LEGENDARY LADIES
FEMALE ARTISTS OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE IN SEARCH OF FAME
A Thesis
Presented to the faculty of the Department of Art
California State University, Sacramento
Submitted in partial satisfaction of
The requirements for the degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
in
Museum Studies with an Art Historical Emphasis
by
Sabrina Abbott
FALL
2013
 2013
Sabrina Jayne Abbott
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ii
LEGENDARY LADIES
FEMALE ARTISTS OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE IN SEARCH OF FAME
A Thesis
by
Sabrina Jayne Abbott
Approved by:
__________________________________, Committee Chair
Catherine Turrill
__________________________________, Second Reader
Patrick Ettinger
_____________________________
Date
iii
Student: Sabrina Jayne Abbott
I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University
format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to
be awarded for the thesis.
_________________________________, Dean
Chevelle Newsome, Ph.D.
Office of Graduate Studies
iv
__________________
Date
Abstract
of
LEGENDARY LADIES
FEMALE ARTISTS OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE IN SEARCH OF FAME
by
Sabrina Jayne Abbott
During the Italian Renaissance female artists were able to emerge from the
confines of the convent and develop their skills in the outside world due to changing
attitudes towards women and the heightened status of art. The intelligent and artistically
talented woman was seen as a miraculous person and often compared more closely to a
man. Due to their extraordinary status, it can be argued that these women behaved
similarly to their male counterparts in their search for special consideration and legendary
status.
This paper will contribute to the scholarly studies surrounding women in the
visual arts in Renaissance Italy by analyzing writings, lifestyle, and the method of
creation and content of the art, particularly the self-portrait paintings, of these women.
Through this analysis it will be revealed that these women used their special status to
promote themselves and actively sought recognition and fame like their male
predecessors and contemporaries.
v
These women achieved legendary prominence through the careful navigation of
their careers, setting a new precedent for women in the arts, laying the foundation for
future female artists, and demonstrating that women could be just as capable as men.
__________________________________, Committee Chair
Catherine Turrill
_____________________________
Date
vi
DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to my family and all the female artists, past and present and the
men and women who believed in them.
vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my advisor, Professor Turrill, for her time, patience, and
assistance in the creation of this thesis. A special thanks to Dr. Giovanna Giusti who
sparked my interest in Renaissance self-portraiture and the Ford Family Foundation for
their kindness and for funding my education. Finally, I would like to extend my gratitude
to my family. In particular I would like to thank my mother for her encouragement, my
father for providing me with my first art education, and my husband, Alexander Golé, for
his constant love and support.
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Dedication ...................................................................................................................... vii
Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................... viii
List of Illustrations ......................................................................................................... x
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1
2. CREATING A CONTEXT
The Ascent of Visual Art .................................................................................. 2
A Woman’s Worth ............................................................................................ 5
3. LEGENDARY LADIES
Becoming a Professional Female Artist Outside the Convent ........................... 12
The Female Artists’ Pursuit of Fame ................................................................. 15
Leaving a Legacy ............................................................................................... 41
4. CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................... 43
Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 47
ix
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Illustration
1.
Page
Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-Portrait with Medallion, ca. 1550s
(Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) .............................................................. 21
2.
Sofonisba Anguissola, Bernardino Campi Painting Sofonisba Anguissola, ca. 1559
(Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena) ............................................................................. 25
3.
Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-Portrait at the Easel, ca.1556
(Muzeum Zamek, Lancut) ................................................................................. 27
4.
Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-Portrait, 1554
(Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) ................................................................. 28
5.
Lavinia Fontana, Self-Portrait at the Keyboard with Maidservant, 1577
(Accademia di San Luca, Rome) ........................................................................ 31
6.
Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-Portrait at the Keyboard with Maidservant, ca. 1550s
(Althorp House, Northampton) ........................................................................... 32
x
7.
Lavinia Fontana, Self-Portrait in the Studiolo, 1579
(Uffizi, Florence) ................................................................................................ 36
8.
Marietta Robusti, Self-Portrait, 1580
(Uffizi, Florence) ................................................................................................ 38
9.
Sofonisba Anguissola, The Chess Game, ca. 1555
(Muzeum Narodowe, Poznan) ............................................................................ 40
xi
1
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
To become a successful artist has been a challenge throughout history, but the
difficulty was even more pronounced for women. Societal changes that took place during
the Italian Renaissance created a new vision of art and the artist. As Renaissance society
embraced ideas from ancient Rome and Greece, including the ancients’ inclusion and
admiration of female artists, some women were able to find acceptance as professional
artists. In an attempt to justify their position in a male-dominated field and to ensure their
names would be remembered, female artists in the Renaissance created artwork that was
designed for self-promotion. Although these women presented themselves in a socially
acceptable manner, through the action of self-promotion they demonstrated that they
were exceptional and, like their male counterparts, aspired to achieve legendary status.
There is always a fear of applying contemporary views when analyzing people of
the past, yet there are certain qualities that have always existed in human beings.
Emotions like love, sorrow, fear and courage are ingrained in our very nature. The desire
for recognition and praise is another one of these inherent emotions. Nonetheless,
suggesting that female artists of the Renaissance sought recognition and fame, and saw
themselves as equal, if not superior to their male counterparts, may at first seem like
viewing these women of the past with a contemporary lens. In order to present a credible
analysis of the works of these female artists, a solid foundation will first be laid to
demonstrate the likelihood of the validity of these arguments.
2
Chapter 2
CREATING A CONTEXT
The Ascent of Visual Art
Male artists of the Early Italian Renaissance argued that good visual art was not
just a craft, but a creative act that required intelligence similar to liberal arts like music
and poetry. By presenting information that illustrated the need for intelligence in creating
exceptional art and the precedent of a heightened regard for the visual arts and artists in
ancient history, male Renaissance artists in Italy were able to raise the classification of
the visual arts from craft to liberal art and raise the status of visual artists. Artists argued
that in addition to being talented, an artist had to be educated and intellectual in order to
create great works of art. Beginning in the 1300’s artists were describing the many talents
needed for an artist to succeed. Cennino Cennini states in Craftsman’s Handbook that
“the occupation of painting calls for imagination and skill of hand…”1 Imagination, or
fantasia, in the Renaissance was considered an intellectual and almost divine inspiration,
a sign of genius, that was encouraged by princely patrons.2
Leon Battista Alberti’s treatise, On Painting, written in 1435, describes an artist’s
need for mathematics and an understanding of nature and explains that the art of painting
1
Francis Ames-Lewis, The Intellectual Life of the Early Renaissance Artist (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 2000), 177.
2 Joanna Woods-Marsden, Renaissance Self-Portraiture: The Visual Construction of
Identity and the Social Status of the Artist (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998),
274.
