Sofonisba Anguissola
c. 1532 – 16 November 1625
Sofonisba Anguissola was an Italian Renaissance painter from Cremona, the first woman artist to achieve international renown. Celebrated for her portraits and informal family scenes, she served for over a decade at the Spanish court of Philip II as a painter and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elisabeth of Valois. Her success opened the way for later generations of women artists.
Lived at the same time
Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Sofonisba Anguissola.
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- Elizabeth I (1533–1603) Overlapped 70 years →
- Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Overlapped 69 years →
- John Napier (1550–1617) Overlapped 67 years →
Life events
Sofonisba Anguissola was born around 1532 into a minor noble family in Cremona, the eldest of seven children, six of them daughters.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgWith her sister Elena, Sofonisba was sent by her father to study with the Cremonese painter Bernardino Campi, an unprecedented arrangement for noblewomen.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAfter Campi left Cremona, Anguissola continued her studies under Bernardino Gatti, absorbing the influence of Correggio.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgMichelangelo recognized her talent, informally guiding her by critiquing drawings she sent him, including her noted sketch of a boy bitten by a crayfish.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAnguissola painted her celebrated group portrait of three of her sisters playing chess, an innovative informal scene of everyday aristocratic life.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAnguissola was invited to Madrid as lady-in-waiting and painting instructor to the young queen Elisabeth of Valois, serving as an unofficial court portraitist.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgWith a dowry provided by the Spanish crown, Anguissola married the Sicilian nobleman Fabrizio Moncada and moved to Sicily; he died in 1578.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAnguissola married the Genoese ship captain Orazio Lomellino, whom she met on a voyage, and settled with him in Genoa.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThe young Anthony van Dyck visited the elderly Anguissola, sketched her portrait, and recorded her advice on painting in his notebook.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAnguissola died in Palermo on 16 November 1625, in her nineties, and was buried at the church of San Giorgio dei Genovesi.
Source: en.wikipedia.org