Prospero Fontana (1512-1597)

• Was an Italian-Bolognese painter.
• Fontana is best known for his frescoes and architectural detailing.
• The speed in which he completed paintings earned him commissions where he worked with other prominent artists of the period.
• He was a prominent figure in the city of Bologna.
• As a teenager, Fontana was an assistant on Perino del Vaga's Palazzo Doria in Genoa.
• Fontana worked with Giorgio Vasari on a few commissions, which are described in the Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects.
• Vasari notes that Fontana was unable to complete his work on the Chateau of Fontainebleau (1560) in France due to a health issue.
• His daughter Lavinia Fontana was regarded as the first female career artist in Western Europe as she relied on commissions for her income.
• In 1565, Fontana was elected to the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence.
• In 1576, Fontana was one of several artists consulted by Cardinal Gabriele Paleotti in the debate over the reformation of religious art.
• Fontana died in Bologna in 1597.
• The altarpiece of the Adoration of the Magi, in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, is considered to be his masterpiece.
• A large quantity of his work remains in Bologna.
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