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

17th century Adoration of the Shepherds (after Lavinia Fontana) Oil on canvas, 75 x 103 cm With frame, 89 x 112 cm The present painting, depicting an Adoration of the Shepherds, replicates a work by Lavinia Fontana (1552–1614), now housed in the museum of San Domenico in Imola. Along with Fede Galizia and Artemisia Gentileschi, Lavinia Fontana was one of the first female painters to portray biblical scenes, particularly favoring female figures such as Judith and Mary Magdalene. Lavinia Fontana, like almost all female painters from the Renaissance to the 19th century, was the daughter of an artist: her father, Prospero, was a well-established Bolognese painter, as well as her first teacher. Prospero Fontana was not only an accomplished painter, but also a humanist, a cultured, refined man 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 of mediocre artistic level, son of a wealthy merchant from Imola, who was functional to Lavinia's career, effectively becoming her agent. By the end of the 1580s, Lavinia Fontana Zappi was already an established painter who primarily painted portraits of the notables of Bologna, especially noblewomen, for whom having their portrait painted by the famous "pittora" became almost a fashion. In 1583, the "pittora" received her first public commission, that of an altarpiece for the cathedral of Imola, the city of origin of her husband. It is the first work of 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 for the church of Santa Sabina in Rome, depicting the Vision of Saint Hyacinth, and the altarpiece depicting the Martyrdom of Saint Stephen for the church of San Paolo Fuori Le Mura in Rome. In Rome, she worked both for Roman clients and for clients from other cities, who entrusted her with numerous commissions. Her last work, executed in Rome, is the first female nude by a woman in Western art. Minerva 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 kinds, Lavinia painted about a hundred altarpieces (of which 30 signed survive and 25 with disputed attribution) and created several sculptures of men in battle, particularly with horses and other types of livestock. She is the Renaissance painter with the most surviving works overall, which is indicative of the fame she enjoyed among her contemporaries.