Portrait of a Lady with Lap Dog
Lavinia Fontana
c. 1595
oil on canvas
Walters Art Gallery
(National Museum of Women in the Arts Washington)
The “portrait of Lady with a Lap Dog” or “Portrait of Ginevra Aldrovandi Hercolani,” is considered as one of Lavinia Fontana’s masterworks.
Lavinia Fontana began her commercial practice by painting small devotional paintings on
copper, which had popular appeal as papal and diplomatic gifts, given the value of the metal. Unlike her religious paintings, this portrait is more worldly and sophisticated. The exquisite details of costume and furnishings isolate the sitters against a space rendered in a broad and simplified manner.
Lavinia Fontana painted several portraits of ladies wearing Italian sayas, including this one. The typically striped false sleeves emerge from what appear to be the dangling outer sleeves of a saya. The lace of her cuffs and ruffs is rather elaborate
The portrait consists of Biomorphic Figures like the woman and dog and Geometric Figures, the chair
The intricate carvings in the chair, creases in the clothing, tiny hairs on the dog and the elaborate detail of the design of the lace are some features that give the portrait a very realistic touch.
The top of her forehead, the handkerchief, and white in the dog are the areas of high intensity in the picture. It seems as though that the source of Light is the upper left hand corner in the picture.
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