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A Serendipitous Return: Lavinia Fontana’s lost Miniature

venue addressStrawberry Hill House & Garden, 268 Waldegrave Road, Twickenham, Middlesex TW1 4ST
event dateToday, Wed 26 Feb, Sat 1 Mar to Wed 5 Mar, Sat 8 Mar to Wed 12 Mar, Sat 15 Mar to Wed 19 Mar, Sat 22 Mar to Wed 26 Mar, Sat 29 Mar to Tue 1 Apr
event timesWednesday 12 February, Doors open 6.45pm for a glass of fizz, talk 7pm-8pm
Tickets included in general admission £14.50
telephone +44 (0)20 8744 1241 for latest times or cancellations.
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About this Event

A Serendipitous Return: Lavinia Fontana’s lost Miniature

Saturday 25 January – 23 April 2025, 11am-4pm, Saturday-Wednesday
A remarkable discovery has brought another lost treasure back to Strawberry Hill House after more than a century, this time a 19th-century drawing led to its identification.

The newly discovered artwork, a miniature once believed by Walpole to depict Bianca Capello, has now been attributed to the accomplished artist Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614).

Bianca Capello (1548-1587) was one of Walpole’s great heroines, her adventurous life inspiring both his Gothic masterpiece novel The Castle of Otranto (1764) and his tragedy play The Mysterious Mother (1791) Perhaps most famously, Walpole’s fascination with her even led him to coin the term “serendipity” while researching her Venetian coat of arms.

This exquisite miniature, was discovered in a private collection. Its return marks another triumph in the ongoing quest to reunite Walpole’s dispersed treasures with their original home.

Tickets included in General admission.

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