Category: Women Renaissance Artists
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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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A PRINCESS OF PEACE for 2021 So much pain, in so many ways, 2020. Yet, also, transformation, change, growth. Quarantine offered time and simplicity. I used my time and angst in 2020 to polish the screenplay adaptation of LADY IN ERMINE. Six rewrites. It was rough in June. Wordy in July. Rambling in August. 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…
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Sofonisba’s Philip II
In honor of Sofonisba Anguissola’s new-found celebrity, I wanted to place her Prado Portrait of Philip II alongside her Portrait of a Spanish Prince (San Diego Museum of Art). Sofonisba did not know Philip as a young child, but perhaps she could envision him as one. As Giorgio Vasari says, Sofonisba had invenzione. Perhaps she…
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Lady in Ermine
The Renaissance of Sofonisba Anguissola (2019) What a year 2019 was for Sofonisba Anguissola. Sofonisba realized her own Renaissance in 2019. She was championed by the Prado Museum in Madrid with its exhibition A Tale of Two Women Painters or Historia de Dos Pintoras, that ran starting October 22, 2019. She was dramatized in Lady in…
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Sofonisba and her Portrait of Philip II, King of Spain
On this day, October 21st, in 1561, Sofonisba sent her regrets to Bernardino Campi, “Molto Magnifico Signor Bernardino,” her first trainer, explaining that she could not yet send him a portrait of the king. “Non posso al presente servirlo, come saria mio desiderio.” She was occupied painting the king’s sister Juana and Queen Isabel. In…
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Women’s National Book Association at the Book Passage, Ferry building San Francisco October 12, 2019
I am honored to participate in the Women’s National Book Association panel at the Book Passage, San Francisco location at the Ferry Building to discuss Hidden Histories and Remarkable Women’s Stories You Won’t Forget. Sofonisba’s story is certainly that. I hope you can join us, 3-4:00 Saturday October 12, 2019 to discuss remarkable women in…
Lady In Ermine: The Story of A Woman Who Painted The Renaissance 