64 MARCH/APRIL 2022
later, baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi,
for example, was taught by her artist father).
Since Amilcare Anguissola was not an artist,
he took the unusual step of allowing Sofonisba
to study under the painter Bernardino Campi
when she was about 14.
Sofonisba studied through her late teens
and early 20s under Campi, and later Ber-
nardino Gatti. At 22, she met Michelangelo
Buonarroti. Impressed by her talent, he of-
fered to help her and provided feedback and
critiques of her work.
After seeing Sofonisba’s sketch of a laugh-
ing young girl, Michelangelo challenged her
with an assignment: draw a child crying. The
result was her famous drawing, “A Boy Bit-
ten by a Crawfish,” which brilliantly captures
the expression of fright and pain on the face
of a boy (the model was her younger brother
Asdrubale). Many years later, this drawing in-
spired Caravaggio to create “Boy Bitten by a
Lizard” (circa 1595).International Career
The long Italian wars that had dragged on
through Sofonisba’s youth were ended in 1559.
The Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis drew Cremo-
na, already a dominion of Spain, deeper into the
Spanish orbit after France renounced its claim
to the Duchy of Milan.
Sofonisba’s brilliance had come to the atten-
tion of the Spanish governor of Milan, the Duke
of Sessa. He recommended her appointment
to the court of the Spanish king, Philip II.
While Sofonisba was technically lady-in-
waiting to Philip II’s new French queen,
Elizabeth (Isabel, in Spain) of Valois, she
actually served as the drawing mistress
and portrait painter of the royal family.
The Madrid court may not have
seemed a congenial place for a young
artist from a close-knit family. Rul-
er of Spain, its American colonies,
swathes of Italy, and the Low Coun-
tries, Philip II had a reputation forA
rtistic ferment bubbled in Italy
in the late 1400s and early 1500s,
but despite the later idealization
of that period as the Renaissance,
it was also a time of extreme vi-
olence. As the armies of Spain, France, and
the Holy Roman Empire battled to control the
peninsula, Machiavelli was devising his bru-
tal ideas about political science, and Leonardo
da Vinci was juggling his masterpieces with
military designs for guns and cannons. War
and patriarchal values kept women at home
and ensured that the names of Renaissance
luminaries almost all belong to men.
Born amid the gore and glory of the era, So-
fonisba Anguissola was exceptional on many
levels: She won fame in her own lifetime as one
of a tiny number of Renaissance women who
painted their way out of domesticity and, later,
into the world’s art museums. Her prodigious
talent dazzled Michelangelo, and at age 27 she
went to Madrid to become one of Europe’s
most brilliant court painters. Her many works
inspired a later generation of baroque artists,
including Anthony Van Dyck and Caravaggio.
Genius in the Family
Sofonisba was born around the year 1532 in
Cremona, northern Italy, the eldest child of
Bianca Ponzoni and Amilcare Anguissola. The
last of the seven Anguissola children was born
in 1555, completing a close-knit, cre-
ative family of six girls and one boy.
Amilcare encouraged not only his
son Asdrubale but also all his
daughters—Sofonisba, Elena, Lu-
cia, Minerva, Europa, and Anna
Maria—to obtain a high level of
education and to cultivate the
arts. Sofonisba’s talent soon
became too obvious to ignore.
In 16th-century Italy, young
women who wanted to become
painters were not allowed to
be apprentices in professional
studios. The only hope for bud-
ding female artists was to receive
tuition from male relatives (the
CA 1532
Sofonisba Anguissola
is born to a cultured,
noble family in
Cremona, Italy.1546
Encouraged by her
father, Sofonisba
begins to study
painting under
Bernardino Campi.1559
Invited to the court
of Philip II of Spain,
Sofonisba excels as a
portraitist and forges
royal friendships.1573
At age 40, Sofonisba
marries and returns
to Italy, where she
continues to teach
and paint.1625
After having her
portrait painted by
Van Dyck, Sofonisba
dies in Sicily.THE ARTIST’S MOTHER. BIANCA PONZONI PAINTED BY HER
DAUGHTER,SOFONISBA ANGUISSOLA, 1557. GEMÄLDEGALERIE,
BERLIN STATE MUSEUMS, BERLIN
BRIDGEMAN/ACI