Exquisite detail and acute observation: Fede Galizia
Based on an inscription found at the top of a portrait dated 1596, Fede Galizia (Milan or Trento, ca. 1578-Milan, 1630) was born in 1578.
The inscription reads:
FIDES GALICIA VIRGO PUDICISS. AETAT SUAE ANN. XVIII OPUS HOC F. PAULI MORIGII SIMULACRUM ANN. 72 GRATI ANIMI ERGO EFFINXIT. ANNO 1596
Which translates as:
The purest virgin Fede Galizia, at the age of eighteen, created this portrait of Paolo Morigia in gratitude, in 1596.
However, since the authenticity of the inscription is disputed, it is safer to state that Fede was likely born around 1578. The exact location of her birth remains uncertain; some sources suggest Milan, while others propose Trento, with Milan being her long-term residence. Fede lived in Milan her entire life and passed away in 1630 at the age of 52, succumbing to the plague.
Like Lavinia Fontana, Fede Galizia was trained by her father, the miniaturist and metalworker Nunzio Galizia (1550–1621).
Fede must have been a child prodigy. At just twelve years old, she was mentioned by Gian Paolo Lomazzo (1538–1592) in his influential 1590 work Idea del Tempio della Pittura (The Ideal Temple of Painting).
By the 1590s, Fede was already in contact with prominent artists such as Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1526–1593), the portrait painter known for creating heads made entirely from objects like fruits and vegetables, and Ambrogio Figino (1540–1608), another leading Milanese artist.
It was Arcimboldo who helped bring Fede’s name beyond Milan, recommending her to Emperor Rudolf II at the court in Prague.
The history of early modern Italian women artists is often framed as a response to Sofonisba Anguissola’s work. Like Anguissola, Fede Galizia painted portraits of her family and intellectuals connected to her circle.
Fede Galizia's Portrait of Paolo Morigia is a striking likeness of this prominent Milanese figure. Morigia, the Superior General of the Jesuates (a religious order abolished in the 1660s), is depicted wearing the white habit of his order against a dark background. As a historian, Morigia is surrounded by the tools of his trade: paper, books, pens, an inkwell, and glasses.
Fede Galizia, Portrait of Paolo Morigia, ca. 1592-1595. Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan
The painting is grounded in the naturalism of the Lombard school and was praised not only for its likeness but also for Fede’s exceptional technical skill, particularly in the rendering of objects. For example, the pair of glasses Morigia holds in his right hand is meticulously detailed, showcasing Fede’s proficiency as a still life painter.
Fede Galizia, Portrait of Paolo Morigia, ca. 1592-1595. Detail of the eyeglasses.
The reflection of the surrounding space in the glasses suggests that Fede was influenced by Northern European painting traditions. Intriguingly, the reflection also reveals a glimpse of Fede herself at work, hinting at the familiarity between artist and subject, and the possibility that Morigia was momentarily interrupted in his study for this portrait.
Though Fede did not paint a self-portrait in the traditional sense—like Anguissola or Fontana—her Portrait of Paolo Morigia subtly conveys her own intellectual engagement. By presenting a learned conversation between artist and scholar, Fede asserts her own cultured identity.
Fede Galizia’s fame during her lifetime was due not only to her portraits but also her remarkable history paintings.
Fede Galizia, Judith with the Head of Holofernes, 1601. Galleria Borghese, Rome
Fede Galizia was already famous in her lifetime, praised as a portraitist and history painter of exquisite detail and acute observation of which this painting, a later version of the one painted in 1596 and now in the Ringling Museum of Art, is a good illustration.
As in the painting of the same subject by Lavinia Fontana now in the Bolognese Museo Davia Bargellini, Judith is shown immediately after the decapitation of Holofernes.
Following the example of Caravaggios’ contrapposto between Judith’s and the handmaid’s age and looks, in Fede Galizia's version the handmaid is too an old woman who serves to highlight by contrast the beauty and youth of the Biblical heroine.
So again, the major difference with Caravaggio’s painting is the moment of the story Galizia and Fontana decided to depict.