3
“has always been most worthy of liberal minds and noble souls”.3 Lorenzo Ghiberti in
his Commentaries, written in 1450, provides not only the first coherent history of Italian
art, but also attempts to describe in writing some of the scientific and intellectual
principals of the visual arts, thereby demonstrating the intelligence and competence
needed for an artist to succeed.4
In Alberti’s treatise, classical texts were used to illustrate that the ancients held
painting in such high esteem that it was considered a suitable occupation for emperors
and princes.5 This concept caught on, as revealed by later writers. Castiglione writes in
The Courtier, first published in 1528, that the ideal courtier should, among other things,
be educated in painting and defends the esteem held for painting by providing historic
examples of the high regard for art. Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574), the famous artist and
art historian, also gives several examples to show that people in antiquity revered both art
and the artists in his book The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptures and
Architects, also known at The Lives of the Artists, first published in 1550. According to
Vasari,
The Romans themselves bore so great reverence for these arts that besides the
respect that Marcellus, in sacking the city of Syracuse, commanded to be paid to a
craftsman famous in them, in planning the assault of the aforesaid city they took
care not to set fire to that quarter wherein there was a most beautiful painted
3
Leon Battista Alberti, On Painting, trans. John R. Spencer (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1970), 66.
4
Ames-Lewis, The Intellectual Life, 141.
5
Ibid., 18.
4
panel6
Fortunately for female Renaissance artists, female artists were also mentioned and
praised in ancient texts. The Humanist tradition of providing a historic precedent for a
current situation aided female artists in overcoming societal constraints. This precedent,
and the writings by men who commended the art of women, made it possible for women
to advance as artists. Vasari mentions that ancient women were celebrated artists as if to
defend the inclusion of more recent female artists in the second edition of his book The
Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. The section about
Properzia de’ Rossi begins with,
It is an extraordinary thing that in all those arts and all those exercises wherein at
any time women have thought fit to play a part in real earnest, they have always
become most excellent and famous in no common way, as one might easily
demonstrate by an endless number of examples.7
The combination of a heightened status for artists as intellectuals, the recognition
of art as a noble pursuit, and an ancient precedent of talented and famous women in the
arts provided the ideal environment for female artists to emerge, be recognized, and strive
for distinction in Renaissance Italy.
Giorgio Vasari, “Introduction,” in Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and
Architects, trans. Gaston De Vere (New York: AMS Press, 1976 ), 1:Xl
7
Giorgio Vasari, “Properzia de Rossi,” in Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors,
and Architects, trans. Gaston De Vere (New York: AMS Press, 1976 ) 5:123.
6
5
A Woman’s Worth
In order to understand how female Renaissance artists saw themselves, appreciate
their aspirations, and comprehend the effect of their lives and artwork, it is necessary to
examine the social context surrounding Renaissance women in general. As Humanist
ideals spread, discussions and writings regarding the role of women and their place in
society became more frequent. The greater recognition of the worth of women and the
precedent of women in the arts during the Classical period, made it possible for female
artists of the Renaissance to achieve the heightened position of “artist.”
As illustrated in the writing of Giovanni Boccaccio, Christine de Pizan,
Baldassare Castiglione, and others, the late Medieval period through the Renaissance
witnessed a revived interest in Classical history and philosophy which included the praise
of ancient women and, in some cases, that women could be regarded as equal to men. In
1362, Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), a poet and author, wrote a book entitled On
Famous Women. Boccaccio’s book contains the biographies of one hundred and four
women including an ancient Greek painter named Thamyris. As Boccaccio points out in
his preface,
…women have had so little attention from writers…that they have gained no
work devoted especially to them, although it can be clearly seen in the more
6
voluminous histories that some women have acted with as much strength and
valor (as men).8
Women also assisted in obtaining a new respect for their gender. One of the first
and most famous women to defend both her status and gender was Christine de Pizan
(1363-1430). Christine was widowed when she was just twenty-five years old and
needed to find a source of income to provide for her children, her widowed mother, and
herself. Fortunately for Christine, she had received an education from her Italian father
and managed to establish herself, thanks to her father’s employment and her privileged
childhood, as a court poet in France by the late-fourteenth century.9
A female court writer was unprecedented in the late Middle Ages and Christine
knew that in order to protect her position she had to convince her opponents that an
educated woman in an influential situation was not uncommon. As Christine’s writings
became more popular, she felt secure enough to push societal constraints a little further
and shift her focus from courtly poetry to social commentary. In 1401 Christine wrote a
letter, Lesser Treatise on the Romance of the Rose, to contribute to the popular debate
concerning Jean de Meun’s misogynist addition to the popular thirteenth-century poem,
The Romance of the Rose. 10 Christine stated that Jean de Meun “dared take it upon
himself to defame and condemn without exception an entire sex” and that “…no matter
8
Giovanni Boccaccio, Concerning Famous Women, Trans. Guido A. Guarino (New
Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1963), xxxvii.
9
Christine de Pizan, Selected Writings, ed. Charity Cannon Willard (New York: Presia
Books, 1994), xi.
10
Ibid., 151.
7
what he and all his accomplices in this matter may have sworn, and let none take offense,
there have been, still are, and will be many more worthy women, more honorable, better
bred, and even more learned who have done more good for the world than he ever did
personally…”11
This debate led Christine to write a defense of the female sex in her 1405 book
entitled, The Book of the City of Ladies. Knowing that her book would be contrary to
beliefs espoused by many prominent scholars and held by many people, Christine began
her piece by claiming she was visited by three divine women who gave her instruction.12
She took a Humanist approach, like her predecessor Boccaccio, and reminded her readers
that her views had an ancient precedent. In her book Christine mentions the famous
Roman orator, Quintus Horentensius, who “had a daughter…whom he greatly loved for
the subtlety of her wit” and whom he did not surpass in any way. And because of this
woman’s accomplishments, Horentensius “began to support the cause of women.”13
Christine’s work influenced both men and women. Isotta Nogarola (1418-1466)
was a Veronese Humanist and, according to Sarah Ross, is considered the “first woman
to make numerous contributions to the Humanist education.”14 Although Isotta was called
“promiscuous” by some of her male contemporaries for her public writings and
11
Pizan, Selected Writings, 159, 156.
Ibid., 173.
13
Sarah Gwyneth Ross, The Birth of Feminism: Woman as Intellect in Renaissance Italy
and England (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2009), 21.
14
Ibid., 38.
12
8
outspokenness, she was primarily regarded as an intellectual and did not cease writing.15
Isotta also maintained the Humanist tradition by citing ancient examples to defend her
right to write and speak publicly.
Christine and Isotta presented a strategy that women would use to push for a
higher status and contribute to intellectual endeavors. Despite the fact that these women
had to defend their education and presence in philosophy and the arts with arguments first
made and recorded by men, their ability to express their opinions and be heard set a
precedent for future female artists. Educated women could defend their position by
mentioning important historical female figures as precedents, as done previously by
Boccaccio.
