#sofonisba anguissola

Portrait of Prince Alessandro Farnese (c. 1560), Sofonisba Anguissola.

National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin

SOFONISBA ANGUISSOLA. Self-Portrait at the Easel, 1556, oil on canvas.

But Sofonisba of Cremona, the daughter of Messer Amilcaro Anguisciuola, has laboured at the difficulties of design with greater study and better grace than any other woman of our time, and she has not only succeeded in drawing, colouring, and copying from nature, and in making excellent copies of works by other hands, but has also executed by herself alone some very choice and beautiful works of painting.

Giorgio Vasari, The Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects 

Sofonisba(ofSophonisba) was born in Cremona (at that time, part of the Duchy of Milano, ruled by the Austrian pawn, Francesco II Sforza) around 1532. She was the eldest child of nobleman (but not wealthy) Amilcare Anguissola (also spelled Angussola or Aguisciola) and his second wife, noblewoman Bianca Ponzone. Following Sofonisba, Bianca would give birth to five other daughters (Elena,Lucia, Europa, Annamaria – all future painters - and Minerva, a writer and Latin teacher) and a son, Asdrubale.

Amilcare Anguissola was an art lover and part of the culturally vibrant Cremonese high society. It’s no wonder then that he introduced his daughters to the study of literature, art and music, although he had another much prosaic reason behind it. He couldn’t afford to pay a dowry for six daughters, and so he hoped they could provide for themselves and secure additional incomes to the meagre familial funds.

From 1545 to 1549, Sofonisba studied fine arts at Bernardino Campi’s workshop (although Vasari affirms it was Giulio). When her maestro left Cremona, she moved to study under artist Bernardino Gatti(calledil Sojaro).

As an art appreciator, Amilcare must have noticed his daughter’s talent and also thanks to his (perhaps interested) support, he contributed to making Sofonisba well known outside Cremona. He, for example, sent two of her drawings as a gift to the Duke of Ferrara and in 1554 the proud father sent to Michelangelo Buonarroti one of her works, a drawing representing a laughing girl. It’s said Michelangelo appreciated her style but challenged the younger painter to draw a good crying face. She then proceeded to draw and sent to him Fanciullo morso da un gambero, where she sketched her younger brother, Asdrubale, crying because his sister Europa had just pinched him. This earned Sofonisba Michelangelo’s appreciation and guidance. The sketch, alongside Buonarroti’s Cleopatra, was sent to Cosimo I de’ Medici.

Amilcare introduced Sofonisba’s art to some of the most notorious Italian dynasties, such as Gonzaga, Este and Farnese, on whose behalf she painted some portraits.

In 1557 she stayed for about a month in Piacenza to study miniature under the great artist Giulio Clovio, who also showed her many masterpieces, like Raffaello’s Madonna Sistina (now in Dresden). In 1557, she was commissioned a portrait of Massimiliano Stampa, the young son of Ermes Stampa second marquis of Soncino, one of the most important noble families in Lombardia. By the time she finished the portrait (1558), Ermes had died and Massimiliano had become the third Marquis.

Sofonisba’s life changed dramatically in 1559. In June of that year, 14-years old Élisabeth of ValoisbecameFelipe II of Spain’s third wife. The Duke of Alba, at that time Governor of the Duchy of Milan, convinced the Spanish sovereign to hire Sofonisba (already a famous artist at European level) to give the young new Queen painting lessons. The whole Anguissola family moved then to Milan, where they stayed, personal guests at the Governor’s mansion for about two months before Sofonisba left for Madrid, where she arrived at the beginning of 1560.

The artist and the teen Queen became fast friends. She held the office of official portrait painter as well as lady-in-waiting and art teacher for the Queen and her two daughters, the princesses Isabella Clara EugeniaandCatalina Micaela, for almost twenty years, enjoying the Royal couple’s sponsorship and a very generous annual pension of 100 ducats. It is known she used part of her salary to support her family back in Cremona, especially following her father’s death in 1573. Sofonisba financially helped her brother Asdrubale, to the point of granting him an annual stipend of 800 lire and, later in 1606, she requested that her lifetime pension from the Spanish crown be transferred to him.

During her Spanish period, she portrayed many royal members, like Élisabeth of Valois, the two princesses, the King,Juana Regent of Spain, Don Carlos (whose original portrait, sadly, is lost, but were made many copies), Margherita of Parma, and Anna of Austria, who’ll become Queen of Spain after Élisabeth of Valois’s death in childbirth in 1568.

