Lavinia Fontana was renowned both for her rich depictions of costumes and jewelry and for her sympathetic portrayals of women and children. Here the Roman noblewoman Bianca degli Utili Maselli appears with five of her sons and one daughter: the toddler clutching her forefinger. Dressed in blinding splendor—lace and silk, diamonds and pearls—each member of the family holds an accessory: a cup of figs, a pen and inkwell, a puppy, and so on. These surely carried emblematic meanings linked to the virtues of individual sitters: sweetness, studiousness, fidelity, etc. Bianca bore nineteen children before her premature death. Those portrayed here were probably the six still living by 1605. This painting is the first work of art created by a woman before 1700 to join the collection of the Legion of Honor.
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