Young women were being educated at least since 1338. According to Giovanni
Villani, a fourteenth–century chronicler in Florence, girls were already attending
elementary school to “learn their letters.”16 And while it was not common for a young
woman to receive much more than a basic education,17 there were some men that
believed and argued for a full Humanist education of women. In 1426 the renowned
Humanist, historian, and statesman, Leonardo Bruni, made a case for the complete
Humanist education of women in his De Studiis et Litteris.18
15
Ross, The Birth of Feminism, 38.
Whitney Chadwick, Women, Art, and Society, 4th ed. (London; New York: Thames &
Hudson, 2007), 68.
17
Ibid.
18
Ross, The Birth of Feminism, 32.
16
9
A higher education and a heightened regard for women was also aided by the
renewed interest in Plato that took place in the mid fifteenth-century. The fall of
Constantinople to the Turks in 1453 caused many Greeks to migrate to Italy, bringing
with them their literature.19 Renaissance Italians and Humanists encountered the “True
Aristotle” unadulterated by Arabic commentators. The Greek immigrants also brought
with them the works of Plato, a philosopher whose writings were easier to adapt to
Christianity than those of Aristotle.20 With Church approval of ancient philosophers,
classical writings became ever more prevalent. Ancient philosophies and histories
provided fundamental examples that could return Italians to the glorious days of ancient
Rome and supported a heightened status for women.
Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), one of the most influential Humanist philosophers
in the Early Renaissance, took the notion a step further when he reconsidered the role and
importance of women while attempting to combine the works of Plato and theology.21 He
declares that Plato not only argues for the education of women, but in The Republic his
character Socrates states that “women should participate equally in the running of
state.”22
19
Peter Burk, The Italian Renaissance Culture and Society in Italy (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1986), 232.
20
James Hankins, “Florence,” in Plato in the Italian Renaissance, Vol. 1, (New York:
E.J. Brill, 1990), 34.
21
Ian Maclean, The Renaissance Notion of Women: A Study in the Fortunes of
Scholasticism and Medical Science in European Intellectual Life (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1980), 24.
22
Maclean, The Renaissance Notion of Women, 60.
10
The changing attitude and arguments surrounding a woman’s role in society are
clearly expressed in Baldassare Castiglione’s The Courtier, published in 1528. In this
book, Castiglione presents ideas through court conversation. His characters include
women who contribute intelligently to the various topics. The Courtier discusses a
variety of subjects considered relevant in the early sixteenth century including an array of
dialogues on women. These dialogues contain the praise of women from the past and
present. He states that, “If in every age you will compare women’s worth with that of
men, you will find that they have never been and are not now at all inferior to men in
worth.”23 Like Boccaccio before him, Castiglione begins by citing women of ancient
times and then speaks of women who ruled admirably in the Middle Ages including
Theodolinda, queen of Lombardy and Theodora, the Greek empress. He continues his
praise of women by incorporating contemporary examples. Castiglione even notes that
some women have surpassed their male counterparts. As though echoing the words of
both Boccaccio and Christine de Pizan written centuries earlier, he writes, “…my lord
Gaspar shall not find me an admirable man, but I will find you a wife or daughter or
sister of equal and sometimes greater merit.”24
These texts address different issues regarding women, their education, and
position in society. The fact that some women were willing to rise and interject
themselves into the public debate demonstrates that these ladies were willing to submit
23
Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier, translated by Leonard Eckstein
Opdycke (New York: Charles Scribner’s Son, 1903), 199.
24
Ibid., 188.
11
themselves to community censure in order to expand their roles in society and increase
their recognition. Isotta continued her work though she was called “promiscuous”.
Properzia de’ Rossi (1490-1530), the first known woman to rise as a sculptor of marble25
and seek public commissions as a professional artist, an action previously restricted to
men.26 She continued to sculpt, despite jealous male competitors dissuading her and
speaking ill of her to patrons, in order to “win fame”. 27
As the status of art and women’s roles and restrictions were reconsidered with
Humanist ideals and ancient precedents in mind, a greater recognition of the worth of
artists and women spread. Due to the women who were recorded for their fame as artists
in antiquity and writings of both men and women that address the worth and status of
women in society, including those in the visual arts, female artists of the Renaissance
were able to achieve the heightened position of “artist” outside the confines of the
convent without jeopardizing their reputation.
25
Fredrika H. Jacobs, Defining the Renaissance Virtuosa (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1997), 3.
26
Chadwick, Women, Art, and Society, 92.
27 Giorgio Vasari, “Properzia de Rossi,” 124-125.
12
Chapter 3
LEGENDARY LADIES
Becoming a Professional Female Artist Outside the Convent
Since art was a noble pursuit, as stated by Castiglione, and an intellectual
endeavor that every courtier, including women, should know, women were able to
receive an education and practice the arts. The precedent of successful and professional
female artists, as mentioned by Boccaccio, made it possible for women to emerge as
artists without damaging any social aspirations.
Women who did hazard an entry into male-dominated fields relied heavily on past
precedents and often did so at their father’s encouragement. Two successful Renaissance
artists, Sofonisba Anguissola (1532-1625) and Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614), had fathers
who desired a higher social standing for their families, but lacked in monies. Sofonisba
was her family’s first-born child. Her parents did not conceive a male heir until she was
nineteen years old.28 Sofonisba’s education in the arts was normal for a lady of her social
rank, as seen in the writings of Castiglione. Lavinia’s education and practice of painting
were also customary since painting was her father’s vocation. The difference is in the
way these women emerged as professional artists.
It is likely that Sofonisba’s father promoted her abilities as an artist due to the fact
28
Ilya Sandra Perlingieri, Sofonisba Anguissola: The First Great Woman Artist of the
Renaissance (New York: Rizzoli, 1992), 29.
13
that at the time he lacked a male heir and did not have enough funds to provide a dowry
for his six daughters.29 Sofonisba and her sister Elena broke feminine tradition when their
father, Amilcare Anguissola, sent them away to study with the artist Bernardino Campi in
1546.30 Normally a lady was tutored at home and merely dabbled in painting.31 Amilcare
went so far as to contact the renowned artist Michelangelo who, after seeing her work,
encouraged the young Sofonisba and provided her with brief and informal instruction.32
She was even presented to Michelangelo in person, one of the most sought-after
introductions in the European world in the Renaissance.33
Lavinia was originally trained by her father, Prospero Fontana, in order to aid him
in his paintings, but later he pushed her to become a professional artist for financial
reasons as well.34 Prospero lost his most prestigious patron, Julius III, in 1555 and was
unable to complete some work due to illness. Vasari confirms that Prospero was under
financial difficulty in 1563.35 This is likely due to the fact that the same year he provided
a substantial dowry for his first daughter, Emilia, and was unable to obtain substantial
work.36
29
Caroline P. Murphy, Lavinia Fontana: A Painter and her Patrons in Sixteenth-century
Bologna (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), 15.
30
Perlingieri, Sofonisba Anguissola, 41.
31
Ibid., 35.
32
Sylvia Ferino-Pagden and Maria Kusche, Sofonisba Anguissola: A Renaissance
Woman (Washington D.C.: The National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1995), 12.
