Sofonisba Anguissola

Lore & Background

Sofonisba Anguissola was born into a poor but ancient noble family in Cremona, the oldest of seven children. Her father, inspired by Baldassare Castiglione's book The Book of the Courtier, encouraged all his daughters to cultivate their talents. Four of her sisters also became painters, but Sofonisba was the most accomplished and taught her younger siblings. At age fourteen, she and her sister Elena were sent to study with Bernardino Campi, a respected portrait and religious painter; after Campi moved to Milan, she continued with Bernardino Gatti. Her apprenticeship with local painters set a precedent for women to be accepted as students of art.

In 1554, Anguissola travelled to Rome, where she was introduced to Michelangelo. He challenged her to draw a weeping boy, and she produced Child Bitten by a Lobster, which led Michelangelo to recognize her talent and give her sketches from his notebooks to draw in her own style. She also painted in Milan, where she depicted Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba. In 1559, the Spanish queen Elizabeth of Valois recruited her as her tutor, with the rank of lady-in-waiting. Anguissola later became an official court painter to King Philip II, adapting her style to the formal requirements of official portraits. After the queen's death, Philip helped arrange an aristocratic marriage for her, and she moved to Sicily, later Pisa and Genoa, continuing as a leading portrait painter. She died at age 97 in Palermo in 1629.

Reader's Guide

Anguissola's significance lies both in her oeuvre and in her example. Her most distinctive and attractive paintings are her portraits of herself and her family, created before her move to the Spanish court; these works, such as The Game of Chess, depict children and family scenes with fresh, closely observed informality. At the Spanish court, she painted formal state portraits in the prevailing official style, becoming one of the first and most successful female court painters. Later in life she also painted religious subjects, though many have been lost. Her great success opened the way for larger numbers of women to pursue serious careers as artists. Her contemporary Giorgio Vasari wrote that she 'has shown greater application and better grace than any other woman of our age in her endeavours at drawing.' Her paintings can be seen in galleries including the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Museo del Prado in Madrid, and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Anguissola's legacy endures as a pioneering female artist who overcame the constraints of her sex to achieve international recognition.

Did You Know?

• Anguissola was introduced to Michelangelo in Rome, and he recognized her talent after she drew Child Bitten by a Lobster.
• She was recruited in 1559 to tutor Queen Elizabeth of Valois in painting and later became an official court painter to King Philip II of Spain.
• Her father named her after the tragic Carthaginian figure Sophonisba, and her brother was named Asdrubale after Hasdrubal Barca.
• Anguissola lived to age 97 and died in Palermo in 1629.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Sofonisba Anguissola  1532 - 1625 was an Italian painter." — Sofonisba Anguissola "The image that is characterized by a not good piles like simplicity in the soul." — Sofonisba Anguissola "One image is not enough but in the woman." — Sofonisba Anguissola