Sofonisba
Sofonisba Anguissola Soff oh nees bah (1532-1625)
Lesson 15
PREP NOTES FOR LESSON 15 Today the focus is on family. Children enjoy hearing about their heritage. Talk about extended familymembers who are artists or whowork in creativeways with othermaterials. You might bring to mind any paintings or portraits of family members, and who painted or photographed them.
What kind of job do you dream of having when you grow up? Sofonisba might never have dreamed that she would travel to another country to work for a queen. That is just what she did, all because of her love for painting.
“Sofonisba wants to paint. Who will sit for Sofonisba now?” called her youngest sister. “Let Sofonisba be her own model,” called back another sister as she contemplated her next move on the chessboard. Sofonisba Anguissola ran into the room. “Have you heard, my dear sisters? Father has written to the great Michelangelo to request a drawing by his own hand, that I might paint it!” “You should practice even harder, if that’s true,” stated her sister, “so that your hand
at painting won’t ruin a fine sketch by the master artist.” Sofonisba laughed, for no teasing would ruin her good mood. “I will practice, dear sister. I will draw you as you are today, so that the world will remember the Anguissola sisters.” Sofonisba and her three sisters were born into a noble Italian family. They all had artistic talent, but Sofonisba proved to be the most skillful. Noble families purchased her paintings. She studied painting for six years, then “was spotted by the Duke of Alba in Spain (Payne 69).” She moved to Spain and there her talent for painting portraits was rewarded when she became lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabel of Spain. There, she painted many portraits of Queen Isabel’s family. Sofonisba is one of the few well-known women artists of the sixteenth century. The support of her caring father and her own talent for painting portraits are the main reasons for her success and why we find her name in art books today.
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