Editing Sofonisba Anguissola

{{short description|Italian painter (c. 1532–1625)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox artist
| name             = Sofonisba Anguissola
| image            = File:Sofonisba Anguissola, Selvportræt ved staffeliet, 1556, Museum Castle in Łańcut.jpg
| image_size       = 220px
| caption          = [[Self-portrait at an Easel (Sofonisba Anguissola)|Self-Portrait]], 1556, Lancut Museum, Poland
| birth_date       = {{Circa|1532}}
| birth_place      = [[Cremona]], [[Duchy of Milan]]
| death_date       = 16 November 1625 (aged 93)
| death_place      = [[Palermo]], [[Kingdom of Sicily#The insular Kingdom of Sicily under the Crown of Aragon and Spain|Kingdom of Sicily]]
| nationality      = [[Italian people|Italian]]
| field            = [[Portrait painting]], [[drawing]]
| training         = [[Bernardino Campi]], [[Bernardino Gatti]]
| movement         = Late [[Renaissance]]
| works            = 
| patrons          = [[Philip II of Spain]]
| awards           = 
| module           = {{Infobox person|child=yes
| signature        = Firma di Sofonisba Anguissola.jpg}}
| spouse           = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Fabrizio Moncada Pignatelli|1571|1579|end.}} {{marriage|Orazio Lomellino|1584|1625|end}}}}
| resting_place    = [[San Giorgio dei Genovesi, Palermo]]
| resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|38.121822|13.364575|type:landmark|display=inline}}
}}

[[File:The Chess Game (Sofonisba Anguissola) 1555 (4096x3236px).jpg|right|thumb|262px|The artist's sisters are depicted in ''[[The Game of Chess (Sofonisba Anguissola)|The Game of Chess]]'', 1555. National Museum in Poznań]]

'''Sofonisba Anguissola''' ({{circa|lk=no|1532}}<ref name="Phaidon Editors">{{cite book |last1= |title=Great women artists |date=2019 |publisher=Phaidon Press |isbn=978-0714878775 |page=35}}</ref>&nbsp;– 16 November 1625), also known as '''Sophonisba Angussola''' or '''Sophonisba Anguisciola''',{{sfnp|EB|1878}}{{sfnp|EB|1911}} was an [[Italian Renaissance painter]] born in [[Cremona]] to a relatively poor noble family.  She received a well-rounded education that included the [[fine art]]s, and her apprenticeship with local painters set a precedent for women to be accepted as students of art. As a young woman, Anguissola traveled to [[Rome]] where she was introduced to [[Michelangelo]], who immediately recognized her talent, and to [[Milan]], where she painted the [[Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba|Duke of Alba]]. The Spanish queen, [[Elizabeth of Valois]], was a keen amateur painter and in 1559 Anguissola was recruited to go to [[Madrid]] as her tutor, with the rank of [[lady-in-waiting]]. She later became an official court painter to the king, [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]], and adapted her style to the more formal requirements of official portraits for the Spanish court. After the queen's death, Philip helped arrange an aristocratic marriage for her. She moved to [[Sicily]], and later [[Pisa]] and [[Genoa]], where she continued to practice as a leading [[portrait painter]].

Her most distinctive and attractive paintings are her portraits of herself and her family, which she painted before she moved to the Spanish court. In particular, her depictions of children were fresh and closely observed.  At the Spanish court she painted formal state portraits in the prevailing official style, as one of the first, and most successful, of the relatively few female [[court painter]]s.  Later in her life she also painted religious subjects, although many of her [[Christian art|religious paintings]] have been lost. In 1625, she died at age 93 in [[Palermo]].

Anguissola's example, as much as her oeuvre, had a lasting influence on subsequent generations of artists, and her great success opened the way for larger numbers of women to pursue serious careers as artists. Her paintings can be seen at galleries in [[Boston]] ([[Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum]]), [[Milwaukee]] ([[Milwaukee Art Museum]]), [[Bergamo]], [[Brescia]], [[Budapest]], [[Madrid]] ([[Museo del Prado]]), [[Naples]], and [[Siena]], and at the [[Uffizi Gallery]] in [[Florence]].

Her contemporary [[Giorgio Vasari]] wrote that Anguissola "has shown greater application and better grace than any other woman of our age in her endeavors at [[drawing]]; she has thus succeeded not only in drawing, coloring and painting from nature, and copying excellently from others, but by herself has created rare and very beautiful paintings."<ref name="Vasari-36">Vasari. p. 36</ref>

==Family==
[[File:Sofonisba Anguissola, Portrætgruppe med kunstnerens fader Amilcare Anguissola og hendes søskende Minerva og Astrubale, ca. 1559, 0001NMK, Nivaagaards Malerisamling.jpg|262px|thumb|''[[Portrait of the Artist's Family (Sofonisba Anguissola)|Family Portrait of Minerva, Amilcare and Asdrubale Anguissola]]'', {{Circa|1559}}]]

