Sofonisba Anguissola was one of the earliest female artists of the Renaissance.  Born to a noble family, she received an education in painting and was taken on as a court painter by King Phillip II of Spain.  She grew to be known for her incredible technique, creating “speaking likeness” of her sitters in portraits, making them appear nearly real enough to talk.

 

In her painting, Bernardino Campi Painting Sofonisba Anguissola, the impression is given that Campi, her mentor, is painting her portrait.  Yet she overshadows his presence in the painting through a number of subtle elements.  Generally, paintings within self-portraits are small, showing an additional example of the artist’s skill without distracting from the portrait itself.  Here, Anguissola is both positioned above Campi, and also dwarfs him in size, drawing the attention to her, rather than him, standing in the foreground.  A second way in which Anguissola demonstrated her importance is by having both Campi and her image looking out off of the canvas.  It is as though Campi is looking at his subject, while Anguissola is looking at herself.  She has the agency to dictate exactly what the image expresses.  Finally, the painting evokes the story of Pygmalion, highlighting her realistic painting.  Anguissola illustrates Campi with great detail and emotion that nearly leaps off the surface, while he paints her in a less-than-life-like manner.  This emphasizes her as the superior artist, exceeding the abilities of her male teacher. 

 

As a way of discrediting the few female painters like Anisole who painted successfully in this era, Giorgio Vasari, a painter and historian, claimed that “If women know so well how to make living men, what marvel is it that those who wish to do so are also so well able to make them in painting?”  The subtleties of Anguissola’s portrait can be interpreted as a social statement against this accepted patriarchal view of women during the Renaissance.  Instead of creating art, women were thought of as marvels of nature, existing only to be looked at.  Sofonisba did more than paint beautiful women; she gave insight into who the person was that inspired each creation and was a role model for female artists to come.