Sofonisba Anguissola was an Italian Renaissance painter from Cremona who became one of the first women to achieve international fame as an artist, celebrated particularly for portraits distinguished by informal, psychologically observant depictions of her own family, including an innovative series of self-portraits. Barred as a woman from the study of anatomy and large-scale religious or history painting that structured the academic hierarchy of the period, she built her reputation instead through portraiture, and her skill drew the attention of the Spanish court, where she served for years as a lady-in-waiting and portrait painter to Queen Elisabeth of Valois. Giorgio Vasari praised her work in his Lives of the Artists, and her career opened a path later followed by other women painters of the period, including Lavinia Fontana.
Facts
Partially Attested
Birth YearThe lead sentence gives her birth as circa 1532, so the year is approximate; not cross-checked against a second reference. Death YearYear as stated by Wikipedia; not cross-checked against a second reference. Death DateDate as stated by Wikipedia; not cross-checked against a second reference. In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Italy, nationality there.
Sources
1. Sofonisba Anguissola (Wikipedia)
Early life, sentence on her birth, year
Sofonisba Anguissola was born into a poor but ancient Italian noble family in Cremona, Lombardy in 1532
Later life, sentence on her death, year
In 1629, she died in Palermo, likely in her mid-to-late nineties.
Lead sentence, description of her nationality and origin
was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Cremona to a relatively poor noble family.
Lead sentence, full death date in the dates parenthesis
16 November 1629
Early life, sentence on her birthplace
was born into a poor but ancient Italian noble family in Cremona, Lombardy
Later life, sentence on her death, place
In 1629, she died in Palermo
Early life, sentence on her study with Bernardino Campi
Anguissola was fourteen when her father sent her and her sister Elena to study with Bernardino Campi, a respected portrait and religious painter of the Lombard school.
Gender reference
Sofonisba Anguissola was an Italian Renaissance painter from Cremona who became one of the first women to achieve international fame as an artist, celebrated particularly for portraits distinguished by informal, psychologically observant depictions of her own family, including an innovative series of self-portraits.
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