The origin and the name of the noble [[:it:Anguissola|Anguissola]] family are linked to an ancient Byzantine tradition, rich in historical details.<ref name="servizi.ct2.it">{{Cite web | url=https://servizi.ct2.it/ssl/wiki/index.php?title=Anguissola | title=Anguissola – EFL – Società Storica Lombarda}}</ref>

According to this tradition, the Anguissolas are descended from the Constantinopolitan warlord Galvano Sordo or Galvano de Soardi/Sourdi (Σούρδη, a family name still in use today in Greece, [[Constantinople]] and [[Smyrna]]).<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last=Gamberini|first=Cecilia|title=Sofonisba Anguissola at the Court of Philip II |encyclopedia=Women Artists in Early Modern Italy|editor-last= Barker |editor-first=Sheila |publisher=Brepols |date=2016 |pages=29–38 |url=https://www.academia.edu/10375100 |isbn=978-1-909400-35-1 |language=en}}</ref> In 717, Galvano served in the [[Byzantine army|army]] of the [[List of Byzantine emperors|Byzantine emperor]] [[Leo III the Isaurian]], and "with an ingenious artificial fire, contributed to [[Siege of Constantinople (717–718)|liberate the city of Constantinople]] from the [[Saracen]]s who had kept it besieged by land and sea".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_diNLAAAAYAAJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_diNLAAAAYAAJ/page/n537 32] |title=Repertorio genealogico delle famiglie confermate nobili e dei titolati nobili esistenti nelle provincie venete...|last=Schroeder|first=Franz|date=1830|publisher=Alvisopoli|language=it}}</ref> This "artificial fire" was the so-called [[Greek fire]], an incendiary weapon developed in the late 7th century, which was responsible for many key [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] military victories, most notably the salvation of Constantinople from two [[Siege of Constantinople (674–678)|Arab sieges]], thus securing the Empire's survival.

Since the shield of the Sourdi carried the [[effigy]] of an [[Asp (reptile)|asp]] (in Latin: ''[[Anguis fragilis|anguis]]''),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://servizi.ct2.it/ssl/wiki/index.php?title=Anguissola|title=Anguissola – EFL – Società Storica Lombarda|website=servizi.ct2.it|language=it|access-date=12 September 2018}}</ref> after Galvano's victory over the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyads]], his brothers-in-arms and the people of [[Constantinople]] exclaimed: "'''''Anguis sola''' fecit victoriam''!", i.e.: "The snake alone brought the victory!" This saying became very popular, and Galvano himself was nicknamed "Anguissola". The emperor eventually bestowed the Anguissola surname to all his descendants.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/anguissola_%28Enciclopedia-Italiana%29/ | title=ANGUISSOLA in "Enciclopedia Italiana"}}</ref><ref name="servizi.ct2.it"/> In this regard, it has been suggested that the [[monogram]] depicted on Anguissola's miniature self-portrait may contain the family motto "''Anguis sola fecit victoriam''"<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Costa|first=Patrizia|date=1999|title=Sofonisba Anguissola's Self-portrait in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts|journal=Arte Lombarda|volume=125|issue=1|pages=54–62|jstor=43132413}}</ref> or, more simply, the name of Anguissola's father, Amilcare.

Fleeing from a [[Black Death|pestilence that raged in Constantinople]], the descendants of the first Anguissola settled in Italy, intermarried with other noble families such as the [[Komnenos|Komnenoi]], the [[House of Gonzaga|Gonzagas]], the [[House of Caracciolo|Caracciolos]], the Scottis and the [[Visconti of Milan|Viscontis]], and built autonomous estates in [[Piacenza]], [[Cremona]], [[Vicenza]] and other regions of Italy. The Anguissolas who settled in the [[Republic of Venice]] belonged to the [[Patrician (post-Roman Europe)|patriciate]] of its capital, [[Venice]] from 1499 to 1612.

==Childhood and training==
[[File:Portrait of Bianca Ponzoni Anguissola, by Sofonisba Anguissola.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Portrait of Bianca Ponzoni Anguissola|Portrait of Bianca Ponzoni Anguissola, the artist's mother]]'', 1557]]
[[File:Sofonisba Anguissola - Self-Portrait - c. 1556.jpg|alt=|thumb|262px|[[Miniature Self Portrait (Anguissola, Boston)|Miniature self-portrait]], 1556. Boston Museum of Fine Arts.<ref>{{cite web |title=Self-Portrait; Sofonisba Anguissola (Italian (Cremonese), about 1532–1625); Italian; about 1556 |url=https://www.mfa.org/collections/object/self-portrait-33656 |publisher=Museum of Fine Arts |location=Boston |id=Accession number 60.155}}</ref>]]

