Discover the work of Lavinia Fontana with exhibition curator Dr Aoife Brady.

A ground-breaking artist of her time, late sixteenth-century Bolognese artist Fontana is widely considered to be the first female artist to achieve professional success beyond the confines of a court or a convent. Fontana was the first woman to manage her own workshop, and the first woman to paint public altarpieces and female nudes. She maintained an active career, painting for many illustrious patrons, while also taking on the role of wife and mother. Exploring Fontana’s extraordinary life through her paintings and drawings, the exhibition will offer insight into the cultural climate that enabled the artist to flourish as a female artist of the period. This will be the first monographic exhibition to examine Fontana’s work in over two decades, and the first to focus on her portraits. The exhibition will run in rooms 6-10 from 6 May – 27 August 2023.

This free talk will take place online via Zoom. Login details will be contained in the e-mail booking receipt.

Please note the talk will not be recorded. This event will be Live Captioned and accompanied by an Irish sign language interpreter.