Barbara Longhi of Ravenna: 1552–1638
Virtual Exhibition

Barbara Longhi: “Unique paintings for their purity of line and soft brilliance of color.” Giorgio Vasari, Le vite (1568).

In sixteenth-century Ravenna, Barbara Longhi (1552–1638) is the first female painter to concentrate in her oeuvre on small devotional paintings associated with concepts of love and tenderness between the Mother of God and her Child, Christ (Madonna and Child). These Marian paintings reveal a fusion between physical motherly love and spiritual devotion and are steeped in the culture of Ravenna and Counter-Reformation artistic patronage. Working in the late sixteenth century in Italy, Barbara paved the way for mystical devotion or maniera devota (energeia), which would later be interpreted by female painters in the seventeenth century.

This small exhibit shows some of Barbara Longhi’s significant contributions to the visualization of the Virgin Mary (La Madonna). The text for these entries is from Liana De Girolami Cheney’s Barbara Longhi of Ravenna: Art, Grace, and Piety (Cambridge Scholar Press 2023). The author acknowledges and is grateful for the images provided by auction houses, agencies, galleries, museums, dioceses, and private collectors. Gratitude is also extended to Claire Cutts of V21Artspace.

©Liana De Girolami Cheney, PhD
liana_cheney@uml.edu

Find out more: atsah.org brill.com

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