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In the 16th century, art was a predominantly male occupation. At that time, Sofonisba Anguissola did not comply with roles that were traditionally assigned to women, such as a mother and a homemaker. Instead, as a strong and independent woman, she decided to fulfill her ambition of becoming an artist instead. By doing this, she paved the way for other female artists such as Lavinia Fontana who followed in her footsteps and also went on to paint portraits of the nobility and history paintings.
In an unusual self-portrait from 1559, Anguissola painted herself being painted by her teacher Bernardino Campi. This work can be called a self-portrait in the sense that it is a painting of the artist and Anguissola is the creator. However, within the scene, the painter we can see is Campi. The painting provides a commentary on gender roles assigned throughout art history – the male as the creator, and the female as the subject. Here, Anguissola breaks the rules and reverses these roles.
The artworks created by her were not limited to the genre of the self-portrait. Anguissola demonstrated that she was just as capable of producing other types of art as some of the most celebrated male artists of her time. For example, she painted a number of portraits for Philip II’s Spanish court. She was a tutor to his wife, the consort Queen of Spain, Elisabeth of Valois. She balanced both the jobs of being a tutor to the consort and being a successful artist at the same time.
In these portraits, she proved her worth as a major court artist and established that her talent was equivalent to contemporary male court artists. However, in some ways, the role of a court artist in Spain constrained her artistic career. Anguissola produced these artworks to earn a living, under the guidelines of a strict contract. Her self-portraits, on the other hand, can be seen as examples of her own self-expression and freedom as an artist.
Female artists of the Italian Renaissance, like Anguissola, have only received a small proportion of the recognition that they deserve as artists. Traditionally, female artists have been excluded from the “canon” of art history – the established timeline of key artists and art movements throughout history. But this began to change with the introduction of feminism in the 1970s. Perhaps most famously, Linda Nochlin’s article Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? highlighted their exclusion.
Anguissola was determined to pursue a successful career in the arts. Today, aspiring female artists are given equal access to professional training alongside men. And it was artists like Anguissola, living almost 500 years ago, who proved that women should be allowed to work as artists too. Sofonisba Anguissola was an extremely inspirational woman, artist, and rule-breaker.
Linda Nochlin. “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” In Women, Art, and Power and Other Essays, edited by Linda Nochlin, 145-177. New York: Routledge, 1988
Leticia Ruiz Gomez. A Tale of Two Women Painters: Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fontana. Madrid: Museo Nacional Del Prado, 2019The above information and photos are originally from
https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/sofonisba-painter/
11 December 2025
That's it for now. I look forward to seeing you in Sunday in the Art Room
Nicole