Following his third wife’s death, Felipe II became interested in marrying off Sofonisba (who was already 36 at the time) to one of his noblemen, perhaps to keep her anchored in the Spanish court, and provided her a dowry of 12 thousands scudiplus an annual income of 1000 ducati. In 1571 she married by proxy Sicilian nobleman Fabrizio Moncada Pignatelli. Fabrizio was the second son of Francesco I Moncada de Luna, earl of Caltanissetta and prince of Paternò, and Caterina Pignatelli Carafa. In that same year, his older brother Cesare had died, leaving his title and possessions to his 2-years old son Francesco II. Fabrizio had then stepped in to act as regent for his infant nephew and was named governor of the city of Paternò (nearby Catania).

It is not known for sure when she had moved to her husband’s Sicilian domains, what is certain is that in 1578 her brother Asdrubale had meant to join her in Palermo. At that time Sofonisba was already a widow (and childless) since Fabrizio had died that same year in a pirate attack off the coast near Capri. Moncada had drowned after desperately trying to defend his ship. The painting representing the Madonna dell’Itria, preserved in the Church of Santissima Annunziata of Paternò, dates back to this period.

By the end of 1579, the widowed Sofonisba sailed from Palermo together with her brother headed for her native Cremona. Surely she would have never thought another chapter of her life was about to begin. During the journey, she met and fell in love with the Genoese sea captain Orazio Lomellini, widowed with a son. Lomellini was the illegitimate son of wealthy shipowner Nicolò and some 15 years younger than Sofonisba. Because of bad weather, the ship had to dock in Livorno, from there Orazio escorted Sofonisba and Asdrubale in Pisa since in Livorno they couldn’t find a proper accommodation. Defying her brother’s opposition, she married Orazio and moved with him to Genova, where we can find her surely in 1584. This marriage too would be childless, but it appears Sofobisba got along quite well with her step-son, Giulio.

She’ll live in Genova for about 30 years, becoming the city’s leader portrait painter and hosting in her house many famous artists and literates. In 1585 she might have traveled with her husband all the way to Savona where she paid homage to her former pupil, Catalina Micaela of Spain, headed for Torino to marry Carlo Emanuele I Duke of Savoy. It has been hinted Anguissola had often been a guest of the new Duchess of Savoy from then on, although this hasn’t been yet proved.

ThePortrait of three kids, the Game of tric-trac, the Portrait of a Lady of the Galleria Borghese presumably date back to this period. In 1599 she met another one of her august pupils, Isabella Clara Eugenia had stopped in Genova to meet her former art teacher on her way to Brussels to marry Archduke Albert VII of Austria. On this occasion Sofonisba painted the Spanish princess and the artwork was later sent as a gift to Isabella Clara’s half-brother, Felipe III.

In 1615 the Lomellini couple decided to move to Sicily, where Orazio would better pursue his business deals and in Palermo they bought a mansion in strata Pilerij nearby Palazzo Branciforte. Sofonisba was already over 80 and her eyesight had started to fail her and in 1620 she painted her last self-portrait. She compensated her loss of sight by becoming a patron of the arts and her mind showed to be sharp even past the 90s. On July 12th, 1624 Sofonisba was visited by a young Anthony van Dyck, her successor as official portrait painter for the Spanish court, who was impressed by her clear-headness. He recorded their conversation and sketched the old artist.

On November 16th, 1625 she died of old age. She was buried in San Giorgio dei Genovesi, church of the Genoan community of Palermo. Seven years later, in 1632, on what would have been her 100th birthday, her widower Orazio placed an inscription which reads: 

“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.”

Sources

Fortune Jane,Michelangelo Buonarroti and his women

Nicotra Alfio,Sofonisba Anguissola. Dalla Sicilia alla corte dei Savoia

Romanini Angiola Maria,ANGUISSOLA, Sofonisba, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Vol 3

Ross Sarah Gwyneth,Anguissola, Sofonisba (b. ca. 1532–1625), in Encyclopedia of Women in the Renaissance: Italy, France, and England, p. 14-18

Vasari Giorgio,The Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects

Sofonisba Anguissola [Italian. c. 1532-1625]
Self-portrait at an Easel, c. 1556 -65
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The Italian painter Sofonisba Anguissola settled in Madrid from 1559 to 1573 as lady-in-waiting to Isabel of Valois and court painter for Philip II.