August For the majority of visitors, this exhibition of sixty-seven objects constitutes an introduction to Lavinia Fontana β In staging this encounter, the curator, Aoife Brady, chose a bristling title that celebrates defiant nonconformity, and paired it with a headlining image, Judith with the head of Holofernes no.
Clearly, Fontana will not tolerate being ignored any longer. Their naturalism and spontaneity may have been regarded as unbefitting of painted portraits, which these drawings surpass in both verism and warmth. Her marriage contract ; Biblioteca Comunale di Imola; no. The approach pays homage to Caroline P.
The curatorial separation of works representing men, women, children and mythical figures would seem prima facie to be an expedient, yet Brady makes striking exceptions to this neat taxonomy. Just as significant as these muddied gender boundaries is the inclusion of religious histories, altarpieces and devotional works among all the thematic sections.
It could be argued that this intermingling reflects the osmotic penetration of Catholic ideology into every sphere of life during the Counter-Reformation. This view is prompted foremost by the undeniably lubricious erotic art Fontana made for both male and female patrons, including Minerva dressing ; Galleria Borghese, Rome; no. It is reinforced by the vainglory that emerges from her depictions of Bolognese elites dressed in symbols of their wealth and prestige which Paleotti ranted against in portraiture.
It is even evident in two of the late religious paintings in this show, the aforementioned Judith with the head of Holofernes and Judith and Holofernes c. Because issues of authorship are best explored in a chronological framework, this reviewer refrains from raising them except to note that Unknown noblewoman seated in a chair c.