Sofonisba Anguissola was born into a poor but ancient [[Italian nobility|Italian noble family]] in [[Cremona]], [[Lombardy]] in 1532, the oldest of seven children, six of whom were girls.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sofonisba-Anguissola|title=Sofonisba Anguissola {{!}} Biography, Art, & Facts|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=16 January 2019}}</ref> Her father, Amilcare Anguissola, was a member of the [[Cremona|Cremonese]] nobility, and her mother, Bianca Ponzone, was also of noble background.  The family lived near the site of a famous 2nd century B.C. battle, the [[Battle of the Trebia|battle of the Trebbia]], between Romans and Carthaginians, and several members of the Anguissola family were named after ancient [[Ancient Carthage|Carthaginian]] historical characters: Amilcare was named for the Carthaginian general [[Hamilcar Barca]]; he named his first daughter after the tragic Carthaginian figure [[Sophonisba]] and his only son Asdrubale after the warlord [[Hasdrubal Barca]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://owlcation.com/humanities/Life-and-Works-of-Sofonisba-Anguissola-Noblewoman-Portraitist-of-Philip-II|title=Life and Works of Sofonisba Anguissola, Noblewoman, Portraitist of Philip II|newspaper=Hubpages|language=en|access-date=16 January 2019}}</ref> Amilcare Anguissola, inspired by [[Baldassare Castiglione]]'s book [[The Book of the Courtier|Il Cortigiano]], encouraged all his daughters (Sofonisba, [[Elena Anguissola|Elena]], [[Lucia Anguissola|Lucia]], Europa, Minerva and Anna Maria) to cultivate and perfect their talents. Four of her sisters (Elena, Lucia, Europa and Anna Maria) also became painters, but Anguissola was by far the most accomplished and renowned and taught her younger siblings.<ref name=":0" /> [[Elena Anguissola]] ({{Circa|1532}} – 1584) abandoned painting to become a nun. Both Anna Maria and Europa gave up art upon marrying, while [[Lucia Anguissola]] (1536 or 1538 – {{circa}} 1565–1568), the best painter of Sophonisba's sisters, died young. The remaining sister, Minerva, became a writer and [[Latin]] scholar. Asdrubale, Sophonisba's brother, studied music and Latin, but not painting.

Her aristocratic father made sure that Anguissola and her sisters received a well-rounded education that included the fine arts. Anguissola was fourteen when her father sent her and her sister Elena to study with [[Bernardino Campi]], a respected portrait and religious painter of the Lombard school.<ref name=":0" /> When, in 1550, Campi moved to Milan,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_dIXYoHx46-4C/page/111 |title=Gli Artisti Italiani E Stranieri negli Stati Estensi - Catalogo Storico Corredato Di Documenti Inediti |lang=it  |trans-title=Italian and Foreign Artists in the lands of the Este (family) - Historical Catalogue With Unpublished Documents |last=Campori |first=Marchese Giuseppe |location=Modena |publisher=R.D. Camera|publication-date=1865
}}</ref> Anguissola continued her studies with painter [[Bernardino Gatti]] (known as Il Sojaro), a pupil of [[Antonio da Correggio|Correggio]]'s.<ref name=":1" /> Anguissola's apprenticeship with local painters set a precedent for women to be accepted as students of art.<ref>{{Citation  | last = Greer  | first = Germaine
 | title = The Obstacle Race: The Fortunes of Women Painters and Their Work  | place = New York  | publisher = Farrar
 | year = 1978  | page = 180}}</ref><ref>{{Citation  | last = Glenn
 | first = Sharlee Mullins  | title = Sofonisba Anguissola: History's Forgotten Prodigy  | journal = Women's Studies  | volume = 18  | issue = 2/3  | page = 296 | year = 1990 | doi=10.1080/00497878.1990.9978837
}}</ref> Dates are uncertain, but Anguissola probably continued her studies under Gatti for about three years (1551–1553).

One of Anguissola's most important early works was ''[[Portrait of Bernardino Campi Painting Sofonisba Anguissola|Bernardino Campi Painting Sofonisba Anguissola]]'' (c. 1550).  The unusual double portrait depicts Anguissola's art teacher in the act of painting a portrait of her.<ref name=":1" />

In 1554, at age twenty-two, Anguissola traveled to [[Rome]], where she spent her time sketching various scenes and people. While in Rome, she was introduced to [[Michelangelo]] by another painter who was familiar with her work. Anguissola initially showed Michelangelo a drawing of a laughing girl, but the painter challenged her to draw a weeping boy, a subject which he felt would be more challenging.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.theflorentine.net/art-culture/2017/11/michelangelo-buonarroti-women/|title=Michelangelo Buonarroti and his women|date=2 November 2017|website=The Florentine|language=en-US|access-date=16 January 2019}}</ref> Anguissola drew ''[[Child Bitten by a Lobster|Boy Bitten by a Crayfish]]'' and sent it back to Michelangelo, who immediately recognized her talent.<ref name=":0" /> Michelangelo subsequently gave Anguissola sketches from his notebooks to draw in her own style and offered advice on the results. For at least two years, Anguissola continued this informal study, receiving substantial guidance from Michelangelo.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sites.psu.edu/unspokenartists/2015/09/10/sofonisba-anguissola-late-renaissance/|title=Sofonisba Anguissola: Late Renaissance {{!}} Unspoken Artists|website=sites.psu.edu|access-date=16 January 2019}}</ref>

