Autorretratos - History Lab https://historylab.es Thu, 19 May 2022 14:58:56 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://historylab.es/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-icono-historylab-32x32.jpg Autorretratos - History Lab https://historylab.es 32 32 Miniature self-portrait https://historylab.es/miniature-self-portrait/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=miniature-self-portrait Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:28 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/autorretrato-en-miniatura/ Miniature self-portrait of Sofonisba Anguissola, closed on 1556

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]]> Sofonisba Anguissola (c. 1535-1625) was born in Cremona into a high-born family. She was educated according to the values associated with virtuous women in the 16th century and her training was based on a solid knowledge of literature, music, dance, drawing and painting. She excelled in the latter field and was admired by Michelangelo, the leading figure in Italian art. After visiting the family, Giorgio Vasari also confirmed the young woman’s mastery of drawing and painting. In 1559, at the age of fourteen, she arrived in Spain through the Duke of Alba and the Duke of Sessa, governor of Milan. At the court of Philip II she worked as a court lady to Queen Isabella of Valois until her death in 1568, after which she entered the service of the king’s daughters (Isabella Clara Eugenia and Catherine Micaela) and Queen Anne of Austria, the king’s fourth and last wife. He remained with them until 1573, when he left for good to return to his place of origin. This small parchment (now a pendant) depicts one of the artist’s most cultivated facets, the self-portrait. In her hands she holds a medallion with an inscription in Latin that reads: “The maiden Sofonisba Anguissola, represented by her own hand, from a mirror, in Cremona”.

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]]> Autorretrato touching the spinet https://historylab.es/autorretrato-touching-the-spinet/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=autorretrato-touching-the-spinet Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:28 +0000 https://historylab.es/2022/02/19/autorretrato-tocando-la-espineta/ Self-portrait of the painter Lavinia Fontana playing the spinet

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]]> Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614) was born in Bologna and was the daughter of the painter Prospero Fontana, who trained her in the family home. She was responsible for running her own workshop and her works were commissioned by Pope Clement VIII. She is noted for her cultivation of genres of painting that were normally beyond the reach of women, such as group portraits, altarpieces, landscapes and, in particular, paintings on mythological themes in which she included nudes, a highly unusual detail. In this small self-portrait, executed on the occasion of her engagement to Giovanni Paolo Zappi, Lavinia wished to demonstrate her wide-ranging culture, solid education and careful manners. The Latin inscription in the upper left corner shows that Fontana painted his portrait in front of a mirror: “ex especulo imaginem oris sui expresit”.

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