These two terracotta sculptures depict two exceptional women who left their mark on the history of Bologna. Among them is Bettisia Gozzadini (1209–1261), the first female jurist in Europe, who graduated in 1237 and became a professor at the University of Bologna in the 13th century. There is also likely Maddalena Buonsignori (?–1396), a jurist, professor, and Bolognese author of the Latin treatise De Legibus Connubialibus (On Matrimonial Laws), in which she examines the legal status of women from various angles. Today, we have the privilege of presenting these two women of law, who shone through their intelligence and whose stories have endured through the centuries to reach us.
These elegant female busts, depicted from the front, are part of an extremely rare collection of small terracotta works created in Bologna at the end of the 17th century. Part of the exceptional cycle of monochrome terracotta busts of the Twelve Illustrious Women of Bologna from the Felicini-Fibbia Palace in Bologna, our two portraits are distinguished by the fact that they were created at the same time as this prestigious series and by their unusual half-length format. The representation of a series of illustrious women is rather rare in painting and almost non-existent in the field of sculpture. Created by an anonymous sculptor from Casa Fibbia in 1680-1690, this exceptional series from Bologna, the intellectual and academic hub of Europe, occupies a unique place in art history, revealing a generic invention free from previous iconographic models. Unlike traditional representations of female beauty and erotic or idealised stereotypes, these portraits of women show their specific socio-professional roles in the city of Bologna.

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