Women artists seem to be all the rage these days. And rightly so. The wealth of exhibitions and publications, the changing role of art galleries and museums, the expanding interests of private collectors, and the resulting attention of the action houses not only prove that there is a thirst for more knowledge but also that art history is a rather dynamic discipline.

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.