Lavina Fontana Gender

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This will discuss how the female gender was defined by society, and cultural and patriarchal concepts during the High Renaissance. Lavina Fontana was a pioneer female artist, who created both Figure 16 Lavinia Fontana, Portrait of a Noblewoman, c. 1580, oil on canvas, 115 90 cm and Figure 17 Lavinia Fontana, Portrait of Costanza Alidosi, c. 1595, oil on canvas, 157 121 cm. I have chosen these artworks for my eTMA because Lavinia Fontana painted them, both subjects are females, and they are bridal portraits. The first body will discuss the importance of marriage portraits and marriage within Italian sixteenth-century culture. This body will discuss the prescribed behaviours a high-born trousseau should exhibit and display in their artworks. …show more content…

This wealth is in the form of fabrics, jewels and pearls. The following body will discuss beauty standards from the time, and how both women adhere to the rigid expectations placed upon elite-born females. To conclude, this essay will summarise the main points made and how each point relates to gender. Lavinia Fontana was born in Italy in 1552 and died in 1614, She was a Mannerist and portraitist and ‘was one of the first women painters in European history to have enjoyed professional success. Among the many Bolognese artists’, S.G. Ross (2007) Fontana, Lavinia in the Encyclopaedia of Women in the Renaissance: Italy, France and England. By examining the bridal portraits: Portrait of a Noblewoman and Portrait of Costanza Alidosi, we can understand the importance of gender roles through cultural symbolism through marriages. In the Renaissance era, a woman's identity was intricately linked to her roles as a spouse and mother. Her devotion to her husband was considered paramount. As stated here, "‘for most young women in the sixteenth century marriage was the first major, and, by universal consensus, the most significant, event in their lives." The practice of attracting a husband, particularly

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