Sofonisba Anguissola

Sofonisba Anguissola – Her progressive father ensured a good education

Sofonisba Anguissola was born in Cremona in Italy in 1531 or 1532, the eldest child of the patricians Amilcare Anguissola and his wife Bianca Ponzona. Sofonisba, her five sisters and one brother received a humanistic education, which was a rare privilege for women at this time, and thanks above all to the progressive attitude of the father, who was inspired by reading the famous Il Libro del Cortegiano by the Renaissance literary figure Baldassare Castaglione, a friend of Raphael. Sofonisba owed her name to the historic figure Sophonisbe, Queen of Numidia and daughter of the Carthusian general Hasdrubal. Four of her sisters – Lucia, Europa, Anna Maria and Elena – also devoted themselves to painting, although Elena later chose to join the Dominicans as a nun; the fifth sister, Minerva, turned to literature. 

Increasing successes as an unconventional portrait painter

Thanks to her noble roots, Sofonisba Anguissola received tuition from the renowned portraitist and painter of religious scenes, Bernadino Campi, who took her and her sister Elena into his home. She later continued her apprenticeship with Bernardino Gatti, known as ‘Il Sojaro’, whilst the father looked after the management of his talented daughter and sought commissions. During a stay in Rome, Sofonisba visited the great Michelangelo who immediately recognised her talent and gave the 22-year-old guidance and encouragement, which her father later thanked with a warm letter. Sofonisba Anguissola’s portrait painting was characterised by informal arrangements which allow a view into the everyday life of the aristocracy. This soon won a certain fame which also earned her the favour of the Duke of Alba, Fernando de Toledo, who recommended her to the Spanish King Philipp II. Anguissola painted portraits of the Spanish royal family and gave lessons to Queen Elisabeth von Valois, who was just 14 years old. 

A respected artist and teacher into old age

Sofonisba Anguissola developed her unconventional painting style also because, as a woman, she was not permitted to pursue anatomical studies and to paint on large-format canvases. With her portraits, however, she achieved such fame during her lifetime that even Peter Paul Rubens copied her depiction of the child Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain in his younger years. Anguissola was so close to her student Elisabeth, that she fell into a deep depression following the latter’s premature death and left the Spanish court. She married the son of the Sicilian Viceroy and lived for a number of years on Sicily. After her husband died, she moved to Genoa where she fell in love with a captain, whom she married without the permission of the king. Anguissola took up painting again and also taught numerous young students whereby her husband’s fortune and the pension of the Spanish court guaranteed her financial independence. When she could no longer paint in old age due to physical weaknesses and an eye complaint, she returned to Sicily, where the young Anthony van Dyck sought her out and asked for her advice.  

Sofonisba Anguissola died in Palermo in Italy on 16 November 1625.