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.