Self-portrait at the Clavichord
Dublin Core
Title
Self-portrait at the Clavichord
Subject
A self-portrait of Lavinia Fontana
Description
This self-portrait of Lavinia Fontana depicts the artist playing the clavichord, an appropriately cultured activity for a rising noblewoman. The seated Fontana is resplendent in an intricate red gown decorated with jewels and a lace collar. Brightly lit and assertive in the foreground of the image, she looks directly at the viewer and engages with them as she plays. A maidservant enters in the middle ground in a dynamic gesture; she is leaned forward towards Fontana as she holds a book of sheet music. In the background, a small, empty easel makes reference to Fontana's artistic profession. The text in the top left corner names Fontana as the artist, confirms her status as a virgin, and dates the piece.
This portrait was created for Fontana's intended father-in-law, Severo Zappi, and makes several allusions to the marriage and its social implications. Her red dress quotes the traditional Bolognese wedding gowns of the time, and a small red love knot is visible sitting on the clavichord. Her expensive clothing, musical knowledge, and access to servants affirm her well-off social standing.
Apart from consideration of the intended audience, Fontana portrays herself as the ideal form of the woman artist at the time: she is both beautiful as a woman and talented in expressing that beauty. She asserts her "gentildonna" status and participates in activities befitting such a status. The inclusion of the easel signifies her ownership of her artistic profession, a growing trend in self-portraiture for artists of the time.
This portrait was created for Fontana's intended father-in-law, Severo Zappi, and makes several allusions to the marriage and its social implications. Her red dress quotes the traditional Bolognese wedding gowns of the time, and a small red love knot is visible sitting on the clavichord. Her expensive clothing, musical knowledge, and access to servants affirm her well-off social standing.
Apart from consideration of the intended audience, Fontana portrays herself as the ideal form of the woman artist at the time: she is both beautiful as a woman and talented in expressing that beauty. She asserts her "gentildonna" status and participates in activities befitting such a status. The inclusion of the easel signifies her ownership of her artistic profession, a growing trend in self-portraiture for artists of the time.
Creator
Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614)
Source
Bohn, B. (2004), Female self-portraiture in early modern Bologna. Renaissance Studies, 18: 239-286. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0269-1213.2004.00057.x
This source gives a chronological overview of female artists of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Bologna and their practices regarding self-portraiture. It provides comparisons both between these women’s portraits and between female self-portraits and their male contemporaries. One section of the essay examines Lavinia Fontana’s five self-portraits--four paintings and one drawing--including the Self-Portrait at the Clavichord, referenced here as Self-Portrait at the Keyboard. Bohn expands on the portrait’s background, including its purpose as a self-promotion to Fontana’s future father-in-law and its assertion of the woman as a professional artist.
McIver, Katherine A. “Lavinia Fontana’s ‘Self-Portrait Making Music.’” Woman’s Art Journal 19, no. 1 (1998): 3–8. https://doi.org/10.2307/1358647.
This source contrasts Fontana’s Self-Portrait at the Clavichord, here titled Self-Portrait Making Music, with other portraits of her time which featured the artist pictured with musical instruments. Musical instruments included in portraiture relate to the ideals of the figure in a cultured society, in terms of both gender and profession; the standards for artistic and educational merit were high among the nobility of Bologna. Here, Fontana stands out as not only a virtuous, well-educated woman but also as an active participant in her artistic trade and a model for the commodified female self-portrait.
This source gives a chronological overview of female artists of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Bologna and their practices regarding self-portraiture. It provides comparisons both between these women’s portraits and between female self-portraits and their male contemporaries. One section of the essay examines Lavinia Fontana’s five self-portraits--four paintings and one drawing--including the Self-Portrait at the Clavichord, referenced here as Self-Portrait at the Keyboard. Bohn expands on the portrait’s background, including its purpose as a self-promotion to Fontana’s future father-in-law and its assertion of the woman as a professional artist.
McIver, Katherine A. “Lavinia Fontana’s ‘Self-Portrait Making Music.’” Woman’s Art Journal 19, no. 1 (1998): 3–8. https://doi.org/10.2307/1358647.
This source contrasts Fontana’s Self-Portrait at the Clavichord, here titled Self-Portrait Making Music, with other portraits of her time which featured the artist pictured with musical instruments. Musical instruments included in portraiture relate to the ideals of the figure in a cultured society, in terms of both gender and profession; the standards for artistic and educational merit were high among the nobility of Bologna. Here, Fontana stands out as not only a virtuous, well-educated woman but also as an active participant in her artistic trade and a model for the commodified female self-portrait.
Publisher
Lavinia Fontana, 1552-1614. 1577. Self-portrait at the Clavichord. Place: Accademia nazionale di San Luca. https://library.artstor.org/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822003064654.
Date
Created 1577
Contributor
Eliza Henne
Rights
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Format
Oil on canvas, 27 x 24 cm
Type
Painting
Coverage
Accademia nazionale di San Luca, Rome, Italy.
Files
Collection
Citation
Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614), “Self-portrait at the Clavichord,” ARTHIST 256 - Italian Baroque Art - Fall 2021, accessed October 22, 2026, https://www.baroque.dahvc.org/fall-2021/items/show/224.