17th Century, By Lavinia Fontana, Adoration Of The Shepherds

17th century, by Lavinia Fontana
Adoration of the shepherds
Oil on canvas, cm 75 x 103
With frame, cm 89 x 112

The present painting, depicting an Adoration of the shepherds, is based on a work by Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614), now housed in the museum of San Domenico di Imola. With Fede Galizia and Artemisia Gentileschi, Lavinia Fontana was one of the first painters to portray biblical scenes, preferring in particular female characters such as Judith and Mary Magdalene.
Lavinia Fontana, like almost all the painters from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century, was a daughter of art: her father, Prospero, was in fact an established painter from Bologna and his first teacher.
Prospero Fontana was not only an established painter, but also a humanist, a man cultured, refined and well-integrated in the cultural circles of the city: he frequented intellectuals and painters, including Annibale and Ludovico Carracci (little younger than him), Lorenzo Sabbatini and the Giambologna.
In 1577 Lavinia married Giovanni Paolo Zappi, a painter generally considered of mediocre artistic level, son of a rich merchant from Imola, who was instrumental to the career of Lavinia, becoming de facto her agent.
At the end of the sixteenth century Lavinia Fontana Zappi was now an established painter who painted mainly portraits of the notables of Bologna, especially the nobildonne, for whom to be portrayed by the famous "painter" became almost a fashion.
In 1583 the "painter" received the first public commission, that is to say that of an altarpiece for the cathedral of Imola, the town of origin of her husband. It is the first religious work, for a religious client and destined to 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 for both Roman clients and other cities, who entrusted her with numerous assignments. 
His last 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 kinds, Lavinia painted a hundred altarpieces (of which survive 30 signed and 25 with contrasting attribution) and made several sculptures of men in battle, In particular with horses and other types of livestock. She is the most surviving Renaissance painter, which is indicative of the fame she enjoyed among her contemporaries.

The object is in good condition

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