Two Women Painters from the Late Renaissance

Abstract

A s part of the Museo del Prado’s bicentenary celebrations in , Leticia Ruiz Gómez, Head of Spanish Painting, organised an exhibition highlighting two notable women painters of the late Renaissance: Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fontana. It is a bold move for the Prado, this exhibition coming just two years after the museum dedicated its first show to a female painter, the pioneering still-life artist Clara Peeters. Ruiz Gómez has brought together significant loans, among them fifty-six paintings, from European and American institutions. As painters, these two women achieved recognition and fame in their lifetimes: Sofonisba at the Spanish Habsburg court and Lavinia in her later career in Rome, enjoying the patronage of popes Gregory XIII and Clement VIII. Fontana, born in Bologna in , the daughter of the painter Prospero who trained her, is regarded as the first professional female artist. Aside from mothering eleven children, Fontana ran a professional studio, painting small devotional works, religious altarpieces and portraits of Bolognese society. By the s, Lavinia was the most sought-after portraitist for Bolognese noblewomen. Her husband, the painter Gian Paolo Zappi, supported her lucrative career as her assistant and manager. Ruiz Gómez presents a fascinating survey of these two women, retracing their careers in seven sections, juxtaposing them, their lives and art works: self-portraits, portraits, drawings, religious paintings, portrait miniatures and medals. Although they never met, Fontana was very much influenced by Anguissola. In the first room, visitors are brought face to face with two self-portraits, both ladies playing at a spinet. Anguissola depicts herself elegantly dressed in black, her attire influenced by Habsburg court fashion, demurely playing her instrument (cat. ). Lavinia’s later portrayal is more self-assured, as she boldly engages the viewer, flaunting her talents both as painter and musician (cat. ). Music and instruments formed a central part of a lady’s education in the Renaissance and is the subject of Michael Cole’s essay in the catalogue. An aristocratic lady from Cremona, Anguissola studied painting there with Bernardino Campi, and section two of the exhibition includes some of her most successful works. Michelangelo reportedly praised her clever creations, in particular, her celebrated drawing of her brother, Asdrubal Bitten by a Crawfish (c. ). Another noteworthy drawing that is exhibited shows a young girl with her maid, underscoring the young Sofonisba’s technique (cat. ), as does her rarely seen  Self-Portrait which is executed with great virtuosity (cat. ). Just as intriguing is her portrait of Bernardino Campi Portraying Sofonisba Anguissola, a discourse in which she paints her teacher painting her (cat. ).