National Museum In Stockholm Acquires Lavinia Fontana Altarpiece

(MENAFN- USA Art News) The National Museum in Stockholm has acquired an altarpiece by Italian Mannerist painter Lavinia Fontana, the museum announced. Titled“The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria” and dated 1607, the work has remained largely out of public view until now.

The painting depicts the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child appearing in a vision to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, with the child placing a ring on Catherine's finger, all set within a palatial interior. Saint Catherine dedicated her life to God and was executed for refusing to marry the Roman Emperor Maxentius.

According to the museum, the altarpiece was created at the height of Fontana's career and is a“remarkable” example of her artistry. The piece had been held in an Italian private collection since the late 19th century. Its acquisition was made possible by a donation from the Sophia Giesecke Fund.

Fontana ( 1552–1614 ) is recognized as one of her era's first professional woman painters. She received training from her father, the painter Prospero Fontana, before her marriage to nobleman and painter Gian Paolo Zappi in 1577. She worked as a portraitist, receiving commissions from university scholars and local nobility in her native Bologna, Italy. She also produced numerous small-scale devotional pictures, along with larger mythological works and altarpieces, a rare endeavor for female artists of her time.

Around 1590, she secured her initial papal commission, and in 1603, she relocated with her family to Rome to pursue new opportunities. There, she became one of the first women admitted to the esteemed Accademia di San Luca. Fontana is also believed to be the first professional woman in Western history to operate her own independent commercial art studio.“The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria” will be on public display at the National Museum on Tuesday.

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Artist Cathy de Monchaux, nominated for the Turner Prize in 1998, is featured in her first major survey exhibition in over 25 years at the Palais de Tokyo in

Source: ARTnews

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