38 Facts About Sofonisba Anguissola

Sofonisba Anguissola, known as Sophonisba Angussola or Sophonisba Anguisciola, was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Cremona to a relatively poor noble family.

Sofonisba Anguissola received a well-rounded education that included the fine arts, and her apprenticeship with local painters set a precedent for women to be accepted as students of art.

The Spanish queen, Elizabeth of Valois, was a keen amateur painter and in 1559 Sofonisba Anguissola was recruited to go to Madrid as her tutor, with the rank of lady-in-waiting.

Sofonisba Anguissola later became an official court painter to the king, Philip II, and adapted her style to the more formal requirements of official portraits for the Spanish court.

Sofonisba Anguissola moved to Sicily, and later Pisa and Genoa, where she continued to practice as a leading portrait painter.

The origin and the name of the noble Sofonisba Anguissola family are linked to an ancient Byzantine tradition, rich in historical details.

Sofonisba Anguissola was born into a poor but ancient Italian noble family in Cremona, Lombardy in 1532, the oldest of seven children, six of whom were girls.

Sofonisba Anguissola's father, Amilcare Anguissola, was a member of the Cremonese nobility, and her mother, Bianca Ponzone, was of noble background.

The family lived near the site of a famous 2nd century BC battle, the battle of the Trebbia, between Romans and Carthaginians, and several members of the Sofonisba Anguissola family were named after ancient 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.

Four of her sisters became painters, but Sofonisba Anguissola was by far the most accomplished and renowned and taught her younger siblings.

Sofonisba 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.

When, in 1550, Campi moved to Milan, Sofonisba Anguissola continued her studies with painter Bernardino Gatti, a pupil of Correggio's.

Dates are uncertain, but Sofonisba Anguissola probably continued her studies under Gatti for about three years.

In 1554, at age twenty-two, Sofonisba Anguissola traveled to Rome, where she spent her time sketching various scenes and people.

Sofonisba 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.

Sofonisba Anguissola drew Boy Bitten by a Crayfish and sent it back to Michelangelo, who immediately recognized her talent.

Sofonisba Anguissola's 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.

Sofonisba Anguissola's self-portraits offer evidence of what she thought her place was as a woman artist.

Sofonisba Anguissola 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 Sofonisba Anguissola became good friends, and when the Queen died nine years later, Sofonisba Anguissola left the court because she was so sad.

Sofonisba Anguissola had painted the entire royal family and even the Pope commissioned Anguissola to do a portrait of the Queen.

In 1558, already established as a painter, Sofonisba Anguissola went to Milan, where she painted the Duke of Alba, Fernando Alvarez de Toledo.

Sofonisba Anguissola in turn recommended her to the Spanish king, Philip II.

Sofonisba Anguissola was approximately 26 when she left Italy to join the Spanish court.

Sofonisba 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, and his son, Don Carlos.

Sofonisba 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 Anne of Austria, Philip's fourth wife.

Only recently has Sofonisba Anguissola been recognized as the painting's creator.

Sofonisba Anguissola had wished to marry her to one of the nobles in the Spanish Court.

In 1571, when she was approaching the age of 40, Sofonisba Anguissola entered an arranged marriage to a Sicilian nobleman chosen for her by the Spanish court.

Sofonisba Anguissola received a royal pension of 100 ducats that enabled her to continue working and tutoring would-be painters.

Sofonisba Anguissola had no children, but maintained cordial relationships with her nieces and her stepson, Giulio.

Sofonisba Anguissola was the leading portrait painter in Genoa until she moved to Palermo in her last years.

Van Dyck, who believed her to be 96 years of age noted that although "her eyesight was weakened", Sofonisba Anguissola was still mentally alert.

Sofonisba Anguissola became a wealthy patron of the arts after the weakening of her sight.

Sofonisba 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.

Sofonisba Anguissola's 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.

Sofonisba Anguissola's oeuvre had a lasting influence on subsequent generations of artists.

Sofonisba Anguissola became a painter and a quilter whose works are in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.