==Experiences as a female artist==
[[Image:Self-portrait with Bernardino Campi by Sofonisba Anguissola.jpg|right|thumb|''[[Bernardino Campi]] Painting Sofonisba Anguissola'', c.&nbsp;1550s]]

Anguissola's education and training had different implications from those of men, since men and women worked in separate spheres. Her training was not to help her into a profession where she would compete for commissions with male artists, but to make her a better wife, companion, and mother.<ref>Sylvia Ferino-Pagden and Maria Kusche, Sofonisba Anguissola: A Renaissance Woman, (Washington D.C.: The National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1995).</ref> Although Anguissola enjoyed significantly more encouragement and support than the average woman of her day, her social class did not allow her to transcend the constraints of her sex. Without the possibility of studying anatomy or drawing from life (it was considered unacceptable for a lady to view nudes), she could not undertake the complex multi-figure compositions required for large-scale religious or [[history painting]]s.

Instead, she experimented with new styles of portraiture, setting subjects informally. Self-portraits and family members were her most frequent subjects, as seen in such paintings as ''Self-Portrait'' (1554, [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]], Vienna), ''Portrait of Amilcare, Minerva and Asdrubale Anguissola'' (c. 1557–1558, [[Nivaagaard]]s Malerisambling, Nivå, Denmark), and her most famous picture, ''The Chess Game'' (1555, Muzeum Narodowe, Poznań), which depicted her sisters Lucia, Minerva and Europa. Painted when Anguissola was 23 years old, ''The Chess Game'' is an intimate representation of an everyday family scene, combining elaborate formal clothing with very informal facial expressions, which was unusual for Italian art at this time. ''The Chess Game'' explored a new kind of genre painting which places her sisters in a domestic setting instead of the formal or allegorical settings that were popular at the time.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Old mistresses : women, art, and ideology |last1=Rozsika |first1=Parker |author-link=Rozsika Parker |last2=Pollock |first2=Griselda |author2-link=Griselda Pollock |isbn=0710008791 |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |location=London |oclc=8160325 |date = 29 October 1981}}</ref> This painting has been regarded as a [[conversation piece]], which is an informal portrait of a group engaging in lively conversation or some activity .

Anguissola's self-portraits also offer evidence of what she thought her place was as a woman artist. Normally, men were seen as creative actors and women as passive objects, but in her self-portrait of 1556, Anguissola presents herself as the artist, separating herself from the role as the object to be painted.<ref>Mary Garrard, "Here's Looking at Me: Sofonisba Anguissola and the Problem of the Woman Artist," Renaissance Quarterly 47, no. 3:(1994): 556.</ref> Additional pieces show how she rebels against the notion that women are objects, in essence an instrument to be played by men. Her self-portrait of 1561 show her playing an instrument, taking on a different role.<ref>Mary Garrard, "Here's Looking at Me: Sofonisba Anguissola and the Problem of the Woman Artist," Renaissance Quarterly 47, no. 3:(1994): 557.</ref> In her later portraits she represents multiple statuses by using a double portrait image portraying herself as an artist or a wife.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cheney |first=Liana De Girolami |date=1993 |title=Review of Sofonisba Anguissola: The First Great Woman Artist of the Renaissance. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2541628 |journal=The Sixteenth Century Journal |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=942–947 |doi=10.2307/2541628 |jstor=2541628 |issn=0361-0160}}</ref> 
[[File:MassimilianoStampa.jpg|alt=Portrait of Marquess Massimiliano Stampa|thumb|Portrait of Marquess Massimiliano Stampa (1557), the artist's first commissioned work.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Portrait of Marquess Massimiliano Stampa |url=https://art.thewalters.org/detail/1377//}}</ref>]] 

She became well known outside of Italy, and in 1559 King Philip II of Spain asked her to be lady-in-waiting and art teacher to Queen [[Elisabeth of Valois]], who was only 14 at the time. Queen Elisabeth of Valois and Anguissola became good friends, and when the Queen died nine years later, Anguissola left the court because she was so sad. She had painted the entire royal family and even the Pope commissioned Anguissola to do a portrait of the Queen.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Weidemann|first1=Christiane|last2=Larass|first2=Petra|last3=Klier|first3=Melanie|title=50 Women Artists You Should Know|publisher=Prestel|isbn=978-3-7913-3956-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/50womenartistsyo0000weid/page/14 14, 15]|year=2008|url=https://archive.org/details/50womenartistsyo0000weid/page/14}}</ref>

==At the Spanish Court==
[[Image:Isabel von Valois by Sofonisba Anguissola.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of [[Elisabeth of Valois|Queen Elisabeth of Spain]]]]
In 1558, already established as a painter, Anguissola went to Milan, where she painted the Duke of Alba, [[Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba|Fernando Álvarez de Toledo]]. He in turn recommended her to the Spanish king, [[Philip II of Spain|Philip II]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/arth200/artist/sofonisba.htm|title=Sofonisba Anguissola|website=www.oneonta.edu|access-date=16 January 2019}}</ref> The following year, Anguissola was invited to join the Spanish Court, which was a turning point in her career.<ref name=":1" />

Anguissola was approximately 26 when she left Italy to join the Spanish court. In the winter of 1559–1560, she arrived in [[Madrid]] to serve as a court painter and lady-in-waiting to the new queen, [[Elisabeth of Valois]], Philip's third wife, who was herself an amateur portraitist. Anguissola soon gained Elisabeth's admiration and confidence and spent the following years painting many official portraits for the court, including Philip II's sister, [[Joanna of Austria, Princess of Portugal|Joanna]], and his son, [[Don Carlos, Prince of Asturias|Don Carlos]].