33
Perlingieri, Sofonisba Anguissola, 75.
34
Murphy, Lavinia Fontana, 19.
35 Ibid.
36 Ibid.
14
Although Lavinia and Sofonisba may have commenced their artistic careers due
to their father’s encouragement, they seized the opportunity to pursue individual fame.
The acceptance of these women as professionally active artists outside the convent
allowed them to promote themselves and their work without hindering their social
aspirations. In fact, the intelligence and talent of these women made it possible for them
to attain renown for their artwork and fame for themselves, thereby increasing their social
standing.
15
The Female Artists’ Pursuit of Fame
To be a successful artist in the Italian Renaissance required intelligence and
creativity. If a female artist sought to be ranked alongside professional male artists and
obtain lasting fame and recognition, she needed to show her “genius” and be recorded for
history.
Female artists first received recognition as novelties. Novelty was an important
aspect of art to the Renaissance collector as displayed by Carlo de' Medici’s writing, in
which he states that Pisanello's medals should be valued "more for their novelty than for
their usefulness."37 The search for novelty was vital to the success and fame of some
female artists. Initially, Sofonisba Anguissola’s father successfully promoted her artwork
as a novelty and marvel.38 Critics, poets, and others desired owning a woman’s selfportrait precisely because they contained a “double marvel”.39 In Annibale Caro’s request
for Sofonisba’s self-portrait he indicates the novelty present in a talented female artist by
stating, “There is nothing I desire more than an image of the artist herself, so that in a
single work I can exhibit two marvels, one the work, the other the artist.”40 However,
consideration as a novelty was not enough for women like Sofonisba and Lavinia. They
37
Ames-Lewis, The Intellectual Life, 274.
Sylvia Ferino-Pagden, “Sofonisba Anguissola: The First Woman Painter”, in Sofonisba
Anguissola: A Renaissance Woman, ed. Brett Topping (Washington, D.C.: The
National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1995), 12.
39
Jacobs, Defining the Renaissance Virtuosa, 124.
40
Ibid., 124.
38
16
sought distinction as excellent artists. Their desire for fame can be seen in their individual
style and, most importantly, their paintings.
Individual style was considered a desirable and important aspect of art in the
Renaissance, a necessity if an artist wanted to achieve distinction. Although apprentices
were taught techniques, they were still expected to cultivate their individual style.
Cennino Cennini advises painters “to find a good style which is right for you” in his
Craftsman’s Handbook.41 Leonardo Da Vinci gives similar advice in his Treatise on
Painting: “I say to painters that no one should ever imitate the style of another because he
will be called a nephew and not a child of nature with regard to art."42 In 1481 Cristoforo
Landino developed a vocabulary to differentiate between artistic styles and qualities of
art.43 Castiglione writes in his popular book, The Courtier, “Leonardo da Vinci,
Mantegna, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Giorgio da Castelfranco, are very excellent, yet
they are all unlike in their work; so that no one of them seems to lack anything in his own
manner, since each is known as perfect in his style.”44 Female artists, like men, eagerly
adopted and honed their own individual styles in order to achieve distinction. Lavinia
Fontana did not paint in the same style of her father; instead, she opted to develop her
own style to create celebrated works.45 Sofonisba Anguissola’s fame was contingent upon
41
Burk, Renaissance Culture and Society, 24.
Ames-Lewis, The Intellectual Life, 179.
43
Ibid., 274.
44
Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier, 50.
45 Claudio Strinati, “On the Origins of Women Painters” in Italian Women Artists, 16-17.
42
17
her unique style and innovative approach to portraiture.46
The novelty of a woman who could be identified by her individual style and who
excelled in art made her self-portrait more desirable because it contained the “double
marvel” as mentioned above.47 It appears that the female artists of the Renaissance used
the demand for their self-portraits as a way to promote their art, fashion their identity, and
obtain everlasting fame.
During the Renaissance, self- portraits were seen as a way to convey the artist’s
identity and notion of himself to his viewers.48 Self-portraits were a way for artists to
make commentary regarding their skills, intellect, and place in society. As Desiderius
Erasmus once stated, “Men are not born, but fashioned.” Even Machiavelli’s work The
Prince, a popular Florentine book in 1532, is based on the idea that a person, or ruler in
this case, can shape his public image however he wished. As Humanist ideas spread,
including concepts of self-fashioning, crafting one’s behavior, and dissimulation,49 selfportraits became more popular among artists.
The manners in which the Renaissance artist portrayed themselves are useful
indicators not only of their self-perceptions, but also of their aspirations.50 Self-portraits
46
Ibid.
Paola Tinagli, Women in Italian Renaissance Art: Gender, Representation, Identity
(New York: Manchester University Press, 1997), 114.
48
Woods-Marsden, Renaissance Self-Portraiture, 25.
49
Mary D. Garrard, "Here's Looking at Me: Sofonisba Anguissola and the Problem of
Woman Artist," Renaissance Quarterly, 47, no. 3 (1994) 562.
50
Ames-Lewis, The Intellectual Life, 209.
47
18
also served as a way for artists to make themselves immortal. The concept of preserving
oneself for eternity was introduced by Dante and seems to have interested many
Renaissance people, including artists.51Autobiographies and diaries became more
common in the Italian Renaissance52 while individual self-portraits became more
customary for artists. Originally, artists inserted themselves into commissioned paintings
when they could53 but later took to creating individual self-portraits. As Vasari later
states, portraiture is not just about recording the features of a person, but “preserving for
others the vision and memory of an individual of outstanding virtue and talents, and in
evoking the sitter’s achievements and noble deeds.”54
This concept can easily be seen in a variety of male self-portraits. Carlo Dolci, a
painter, portrayed himself in a double portrait possibly to illustrate his multi-faceted
personality. He presents his intellectual self with a sober, reflective, expression holding
up a small drawing of himself in the act of painting. Other painters portrayed themselves
with items that were symbols of piety. For example, Jacopo Palma il Giovane portrayed
himself painting the resurrection of Christ.55
The implied motive for a woman to paint herself is that she is claiming that she,
51
J. Lucas-Duberton, Daily Life in Florence in the Time of the Medici, trans. A. Lytton
Sells (New York: Macmillan Company, 1961), 141.
52 McLaughlin, “Biography and Autobiography in the Italian Renaissance,” in Mapping
Lives: The Uses of Biography, eds. Peter France and William St Clair (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2004), 37.
53
Woods-Marsden, Renaissance Self-Portraiture, 44.
54
K.A. McIver, "Lavinia Fontana's Self-Portrait Making Music," Women's Art Journal,
19, no. 1 (1998): 3-8, 5.
55
Woods-Marsden, Renaissance Self-Portraiture, 238.
19
like her male contemporaries, is worth representing.56 Castiglione notes in The Courtier,
that a woman should avoid vanity and practice discrete modestia (discreet modesty).57
However, the self-portraits of artists like Sofonisba Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana, and
Marietta Robusti (1560-1590) appear to go beyond “discreet modesty,” and instead
emphasize their talents, intelligence, while maintain their position as gentlewomen.
