Bo Palace: from the Hall of the Heroes to the degree Halls
Three examples of female virtues - Gaspara Stampa, Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, Cornelia
Wallpainting
Title: Three examples of female virtues - Gaspara Stampa, Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, Cornelia
Author: Morato Antonio, 1903/1989
Date: 1941
Description
The fresco decorates one of the walls of the female Students Hall, opened on the New Courtyard. The fresco represents: Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, the first female graduate in the world, at the University of Padua; Gaspara Stampa, a poetess; Cornelia, a Roman matron and mother of the Gracchi. The three seated figures are set within an architectural structure: in the centre, in the foreground, Cornelia, with her children; on the left, Gaspara Stampa, with a pearl necklace around her neck and a pendant crucifix, playing the lute resting on her legs; on the right, Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, with an open volume on her lap and a pen in her hand. Some bas-reliefs decorate the architectural structure: in correspondence of Elena Piscopia there are a winged angel, a book and a globe; under Gaspara Stampa a female figure (a Muse?) and some books. In the lower part, the wallpainting represents fruit (pears, apples, grapes, figs, peaches), vegetables (a cauliflower) and a breadbasket.
Inscription
MORATO / PINSE A. D. / MCMXLI / XIX EF / CAROLO ANTI RECTORE
Author: Morato Antonio
Writing Technique: paint brush
Inscription
G. STAMPA
Author: Morato Antonio
Writing Technique: paint brush
Inscription
CORNELIA
Author: Morato Antonio
Writing Technique: paint brush
Inscription
DOMI MANSIT / LANAM FECIT
Author: Morato Antonio
Writing Technique: paint brush
Materials and techniques: wallpainting/fresco
University of Padua, Historical and artistic Heritage
Cat. Number: OPA00205
Bibliography
- Semenzato C. 1979, L'Università di Padova: il Palazzo del Bo. Arte e storia, Sarmeola di Rubano (Padova), p. 36.
- Baradel V. 2006, Padova, in La pittura nel Veneto. Il Novecento. I, a cura di G. Pavanello, N. Stringa, Milano, pp. 125-168.
- Nezzo M. 2008, Il miraggio della concordia. Documenti sull’architettura e la decorazione del Bo e del Liviano: Padova 1933-1943, Treviso, pp. 588-589.