Lucrina Fetti's Portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga for the first time in Rome from Mantua

From June 8 to October 1, 2023, the Portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga (1622), theonly signed and dated portrait by Lucrina Fetti, will be on display at the Pinacoteca dei Musei Capitolini, in Room VI dedicated to Bolognese and Northern Italian painting. The painting, one of the artist’s most interesting canvases also for the contribution it makes to the reconstruction of the presence of female artists in Rome between the 16th and 19th centuries, comes to Rome for the first time thanks to an agreement between the Sovrintendenza Capitolina - Direzione Musei Civici, the Fondazione Palazzo Te and the Museo di Palazzo Ducale di Mantova.

Born in Rome under the name Giustina around 1589, Lucrina Fetti learned to paint in the family with her better-known brother Domenico. Like other female artists of her era, she was destined to a monastic life, and her artistic production, portraits and religious scenes, was almost entirely within the convent of Sant’Orsola in Mantua, where she moved in 1614 following Domenico, who had been called by Ferdinando Gonzaga as court painter. This convent represented at the time one of the most refined women’s courts in Europe. Founded in 1599 by Margherita Gonzaga, sister of Ferdinand IV and widow of Alfonso d’Este, it became a place of education and cultural gathering place for the young Gonzaga princesses and city nobles. Margaret, an art lover, had it decorated with frescoes and paintings, and Lucrina became the principal artist of what was considered the parallel “court” of Gonzaga power.

The painting on display portrays Eleonora Gonzaga, the youngest daughter of Duke Vincenzo and Eleonora de’ Medici, who was raised in the Ursuline convent by her aunt Margherita until her marriage to Emperor Ferdinand of Habsburg in 1622. A portrait executed on the occasion of the young woman’s wedding depicts her in majestic robes, befitting the role she was going to play at the court of Vienna. Eleanor wears a sumptuous brocade gown woven with gold threads and adorned with lace, skillfully crafted by the artist. On the left of the corset appears a pendant with the Habsburg monogram, while on the table is the imperial crown and a letter on which reads “to the Sacred Majesty of the Empress Gonzaga.”

At the exhibition Lucrina Fetti, a Roman Painter at the Court of Mantua. The Portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga (1622) can be accessed with the museum entrance fee. Hours: Daily from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The exhibition will be inaugurated on Thursday, June 8, at 6 p.m., with a guided tour given by the director of the Capitoline Superintendency’s Civic Museums Directorate Ilaria Miarelli Mariani.

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Lucrina Fetti's Portrait of Eleonora Gonzaga for the first time in Rome from Mantua

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