Sofonisba Anguissola (c. 1535-1625) began painting as a young girl in Cremona, Northern Italy in the 1540s. She was influenced equally by both grand mannerists and realistic portraitists current in Lombardy during the mid-sixteenth century. Sofonisba’s work continues that of Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Titian earlier in the century and is contemporaneous with the portraiture of Lorenzo Lotto and Giovan Battista Moroni. At the end of 1559, Sofonisba was summoned to the royal court in Madrid and imported her Lombard style into the heart of an empire. Sofonisba painted well into the seventeenth century. Discover her story with Lady in Ermine ISBN 978-0-86698-821-6.
A selection of Sofonisba’s work in chronological order:
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- The Chess Game (1555) Museum Narodow Poznan, Poland. By 1600, Chess Game is at the Roman estate of Fulvio Orsini. Cat. 43
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- Family Portrait (1558-59), Nivaa, Nivaagaards Malerisamling
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- Portrait of Philip II with Rosary (c. 1568) Prado Museum, Madrid
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- Portrait of Anne of Austria (1573) Prado Museum, Madrid
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- Portrait of Francesco de Medici, Grand-duke of Tuscany, (1580) oil on canvas, see Alfio Nicotra, “Sofonisba Anguissola Ritrattista dei Medici dei Savoia” Incontri La Sicilia e l’altrove Anno II, numero 5 October-December 2013
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- Portrait of Catalina Michaela, Duchess of Savoy(1585) Prado Museum, Madrid; this portrait has been misattributed to Sanchez Coello, see Daniela Pizzagalli
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- Lady in Ermine, Portrait of Catalina Michaela (1591) Pollok House, Glasgow; this portrait has been alternately misattributed to El Greco and Sanchez Coello
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- Portrait of Margaret of Savoy with Dwarf (1595) private collection, Madrid; this painting has been cited as an influence on Diego Velazquez’ 1656 Las Meninas
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- Portrait of Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia (1599) Spanish Embassy, Paris
Sofonisba.net, Lady in Ermine 