Self-Portrait Holding a Medallion (Fig. 1), painted by Sofonisba sometime in the
early 1550’s, promotes her abilities and reveals her ambition for fame. Sofonisba shows
herself with her hair pulled tightly back and clad in austere clothing, devoid of
ornamentation. Her simple, yet tasteful, attire underlines her nobility and education.58 She
holds a shield with entwined letters in the center and the phrase around the edge. The
meaning of the letters is debated, though many believe them to represent the name of her
father, Amilcare. If this is the case, she may be showing her noble linage. The phrase
along the edge of the shield reads, “SOPHONISBA ANGUISSOLA VIR(GO) IPSIUS
MANU EX (S)PECULO DEPICTAM CREMONAE” or “Painted from a mirror with her
own hand by the Cremonese virgin Sofonisba Anguissola.”59
The reference to the use of a mirror not only suggests a truthful depiction and a
reflection upon one’s identify, but a reference to the praised artist Marcia. Marcia was a
Felicity Edholm, “Beyond the Mirror: Women’s Self-Portraits,” in Imagining Women:
Cultural Representations and Gender, edited by Frances Bonner et al. (Cambridge: Polity
Press, 1992), 162.
57
Woods-Marsden, Renaissance Self-Portraiture, 189.
58 Tinagli, Women in Italian Renaissance Art, 114.
59
Woods-Marsden, Renaissance Self-Portraiture, 203.
56
20
celebrated painter mentioned by both Pliny and Boccaccio, and who supposedly used a
mirror to create her self-image.60 The educated Sofonisba would have known the writings
of Boccaccio and the women he mentioned and it is likely that she chose the reference for
the educated and elite that viewed her self-portraits. She, like Marcia, had chosen to
avoid “the usual feminine occupation” and devote her life to art.61 The allusion to Marcia
also suggests that she, too, will obtain renown. This painting was most likely created as
self-promotion to show her intelligence, painting expertise, and significance in the hopes
of obtaining a court appointment.62
60
Woods-Marsden, Renaissance Self-Portraiture, 203.
Ibid., 204.
62
Ibid., 193.
61
21
Figure 1. Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-Portrait with Medallion, ca.
1550s, Oil on parchment, 3 ¼ x 2 ½ " (8.26 x 6.35 cm), Boston
Museum of Fine Arts, inv. no. 60.155
22
Around 1550 Sofonisba also painted Bernardino Campi Painting Sofonisba
Anguissola (Fig. 2). In the painting Sofonisba depicts her instructor, Campi, painting her
portrait. It appears that in this piece Sofonisba is trying to convey a few important
messages: her artistic training, her self-perception, and her anticipated fame.
Bernardino Campi Painting Sofonisba Anguissola implies that Campi created
Sofonisba the artist through his tutelage. As the renowned artist Benvenuto Cellini noted,
“A man should let others know he draws his lineage from persons of worth and most
ancient origin.”63 Since artists were rarely born of noble lineage, many chose to create an
artistic linage through their apprenticeships.64 This is one of the reasons that artists sought
a place with renowned masters and why master artists offered good money for a talented
apprentice. Not only could good apprentices ensure quality work, but they could also
perpetuate the reputation of the master who trained them.65 It is possible to trace whole
chains of artists, each the pupil of the one before. Lorenzo Ghiberti trained Fra’ Filippo
Lippi who in turn trained Andrea del Verrocchio who trained both Botticelli and
Leonardo da Vinci. In some instances apprentices even took the name of their master to
illustrate this artistic lineage, like Jacopo Sansovino who trained under Andrea Sansovino
and Domenico Campagnola who trained under Giulio Campagnola.66 It is likely for this
reason that Sofonisba, who was not born into an artistic family, chose to illustrate her
63
Benvenuto Cellini, Autobiography, Trans. George Bull (New York: Grolier, 1973), 6.
Ames-Lewis, The Intellectual Life, 16.
65 Fredrika Jacobs, "Woman's Capacity to Create: The Unusual Case of Sofonisba
Anguissola," Renaissance Quarterly, 47, no. 1 (1994) 84.
66
Burk, Renaissance Culture and Society, 52.
64
23
artistic lineage. By portraying her artistic lineage, she is securing herself a place in an art
historical chain of artists and claiming a right to that place.
Sofonisba may also be defending her right to a place in art history by displaying
her mastery of portrait painting and suggesting that she has surpassed her master. She
does this by rendering Campi with sensitivity and realism while depicting his portrayal of
her as flat and less realistic. While this alone may seem as just a mode to identify that one
figure is living and the other is simply a painted canvas, other clues indicate the former
supposition.
For example, the image of Sofonisba gazes directly at the viewer, rather than
away or at the depicted Campi, suggesting her presence both in the painting and as
creator of the painting. Sofonisba also places her image carefully. Her image is centered
and her face is emphasized by Campi’s arm that makes a “W” shape with Sofonisba’s
painted arm which lies along the same central axis as her face and is emphasized by the
direct placement of her painted hand below his. 67 She has also placed her head above
that of her tutor and made the image of herself bigger than that of her tutor. This central
alignment and larger-than-life depiction make her image more imposing than that of
Campi, signifying her belief that she would be an even greater success than her mentor.
Although the painting shows Campi painting Sofonisba, she has painted them both,
suggesting that she not only surpassed her mentor, but that his future renown would be
due to her being his student. After all, at age fifteen she had been counted among the
67
Garrard, "Here's Looking at Me,” 562.
24
most significant painters by Marco Gerolamo Vida, Humanist and friend of Amilcare
Anguissola.68
It is also possible that her inclusion of a mahlstick, an instrument used to steady
an artist’s hand while painting, in Campi’s hand could be viewed as a slight towards her
tutor. Paolo Pini claimed in his 1548 Dialogo that the use of a mahlstick was shameful
and not practiced by the ancients.69 And while not everyone agreed with Pini, it is
interesting to note that in the medal created to commemorate the work of painter Lavinia
Fontana, Lavinia is shown working freehand with her mahlstick cast aside. Sofonisba
only portrays herself once using the mahlstick, and that is in her Self-Portrait at the Easel
(Fig. 3), dated to around 1556. Because she is depicting herself painting the Madonna and
Child in Self-Portrait at the Easel, the mahlstick may be a sign of piety. Since the
mahlstick often connoted timidity and preoccupation with the subject70 it is possible that
she uses it to show her tentativeness in the ability to portray her divine subjects justly. It
emphasizes that her reverence for her subjects makes her take extra care in their
rendering.
68
Sylvia Ferino-Pagden and Maria Kusche, Sofonisba Anguissola,12.
Garrard, “Here’s Looking At Me,” 562.
70 Ibid.
69
25
Figure 2. Sofonisba Anguissola, Bernardino Campi Painting Sofonisba
Anguissola, ca. 1559, Oil on Canvas, 43 11/16 x 43 5/16" (111x 110 cm).
Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena.
26
Self-Portrait at the Easel is another painting that serves more than one function.
First, she demonstrates her piety and promotes her ability to paint the subject. Second,
and most importantly, she is suggesting her similarity to the legendary Thamyris
mentioned by Boccaccio in his Concerning Famous Women. 71 According to Boccaccio,
Thamyris, also known as Timarete or Thamar, painted a famous work depicting the
goddess Diana of Ephesus72 and
…had such marvelous talent that she scorned the duties of women and practiced
her father’s art” and “acquired such great glory in painting that the
Ephesians…kept for a long time a painting…done by Thamyris on a panel and
guarded it as a precious thing. It lasted for a long time and gave such great
testimony to her skill that it seemed marvelous up to modern times.73
Sofonisba, by portraying herself as a painter of the Madonna, may be associating
herself with Thamyris who, as stated above, painted the goddess Diana. The illustration
of Thamyris in some editions of Boccaccio’s book shows her painting the Madonna
instead. By associating herself with the renowned Thamyris, Sonfonisba could be
claiming that she is a talented artist who will follow in the footsteps of her predecessor
and that her work will be a lasting testament to her significance and skills.
71
Ferino-Pagden and Kusche, Sofonisba Anguissola: A Renaissance Woman, 24.
Ibid.
73
Boccaccio, Concerning Famous Women, 122.
72
27
Figure 3. Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-Portrait at the Easel, ca. 1556, Oil on canvas, 26 x
22 ½ " (66 x 57.15 cm), Muzeum Zamek, Lancut.
28
Self-Portrait at the Easel comes after
Sofonisba’s 1554 self-portrait in which she
presents herself with a small book (fig. 4) and
indicates her artistic and historical importance.
In this work, Sofonisba seems to be
emphasizing her role as both model and artist
by making it clear that she is representing
herself.74 According to Woods-Marsden, this is
the first self-portrait to include a book
regardless of gender.75 If this is the first known
self-portrait of the Renaissance to include a
Figure 4. Sofonisba Anguissola, SelfPortrait, 1554, Oil on panel, 6 ¾ x 4
book, then it also indicates the artist’s creativity, ¾ " (CM), Kunsthistorisches
Museum, Vienna, inv. no. 285.
and therefore, genius. 76
By presenting herself with a book the artist may be indicating her intelligence. In
portraiture the book was used traditionally to portray Humanist erudition.77 Therefore the
book in Sofonisba’s painting could function as an indication of her education. But it
seems most likely that, since her name and year is written on the open page of the book,
Garrard, “Here’s Looking at Me,” 558.
Wood-Marsden, Renaissance Self-Portraiture, 202.
76
Jacobs, "Woman's Capacity to Create,” 95.
77
Woods-Marsden, Renaissance Self-Portraiture, 202.
74
75
29
she is alluding to the Renaissance popularity of writing autobiographies and diaries78 and
suggesting that, like the authors of those books, she is recording herself and life for
history.
Lavinia Fontana also illustrates her self-perception and motivations in her selfportraits. Her portrait, Self Portrait at the Keyboard with Maidservant, probably painted
in 1575 for her betrothed, depicts her seated at the keyboard being tended by a
maidservant (Fig. 5). Since Sofonisba was already a famous artist known throughout
Spain and Italy whose works were known and distributed, it is likely that Lavinia was
aware of Sofonisba’s 1561 self-portrait that depicts the artist at the keyboard being
tended by a maidservant (Fig. 6). Lavinia’s reference to Sofonisba would indicate that
she, like Sofonisba before her, would find great success as an artist.
The inscription, “Lavinia virgo Prosperi Fontanae/Filia ex speculo imaginem/oris
sui expresi anno 1577” (“Lavinia maiden daughter of Prospero Fontana has represented
the likeness of her face from the mirror in the year 1577”) may also be a reference to
Sofonisba’s Self Portrait with a Medallion and the artist Marcia mentioned by Boccaccio.
As previously mentioned, Marcia was a celebrated painter mentioned by both Pliny and
Boccaccio, and who supposedly used a mirror to create her self-image.79 If so, this is
intended to underline that Lavinia, like her predecessors, is going to live an unusual life
for a woman by dedicating herself to the creation of artwork.
78
79
McLaughlin, “Biography and Autobiography in the Italian Renaissance,” 37.
Woods-Marsden, Renaissance Self-Portraiture, 203.
30
The maidservant in both Sofonisba’s and Lavinia’s paintings serves as an
indication of wealth and suggest that they are proper ladies. In both portraits the women
are displaying one of Castiglione’s essential requirements for noblewomen mentioned in
his Book of the Courtier, musical skills. In Lavinia’s painting wealth and status are also
implied by her rich garments.
Unlike Sofonisba, who opts for a plain, dark background, Lavinia illustrates the
rest of the scene, including her easel in the background. The easel not only displays her
artistic abilities, but may also suggest to her future husband and in-laws, her ability to
earn a good income on her art. This may be evidenced by a wooden chest placed next to
the easel that could possibly represent the future bride’s trousseau, or the container in
which she would transport her fortune to her new home. The position of the chest next to
the empty easel might indicate that her painting skills are what she is bringing to her
marriage and that those skills would bring her husband a fortune in lieu of a dowry.80
Lavinia’s betrothed, Gian Paolo Zappi of Imola, agreed to forgo the dowry required by
canon law, move into her father’s house, and accept Lavinia as a careerist wife since he
was convinced that she would make a fortune through her production of paintings. 81
80
Murphy, Lavinia Fontana, 43.
Murphy, “The Economics” in Italian Women Artists: from Renaissance to Baroque, ed.
Carole Collier Frick et al. (Milan: Skira, 2007), 27.
81
31
Figure 5. Lavinia Fontana, Self-Portrait at the Keyboard with Maidservant, 1577, Oil on
canvas, 10.63 x 9.44” (27 x 24 cm), Accademia di San Luca, Rome.
32
Figure 6. Sofonisba Anguissola, Self-Portrait at the Keyboard with
Maidservant, ca. 1550s, Oil on canvas, 32.68 x 25.59” (83 x 65 cm), Althorp
House, Northampton
33
Lavinia’s 1579 self-portrait was created in response to a request from Alfonso Ciacón.
She probably provided it because he promised her eternal fame. In his letter to the artist,
Ciacón stated that her painting would,
…accompany that of Sofonisba which shall thus be seen and looked at and
recognized by everyone as it shall be made into a print among those five hundred
illustrious men and women which shall be engraved in copper at the expense of
his Grace the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. I turn to you not to deprive me of
this pleasure and contentment, and yourself of that glory that still you do not have
and to be known by all as I plan to celebrate you and propagate you for centuries
and lineage of eternity.82
Since her self-portrait was to receive a place of honor and be copied for wide
distribution, she made sure to carefully craft her image to show her talent, intellect, and
worthiness of praise (Fig. 7). Lavinia’s self-portrait introduces her as a wealthy,
respectable, pious, and talented lady of Humanist erudition, who is both intellectual and
creative.
