Sofonisba Anguissola

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Sofonisba Anguissola, self-portrait, 1554

Sofonisba Anguissola (* around 1531/1532 in Cremona ; † November 16, 1625 in Palermo ) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance and the most successful artist of this era.

life and work

Life

Sofonisba Anguissola was the eldest of seven children from Amilcare Anguissola and his wife Bianca Ponzoni (six daughters, one son). Sofonisba's parents both belonged to the noble families of the city of Cremona, who came from the merchant bourgeoisie. Amilcare and Bianca Anguissola raised their daughters in a "new sense" for the times: They gave them a humanistic education, as well as an education that was only usual for male family members. Sofonisba's sisters Lucia , Europa and Anna Maria became painters, Minerva appeared as a writer, Elena became a Dominican.

Sofonisba herself, the oldest, received a solid artistic education. She studied from the age of eleven with Bernardino Campi and Bernardino Gatti , called Il Sojaro. Her father took over the management of his talented daughter and corresponded with outstanding artists of the time (including Michelangelo ) to get her orders. All of this was very unusual for women in the art of the time .

Self-Portrait, 1556–1557

Sofonisba had a reputation as a portrait painter when she in 1559 on the recommendation of the Duke of Alba, Fernando de Toledo , was called to the Spanish royal court to Philip II. To paint and his family and as maid of honor , the only 14-year-old Elisabeth of Valois to teaching. The young queen soon spent most of her time in front of the easel.

Anguissola's first portrait of the infant Infanta Isabel was so good that Peter Paul Rubens copied it. In 1565 Anguissola painted King Philip II of Spain, who was also responsible for the Duchy of Milan and thus Cremona.

Sofonisba was also very attached to Queen Elisabeth emotionally. When Elisabeth died in 1568 during her third pregnancy, Sofonisba fell into depression and asked for her release. In her contract she was assured that the court would have to look around for a “befitting” man for the lady-in-waiting. So she ended up in Sicily with her first husband, the Sicilian nobleman Fabrizio di Moncada. After his death she moved to Spain again, but fell in love with the Genoese Orazio Lomellini on the way, married him without the king's permission and moved with him to Genoa . There she began to paint again and gave painting lessons. In 1585 she met the Infanta Catalina Micaela again, who accompanied her on her way to Turin to see her bridegroom, the Duke of Savoy. During this trip she made sketches for a portrait of the bride.

In 1606 she was visited by the young Peter Paul Rubens , who had copied several of her works on behalf of the Duke of Mantua in Spain. Handicapped by an eye disease (severe nearsightedness) and rheumatism, Anguissola could no longer paint in her later years. She moved to Palermo in Sicily, where the young Anthony van Dyck visited her and portrayed the ninety-year-old in his Italian sketchbook .

Three sisters playing chess, around 1555

meaning

Sofonisba Anguissola was primarily known as a portrait painter and as a painter of everyday and group scenes, but soon after her death she was wrongly forgotten. Since studying anatomy was not possible for her and working with large-format canvases to deal with biblical or mythological topics was also considered inadmissible for women, she expanded the concept of art at the time to include areas of personal experience. In doing so, she painted children and young people with psychological sensitivity and not, as often happened, as small adults, and for this purpose mostly used very small-format picture carriers .

The best-known picture is Three Sisters Playing Chess from 1555, which is considered to be the first representation of an everyday scene in Italian painting. It shows Lucia (left), Minerva (right) and Europe (in the middle), as well as a governess on the right edge of the picture . According to some art historians, it also contains the Laughter of Europe, the first representation of malicious joy in European art.

In addition to the Spanish royal family, she also painted many Italian and Spanish nobles of the time. Her works found their way into the art collection of the Vatican. Pope Julius III and Pope Pius IV owned some of her paintings. The biographer of Michelangelo , Raffael and Leonardo da Vinci , Giorgio Vasari , also showed great interest in their work.

Sofonisba Anguissola also worked as a teacher. As a young woman she taught her sisters, and later in her forties other young artists.

