Fontana painted mythological scenes with unclothed female figures, becoming the first known woman artist to depict female nudes, possibly using live models.
In the mid-1590s, Lavinia Fontana began painting mythological subjects featuring unclothed female figures, such as depictions of Minerva, Venus, and other classical goddesses. She is widely cited by art historians as the first known woman artist to depict female nudes, and possibly the first woman in Italy to work from live nude female models.
The depiction of the nude, particularly the female nude, was considered one of the highest and most intellectually demanding branches of painting, requiring rigorous training in anatomy — training that was almost universally denied to women, who were barred from life-drawing academies and anatomical study on grounds of modesty. That Fontana produced convincing, anatomically sophisticated nudes therefore represented a profound breach of both artistic and social convention.
Her mythological nudes, including works such as 'Minerva Dressing', combine classical erudition with sensuous naturalism, suggesting she had access to models or study materials rarely available to women. Some scholars continue to debate the exact circumstances of her studies, but there is broad consensus that these works represent a landmark moment: a woman claiming authority over a genre coded as exclusively masculine intellectual territory. This achievement expanded the perceived boundaries of what women artists could master and directly challenged Renaissance assumptions linking anatomical knowledge and artistic genius to gender.