Ginevra Cantofoli

Born in Bologna, Papal States, Cantofoli trained there under Giovanni Andrea Sirani, the father of Elisabetta Sirani. Although a generation older than Elisabetta Sirani, Cantofoli was described by Carlo Cesare Malvasia, Cesare Masini, and Marcello Oretti as Elisabetta's student. Also named as her teachers are Emilio Taruffi, Lorenzo Pasinelli, and Giovanni Gioseffo dal Sole. According to art historian Laura M. Ragg, among the women painters in Bologna at the time, Cantofoli "had much more talent than any of her companions." Her early works were pastel portraits and small paintings, but she later went on to paint large-scale compositions. She was primarily a history painter. She also produced several altarpieces for Bolognese churches, although none of these works are known to still exist. Art historian Massimo Pulini attributes 30 works to Cantofoli. Among her works are a painting, Self-Portrait, Allegory of Painting, and a drawing, Self-Portrait, which portrays the artist holding a palette and brushes before an easel, both dated to c. 1665. It has also been asserted that a painting known as Allegory of Painting (in a private collection) contains a self-portrait, and that "the features of many of her female figures resemble her own." A painting of a woman in a turban in the collection of the Palazzo Barberini, traditionally identified as a portrait of Beatrice Cenci, long attributed to Guido Reni, has been attributed to Ginevra Cantofoli.