Works (selection)

  • around 1550 Self-portrait, Milan, Museo Poldi Pezzoli
  • around 1551 The artist's sister in nuns, Southampton, City Art Gallery
  • 1554 self-portrait, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum
  • 1555 Portrait of the Dominican Father Ippolito Chizzola (?), Brescia, Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo
  • 1555 or 1558 Three sisters playing chess, Poznań, Muzeum Narodowe
  • around 1555 Portrait of a Dominican, whereabouts unknown, formerly Collezione Calligaris in Terezo d'Aquileia
  • around 1556 Self-portrait on an easel, Keir, Stirling Collection
  • 1557 Portrait of Bianca Ponzoni Anguissola, Berlin, SMPK, Gemäldegalerie
  • 1558 Portrait of a young woman, Lviv, Picture Gallery
  • 1558 Self-Portrait, Paris, Frits Lugt Collection
  • 1559 The Rest of the Holy Family on the Flight into Egypt, Bergamo, Accademia Carrara
  • around 1559 Group portrait of the father Amilcare Anguissola, the sister Minerva and the brother Asdrubale, Niva, Nivaagaard's painter isamling
  • around 1559 The painter Bernardino Campi portrays Sofonisba Anguissola, Siena, Pinacoteca Nazionale
  • before 1560 Portrait of a girl, Graz, Landesmuseum Joanneum, Alte Galerie
  • 1561 Self-portrait at a spinet with wet nurse, Althorp Park, Earl of Spencer Collection
  • 1561 or 1571 self-portrait, Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera
  • circa 1564 Portrait of Minerva Anguissola, Milwaukee, Milwaukee Art Museum
  • around 1564 Portrait of King Philip II, Madrid, Museo del Prado
  • 1565 Portrait of Elisabeth of Valois, Madrid, Museo del Prado
  • 1580 The mystical marriage of St. Catherine, whereabouts unknown, formerly Coll. Earl of Pembroke in London
  • c. 1580–1585 Double portrait of a boy and a girl from the Attavanti family, Oberlin (Ohio) , Allen Memorial Art Museum
  • around 1585 self-portrait, Niva, Nivaagaard's painter isamling
  • 1588 Maria breastfeeds the child (Madonna Lactans), Budapest, Szépművészeti Múzeum
  • 1592 The Holy Family with Saint Anne and the Boy John, Coral Gables, Florida, The Lowe Art Museum
  • after 1599 portrait of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum (?)
  • 1610 Self-Portrait, Bern, Gottfried Keller Collection
  • Self-portrait, Florence, Galleria degli Uffizi
  • Maria with the child, Copenhagen, Statens Museum for Kunst
  • Portrait of a Child, Copenhagen, Thorvaldsens Museum
  • The Lamentation of Christ (Pietà), Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera
  • Self-portrait on the spinet, Naples, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte
  • Portrait of a young woman in profile, St. Petersburg, Hermitage
  • Portrait of 3 of her sisters playing chess with a servant (The Three Sisters). (Version of the picture in Poznań), Turin, Museo Civico
  • Double portrait of a woman with her daughter, Washington, National Museum of Women in the Art

gallery

  • Portrait of her sister Elena Anguissola, 1551

  • The artist's father, Amilcare Anguissola, with his children Asdrubale and Minerva, around 1555/58

  • Sofonisba Anguissola: Bernardino Campi painting Sofonisba Anguissola, around 1559

  • Portrait of Johanna von Habsburg , around 1561

  • Portrait of Elisabeth von Valois , around 1565

  • Portrait of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia and Catalina Micaela , 1570

  • Philip II , around 1570

  • Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, 1573, Galleria Sabauda, ​​Turin

  • Three children with a dog, around 1580

  • Portrait of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, 1599

  • Self-portrait, 1610

literature

Fiction

  • Beate Rygiert: The forger . Claassen, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-546-00194-X . (Fictional representation)
  • Lorenzo de 'Medici: The Secret of the Sofonisba . Ehrenwirth Verlag 2007, ISBN 978-3-431-03717-3 . (Historical novel)
  • Nina Blazon: The King Painter. Ravensburger Verlag 2008, ISBN 978-3-473-35278-4 (historical novel)

Web links

Commons : Sofonisba Anguissola  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Deborah Solomon: Old mistresses move the old masters aside - The Prado in Spain honors two female Renaissance painters . In: AG Sulzberger (Ed.): The New York Times . New York December 19, 2019, p. 1 f .
  2. ↑ Paola Tinagl: . Women in Italian Renaissance Art Gender, Representation, Identity. Manchester University Press, Manchester 1997, ISBN 0-7190-4054-X , p. 14 ff.
  3. ↑ Paola Tinagl: . Women in Italian Renaissance Art Gender, Representation, Identity. P. 114.
  4. ^ Haberlik: 50 classic women artists. Painters, sculptors and photographers. Pp. 9-10.
  5. ↑ Double Portrait of a Boy and Girl of the Attavanti Family , accessed June 11, 2018.
  6. ↑ Portrait of Archduchess Johanna von Österreich, realized price € 283,300 , accessed on June 11, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Anguissola, Sofonisba
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Anguisciola, Sofonisba
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian painter
DATE OF BIRTH around 1531-1532
PLACE OF BIRTH Cremona
DATE OF DEATH November 16, 1625
Place of death Palermo