STR ATEGIC SISTERS
“they appear alive,” wrote Renaissance art critic
Giorgio Vasari of “A Portrait of the Artist’s Sisters
Playing Chess.” Painted in 1555 when Sofonisba
was about 23, it depicts Lucia (left) looking di-
rectly at the viewer as she captures a chess piece
from her sister, Minerva (right); younger sister
Europa (center) reacts with glee. Chaperoned by
an older woman who looks on at their game, So-
fonisba’s sisters are richly but modestly attired.
The artist subtly links the girls’ chastity with the
ability to think strategically and retain control over
their lives. Some critics have interpreted Lucia’s
triumph in this work as Sofonisba challenging the
notion of the time that men were more rational
minded than women, and thus better chess play-
ers. She signed the painting “Sofonisba... virgo
(virgin)” to emphasize her virginity not only as a
virtue but also as a means to remain unwed and
free (Sofonisba would not marry until much later
in life, at age 40). The all-female scene has been
contrasted with fellow Cremona painter Giulio
Campi’s “The Chess Game” (1530), which depicts
a male and a female player in an eroticized con-
test. Cremona was caught up in the chess craze
that had swept Spain the century before, and local
artists depicted the game as a sign of the times.