Minerva Anguissola

Sofonisba Anguissola : The painter Amilacare Anguissola with his children Minerva and Asdrubale

Minerva Anguissola , also Minerva Angosciola , Minerva Anguisciola , Minerva Angussola or Minerva Anguissola (* probably between 1539 and 1541 probably in Cremona ; † before 1566 probably there) was an Italian painter .

life and work

Anguissola was a daughter of the Patrician and perhaps as Zeichnerdilettant make Amilcare Anguissola and his wife Bianca Ponzona and the sister of working also as painters Anna Maria , Elena , Europe , Lucia and Sofonisba Anguissola . She had a humanistic education and, like all her sisters, learned the craft of painting. She may have been a student of her better-known sister Sofonisba. She has been portrayed by both Sofonisba and Lucia.

Vasari mentions them during his visit to Cremona. At this point she was already dead. Her painterly work is completely unknown. But she was given by Francesco Zava († before 1559) from Cremona with the words “ Minervam Minervae omni arte instruam et politam ” (German: “Minerva, instructed and educated by Minerva in all arts”). This was also confirmed by Pellegrino Antonio Orlandi in his Abecedario pittorico , who wrote about them: “ Minerva Anguisciola Cremonese, una delle quattro sorelle della famosa Sofonisba pittrice; in pittura, ma più in lettere latine e volgari, si fece conoscere per eccellente; in tenera età fu segregata dal numero dei viventi ”(German:“ Minerva Anguisciola from Cremona, one of the four sisters of the famous painter Sofonisba; in painting, but more in Latin and vulgar letters, she made herself known as excellent; at a young age she was separated from the living ")

literature

• Hans Posse: Anguisciola (Angosciola, Angussola) . In: Ulrich Thieme , Felix Becker (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists from Antiquity to the Present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker. tape 1 : Aa – Antonio de Miraguel . Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1907, p. 523–524 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive - family articles , here short entry on p. 524).
• Sofonisba Anguissola e le sue sorelle. Catalogo della mostra a cura di M. Gregori, Rome 1994.
• Simonetta Coppa: Anguissola, Minerva. In: General Artist Lexicon. The visual artists of all times and peoples . Volume 4, 1992, p. 103.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Leone Tettoni, F. Saladini: Anguissola . In: Teatro araldico ovvero raccolta generale delle armi ed insegne gentilizie delle piu illustri e nobili casate che esisterono un tempo e che tutora fioriscono in tutta l'italia . tape 4 . Wilmant E. Figle, Lodi 1844 ( Text archive - Internet Archive - without page numbers).