1552 -1614 · Bologna, Rome, mannerism and court portrait

Sumptuous portraits, intellectual presence and great sacred stories make Lavinia Fontana a pioneer of professional painting in Europe.

Lavinia Fontana was born in Bologna in 1552 and trained in the studio of her father, Prospero Fontana, in a city where the university and humanist networks favor the activity of cultured women. In 1577, she married the painter Gian Paolo Zappi, who became her collaborator and took charge of part of family life while she developed an independent career. Fontana first established herself through portraiture: noble women, scholars and Bolognese families sought her ability to unite resemblance, social rank and precision of fabrics. Lace, jewelry, brocade and symbolic objects are never simple ornaments; they construct the identity of the model. His self-portraits show her as a musician, educated woman and painter at work. She also received important religious and mythological commissions, working on ambitious formats usually reserved for men. Installed in Rome at the beginning of the 17th century, she became a portrait painter at the court of Pope Paul V and received numerous honors. Her documented work, exceptional in its scale, made her one of the most accomplished artists of the late Renaissance. The "Lavinia Fontana" selection notably compares Self-portrait with the virginal with a servant and Self-portrait. His reading favors composition.

Fontana transforms the portrait into a declaration of presence: fabric, look and attribute together tell a life and a status.