Caravaggio’s drama will be found in Artemisia Gentileschi's version of the theme. Artemisia’s Judith will be just as monumental as Fede Galizia's, but by no means as sumptuous.
Fede Galizia’s Judith with the Head of Holofernes is certainly a tour de force. We really can see the daughter of the metalworker in the rendering of the belt and the bracelet. Not to mention the pearls, two strands around Judith's neck and two large drop pearls as earrings – only one is visible because the heroine looks over her right shoulder. There are pearls adorning her hair too.
Judith is wearing a white chemise under a dazzling dress of purple-grey silk. A veil is attached to the blue velvet hair dress. It falls behind her back and can be seen again behind the hand holding the sword. It is ornamented by golden threads.
Remarkable is also the richness of the colours, from the fairness of Judith's skin, especially the arm and décolleté rendered with a mother-of-pearl tint, to the red of the tent, the blue of the hair dress, the pink of the petticoat, and the green of the servant’s dress.
The painting seems to be more about Judith’s dress and jewels – how expensive they look, how refined they are – than the accomplishment of such a difficult feat. And yet, the heroine’s face doesn’t show any emotion whereas the servant, bringing a finger to the mouth, expresses wonder and amazement.
All the details have an extraordinary tactile quality. Contemporary sources praised the high level of specialisation reached by the Galizia workshop, father and daughter’s, producing costumes for the theatre but also for religious and civic ceremonies.
Fede Galizia, Judith with the Head of Holofernes, 1601. Galleria Borghese, Rome. Detail of the washbasin
The reflection of the servant’s hand on the washbasin, where signature and date are also to be found under Holofernes’ ear, is typical of the Northern Italian school’s interest in light but also suggests an awareness of the study of reflection and refraction.
The painting that in 1958 didn’t make much of an impact when sent to Zurich for an exhibition dedicated to women artists, in 2021 made the cover of the catalogue for Le Signore dell’Arte exhibition in Milan. Also, in the same year, Fede Galizia received her first monographic exhibition in Trent, where she may have been born.
While Fede Galizia’s work was lauded in her time, it wasn’t until the 20th century that art historians, especially in Italy, began to recognize her contributions to the still life genre. Her work as a portraitist and history painter, as well as her early still lifes, laid the foundation for this genre in early modern Italy.
One particularly interesting case highlights how the art market can uncover previously overlooked works.
Fede Galizia, Still Life of peaches on a fruit stand with jasmine flowers and a tulip. Sotheby’s. Old Masters Auction, 2021.
Still Life of peaches on a fruit stand with jasmine flowers and a tulip is what auction houses call “a sleeper”.
It appeared in 2020 in a provincial European auction house that recorded it as 'Lombardy School 17th Century', and went to auction with an estimate of €1,100, just to realise eventually a little bit less than €150,000.
The following year, 2021, the same painting which in the meantime had been cleaned and authenticated as an autograph work by Fede Galizia, was sold by Sotheby's for a little bit less than 440.000 GBP.
This striking shift in value demonstrates the growing recognition of Galizia’s work, both in scholarship and on the art market.
The rise in interest in women artists, both by galleries and collectors, has boosted the visibility and value of early modern female artists like Fede Galizia. In 2019, Sotheby’s even held an evening sale dedicated entirely to women artists of the premodern era, titled The Female Triumphant, which was endorsed by fashion mogul Victoria Beckham.
Although the Covid-19 pandemic temporarily halted this trend, interest in female Old Masters has only continued to grow since, marking a promising future for the recognition of women like Fede Galizia.
Although Fede Galizia's work was rediscovered in the 1930s, it wasn’t until the 1960s that her art began to receive widespread attention through exhibitions and publications.
Today, she is regarded as one of the most important Italian still-life painters of the seventeenth century, credited with creating the earliest signed and dated still life in Italian art.
Fede Galizia, Glass Tazza with Peaches, Jasmine Flowers, and Quinces, ca. 1607. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Glass Tazza with Peaches, Jasmine Flowers, and Quinces is a simple yet elegantly balanced composition.
