The 16th century was not exactly known for equality between women and men. Women were denied access to education such as art academies. Nevertheless, the 16th century produced some exceptional female artists.
One of them was Lavinia Fontana, who was born in Bologna in 1552. Her father, Prospero Fontana, was a portrait painter and began to train her at an early age. Bologna was the city of the powerful Bolognese University and although she was not allowed to enter the lecture halls, Lavinia maintained close contact with scholars and scientists. They visited her father and some of them had their portraits taken by Lavinia, became her friends and influenced her art.
Pretty and learned, Lavinia was popular among the Bolognese upper class and found easy access to her models, with whom she maintained an unusually close relationship. It was soon considered chic, especially among the aristocratic ladies, to have her paint her portrait. Her empathy and exceptional eye for details, such as jewellery, were of great benefit to her. She received more commissions than any other painter in Bologna and was highly remunerated. But to take over her father's studio as a respected woman she needed a husband. So in 1577 she married the artist Gian Paolo Zappi who signed a somewhat unusual marriage contract for this occasion. In this contract it was written, for example, that Paolo Zappi would live with Lavinia in the house of his father-in-law, Prospero Fontana, and that the profits the couple would make with their art would go to his father-in-law. Lavinia's marriage turned out to be unusual also in the distribution of roles, so her husband gave up his own career as an artist and from then on supported his wife by selling her paintings, negotiating contracts for her but also taking over the household. A, at that time, completely new concept, which enabled Lavinia to concentrate fully on her art and still have eleven children. Besides portraits, which were considered acceptable for women at that time, she also painted religious motifs and, in her later life, large-format altarpieces. She was also the first woman to venture into nude painting, in works intended for the bedrooms of private clients.
In 1603, after the death of their father, the power couple Lavinia and Gian moved with their family to Rome and the well-rehearsed team was very successful here too. Lavinia received major public commissions, such as altarpieces for Pope Clement VII, and at the height of her career she was elected to the Academy of Rome, an honour bestowed on only the best painters of the time. Lavinia Fontana, lady of the world, elevenfold mother and famous artist died in Rome in 1613.
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