17th century, Adoration of the Shepherds (by Lavinia Fontana)

early seventeenth century

Adoration of the Shepherds (by Lavinia Fontana)

Oil on canvas, 75 x 103 cm

With frame, 89 x 112 cm

This painting, depicting an Adoration of the Shepherds, is based on a work by Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614), now kept at the San Domenico Museum in Imola. Together with Fede Galizia and Artemisia Gentileschi, Lavinia Fontana was one of the first painters to portray biblical scenes, particularly favouring female characters such as Judith and Mary Magdalene.

Lavinia Fontana, like almost all female painters from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century, was also a daughter of art: her father, Prospero, was in fact an established painter from Bologna, as well as her first teacher.

Prospero Fontana was not only an established painter, but also a humanist, a cultured, refined man who was well integrated into the cultural circles of the city: he frequented intellectuals and painters, including Annibale and Ludovico Carracci (slightly younger than him), Lorenzo Sabbatini and Giambologna.

In 1577 Lavinia married Giovanni Paolo Zappi, a painter generally considered to be of mediocre artistic level, son of a rich merchant from Imola, who was instrumental in Lavinia's career, effectively becoming her agent.

At the end of the 1580s Lavinia Fontana Zappi was now an established painter who mainly painted portraits of the notables of Bologna, especially noblewomen, for whom being portrayed by the well-known "painter" became almost a trend.

In 1583 the "painter" received her first public commission, that of an altarpiece for the cathedral of Imola, her husband's city of origin. It is the first work with a religious subject, for a religious client and intended for a church, painted by a woman in the history of Western art. This was followed by others, including the altarpiece intended for the church of Santa Sabina in Rome, depicting the Vision of San Giacinto, and the altarpiece depicting the Martyrdom of Santo Stefano for the church of San Paolo Fuori Le Mura in Rome.

In Rome she worked both for Roman clients and those from other cities, who entrusted her with numerous tasks.

His latest work, performed in Rome, is the first female nude by a woman in Western art. Minerva in the act of dressing (oil on canvas, 258 X 190 cm), commissioned by Scipione Borghese a year before the painter's death.

In addition to the numerous portraits of noblewomen, diplomats and personalities of all sorts, Lavinia painted around a hundred altarpieces (of which 30 signed and 25 with disputed attribution survive) and created several sculptures of men in battle, in particular with horses and other types of livestock. She is the Renaissance painter whose most works ever survive, which is indicative of the fame she enjoyed among her contemporaries.