These types of painting were far more demanding than the informal portraits upon which Anguissola had based her early reputation, as it took a tremendous amount of time and energy to render the many intricate designs of the fine fabrics and elaborate jewelry associated with royal subjects. Yet despite the challenge, Anguissola's paintings of Elisabeth of Valois – and later of [[Anna of Austria (1549–1580)|Anne of Austria]], Philip II's fourth wife – were vibrant and full of life.
[[Image:Portrait of Philip II of Spain by Sofonisba Anguissola - 002b.jpg|thumb|271x271px|The Prado Philip&nbsp;II, now recognised as by Anguissola|alt=]]

During her 14-year residence, she guided the artistic development of Queen Elisabeth, and influenced the art made by her two daughters, [[Isabella Clara Eugenia]] and [[Catalina Micaela of Spain|Catherine Michaela]]. Anguissola painted a portrait of the King's sister, [[Margaret of Parma]], for [[Pope Pius IV]] in 1561 and, after Queen Elisabeth's death in childbirth in 1568, painted the likeness of [[Anna of Austria, Queen of Spain|Anne of Austria]], Philip's fourth wife. While she continued painting portraits at the court, the Althorp ''Self-Portrait'' is the "only securely attributed work surviving from this period".<ref>Marco Tanzi. "Anguissola." ''Grove Art Online''. ''Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University Press. Web. 14 February 2017. [http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T003005pg1 subscription required]</ref> For the royal family, Anguissola produced detailed scenes of their lives that now hang in the [[Prado]] Museum. With the gifts and a dowry of 12,000 scudi she earned along with her salary as court painter and lady-in-waiting to the queen, she amassed an admirable return from her craft.
[[File:Elizabeth.of.Valois.JPG|thumb|Elizabeth of Valois (Attr. Sofonisba Anguissola, 1561–1565). Museo del Prado, Madrid]]
[[File:La reina Ana de Austria, por Sofonisba Anguissola.jpg|thumb|Queen Anna of Austria by Sofonisba Anguissola]]

While in the service of Elisabeth of Valois, Anguissola worked closely with [[Alonso Sanchez Coello]]. So closely in fact, that the famous painting of the middle-aged King Philip II was long attributed to Coello or [[Juan Pantoja de la Cruz]]. Only recently has Anguissola been recognized as the painting's creator.<ref>''Museo del Prado, Catálogo de las pinturas'', 1996, p. 7, Ministerio de Educación y Cultura, Madrid, {{ISBN|84-87317-53-7}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Sofonisba 1560.jpg|alt=|thumb|Self-portrait, {{Circa|1560}}]]
After the death of [[Elisabeth of Valois]] in 1568, Philip II took a special interest in Anguissola's future. He had wished to marry her to one of the nobles in the Spanish Court. In 1571, when she was approaching the age of 40, Anguissola entered an arranged marriage to a Sicilian nobleman chosen for her by the Spanish court.<ref name=":1" /> Philip II paid a dowry of 12,000 scudi for her marriage to [[:it:Fabrizio Moncada|Fabrizio Moncada Pignatelli]], son of the Prince of Paternò, Viceroy of [[Sicily]]. Fabrizio was said to be supportive of her painting. Anguissola and her husband left Spain with the king's permission, and are believed to have lived in Paternò (near Catania) from 1573 to 1579, though some recent scholarship has suggested that the couple remained in Spain.<ref name=":0" /> She received a royal pension of 100 ducats that enabled her to continue working and tutoring would-be painters. Her private fortune also supported her family and brother Asdrubale following Amilcare Anguissola's financial decline and death. In Paternò she painted and donated "La Madonna dell'Itria".

Anguissola's husband died in 1579 under mysterious circumstances.<ref name=":1" /> Two years later, while traveling to Cremona by sea, she fell in love with the ship's captain, sea merchant Orazio Lomellino.<ref name=":0" /> Against the wishes of her brother, they married in Pisa on 24 December 1584<ref name="Tanzi_Oxford"/><ref name=":1" /> and lived in Genoa until 1620. She had no children, but maintained cordial relationships with her nieces and her stepson, Giulio.

==Later years==
Lomellino's fortune, plus a generous pension from Philip II, allowed Anguissola to paint freely and live comfortably. By now quite famous, Anguissola received many colleagues who came to visit and discuss the arts with her. Several of these were younger artists, eager to learn and mimic Anguissola's distinctive style.

