Category: Sofonisba’s Life
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In Honor of 400 years since Sofonisba
https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Ermine-Renaissance-Biographical-Anguissola/dp/1734614706 Sofonisba dreamed. She struggled. And she succeeded. Then history forgot her. In honor of 400 years since her death, read her story.
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400 Years Ago, She Painted for 80 Years
c. 1556 Sofonisba Anguissola Self-Portrait in miniature, Boston Museum of Fine Arts Look into her young eyes. You can see her imagination racing. She’s studying you as you study her. She sees you. Do you see her? Do you know how fascinating her story is? I will tell you this: you do not know a…
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Sofonisba’s Legacy
November, 1625 Imagine that 400 years ago, in November, 1625, Sofonisba Anguissola died, around the age of 90, leaving a body of work that spanned over 80 years. Her oils can be found all over the world, some still being discovered. Imagine a woman who did all that, so long ago. Sofonisba Anguissola was truly…
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Sargent & Spain
I did not see much of Sofonisba’s influence at the San Francisco Legion of Honor exhibition Sargent & Spain. I thought I would see her influence since he went to Spain to study the historic painters. But then I saw this painting, and I instantly thought of Sofonisba’s portrait of Eleonora de Medici at the…
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The Queen’s Gambit Meet Lady In Ermine
With the success of The Queen’s Gambit, Sofonisba’s Chess Game is relevant again. Sofonisba wove a narrative of her own Queen’s Gambit right into the game played in her 1555 masterpiece. It’s dramatized in Lady in Ermine, Chapter Four, “The Chess Game.” I think Sofi would enjoy this series and it’s focus on women and…
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Sofonisba’s Legacy of Invezione Today
I’m delighted to read of Genova’s successful near-completion of the bridge that collapsed so very recently, in 2018. It gives me a feeling of optimism, literally a bridge for the future, inspiring. I can’t resist connecting the success of this modern-day project with Sofonisba’s life of creative invention (invenzione/inventione). Sofonisba and her husband lived in…
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The Chess Game
Just last week the Wall Street Journal published an article about hobbies and diversions and referenced Sofonisba’s Chess Game painted in 1555. WSJ spoke of the hobbies that entertained the nobility. What Sofonisba enthusiasts see in the painting is the ingenuity of her work and the subversive messages of female power embedded in the chess…
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Master Sofonisba Anguissola
In honor of Sofonisba’s newly recognized accomplishments and the Prado exhibition of her work, I would like to present her Boy Bitten (drawn for Michelangelo) and her Girl Laughing next to each other to accentuate Sofonisba’s effort. She conceived of these close in time and the figures and positioning show how she experimented with subtle…
Lady In Ermine: The Story of A Woman Who Painted The Renaissance 