In this painting Lavinia portrays herself seated in a studiolo surrounded by small
copies of sculptures from antiquity. Her hand is poised with a pen over a blank sheet of
paper as if she is about to write a letter. By placing herself among classical antiquities
and in the act of writing, she is depicting her understanding of, and inspiration from, the
classical world and implying that she is more than just an artist and gentle woman, she is
82
Murphy, Lavinia Fontana, 219.
34
also a scholar and antiquarian.83 She was, after all, educated at the university and a doctor
of letters.84 The sheet of paper on her desk and the pen in her poised hand may imply her
excellent way with words, as described by her father-in law when he states that her first
letter to her future in-laws was “more of a judicious man and not a woman”.85 The fact
that the paper before her is blank suggests that she is in the act of imaginative thinking,
the initial stage of creation that, to Renaissance artists, relied solely on intellect.86 The
enigmatic quality of this blank paper and her pen poised to compose can only be seen as a
reference to her heightened intelligence.87 Her dress suggests that she is wealthy, while
the cross around her neck displays her piety. The painting is also done in a circular
format, called a tondo, which required greater skill, promoting Lavinia’s worth, rarity,
and right to a place among the most renowned artists and personages.88
In the letter Lavinia wrote to accompany her painting she displays humility at the
compliment of being placed in such an illustrious group. She states her unworthiness of
having her portrait placed next to that of Sofonisba, or of being included at all in his
collection of celebrated individuals, even though this seems to contradict her self-portrait
which affirms her intellect and artistic talents. Lavinia, who was able to secure loyal
83
Murphy, Lavinia Fontana, 74.
McIver, “Lavinia Fontana’s Self-Portrait Making Music,” 3.
85
Murphy, Lavinia Fontana, 217.
86
Woods-Marsden, Renaissance Self-Portraiture, 220.
87
Ibid., 221.
88 Murphy, Lavinia Fontana, 76.
84
35
clients due to her diplomatic skills, personality, and self-promotion,89 created the letter to
assure her patron that she was modest like the ideal noblewoman described by
Castiglione. Of course the letter does more than endeavor to convince the reader of the
writer’s modesty, it also serves to remind Alfonso of his promise, particularly that her
portrait be placed next to that of Sofonisba. She writes,
…as with your intention to give my portrait such an honored place, one I attribute
to the excess of your lovingness, the other, makes me think that you judiciously
wish that the virtue and worth of Signora Sofonisba will be so much more
resplendent.90
Although her accompanying letter states that she is unworthy to have her portrait
placed next to that of Sofonisba and that her work will only show the superiority of
Sofonisba, her painting suggests that she believes she has a talent to rival that of
Sofonisba. For Lavinia, Sofonisba was more than an artist to respect, she was a rival to
overcome, a recurrent theme in Renaissance Italy. Dante states in Purgatorio, the second
part of The Divine Comedy, “In painting Cimabue thought that he should hold the field,
now Giotto has the cry, so that the other’s fame is growing dim”.91 This concept of
outdoing your predecessors is echoed by Vasari as he states that Giotto surpassed
Cimabue, Donatello was surpassed by Michelangelo, and so on.92
89
Murphy, Lavinia Fontana, 45.
Ibid., 220.
91
Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy, trans. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (New
York: Barns and Noble, 2008), 339.
92
McIver, "Lavinia Fontana's Self-Portrait Making Music,” 6.
90
36
Figure 6. Lavinia Fontana, Self-Portrait in the Studiolo, 1579, Oil on copper,
6.18" (15.7 cm) diameter, Uffizi, Florence.
37
Marietta Robusti’s self-portrait painted in 1580 was also likely created to preserve
her identity for eternity. Marietta shows herself holding music from a madrigal by
Philippe Verdelot. Her cheeks seem to be blushing, perhaps due to the lyrics of the song,
“Madonna per voi ardo” (My lady, I burn with love for you) (Fig. 8). In this painting it
appears that Marietta is concerned with conveying herself as musically knowledgeable, as
indicated by the sheet of music in her hands suggesting that she is trained in reading notes
and educated as a proper lady according to the requirements set forth by Castiglione. Her
blushing cheeks display to the viewer her modesty, another important trait of a
gentlewoman according to Castiglione. She is, after all, mentioned by Vasari in his Lives,
an inclusion that suggests that she was a popular and known artist, which would not be
surprising considering she trained under her famous father, Tintoretto.93
93
Carlo Ridolfi, The Life of Tintoretto and of His Children Domenico and Marietta,
trans. Catherine Enggass and Robert Enggass (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania
State University Press, 1984), 99.
38
Figure 7. Marietta Robusti, Self-Portrait, 1580, Oil on canvas, 36.73 x 36.02” (93.3 x
91.5 cm), Uffizi, Florence.
39
Other female artists are mentioned by Vasari, including Properzia de’ Rossi, but
no known self-portraits are available for analysis. However, since self-portraits were such
an important creation in the Renaissance, especially for female artists who could produce
such works as a “double marvel”94 and attract collectors and notice in elite circles, it is
probably only a matter of time before more works surface allowing further study of the
aspirations and self-perception of these women. From the works that do survive, it seems
clear that these women carefully crafted their self-portraits to reflect not only their
appearance, but their self-assessment and ambitions.
Creating self-portraits was not the only manner in which a female artist in the
Renaissance sought to achieve fame. Sofonisba painted a narrative painting titled The
Chess Game in 1555 (Fig. 9). The painting depicts her three sisters smiling while playing
a game of chess, with their maid, or nurse, watching steadily from the far right. The
background consists of a distant landscape of water, rocks, and mountains. This painting
conveys the artist’s “genius” by displaying her innovation, an innate trait of narrative
painting according to Vasari, and ability to accurately imitate nature.95 According to
Perlingieri, this is the first sixteenth-century portrait to display its subjects in such an
animated and informal way, making it inventive.96 By portraying her sisters with such
active emotion, a practice not applied by her contemporaries, Sofonisba distinguished
herself as a talented painter able to accurately capture life.
94
Tinagli, Women in Italian Renaissance Art, 114.
Jacobs, “Woman’s Capacity to Create,” 94-95.
96
Perlingieri, Sofonisba Anguissola, 88.
95
40
Figure 8. Sofonisba Anguissola, The Chess Game, ca. 1555, Oil on canvas, 28.38 x
38.13” (72.07 x 96.85 cm), Muzeum Narodowe, Poznan.
