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Can you imagine being incredibly talented, but almost all of your work being 'lost' because you are so good at what you do? It appears that is exactly what happened to Marietta Robusti, a Venetian painter of the late 16th Century.

Self-Portrait, Marietta Robusti

Marietta Robusit (1554-1590) was the eldest child of the gifted Venetian painter Jacopo Robusti better known as ‘Tintoretto'. She is said to have been a child prodigy, learning how to paint from a very young age and to have worn boys clothes until she was 15 so that she could more easily accompany her father. She and two of her siblings apprenticed in her fathers workshop and Marietta was especially adept at creating the same flamboyant images that her father was so well known for.

By the time she was 14 Marietta had captured the attention of Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian II and King Philip II of Spain. Both rulers tried to entice Marietta to come to their courts. Her father talked her out of these offers, some say because he was so fond of her, others because he relied heavily on her help in the workshop. Either way, Marietta stayed in Venice and Tintoretto arranged for her to marry a jeweler, Mario Augusti. In the marriage contract Augusti agreed that after the wedding he and Marietta would live in the house with Tintoretto until the day Tintoretto died. Smooth dad...real smooth.

Allegory of Wisdom, Marietta Robusti

The bread and butter work for painters were commissioned portraits, and Marietta was very good at portraits. It was en vogue to have one’s portrait painted by her. Tintoretto biographer Carlo Ridolfi-Filippi wrote that Marietta had painted the portrait of all of the members of her husband's guild. While portrait work paid the bills, Marietta was also able to participated in larger commissions, such as an altarpieces.

Marietta worked alongside her father all her life. And, that is a problem for this artist. She learned  her fathers style so well that she never developed a distinct style of her own. Her career lasted 15 years or so, but very few works survive that can be directly attributed to Marietta. In a time when artists didn't consistently sign their works it is easy to understand why most of her works were attributed to her father. Some have gone so far as to suggest that, upon Tintoretto's death, his agents assigned everything in the workshop to him in order to drive the value of the works higher.

Marietta's story is illustrative of the struggles of women during this period. Women were often expected to be supporting players, sustaining the work of the father, or husband, rather than establishing their own separate career. Fortunately for us, enough of Marietta's talent shown through that now, nearly 500 years later, we can enjoy her talent and celebrate her excellent work.

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Selected Sources

Deye, Carola. The History of Painting Revisited - Marietta Robusti. https://thehistoryofpaintingrevisited.weebly.com/marietta-robusti.html

Fortune, Jane. The Florentine - Marietta Robusti. https://www.theflorentine.net/art-culture/2009/09/marietta-robusti/

That's Doctor Bad-Ass to You

We are aware of countless stories about women who take care of the home and family while their husbands pursue successful careers. Sometimes these women even manage a portion or all of the 'back office' activities so that the husband can concentrate on the product or growing the business. It's been interesting to learn that in the 16th century we have several examples of men that helped run the household and manage the business side of the studio so that their talented wives could be free to paint. A recent post discussed Diana Scultori and how she and her husband worked together and ran a successful business. We also have learned that Sofonisba Angussola's husband supported her career for many years.

This trend continues with our next artist - Renaissance painter Lavinia Fontana. Lavinia was a portrait artist. Not unusual, because by this time portraits were typical for women painters.  However, Lavinia also received commissions for religious and mythological works, which sometimes included female nudes. 

Self Portrait, Lavinia Fontana

Lavinia was born in 1552 in Bologna. She was trained by her father Prospero Fontana and was active in Bologna and Rome. She is regarded one of the few, and maybe the first female career artist in Western Europe.  She relied on commissions for her income; an income which was used to support her family. Her husband -  Gian Paolo Zappi - was a fellow artist and student of her father. As Lavinia's success grew Gian assisted with her work,  served as her agent and raised their eleven children.  

Yes, eleven children. That didn't slow Lavinia down a bit. In addition to everything else, she got her doctorate from the University of Bologna, and she also became a member of the Academy of Rome. 

Both financially and critically successful, Lavinia's paintings were characterized by their poised compositions, attention to detail and the use of a delicate palette.  In her self portrait (above) you can see the careful attention the the placement of the figure, the detail of the clothing and the choice of color. Here she is impeccably dressed in lace and jewels. She paints herself as a scholar, studying items from an archaeological find. 

