An exquisite miniature portrait by Italian painter Lavinia Fontana was serendipitously rediscovered after turning up at an auction in Texas.

The Fontana miniature is shown in the bottom right Courtesy of Strawberry Hill House & Garden Identifying the true sitter of a portrait of this kind is “exceedingly difficult”, Brady says.

One of Europe’s first professional women artists, the Bolognese painter Lavinia Fontana was known for her empathetic portraits of women and children. She sensitively depicted Antonietta Gonzales ...