In her later life, Anguissola painted not only portraits but religious themes, as she had done in the days of her youth, although many of the latter have been lost. She was the leading portrait painter in Genoa until she moved to [[Palermo]] in her last years. In 1620 she painted her last self-portrait.
[[Image:Sofonisba-Anguissola-by-Van-Dyck.jpg|thumb|[[Anthony van Dyck]], portrait of Anguissola in 1624, when she was 92 and, according to Van Dyck's notes, mentally still very sharp.]]
On 12 July 1624, Anguissola was visited by the young Flemish painter [[Anthony van Dyck]], who recorded sketches from his visit to her in his sketchbook.<ref>Jaffé, Michael. "Dyck, Anthony van." ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 26 May 2014.</ref> Van Dyck, who believed her to be 96 years of age (she was actually about 92) noted that although "her eyesight was weakened", Anguissola was still mentally alert.<ref name="Tanzi_Oxford">Tanzi, Marco. "Anguissola." ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 23 May 2014.</ref> Excerpts of the advice she gave him about painting survive from this visit,<ref>{{cite book|last=Adriani|first=Gert|title=Anton Van Dyck: Italienisches Skizzenbuch|year=1940|publisher=Schroll|location=Vienna}}</ref> and he was said to have claimed that their conversation taught him more about the "true principles" of painting than anything else in his life.{{sfnp|EB|1878}}{{sfnp|EB|1911}} Van Dyck drew her portrait while visiting her. This last portrait made of Anguissola survives on public display at [[Knole]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Barnes|first=Susan|title=Van Dyck: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings|year=2004|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|isbn=978-0-300-09928-7|page=171}}</ref>  The next year, she returned to Sicily.

Anguissola became a wealthy patron of the arts after the weakening of her sight.<ref name=":3" /> In 1625, she died at age 93 in Palermo.

Anguissola's adoring second husband, who described her as small of frame, yet "great among mortals", buried her with honor in Palermo at the Church of [[San Giorgio dei Genovesi, Palermo|San Giorgio dei Genovesi]]. Seven years later, on the anniversary of what would have been her 100th birthday, her husband placed an inscription on her tomb that read in part:

{{Blockquote|1=To Sofonisba, my wife, who is recorded among the illustrious women of the world, outstanding in portraying the images of man. Orazio Lomellino, in sorrow for the loss of his great love, in 1632, dedicated this little tribute to such a great woman.|2=Orazio Lomellino|3=Inscription on Anguissola's tomb.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://78friends.com/The_High_Priestess |title=The High Priestess: Description |publisher=78 Friends |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707040421/http://78friends.com/The_High_Priestess |archive-date=2012-07-07 }}</ref>}}
[[File:Sofonisba Anguissola Joanna of Portugal.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Joanna of Austria, Princess of Portugal. 1550s. Private collection.]]

==Style==
[[Image:Self portrait, 1610.jpg|thumb|285x285px|Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-Portrait, 1610|alt=]]
The influence of Campi, whose reputation was based on portraiture, is evident in Anguissola's early works, such as the ''Self-Portrait'' ([[Florence]], [[Uffizi]]). Her work was akin to the worldly tradition of Cremona, influenced greatly by the art of Parma and Mantua, in which even religious works were imbued with extreme delicacy and charm. From Gatti she seems to have absorbed elements reminiscent of [[Correggio]], beginning a trend in Cremonese painting of the late 16th century. This new direction is reflected in ''Lucia, Minerva and Europa Anguissola Playing Chess'' (1555; Poznań, N. Mus.) in which portraiture merges into a quasi-[[genre works|genre]] scene, a characteristic derived from Brescian models.

The main body of Anguissola's earlier work consists of self-portraits (the many "autoritratti" reflect the fact that portraits of her were frequently requested due to her fame) and portraits of her family, which are considered by many to be her finest works.

Approximately fifty works have been attributed to Anguissola.  Her paintings can be seen at galleries in Baltimore ([[Walters Art Museum]]), Bergamo, Berlin ([[Gemäldegalerie]]), Graz ([[Universalmuseum Joanneum#Alte Galerie|Joanneum Alte Galerie]]), Madrid ([[Museo del Prado]]), Milan ([[Pinacoteca di Brera]]), Milwaukee ([[Milwaukee Art Museum]]), Naples ([[National Museum of Capodimonte]]), Poznań ([[National Museum, Poznań]]), Siena ([[Pinacoteca Nazionale (Siena)|Pinacoteca Nazionale]]), Southampton (City Art Gallery), and Vienna ([[Kunsthistorisches Museum]]).

