Talk in English on One of Italy’s First Women Artists: Lavinia Fontana

 

A talk in English on one of Italy’s first woman artists has been organized by CEA CAPA Florence at the Sala Wanda Pasquini of Le Murate on Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 6:30 pm.  The event is free.

The lecture will focus on the reconstruction of the artistic and social activity of the painter Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614). Born in Bologna, she spent the last period of her career (1603-14) in Rome. Through an in-depth examination of the socio-cultural milieu that surrounded her, the lecture explores the most significant commissions the painter completed in the papal city, offering critical insights into the visual and textual culture shaping her artistic production. Investigating Fontana’s work in Counter-Reformation society, Stefania Vai examines how the artist challenged gendered social conventions to become Rome’s first public woman painter.

Stefania Vai recently completed her PhD in History of Art at the University of Edinburgh with a dissertation entitled Lavinia Fontana: The First Public Woman Painter in Seventeenth-Century Rome. She previously earned a Master’s degree with distinction from the Warburg Institute, supported by the SAS Cassal Bursary. She is currently the Samuel Freeman Fellow at the Medici Archive Project, where she is conducting postdoctoral research on Lavinia Fontana and Medici patronage. She has presented her research internationally, including at the National Gallery of Ireland and at Sapienza University of Rome.

Although the event is free and open to the public, please RSVP to mfrancioso@ceacapa.com.