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Sofonisba Anguissola

Sofonisba Anguissola was a globally recognized female painter that impacted the art of the Renaissance. She was born in 1532 in Cremona, Italy into a wealthy noble family and was the oldest of seven, six girls and one boy. She was one of the first female artists to earn international recognition. She was best known for her portraiture work. Her father Amilcare Anguissola, was very encouraging in supporting all his daughters to cultivate their talents. Sofonisba was fortunate to receive a lot more encouragement and support than other women that were aspiring artists in her time.

Her social class did not allow for her to study anatomy or drawing from life. It was unacceptable for women in the time to view nudes, for this reason she was unable to undertake the compositions required for large historical and religious paintings. She combatted this by painting portraits of her family and siblings and well as self-portraits. She was able to develop a new style of portraiture that set up her subjects in informal ways for example (playing chess or holding animals). She was praised by many of her fellow artists like Michelangelo as well as the master of portraiture, Anthony Van Dyck.

I believe that Sofonisba is a great representation of a powerful woman. Despite being minority in this field of work she wanted to pursue. It’s inspiring to see her achieve her own style as well as gain recognition from master artists in the renaissance.

Bibliography

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Sofonisba_Anguissola

Anguissola, Sofonisba (1527–C.1623). (2018). In Helicon (Ed.), The Hutchinson unabridged encyclopedia with atlas and weather guide. Helicon. Credo Reference

“Anguissola, Sofonisba (1530s – 1625).” The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Art and Artists, edited by Herbert Edward Read, and Nikos Stangos, Thames & Hudson, 2nd edition, 1994. Credo Reference,