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Lavinia Fontana (August 24, 1552 – August 11, 1614) was a mannerist painter active in Bologna and Rome. She is well know as a successful portrait painter, but she also worked in the genres of mythology and religious painting. Due to her advantageous commissions and popularity, she is referred to as the first professional female artist in Western Europe by some art historians. She was born in Bologna to an artist father, Prospero Fontana who would later train her in painting and help her obtain high profile commissions. Being a rare example of a commercially successful woman artist in early modern Europe, her career is regarded as a precursor to the increased participation of women as commissioned artists.

Her mythology paintings which feature nude figures are being increasingly studied by art historians. Gods such as Minerva, Mars, and Venus are depicted in the nude in these paintings. Fontana's work with mythology painting represents possibly the first female artist involvement in the genre.