20 November 2025

Sunday not only marked the feast day of St. Margaret of Scotland but the four hundredth anniversary of Sofonisba Anguissola’s death in 1625. She was born in 1532 in Cremona, the eldest of seven children, all girls except one! Their father was a minor nobleman who provided an all-round education for his family.

Sofonisba proved to be very artistic. She is famed for her family portraits not least the celebration of her sisters playing a game of chess and her self-portraits, the final one being accomplished when she was 88 years old. She died aged 93.

She travelled to Rome and was introduced to Michelangelo. She showed him a painting she had done of a girl laughing. He challenged her to paint another of a boy weeping. She painted her brother being bitten by a clayfish! The artist was impressed.

When the King of Spain was looking to employ a tutor for his wife who was an amateur artist, he employed Sofonisba as her lady-in-waiting prior to becoming court painter. During her time there,  she captured the formalities of court life and its people.

In 1556, she painted an interesting self-portrait. In this, she chose to paint more than herself. She is revealing her occupation as an artist. She is not a passive object being painted but an active participant enjoying a rich, professional and productive life.

On the easel is a painting of the Madonna and Child. There is another in the church at Paterno where she lived for a while. It had been unacknowledged for centuries but not this past weekend. Her art was used to teach male artists how to paint and women were inspired to follow in her celebrated footsteps.