As a great art lover, I absolutely had to dig into the story of Lavinia Fontana and of women painters in the history of art. It’s a subject people rarely talk about. In fact, when you think of the great artists, the ones that immediately come to mind are Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini and a great many other male artists.
How many women painters do you know, on the other hand?
Among the women painters in the history of art, almost the only one that comes to mind is Artemisia Gentileschi. But before her, another woman had made a career in this almost exclusively male world, and with truly extraordinary results.
Lavinia Fontana has a really singular story. Maybe you don’t know it, but this artist was the most important woman painter of the 16th century and one of the most famous portraitists of her time.
But that’s not all!
She had an incredible life, in which she even managed to combine her career as an artist with her role as a woman and a mother.
As you read this post, try to imagine how many children Lavinia Fontana had. You’ll find the answer a little further down, but I’m quite sure you’ll never guess.
And there’s a little curiosity too!
Do you know the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast?
Well, it seems Lavinia Fontana is somehow linked to a very peculiar case that this story may have drawn on. But I don’t want to spoil anything, because you’ll find all this and many other curiosities in the chapters below.
Fancy digging in?
Let’s go!
Who is Lavinia Fontana? A little history
As I was saying, the life of Lavinia Fontana was different and far more eventful than that of other women of her time. She was born in Bologna in 1552 and inherited her passion for art and painting from her father Prospero Fontana, himself a painter, with a workshop of his own.
Growing up in an artists’ workshop certainly had its advantages. The young woman was educated in the art of painting right in the field, and had the good fortune to come into contact with other important artists of her time.
But being a woman artist in the 1500s can’t have been easy at all. For this reason her career was the fruit of very precise, almost calculated choices.
In what sense?
Lavinia Fontana married the mediocre painter Paolo Zappi in 1577 and, in the marriage contract drawn up by her father and father-in-law, a clause was included allowing the daughter to continue her career as a painter.
Her father had surely noticed her talent and, fortunately, did everything to make sure it wasn’t wasted.
Lavinia Fontana was especially gifted in painting, and much admired for her beautiful, richly detailed portraits.
Where did she mainly work?
She worked on very important commissions, including some beautiful altarpieces, and in 1604 it was Pope Clement VIII who called her to Rome (her family was already tied to the powerful Bolognese Boncompagni, the house of Pope Gregory XIII). In Rome she became a real star: even Pope Paul V sat for her.
Imagine that in Rome people competed to be portrayed by the “pontifical paintress”. Lavinia Fontana was hugely sought after, especially by noblewomen who vied for her to immortalise them or to have their children portrayed. Lavinia Fontana’s paintings were requested by figures of the highest rank: nobles, important cardinals and bishops, and her fame reached the courts of Europe.
Remember when I told you to guess how many children she’d had?
Well, she didn’t fail to bring into the world no fewer than 11 little ones and, between one pregnancy and the next, she even managed to run a workshop together with her husband (who essentially acted as her manager).
Where did she die?
Lavinia Fontana died in Rome in 1614 and was buried in the basilica of Santa Maria sopra Minerva.
If the story of Lavinia Fontana has gripped you, read on, because now I’ll tell you about her art.
Portraits and works of Lavinia Fontana
Lavinia Fontana was a very prolific painter.
In her lifetime she painted mostly biblical scenes and portraits, especially of women. She invented new ways of depicting children, showing us pages of their private lives, of a childhood of playing with dogs and cats, which painting usually didn’t deal with.
But there’s also a rather grim detail you surely don’t know: Lavinia Fontana painted several portraits of dead children.
You didn’t expect that, did you?
It shouldn’t surprise you, though, because at the time it was rare for children to be portrayed, since they’d grow up and change. But when a child died prematurely, a portrait of the little one was commissioned to preserve the memory.
That’s the case, for example, of little Antonia Ghini, who died of smallpox.
One of the most famous works by Lavinia Fontana, however, is a depiction of a woman. This painting is at the Galleria Borghese and represents Minerva Dressing (1613): it was commissioned by Cardinal Scipione Borghese and is considered one of the first female nudes painted by a woman.
Why is it important?
Minerva is very rarely depicted nude, but the choice of this theme isn’t accidental, because it was probably a tribute to the intelligence of the woman portrayed. Today, representing intelligence with a nude might raise a smile, but at the time nudity was associated with the idea of purity and sacredness.
A splendid example of this concept can be found in Sacred and Profane Love by Titian. The painting is at the Galleria Borghese in Rome and, contrary to what you might think, sacred love is represented precisely in the guise of the nude woman.
Beauty, the Beast and Lavinia Fontana
It may seem strange, but Lavinia Fontana is indirectly linked to the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast.
I know, it’s bizarre, but here’s the story.
To the court of King Henry II of France, a boy had been brought whose body and face were completely covered in hair. Today any doctor would recognise a case of hypertrichosis, the condition that causes hair to grow beyond the norm all over the body, but at the time it couldn’t be explained, and it caused a great stir.
Of course the boy immediately became an attraction and was studied by the king, even though he was considered a savage. He was then given a wife, by whom he had many children, some with the same genetic condition as their father, some without.
Some believe that the origin of the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast, which spread in various versions between the late 1500s and the early 1600s, can be traced to the story of Petrus Gonsalvus, the hairy “savage”.
But what does this story have to do with Lavinia Fontana?
Well, if we know the face of Antonietta, one of Petrus Gonsalvus’s daughters, we owe it precisely to the portrait that Lavinia Fontana made of the girl during her time in Bologna.
You can see it below.
Stories of forgotten women painters
The most shocking thing about the story of Lavinia Fontana is how little her art is known, as is the case with other women painters. Some of the most important are Sofonisba Anguissola, Artemisia Gentileschi, Elisabetta Sirani, Judith Leyster, Angelica Kauffmann or Ivana Kobilca, but probably few people know their works.
Why?
Contrary to what people think, there are many women painters in history, but they’re often not even present in art history books.
Recently attention has shifted to Artemisia Gentileschi, but I fear more for the terrible trial and the assault she suffered than for a true recognition of her art. She has been called the first woman painter, but she absolutely wasn’t the first: many others had already had careers as painters.
Today it’s our duty to recognise the courage and passion of women who, like Lavinia Fontana, defied their time and devoted themselves to what they loved and what made them happy.
Where to see Lavinia Fontana’s works
Lavinia Fontana’s works are scattered between Italy and Europe. Here’s where to find the most important:
- In Rome, Minerva Dressing is at the Galleria Borghese, alongside the masterpieces of Bernini and Caravaggio.
- In Bologna, her hometown, the National Picture Gallery and the churches hold several of her altarpieces and portraits.
- Other works are at the Uffizi in Florence, the Prado in Madrid and various European museums; the famous portrait of Antonietta Gonsalvus is at the Château de Blois, in France.
If you’re in Rome and want to see her Minerva in person, remember that the Galleria Borghese can be entered by booking only, in timed slots: it’s best to get your Galleria Borghese ticket in advance.
And you, did you already know the story of this extraordinary painter?
