Montreal Museum of Fine Arts showcases historic painting by trailblazing female artist

"The Presentation of Mary in the Temple" is currently on display at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Displayed at the front of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion is the work of a female trailblazer.

“It was in a German family since, we believe, the 18th century. And then it recently came up at auction and some very astute dealers who bought the painting back in 2019 saw what they thought was the presence of Lavinia Fontana,” says curator Mary-Dailey Desmarais.

Titled “The Presentation of Mary in the Temple” the painting depicts the biblical story of parents Joachim and Anna offering the Virgin Mary.

Created in Bologna, Italy between 1575 and 1580, the piece is said to have been a collaboration between Lavinia and her instructor and renowned artist Prospero Fontana.

The work is the oldest in the museum’s European collection by a woman artist. It is also the earliest by the artist to be acquired by a public Canadian collection.

“It was based off a fresco that Prospero Fontana had made and there’s a sketch for that fresco in the Louvre,” Desmarais explains.

She notes “you can see when you compare the painting to the sketch that Lavinia’s intervention was to make the central figure of Mary much more present - loosened her hair. So instead of it being back in the kind of tight chignon, you see it in kind of loosened tresses.”

Desmarais says Lavinia’s other touches include modernizing garments and placing the Virgin Mary on a higher step. The curator says there are parallels between Mary and Lavinia, who was considered the first professional female artist in Europe.

“This dates to the earliest period in history in art collection, so that’s super exciting [...] It’s a lesson in courage of what this young artist was able to do. It’s a beautiful story of family, not just in her own biography but that we’re also seeing in this painting,” the museum curator said.

The museum said it hopes to continue expanding its representation of artists.