==Works==
{{Main|List of paintings by Sofonisba Anguissola}}

==Historical significance==
Sofonisba Anguissola's oeuvre had a lasting influence on subsequent generations of artists. Her portrait of Queen Elisabeth of Valois with a [[zibellino]] (the pelt of a marten set with a head and feet of jewelled gold) was widely copied by many of the finest artists of the time, such as [[Peter Paul Rubens]], while [[Caravaggio]] allegedly took inspiration from Anguissola's work for his ''[[Boy Bitten by a Lizard]]''.<ref name=":2" />

Anguissola is significant to feminist art historians. Although there has never been a period in Western history in which women were completely absent in the visual arts, Anguissola's great success opened the way for larger numbers of women to pursue serious careers as artists; [[Lavinia Fontana]] expressed in a letter written in 1579 that she and another woman, [[Irene di Spilimbergo]], had "set [their] heart[s] on learning how to paint" after seeing one of Anguissola's portraits.<ref name="Jacobs">{{cite journal|last1=Jacobs|first1=Frederika H.|title=Woman's Capacity to Create: The Unusual Case of Sofonisba Anguissola|journal=Renaissance Quarterly|date=1994|volume=47|issue=1|pages=74–101|jstor=2863112|doi=10.2307/2863112|s2cid=162701161 }}</ref> Some of her more well-known successors include [[Lavinia Fontana]], [[Barbara Longhi]], [[Fede Galizia]] and [[Artemisia Gentileschi]].

A Cremonese school bears the name Liceo Statale Sofonisba Anguissola.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://biography.yourdictionary.com/sofonisba-anguissola|title=Sofonisba Anguissola Facts|website=biography.yourdictionary.com|access-date=2020-03-04}}</ref>

American artist [[Charles Willson Peale]] (1741–1827) named his daughter [[Sophonisba Angusciola Peale|Sophonisba Angusciola]] (1786–1859; married name Sellers).  She became a painter and a [[quilter]] whose works are in the [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]].

==Crater==
On 4 August 2017 a [[Anguissola (crater)|crater]] on [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] was named after her.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/15621?__fsk=1618881824 | title=Planetary Names: Crater, craters: Anguissola on Mercury}}</ref>

== Recent exhibits ==
* 2019-2020: Anguissola, along with [[Lavinia Fontana]], was the focus of a major exhibit entitled "A Tale of Two Women Painters" at the [[Museo del Prado]], Madrid.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.museodelprado.es/en/whats-on/exhibition/a-tale-of-two-women-painters-sofonisba-anguissola/5f6c56c8-e81a-bf38-5f3f-9a2c2f5c60eb|title=A Tale of Two Women Painters: Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fontana - Exhibition - Museo Nacional del Prado|website=www.museodelprado.es}}</ref>
* 2022: "Sofonisba – History's forgotten miracle" in the Nivaagaard Malerisamling <ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.nivaagaard.dk/en/sofonisba-historiens-glemte-mirakel|title=Sofonisba – History's forgotten miracle}}</ref>
* 2023: "Sofonisba Anguissola" in Rijksmuseum Twenthe <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rijksmuseumtwenthe.nl/content/3287/en/nu-te-zien-sofonisba-anguissola|title=Sofonisba Anguissola}}</ref>
* 2023-2024: Anguissola is featured in the exhibit "Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400-1800"<ref>Banta, Andaleeb Badiee, Alexa Greist, and Theresa Kutasz Christensen, eds. <u>Making her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400-1800</u>. Toronto, Ontario: Goose Lane Editions, 2023. Published in conjunction with an exhibition of the same title, organized by and presented at the Baltimore Museum of Art, October 1, 2023-January 7, 2024 and the Art Gallery of Ontario, March 30, 2024-July 1, 2024.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Maria Kusche]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin|}}
* {{cite EB9 |mode=cs2 |wstitle=Sophonisba Angussola |volume=2  |ref={{harvid|EB|1878}} |page=47 }}
* {{cite EB1911 |mode=cs2 |wstitle=Sophonisba Angussola |volume=2 |ref={{harvid|EB|1911}} |page=44}}
* {{Cite book|last=Chadwick|first=Whitney|title=Women, Art, and Society|publisher=Thames and Hudson|location=London|year=1990|isbn=978-0-500-20354-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/womenartsociety3edchad}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Ferino-Pagden|first1=Sylvia|last2=Kusche|first2=Maria|title=Sofonisba Anguissola: A Renaissance Woman|publisher=National Museum of Women in the Arts|year=1995|isbn=978-0-940979-31-4}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Harris|first1=Ann Sutherland|last2=Nochlin|first2=Linda|title=Women Artists: 1550–1950|publisher=Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Knopf|location=New York|year=1976|isbn=978-0-394-41169-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/womenartists155000harr}}
* {{Cite book|last=Perlingieri|first=Ilya Sandra|title=Sofonisba Anguissola: The First Great Woman Artist of the Renaissance|publisher=Rizzoli International|year=1992|isbn=978-0-8478-1544-9}}
* {{Cite book|last=Pizzagalli|first=Daniela|title=La signora della pittura: vita di Sofonisba Anguissola, gentildonna e artista nel Rinascimento|language=it|trans-title=The Lady of the Painting: The Life of Sofonisba Anguissola, Gentlewoman and Artist of the Renaissance|publisher=Rizzoli|location=Milan|year=2003|isbn=978-88-17-99509-2}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |last=Caroli |first=Flavio |url=https://archive.org/details/sofonisbaanguiss0000caro |title=Sofonisba Anguissola e le sue sorelle |publisher=Mondadori |year=1987 |isbn=9788804300892 |location=Milan |url-access=registration |lang=it}}
* {{Cite journal |last=de Tolnay |first=Charles |year=1941 |title=Sofonisba Anguissola and her relations with Michelangelo |journal=Journal of the Walters Art Gallery |volume=IV |pages=115–119}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Garrard |first=Mary |year=1994 |title=Here's looking at me: Sofonisba Anguissola and the problem of the woman artist |journal=Renaissance Quarterly |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=556–622|doi=10.2307/2863021 |jstor=2863021 }}
* {{Cite news |last=Giordano |first=Francesco |date=2006-06-29 |title=Sofonisba Anguissola: una vita per la pittura |work=I Paternesi de La Sicilia |location=Catania}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Giordano |first=Francesco |year=2008 |title=Sofonisba Anguissola a Paternò |journal=Ricerche-C.R.E.S. Centro di Ricerca Economica e Scientifica |location=Catania |volume=12 |issue=1}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Glenn |first=Sharlee Mullins |date=Nov 1990 |title=Sofonisba Anguissola: History's forgotten prodigy |journal=Women's Studies |language=en |publisher=Gordon and Breach, Science Publishers S.A. |volume=18 |issue=2–3 |pages=295–308 |doi=10.1080/00497878.1990.9978837 |issn=0049-7878}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Jacobs |first=Fredrika |date=Spring 1994 |title=Woman's capacity to create: The unusual case of Sofonisba Anguissola |journal=Renaissance Quarterly |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=74–101|doi=10.2307/2863112 |jstor=2863112 }}
* {{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/italianwomenarti0000unse/page/106/mode/2up |title=Italian Women Artists from Renaissance to Baroque |date=2007 |publisher=Skira |isbn=9788876249198 |editor-last=Nicholson |editor-first=Elizabeth S. G. |location=Milan |pages=106–121 |editor-last2=Price |editor-first2=Rebecca |editor-last3=McAllister |editor-first3=Jane |editor-last4=Peterfreund |editor-first4=Karen I. |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Pagden |first1=Sylvia Ferino |title=Sofonisba Anguissola: A Renaissance Woman |last2=Kusche |first2=Maria |publisher=National Museum of Women in Arts |year=1995 |isbn=0940979314 |location=Washington, DC}} {{endash}} exhibition catalog

