Bust of a female warrior with a plumed helmet 1541 - 1587

Curator: Here at the SMK, we have a fascinating sketch attributed to Giovanni Battista Fontana, dating roughly from 1541 to 1587: a drawing titled "Bust of a Female Warrior with a Plumed Helmet." Editor: Ooh, she looks like a half-remembered dream. Faint, wispy, almost erased, but powerful nonetheless. The plume practically explodes off the page, even in these muted tones. Curator: Indeed. Consider Fontana's process: this is drawing, not high-status painting. What was the social function of such drawings, and how do they challenge art history's traditional categories of artwork versus preparatory sketch or workshop aid? Editor: Right, like she’s waiting for the rest of the colors to show up! It has this feeling of being incomplete, but maybe that incompleteness *is* the point. The helmet suggests a certain societal role, but the sketchy lines hint that there is far more to the figure depicted beyond simply her profession or status, I mean she exists, like that, without any artifice or bombast. It is quite curious, no? Curator: The Mannerist style favored elegance and exaggerated forms. Fontana, here, shows this tendency to a degree, with particular focus on the elaborately adorned helmet. Editor: She does exude confidence though! What an imposing figure! Even with the faded quality of the piece, I am rather in awe of this, how to put it? Of the inner spark of that female warrior. Curator: Her headgear signifies military power, while Fontana's chosen medium makes you ask whether there is a kind of labor present as it questions and destabilizes established divisions, you understand. What we can also perceive in this representation is whether it has a gender dimension or impact of its own, through material. Editor: The debate of matter against art... As Fontana's process fades away through time, the idea she represents will surely continue to shine through the canvas.