41
Leaving a Legacy
The desire of these female Renaissance artists for legendary status is evidenced by
the distribution of their work and artistic influence. As previously mentioned, creating an
artistic lineage by training other aspiring artists was a way for a renowned artist to
perpetuate her name and reputation. If an artist receives credit for influencing the work
of, or training, another great artist then their name will be repeated into another
generation and their talent and work will be remembered. It is probably for this reason
that Lavinia ran her own workshop and trained some noble girls in painting. She is the
first recorded professional female artist outside of the convent to do so in the
Renaissance.97 Although she did not have a formal school, and her female pupils did not
become professional artists, at least two male artists indicated that she influenced them
artistically.98
Sofonisba’s new precedent for self-portraiture by women and establishment of
new conventions for Italian genre painting spread throughout Europe and had a lasting
influence. 99 Sofonisba’s sketches were widely distributed and both these, and her
paintings, were well known, copied, and influential. Caravaggio’s painting Boy Being
Bitten by a Lizard done in 1597 derived its inspiration from Sofonisba’s sketch, Boy
97
Woods-Marsden, Renaissance Self-Portraiture, 141.
Murphy, Lavinia Fontana, 197.
99
Chadwick, Women, Art, and Society, 77.
98
42
Bitten by a Crayfish, created around 1558.100 The sketch, originally given to
Michelangelo in response to his challenge to create something more innovative, portrayed
Sofonisba’s brother Asdrubale in the act of crying.
Anthony Van Dyck sought out and spoke to Sofonisba when she was ninety-six
years old. He consulted her about her work since she had been the leading painter in
Genoa from the 1580s through the 1590s.101 Van Dyck, one of the leading portraitist in
Genoa after Sofonisba, is attributed with revolutionizing portraiture as done previously
by Sofonisba, and was probably influenced by the famed female artist. Art historians note
a change in his style after his visit with the aged female painter.102 Nor was Van Dyck the
only foreign artist to hold Sofonisba’s work in high regard. In 1618 Rubens painted a
copy of her Portrait of Queen Isabel (1563-65), possibly because he or a patron admired
it.103
100
Perlingieri, Sofonisba Anguissola, 74.
Perlingieri, Sofonisba Anguissola, 209.
102
Ibid.
103
Ibid., 197.
101
43
Chapter 4
CONCLUSION
If, as presumed, these women were interested in fame and a higher status, they
succeeded in achieving both. As shown in surviving writings, artifacts, and art, these
women were celebrated for their work both during their lives and after their deaths.
Lavinia was integrated quickly into the artistic Bolognese community and
received some of the most prestigious commissions.104 In a time when it was considered
indecent for a gentlewoman to earn her income, Lavinia not only earned as much as the
highest paid males painting portraits in the seventeenth century, she provided the main
source of income for her family, including her aging parents.105 Properzia also achieved
financial parity with her male counterparts in Bologna. The Fabbricca for San Petronio,
the most important church of Bologna, paid Properzia de’ Rossi sums commensurate with
those offered to male artists for her sculptural work.106
Sofonisba and Lavinia both received papal commissions, one of the highest
achievements for a Renaissance artist. Lavinia was honored with a papal commission and
summons to Rome.107 Sofonisba received a commission for a portrait of Queen Isabel
104
Murphy, Lavinia Fontana, 13.
Murphy, “The Economics,” in Italian Women Artists, 27.
106
Ibid., 23.
107
Chadwick, Women, Art, and Society, 94.
105
44
from Pope Pius IV.108 In exchange for the painting, the Pope sent gifts and a letter, dated
15 October 1561, that assured Sofonisba that he would hold her painting “among our
dearest possessions.”109
Her contemporary, Giovan Paolo Lomazzo, wrote that all the European princes
were amazed by Sofonisba’s portraits.110 Other writers including Filippo Baldinucci,
Gian Battista Zaist, and Raffello Sopriani, ranked Sofonisba alongside Titian.111 Irene di
Spilimbergo’s work was also regarded as equal to that of Titian.112 Marietta Robusti was
invited to the Spanish court like Sofonisba, but her father, Tintoretto, declined the
invitation.113 Marietta Robusti, along with Sofonisba and Lavinia, was credited with
“invention,” one of the greatest compliments an artist could receive.114
Vasari provided particularly high praise for Sofonisba, claiming that her subjects
were “executed so well, that they appear to be breathing and absolutely alive” similar to
the statements he made about Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.115
Lavinia Fontana also received high praise from her contemporaries. The
Bolognese poet Giulio Cesare Croce (1550-1609) stated that, “In painting there are those
108
Perlingieri, Sofonisba Anguissola, 121-122.
Vasari, “Sofonisba Anguissola,” in Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and
Architects, trans. Gaston De Vere, vol. 8 (New York: AMS Press, 1976) 47.
110
Tinagli, Women in Italian Renaissance Art, 15.
111
Jacobs, “Woman’s Capacity to Create,” 74.
112
Ibid., 76.
113
Ibid.
114
Ibid., 98.
115
Vasari, “Sofonisba Anguissola,” 45-46.
109
45
who know the great wonder of nature, Lavinia Fontana, noble painter, unique in the
world like a phoenix.”116 As previously mentioned, the Bolognese medalist, Felice
Antonio Casoni, struck a portrait medal in her honor shortly before her death in 1611.
The face displays her portrait and a description that identifies her as a painter. The
reverse side contains a female figure surrounded by a square and compasses illustrating
the mathematical prowess and inspired genius considered a trait of Renaissance artists.117
Sofonisba’s husband also provided her with a lasting monument to celebrate her
fame and special status. After her death in 1625, he erected a marble tomb in San Giorgio
dei Genovesi in Palermo. The epitaph carved onto the stone reads:
To Sofonisba, my wife, whose parents are the noble Anguissola, for beauty and
extraordinary gifts of nature, who is recorded among the illustrious women of the
world, outstanding in portraying the images of man, so excellent that there was no
equal in her age. Orazio Lomellino, in sorrow for the loss of his great love, in
1632, dedicated this little tribute to such a great woman.
Female artists in the Renaissance, in search of their own recognition, left an even
greater legacy than they might have imagined. They contributed to the advancement of
both art and women’s status and opened up painting as a socially acceptable profession
for women.118 Properzia demonstrated that the sculpting of marble was not an
accomplishment limited to men. Sofonisba not only inspired female artists like Barbara
McIver, “Lavinia Fontana’s Self-Portrait Making Music,” 7.
Chadwick, Women, Art, and Society, 96.
118
Perlingieri, Sofonisba Anguissola, 77.
116
117
46
Longhi (1552-1638), Fede Galizia (1578-1630), and Lavinia Fontana,119 but her success
made some male Italian artists willing to take on female pupils. For example, Titian
agreed to instruct Irene di Spilimbergo (1538-1559), the granddaughter of his friend. 120
These women demonstrated that an intelligent and talented woman had the
capacity to achieve recognition and prominence in the arts. If it were not for their concern
in promoting themselves and obtaining distinction, their work and legacy might have
been lost to history. Instead, they were able to imprint themselves in history and, in doing
so, provide a foundation for the success of future women in the arts.
119
120
Perlingieri, Sofonisba Anguissola,185.
Ibid., 86.
47
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