A painter of mostly religious subjects, Elisabetta Sirani (Bologna, 1638–1665) produced a small number of portraits, allegorical and mythological subjects. She also painted a few famous femmes fortes from ancient classical and biblical history of which some had never been painted before. Although she didn’t paint that many, she introduced several innovations in their iconographies.  

An all-round artist, Giovanna Garzoni (Ascoli Piceno, 1600-Rome, 1670) thrived at Italian and European courts and developed a truly international style. Blending different techniques and genres, she produced portraits, still-lifes, and botanical studies that all show a timeless vitality thanks to her way of laying the colour in a ‘pointillist’ technique on ivory white parchment.

Despite sensational headlines like 'More Savage Than Caravaggio,' the work of Artemisia Gentileschi (Rome, 1593–Naples, 1654 or later) should not be defined solely by the trauma of the rape she survived or the subsequent trial she endured.

Besides portraits and biblical scenes, Fede Galizia (1578–1630) produced mysteriously illuminated still lifes. Owing to her innovative rendition of the space, she has been considered a pioneer in this new genre of painting in which women artists would eventually make their mark.

Lavinia Fontana (Bologna, 1552–Rome, 1614) is considered the first truly professional woman painter who achieved success outside a convent or royal court.

Sofonisba Anguissola (Cremona, ca. 1535–Palermo, 1625) is one of the few early modern women painters to have achieved international renown and acclaim during her lifetime.

Women Painters in Early Modern Italy was an online art appreciation course I designed and published in 2023. After a few months of inactivity and with new projects on the horizon, I've decided to adapt part of the course material and share it here.

Similarities can be identifying not only between early computer art and contemporary AI art but also between the debates that 1960s and 70s art movements sparked off and present-day controversies.

The exhibitions I have visited in 2024 all deserve praise for one reason or the other—even the one that has baffled me for the most misleading title. So this time, instead of doing a top five plus a turkey, I’ll give you the overall winner.

L’esperienza immersiva offerta dalle opere di “solid light” dell’artista Anthony McCall, nato in Inghilterra nel 1946 e residente a New York dal 1973, non appartiene all’ultimo trend delle mostre multimediali—la prima fu infatti concepita e presentata circa cinquanta anni fa—ma offre una dimostrazione delle possibilità date dai moderni e più flessibili mezzi tecnologici.

The Lake, Petworth, Sunrise di JMW Turner, Velocità astratta - L’auto è passata di Giacomo Balla, e sun[set] provisioning di Yuri Pattison sono esposte in De-nature, la penultima sezione di Take a Breath, mostra aperta fino a Marzo 2025 all’IMMA di Dublino.

Fino al 7 ottobre, la National Gallery of Ireland celebra con la mostra Women Impressionists l’indipendenza stilistica ma soprattutto tematica delle quattro maggiori esponenti femminili del movimento Impressionista: Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Eva Gonzalès e Marie Bracquemond.

The post-Caravaggesque paintings of Artemisia Gentileschi still often disappoint modern viewers but, as these artworks are included in more seminal exhibitions and publications, preferences are changing.

On paintings that hold viewers spellbound, and an author who writes about said paintings like no other.

Although I have put re-visiting permanent collections first, in 2023 I also visited many excellent exhibitions. On the other hand, only one exhibition has left me disheartened.

It’s fair to say that almost every painting featured in Lavinia Fontana: Trailblazer, Rule Breaker has the power of charming the viewer but two in particular – Cleopatra (1585 ca. or 1605) and Venus and Mars (1595 ca.) – have had me hooked on their iconography since the exhibition opened in May.

Alla National Gallery of Ireland la mostra Lavinia Fontana: pioniera e trasgressiva celebra l’opera dell’artista bolognese che, precorrendo i tempi e trasgredendo le norme vigenti, fece dell’arte la propria professione e del genere del ritratto una raffinata forma di comunicazione.

Women artists seem to be all the rage these days. And rightly so. The wealth of exhibitions and publications, the changing role of art galleries and museums, the expanding interests of private collectors, and the resulting attention of the action houses not only prove that there is a thirst for more knowledge but also that art history is a rather dynamic discipline.

The whole face has a life. Showing the whites of the eyes and opening the mouth in disbelief, Rembrandt’s face is acting. Or better re-acting. It’s as if I gave him a start coming from behind the corner, and he had exclaimed ‘Goodness! You gave me quite a turn, creeping up like that!’

How these two Baroque self-portraits, which resort to the personification of Painting to frame the artist as an object of admiration – or, someone may say, to divert viewers’ gaze from a face that didn’t launch a thousand ships – connect to one another despite all their notable differences?