Portrait of the Gozzadini Family,
 Lavinia Fontana

Lavinia was skilled not only at painting realistic images but also capturing the subject(s) mood. Her "Portrait of the Gozzadini Family" (left), is a psychologically complex image. it is said that this painting was commissioned by the father of the two women in the painting as a reminder that that the money they brought with them into their marriages is ultimately of their own inheritance, and not to be withheld from them by their husbands. 

Antonietta Gonzalez, Lavinia Fontana

Another unusual work is the somewhat unsettling painting of Antonietta Gonzalez. Little Antonietta  (as well as her father, two sisters and other family members) had hypertrichosis (also commonly called "werewolf syndrome"). This is a rare genetic disorder which causes an abnormal amount of hair on the body. While this could have resulted in the family being outcast, in fact they were welcomed in to the courts of Europe. Lavinia painted Antonietta in 1595 and you can almost feel the compassion for the child flowing from the paint brush. Her eyes are inquisitive and her faint smile sweet and trusting.

Lavinia had the largest body of work for a female artist up to this time - 135 paintings have been attributed to her. Her Patrons were Pope Gregory XIII, Pope Clement VII, Pope Paul V. She was the recipient of a rare honor in 1603 when Pope Clement IX summoned her to an audience in the papal palace. Clement commissioned an altarpiece for the church of San Paolo Fuori le Mura. The resulting was a 20 - foot altarpiece titled "The Stoning of St. Stephen Martyr"  and became the best known of her work. Unfortunately, the church burned in 1823 and the painting was lost.

Lavinia Fontana was a wildly talented artist. She was a creative, intellectual woman who was an inspiration for artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi and Elisabetta Sirani (who we will learn more about in the upcoming weeks). But most importantly, she was a bad-ass that portrayed herself as a painter, a musician and a scholar.

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Selected Sources

Great Women Artists. Phaidon Editors

Lavinia Fontana Facts. https://biography.yourdictionary.com/lavinia-fontana

McIver, Katherine A. “Lavinia Fontana's ‘Self-Portrait Making Music.’” Woman's Art Journal, vol. 19, no. 1, 1998, pp. 3–8. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1358647.

Musical Expressions of Intellect and artistry

I'm taking a bit of a detour with today's post. As you know, dear reader, the past few months have been focused on visual artists. During that research I've come across some interesting Bad-Ass women who express themselves with music. I thought I'd share their stories.

Clara Tott (1440 - 1520) worked at the Court in Munich as a singer. Her father was Gerhard Tott, a city Councilman. Much of Clara's story seems to center around her love affair and eventual marriage to Frederick I, Elector Palatine. The pair tried to keep their relationship secret, but in 1472, when their eldest son wanted a position in the cathedral chapters of Speyer and Worms, they came clean about their marriage.

Secret marriages aside, Clara was apparently influential in musical circles. Scholars say that she was musically talented and had a lasting effect on the musical life at court in Heidelberg. When Fredrick wanted to organize a local choir, Clara convinced him to appoint the famous singer Johann Steinwert von Soest as its leader.

Maddalena Casulana (c. 1544 – c. 1590) was likely born at Casole d'Elsa (based on her name). Little is known about her early life, but it is believed that she received her musical education in Florence. She was a composer, and lutenist and is the first female composer to have her music printed and published in the history of western music.

It appears that Maddalena was close to the de' Medici family. Her first book of madrigals included the following dedication to Isabella de' Medici: "[I] want to show the world, as much as I can in this profession of music, the vain error of men that they alone possess the gifts of intellect and artistry, and that such gifts are never given to women." This is a telling statement coming from Maddalena - it demonstrates how she viewed being a female composer at a time when the field was dominated by men.

Caterina Assandra, Unknown

Caterina Assandra (1590 – 1618) was an Italian nun and composer of composer of a number of motets and organ pieces. I had to learn a bit about motets and quickly found that I am no musical scholar! During the Renaissance a motet could be secular or religious. In general this is a type of music is performed by several voices. Motets are "polyphonic", they consist of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody. If you are musically astute, you might be thinking "what's the big deal, that's how choral music is written!". Correct, in the 21st century. In the 16th century, that style was evolving and Caterina was right there in the middle of changing musical styles.

There are approximately 14 known compositions attributed to Caterina. She was the first Italian nun to have an entire collection of musical works published.

Want to hear some of the work of Maddalena and Caterina? Hop over to YouTube and check out Caterina's Duo Seraphim and Maddalena's  Vagh' amorosi augelli.

Let me know below if you enjoyed hearing about these musical women!