User:Cfbird1008/Miniature Self-Portrait (Anguissola, Boston

Miniature Self-portrait (1556) Boston, Museum of Fine Arts

Description

This complex miniature portrait depicts a three-quarter self portrait of Anguissola holding a prominently featured roundel in the lower two-thirds of the painting. This composition was unique among contemporary miniatures which incorporated the sitter's head and shoulders but rarely, objects. As the artist commonly depicted herself, she is dressed in an austere black dress with a raised white embroidered collar, and her hair is in tresses and gathered around her head. Circling the monogram there is the following inscription, painted in Latin in capital letters: «SOPHONISBA ANGUSSOLA VIR(GO) IPSIUS MANU EX (S)PECULO DEPICTAM CREMONAE» English translation: "The maiden Sofonisba Anguissola, depicted by her own hand, from a mirror, at Cremona."

The portrait is painted with the tip of the brush on a weathered green background. The physiognomy of the face is typical of the self-portraits of Anguissola: wide black eyes, small fleshy lips, and an austere hairstyle and clothing suitable for a woman from a good family who wishes to present herself as a virgin, as well as literate and well educated. The raised collar, in the Venetian style, is left open to allow a glimpse of the white shirt underneath.

History

As a minor Cremonise nobleman, Anguissola's father, Amilcare, used his status to procure an education for Sofonisba and her sister Elena with a local prominent painter named Bernardino Campi. Amilcare promoted Sofonisba's portraits by sharing them with with wealthy patrons and dignitaries to show her portraiture, and by the time she was in her twenties, she had created a reputation for her skills and her beauty.

The Chess Game (1555). Oil on canvas, 72 × 97 cm (28 × 38 in). National Museum in Poznań, Poland. Depicting Lucia (left), Minerva (right) and Europa (middle) Anguissola playing chess.

Women of high status and nobility were obligated to meet certain standards of skill and personal traits to maintain their noble distinction in society, as made popular by Italian Renaissance writer, Baldassare Castiglione. In his his book, Cortegiano (The Book of the Courtier, 1528), Castiglione clearly outlines the qualities that women of this period and social strata should strive to have: knowledge of literature and painting, musical proficiency with gender appropriate instruments, comprehension of current fashionable games and dances, and proper attire to display modesty and beauty while also avoiding the appearance of vanity or frivolity. In her portraits, Anguissola self-fashions herself as meeting these standards with depictions of herself holding books, painting, playing a piano, and having knowledge of the game chess. She further displays her virtue by including the Latin word "Virgo" (virgin) in many of her works to incorporate her purity status, a socially necessary precaution of a noble lady to maintain family standing and honor which were of the utmost importance to the reputation of a noble Renaissance family.

Provenance

Provenance was unknown until 1801, when it appeared in the Richard Gough (b. 1735 - d. 1809) collection in London. It was sold by art dealers, Leigh and Sotheby, London, July 19-21, 1810, lot 322.

By 1862, it was in the collection of Henry Danby Seymour (b. 1820 - d. 1877), of Ashridge, and on loan to the South Kensington Museum (now Victoria and Albert Museum) in 1862 where it remained. Ownership was passed down by descent to his niece, Miss Jane Margaret Seymour (b. 1873 - d. 1943) of Knoyle, Wiltshire, and remained on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum until 1928. It was sold on May 9, 1928, by Sotheby's, London, lot 61.

November 9, 1959, it was sold anonymously from "the property of a lady" by Sotheby's, London, lot 28, to F. Kleinberger Galleries, New York (stock no. F1375).

In 1960, it was sold by F. Kleinberger Galleries to the MFA for $3,000. It’s accession date to the collection was March 10, 1960.

Symbolism

What does the monogram mean? "Renaissance taste for puzzles" STILL WORKING ON THIS, CFB 11/5

The prominently featured monogram, expressed and hidden simultaneously, confounds scholars, with differing opinions about what it means.

letters that make the name of her father Amilcare: ACEILMR. (copied/pasted from above)

Scholarly Debate

When was it painted?

There has been much scholarly debate regarding the year in which the work was completed. Scholars Anne Sutherland Harris and Ilya Sandra Perlinghieri date it 1552; Flavio Caroli, is two years later in 1554, and Maria Kusche suggested 1555. Rossana Sacchi proposed 1556, as the year in which Anguissola likely met Clovio.

Anguissola's skill in Miniature Painting

Because there are only two surviving miniatures by Anguissola, (the other, Self-portrait, is held at the Uffizi in Florence, Italy), little is known for certain about Anguissola's miniature works. Documents suggest she was a miniature painting educator while she was in Palermo. Neapolitan historian Onofrio Giannone verifies an earlier account by Bernardo de Domincini (1683-1758) which stated that Anguissola taught miniaturist Giovanni Battista Anticone while she lived in Sicily. Further, there is evidence that Anguissola also taught miniature techniques to Pietro Francesco Piola (1565-1600) while in Genoa.

It is known for certain that Anguissola taught her sisters to paint before she was called to the Spanish court to be a lady-in-waiting, portraitist, and painting instructor to King Phillip II 's third wife, the young Queen, Isabel de Valois.

Who was it painted for?

It is difficult to know for certain since the work was unaccounted for until its auction in 1801 as part of the Gough Collection, but two possibilities seem likely. Because her father, Amilcare, was very active in finding patronage for his daughter's work, it is possible this miniature was produced as a portable example of the quality of her work, beauty, and intelligence.

A second theory is that this was produced for Clovio, her miniaturist teacher. After his death, his last will and testament provides a record of his belongings which included two self-portraits of former students, Lavinia Terlincks (miniaturist to Queen Elizabeth I) and Giovanna Clavio, a German student who travelled to Rome to be his pupil in 1540. It is not improbable that Clovio enjoyed collecting the works of his pupils, and in this example, Anguissola would have displayed her expert skills.

References

• Buonarroti Archives, Florence. From Ilya Sandrea Perlingieri, Sofonisba Anguissola, The First Great Woman Artist of the Renaissance (New York: NY, Rizzoli, 1992), p. 67.
• Costa, Patrizia. “Sofonisba Anguissola’s Self-portrait in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.” Arte Lombarda, Nuova Serie, no. 125 (1) (1999): 54–62.
• Garrard, Mary D. "Here's Looking at Me: Sofonisba Anguissola and the Problem of the Woman Artist." Renaissance Quarterly, vol. 47, no. 3 (1994): 556-622.
• Kilroy-Ewbank, Lauren. "Sofonisba Anguissola," in Smarthistory, May 3, 2016, accessed October 1, 2024, https://smarthistory.org/sofonisba-anguissola/.
• “Third Book of the Courtier,” from Baldassare Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier, trans. Leonard Eckstein Opdycke (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1903), p. 180.
• Vasari, Giorgio, The Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, trans. Gaston du C. de Vere (London: Philip Lee Warner, 1912–4), pp. 127–8.