Tag: Philip II
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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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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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Sofonisba or El Greco? Sofonisba Cradle to Grave
The details of Sofonisba Anguissola’s life show that she had the physical and geographical opportunity to paint a mature Catalina Micaela that her male contemporaries El Greco and Coello did not being far away in Spain. Sofonisba also had personal insight into the Infanta’s private world to render the Infanta of Spain, Catalina Micaela, as […]
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Sofonisba and King Philip II at the Prado Museum
Philip II King of Spain was fond of Sofonisba and admired her work, praising her in words and gold. In the final days of 1579, Sofonisba married Orazio Lomellini, a ship captain from a prominent Genoan family, without obtaining the consent of her family. Even though her marriage to Orazio began as a quasi-elopement, King […]
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ANTICIPATING SOFONISBA’S EXHIBIT AT THE PRADO MUSEUM OPENING OCTOBER 22 IN MADRID.
I’m eager to return to the Prado Museum in Madrid in a few weeks for a close up inspection of Sofonisba’s Portrait of Philip II which I last viewed in storage in 2009 with the kind permission of Leticia Ruiz, curator of the upcoming exhibit. I originally met Dr. Ruiz through my association with Maria Kusche at Progetto […]
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Who Painted the Lady in Ermine? Sofonisba or El Greco? Biography not Brushstrokes convinces: It’s Sofonisba, Cradle to Grave
The details of Sofonisba Anguissola’s life show that she had the physical and geographical opportunity to paint a mature Catalina Micaela that her male contemporaries El Greco and Coello did not being far away in Spain. Sofonisba also had personal insight into the Infanta’s private world to render the Infanta of Spain, Catalina Micaela, as […]
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Sofonisba and the Habsburg-Valois Royal Wedding 1560
Sofonisba was one of the 17 original ladies in waiting chosen for the court of the new fourteen year old Spanish queen, the former Elisabeth de Valois, daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici. Eight Spanish noblewomen and eight French noblewomen comprised the rest of the young queen’s court. Sofonisba stood out […]
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Sofonisba, Spanish Court, September 1559
In September of 1559, Amilcare Anguissola wrote as a devoted and obedient vassal “devotissimo, et ubidiente vassallo” to Philip II, the King of Spain, to accept the summons sent to his very dear daughter Sofonisba “me tanto carissima figliola” to serve as a lady in waiting to the next Queen of Spain “Serenissima nostra Regina” […]
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September 1549
In September 1549, the future King of Spain Philip II, paraded through Cremona, Lombardy during a tour of his future realm. Sofonisba Anguissola would have caught her first glimpse of him then, during The Prince’s Parade.
Lady In Ermine: The Story of A Woman Who Painted The Renaissance 