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| Sofonisba Anguissola, Lucia, Minerva and Europa Anguissola Playing Chess, 1555 |
Blog Response: Art and Women
Professor Caciolo
September 12, 2017.
Sofonisba Anguissola (1532-1625) was an Italian Renaissance painter. She was able to get her art education by studying with Bernardino Campi and Bernardino Gatti. However, she was limited from being able to achieve greater success in the art industry because women unlike men were not allowed to study anatomy or life drawing; for many years they weren't allowed to study the naked human form. As an act against this absurd social restriction she painted informal portraits of her family members or herself. A specific piece was Lucia, Minerva and Europa Anguissola Playing Chess which presents her sisters in formal clothing but, with informal expressions. During that time Italian paintings were generally formal and stiff. Therefore, her goal was to create a painting which contained natural expressions and introduced the concept of portraying individuals as they were rather than as they wanted to be seen. It overall tackled the social belief that the game of chess, popular at the time, was usually seen as something boys or men could use due to its use of logic and strategy.
Resources:
Web Gallery of Art: Anguissola, Sofonisba
New World Wikipedia: Sofonisba Anguissola
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