Special Sub-Topic: Sofonisba Anguissola-The Smile Maker Click Here To Play: Sofonisba Anguissola-The Smile Maker

Anguissola suffered from a lifelong illness. Which was it?

Inflammation of the eyelids. Probably due to allergies.

What was the occupation of her father?

merchant. Her father was a very enlightened man and although few women were educated at the time, he insisted that his three daughters get a formal education.

Anguissola was an apprentice to which famous artist?

Michelangelo Buonarroti. It took her three weeks to get to Rome to meet with him, but I'm sure that it was well worth it.

Anguissola was invited to become court painter to King Philip II of Spain. How long did she stay at court?

twenty years. It was such an incredible honor to be asked that she stayed as long as she could. When Queen Isabel died she left Anguissola a brocade bedcover and an order to marry. Only then did she leave the court.

What did Anguissola's first husband die from?

the plague. He was Don Fabrizio de Moncada, a Sicilian nobelman.

At what age did Anguissola first get married?

38. A ripe old age by the standards of those days.

What was the occupation of Anguissola's second husband?

ship captain. He was a much younger man named Orazio Lomellino.

How old did Anguissola live to be?

93. Though the average life expectancy for a woman at that time was thirty, Anguissola lived to be 93. In fact, she was forced to get a fides vitae to prove that she was still alive in order to receive the king's pension.

"The Chess Game", a work of Anguissola, features which figures important to her life?

her sisters. It featured her sisters Lucia, Minerva, and Europa. This painting was revolutionary because it introduced laughter into portrait painting. Smiles did not occur in portraits very often then, but Anguissola wanted a warmer expression in her work.

Anguissola's painting "Self-Portrait at the Clavichord" made what innovation?

portraying a person in action. Although the style of portraits that time were static and serious, Anguissola wanted to capture the real essence of the subject. Also, Anguissola produced more self-portraits than almost any other painter of her time.