85928-424-7
    .
  20. ^ "Lavinia Fontana, 1552-1614, Bolognese Painter by Felice Antonio Casone". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  21. S2CID 195018367
    .
  22. ^ "Lavinia Fontana Conservation and Research Project | National Gallery of Ireland". National Gallery of Ireland. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
  23. ^ Cheney, Liana De Girolami. "Lavinia Fontana's Nude Minervas". Woman's Art Journal. 36 (2): 30–40.
  24. ^ Ruiz, Gomez; Dodman, Jenny. A Tale of Two Women Painters: Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fontana.
  25. ISBN 978-1-85928-424-7
    .
  26. ISBN 9780754654315
    .
  27. ISBN 978-0-300-09913-3
    .
  28. JSTOR 3598102
    .
  29. ISBN 978-1-57958-335-4
    .
  30. ^ a b c Murphy, Caroline (1996). "Lavinia Fontana: An artist and her society in late sixteenth-century Bologna". University of London, University College London (United Kingdom) ProQuest Dissertations Publishing – via ProQuest.
  31. ^ Misiuk, Marlene (2018). La Donna e La Maniera Devota:Lavinia Fontana, Sacred Imagery and the Natural Sciences in Sixteenth-Century Bologna (masters thesis). Concordia University. pp. 21-23
  32. ISSN 0270-7993
    .
  33. ^
    ISBN 978-88-435-6394-4
    .
  34. ISBN 978-88-435-6394-4
    .
  35. ISBN 978-1-85928-424-7
    .
  36. ^ Frances Borzello, Seeing Ourselves: Women's Self-Portraiture 1998
  37. JSTOR 26430654
    .
  38. ISBN 978-0-300-09913-3
    .
  39. ISBN 9780064358521
    .

References

Rocco, Patricia. The Devout Hand: Women, Virtue, and Visual Culture in Early Modern Italy. McGill-Queens University Press, 2017

Attribution

Further reading

External links

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