==Novels based on her life==
* {{Cite book |last=Boullosa |first=Carmen |title=La virgen y el violín |publisher=Editorial Siruela |year=2008 |isbn=9788498411898 |location=Madrid |language=es |trans-title=The Virgin and the Violin |ref=none}} {{endash}} a novel on Sofonisba Anguissola's life
* {{Cite book |last=DiGiuseppe |first=Donna |title=Lady in Ermine — The Story of a Woman Who Painted The Renaissance: A Biographical Novel of Sofonisba Anguissola |publisher=Bagwin Books |year=2019 |isbn=978-0-86698-821-6 |location=Tempe, AZ |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Montani |first=Chiara |title=Sofonisba I ritratti dell'anima |year=2018 |publisher=Il Ciliegio |isbn=9788867715510 |location=Lurago d'Erba |ref=none |lang=it}}
* {{Cite book |last=Pierini |first=Giovanna |title=La dama con il ventaglio |publisher=Electa |year=2018 |isbn=9788891811776 |location=Milano |ref=none |lang=it}}
* {{Cite book |last=Vihos |first=Lisa |title=The Lone Snake: The Story of Sofonisba Anguissola |publisher=Water's Edge Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-952526-10-7 |location=Sheboygan, WI |ref=none}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sofonisba Anguissola}}
* [[:s:it:Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori (1568)/Madonna Properzia de' Rossi|Original text]] mentioning her from 1568 edition with illustration of Properzia de' Rossi by [[Giorgio Vasari]] on Italian [[Wikisource]]
* [http://www.gardnermuseum.org/collection/artwork/3rd_floor/titian_room/portrait_of_juana_of_austria_and_a_young_girl?filter=room:1807 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum]
* [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/anguissola_sofonisba.html ArtCyclopedia]
* [http://www.kressfoundation.org/collection/ViewCollection.aspx?id=72&artistID=20970 The Kress Foundation]
* [http://www.elpais.com/articulo/ensayo/Ser/ser/Goya/Anguissola/elpepuculbab/20080802elpbabens_9/Tes El País archivo]

{{Sofonisba Anguissola}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anguissola, Sofonisba}}
[[Category:1530s births]]
[[Category:1625 deaths]]
[[Category:Painters from Cremona]]
[[Category:Italian people of Greek descent]]
[[Category:16th-century Italian painters]]
[[Category:17th-century Italian painters]]
[[Category:17th-century women painters]]
[[Category:17th-century Italian women artists]]
[[Category:Italian Mannerist painters]]
[[Category:Italian portrait painters]]
[[Category:Italian women painters]]
[[Category:Italian court painters]]
[[Category:16th-century Italian women artists]]
[[Category:Sibling artists]]
[[Category:Italian Renaissance painters]]
[[Category:Sofonisba Anguissola]]
[[Category:Artists from Palermo]]