MONA LISA
Author: Leonardo da Vinci
Date: 1503
Place: Florence, Italy
Now presented: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France
Medium: Oil on wood panel
The subject may have been 24-year-old Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, the wife of a prominent merchant in Florence. Leonardo never delivered the painting and kept it with him for the rest of his life. Mona Lisa is one of the most haunting and consequently one of the most popular and best-known works in the history of art.
Date: 1503
Place: Florence, Italy
Now presented: Musee du Louvre, Paris, France
Medium: Oil on wood panel
The subject may have been 24-year-old Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, the wife of a prominent merchant in Florence. Leonardo never delivered the painting and kept it with him for the rest of his life. Mona Lisa is one of the most haunting and consequently one of the most popular and best-known works in the history of art.
VENUS OF URBINO
Author: Titian
Date: 1538
Place: Venice, Italy
Now presented: Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy
Medium: Oil on canvas
The sensuous quality of this work suggests that Tititan was as inspired by flesh-and-blood beauty as by any source from mythology or the history of art. And then the Venus of Urbino inspired artists as distant in time as Manet.
Date: 1538
Place: Venice, Italy
Now presented: Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy
Medium: Oil on canvas
The sensuous quality of this work suggests that Tititan was as inspired by flesh-and-blood beauty as by any source from mythology or the history of art. And then the Venus of Urbino inspired artists as distant in time as Manet.
JOSEPH AND POTIPHAR'S WIFE
Author: Properzia de Rossi
Date: 1520
Place: Bologna, Italy
Now presented: Museo di San Petronio, Bologna
Medium: Marble, relief
Marble portrait busts of de Rossi from this period gained her prominence and public commissions, including the decorative program for the high altar of Santa Maria del Baraccanoin Bologna. She also won a competition to create sculpture for the west facade of San Petronio in Bologna. Records show that she was paid to create three sibyls, two angels, and a pair of bas-relief panels, including a panel depicting Joseph and Potiphar's Wife. In the scene, Joseph attempts to escape from the wife of an Egyptian officer
Date: 1520
Place: Bologna, Italy
Now presented: Museo di San Petronio, Bologna
Medium: Marble, relief
Marble portrait busts of de Rossi from this period gained her prominence and public commissions, including the decorative program for the high altar of Santa Maria del Baraccanoin Bologna. She also won a competition to create sculpture for the west facade of San Petronio in Bologna. Records show that she was paid to create three sibyls, two angels, and a pair of bas-relief panels, including a panel depicting Joseph and Potiphar's Wife. In the scene, Joseph attempts to escape from the wife of an Egyptian officer
SELF-PORTRAIT OF SOPHONISBA ANGUISSOLA
Author: Sophonisba Anguissola
Date: 1556
Place: Cremona, Italy
Now presented: Łańcut Palace, Poland
Medium: Oil on canvas
Sophonisba Anguissola received a well-rounded education that included the fine arts and her apprenticeship with local painters set a precedent for women to be accepted as students of art. Anguissola traveled to Rome, where she was introduced to Michelangelo who immediately recognized her talent, and Milan, where she painted the Duke of Alba. The queen of Philip II of Spain, Elizabeth of Valois, was a keen amateur painter, and Anguissola was recruited to go to Madrid as her tutor. She later became an official court painter to the king, and adapted her style to the more formal requirements of official portraits for the Spanish court.
Date: 1556
Place: Cremona, Italy
Now presented: Łańcut Palace, Poland
Medium: Oil on canvas
Sophonisba Anguissola received a well-rounded education that included the fine arts and her apprenticeship with local painters set a precedent for women to be accepted as students of art. Anguissola traveled to Rome, where she was introduced to Michelangelo who immediately recognized her talent, and Milan, where she painted the Duke of Alba. The queen of Philip II of Spain, Elizabeth of Valois, was a keen amateur painter, and Anguissola was recruited to go to Madrid as her tutor. She later became an official court painter to the king, and adapted her style to the more formal requirements of official portraits for the Spanish court.
PORTRAIT OF A LADY OF THE COURT WITH A DOG
Author: Lavinia Fontana
Date: 1590
Place: Bologna, Italy
Now presented: N/A
Medium: Oil on canvas
Lavinia Fontana was a daughter of the painter Prospero Fontana, who was a prominent painter of the School of Bologna at the time and served as her teacher. There are over 100 works that are documented, but only 32 signed and dated works are known today. There are 25 more that can be attributed to her, making hers the largest oeuvre for any female artist prior to 1700
Date: 1590
Place: Bologna, Italy
Now presented: N/A
Medium: Oil on canvas
Lavinia Fontana was a daughter of the painter Prospero Fontana, who was a prominent painter of the School of Bologna at the time and served as her teacher. There are over 100 works that are documented, but only 32 signed and dated works are known today. There are 25 more that can be attributed to her, making hers the largest oeuvre for any female artist prior to 1700
PEACHES IN A PIERCED WHITE FAIENCE BASKET
Author: Fede Galizia
Date: after 1602
Place: Milan, Italy
Now presented: N/A
Medium: Oil on canvas
Fede Galizia painted portraits, miniatures and altarpieces, but the most important part of her oeuvre, for which she earned her place in art history, is her still lifes. However, her paintings were not given the recognition they deserve until well into the 20th century, when special attention was given to her work in studies made in 1963 and 1989. It was only then when she was rescued from oblivion.
Date: after 1602
Place: Milan, Italy
Now presented: N/A
Medium: Oil on canvas
Fede Galizia painted portraits, miniatures and altarpieces, but the most important part of her oeuvre, for which she earned her place in art history, is her still lifes. However, her paintings were not given the recognition they deserve until well into the 20th century, when special attention was given to her work in studies made in 1963 and 1989. It was only then when she was rescued from oblivion.
ISABELLA D'ESTE
Author: Titian
Date: 1534-1536
Place: Venice, Italy
Now presented: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
Medium: Oil on wood panel
In the sixteenth century, many wealthy women, from both the aristocracy and the merchant class, were enthusiastic patrons of the arts. The Marchesa of Mantua, Isabella d'Este, which you see on this painting by Titian, became a patron of painters, musicians, composers, writers, and literary scholars.
Date: 1534-1536
Place: Venice, Italy
Now presented: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
Medium: Oil on wood panel
In the sixteenth century, many wealthy women, from both the aristocracy and the merchant class, were enthusiastic patrons of the arts. The Marchesa of Mantua, Isabella d'Este, which you see on this painting by Titian, became a patron of painters, musicians, composers, writers, and literary scholars.
Cover photo: Mantua, Italy