Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Portrait of Ginevra Aldrovandi Hercolani
(Renaissance Europe )
Ginevra Aldrovandi's husband, the Bolognese senator Ercole Hercolani, died in 1593. Her elaborate mourning costume-with costly brocade, lace, and pearls-indicates her high social status. She holds a handkerchief, suggesting the tears she shed at her husband's death. The lapdog is her pet, but it also carries symbolic significance. During the 16th century, a widow who did not re-marry, staying faithful to her husband's memory, was often compared to a dog that was faithful to its master.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Hercolani Collection, Bologna [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome, prior to 1881[mode of acquisition unknown] [1881 catalogue: no. 194; 1897 catalogue: no. 180]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2022 | By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 1500–1800. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit. |
| 2007 | Italian Women Artists from Renaissance to Baroque: Commerce, Court and Convent. National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington. |
| 1994 | Lavinia Fontana, 1552-1614. Museo Civico Archaeologico di Bologna, Bologna. |
| 1972 | Old Mistresses: Women Artists of the Past. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Geographies
Italy, Bologna (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Painted Surface H: 45 1/8 × W: 37 1/4 in. (114.62 × 94.62 cm); Framed H: 54 1/4 × W: 46 1/4 × D: 2 3/8 in. (137.8 × 117.48 × 6.03 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
Location in Museum
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.1915