The viewpoint is slightly elevated, allowing the viewer to fully appreciate the forms of the fruit—six peaches resting in the glass bowl, two quinces and a half on the table. Through her masterful use of chiaroscuro, Fede expertly defines the shapes of the objects. The light, streaming from a window on the left, reflects off the base of the tazza, mirroring the reflection seen in Paolo Morigia’s eyeglasses.
The painting avoids excessive detail, yet it captivates with its naturalism and delicate rendering, especially in the depiction of the jasmine flowers. The contrast between the ripe peaches and the decaying quince, which is already browning at the cut, adds a sense of quiet mortality. While some critics have pointed out that peaches and quinces ripen at different times of the year, such observations seem irrelevant, as the painting most likely serves as a memento mori.
The peaches, however, are nothing short of exquisite. Fede’s mastery is evident in the tactile quality of the fruit, which she rendered with intricate layers of glazing to capture their velvety texture.
Giovanni Ambrogio Figino (1548-1608), Still Life with Peaches and Fig Leaves, 1591-1594. Private collection
As noted earlier, in the 1590s, the young Fede Galizia was in contact with two prominent Milanese painters: Giuseppe Arcimboldo and Ambrogio Figino.
Still Life with Peaches and Fig Leaves (also known as Still Life with Peaches on a Plate) by Ambrogio Figino, painted around 1595, may have clearly influenced Fede's own work. Moreover, Fede's use of trompe l'oeil techniques—rendering fruit so lifelike that it seems within arm's reach—likely owes something to the influence of both Arcimboldo and Caravaggio.
Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi) (1571-1610), Basket of fruit, 1597-1600. Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan
While the invention of the fruit still life genre is traditionally attributed to Caravaggio (1571–1610), particularly his Basket of Fruit (1597–1600), Fede Galizia, just seven years his junior, quickly began producing works in the same genre that rivaled the output of her Lombard compatriot.
Though Caravaggio may be more famous, it was Fede Galizia’s work that helped establish the signature style of Lombard still life painting—a careful selection of fruit arranged on a shallow ledge against a dark, muted background.
Fede Galizia, Still Life of Cherries in a Bowl, ca. 1610-30. Royal Collection Trust, London
Still Life of Cherries in a Bowl, once in the collection of King Charles I and now exhibited in Kensington Palace, London, is another example of Fede Galizia’ simple but mysteriously illuminated compositions.
A white open-work porcelain bowl of cherries stands on a narrow sill against a dark background. Stalks and leaves are attached to the cherries on either side of the bowl as well. Cherries may vary in colour, going from yellow through red to dark red, but they all look fleshy.
Although it is not clear if Fede used to give the fruit a particular symbolic meaning, cherries are found in religious paintings, often held by the Christ child, to symbolise Paradise.
Like the work of most women artists of her time, Fede Galizia’s pioneering still lifes ended up being attributed to her male contemporaries. This one, for example, was first catalogued as a seventeenth-century Dutch work, then generically attributed to Italian School before eventually similarities with another work by Fede Galizia (one including the same white bowl) were noticed.
As for the wide time frame of its execution – sometime between 1610 and 1630, the year Fede Galizia passed – it is still difficult to narrow down dates, because this extraordinary woman artist’s practice is still not well known. But then, of course, this may change any time soon.
Taking it further
Female Old Masters take centre stage at Masters Week, New York, 2019
Are Female Old Masters an Untapped Market or a Marketing Ploy? Experts Are Divided, But Buyers Don’t Seem to Care
by Judd Tully in artnet news | 5 Feb 2019
Fede Galizia. Mirabile pittoressa. Exhibition catalogue, ed. by G. Agosti, L. Giacomelli and J. Stoppa. Trento 2021
[In Italian] FEDE GALIZIA. MIRABILE PITTORESSA | Conferenza stampa presentazione mostra | Video
Judith with the head of Holofernes, ca. 1610-1615. Sold by Dorotheum in May 2023. A less decorative version of the subject that is in the Galleria Borghese collection.
In Spring 2022, Colnaghi London organised the exhibition “Forbidden Fruit: Female Still Life”, before bringing to the market, among other works, a recently rediscovered still-life by Fede Galizia: Still life with apples, pears, figs, and melon (1625-30).
