Lavinia Fontana (Bologna 1552-1614 Rome)


Portrait of Gerardo Giavarini, three-quarter-length, standing in an interior beside a table covered with a carpet on which rests a knight's helmet with his right hand showing a chiaroscuro monochrome drawing depicting Venus and Cupid inscribed 'AETATIS SUAE ANNORUM XXV' (on edge of table, lower left) and bears inscription and date 'GERARDO GIAVARI/ NI CAVALLIERE/ CONTE PALATINO/ E PAGGIO DI PAPA/ CLEMENTE VIII/ MENTRE DIMORO/ IN BOLOGNA L'ANNO/ 1598' (upper right)oil on canvas130 x 103.5cm (51 3/16 x 40 3/4in).
|ProvenancePrivate Collection, Wales, since at least 1927 and thence by descent to the present ownersGerardo Giavarini was among those young Bolognese men in their twenties whom Pope Clement VIII created Knights Palatine, Counts and Pages during his stay in Bologna in 1598 and when he was back in Rome after having subjugated Ferrara, in gratitude for the welcome he had received from the city. This event was a matter of pride which inspired some of these young men to commemorate their investiture by having their portraits painted. Another such portrait of one of these young Bolognese men that is known is that of Lattanzio Graffi, created a page in the same circumstances, which is attributed to Bartolomeo Cesi (Genus Bononiae Collection, Bologna).The painting shows a compositional approach that has been repeatedly used by Lavinia Fontana in male portraits: the style of drawing and the colour scheme are very close to those of the painter who by the late 1590s was a well-known professional in her city, known for having made numerous portraits of men and women of good Bolognese society. The drawing with its amorous subject which the young man shows to us probably indicates that this painting was dedicated to his betrothed love. The theme of the Venus and Cupid was treated by Fontana in other paintings, such as the canvas, 215 x 134 cm., dated 1585 in a private collection, Venice, and the design reproduced here resumes these models. Stylistic comparison with other known works by the artist suggests that the present portrait may have been realised by Lavinia Fontana a few years before her transfer to Rome in 1603 at the invitation of Pope Clement VIII. Much praised in her lifetime, Fontana is now regarded as the first woman to achieve financial and critical success as a painter in Counter-Reformation Italy.We are grateful to Dottssa. Maria Theresa Cantaro and Antonio Vannugli, Associate Professor, University of Eastern Piedmont, for their assistance in cataloguing this portrait and confirming the attribution based on digital photographs.