Sofonisba ANGUISSOLA - Self portrait (about 1600)

 

Self portrait
about 1600
Oil on painting (22x17 cm)
Private collection

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The unquestionable will of the painter is to portray herself as a devoted woman; her gaze is open and her hand flaunts the crucifix worn around her neck at all costs.

Sofonisba was a unique woman, one of the main portrait painters between Genoa and Palermo, she was one of the only ones in the seventeenth century.

A woman of noble birth, she was able to afford an apprenticeship that lasted three years.

The Duke of Alba noticed her skill and thanks to her intercession he will allow her to become both court painter and lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Spain.

It cannot be denied that the Duke of Alba was pleasantly surprised by her, since in one letter he defined her: "an excellent portraitist, superior to any other painter of our time".

There is a certain attachment to her family, since she portrayed the members with a particular sweetness and care.

Towards the end of her life she met a promising Antonie van Dycke, who with cold objectivity portrayed her in the prime of her advanced age.

Comparing artists: Van Dyck, Ramsay, Sittow, Verrocchio, Vigée-Lebrun