Portrait of Elena Anguissola (Southampton)

(Redirected from Portrait of Elena Anguissola) Painting by Sofonisba Aguissola

The Artist's Sister Elena in the Garb of a Nun
Elena Anguissola

Artist	Sofonisba Anguissola
Year	1551
Dimensions	68.5 cm (27.0 in) × 53.3 cm (21.0 in)
Location	Southampton City Art Gallery
Accession No.	SOTAG : 3
Identifiers	Art UK artwork ID: the-artists-sister-in-the-garb-of-a-nun-16754
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The Portrait of Elena Anguissola (alternative name: Portrait of the artist’s sister Elena in the garb of a nun), dated to 1551, is one of the earliest paintings by Sofonisba Anguissola. An oil painting on canvas, it is in the Southampton City Art Gallery, which acquired it in 1936.

Description

This portrait shows the nun Elena Anguissola, a novice with the name of Sister Minerva. The painting is signed and dated but difficult to read: : SOPHONISBA ANGUSSOLA VIRGO M TERI AGO.TI PINXIT MDLI. Flavio Caroli completed the inscription, adding the following: MONASTERI SANCTI AGOSTINI. Elena Anguissola was a nun in the convent of di Sant'Agostino, in Mantua.

The painting demonstrates the ability and expressive force of the painter, and the preference for an expressive physiognomy, typical of cinquecento painting in Lombardy. The attention to psychological expression illustrated here is also present in many other paintings by Sofonisba Anguissola. In The Game of Chess (1555) and Self-Portrait at a Spinet, the painter depicted female ability in playing chess or a musical instrument as an essential part of a young noble woman's education.

The Portrait of Elena Anguissola was in the collection of the Earl of Yaborough, remaining there until 1936, when it was acquired by the museum in Southampton. According to Rossana Sacchi it was at one time attributed to Titian. Only later was it recognised as a work of Sofonisba Anguissola and as of a portrait of her sister Elena.

The portrait of the religious woman is done on a dark background. The young nun holds in her hands a tiny book covered with red leather and trimmed with gold. The style of the painting recalls Correggio, Lorenzo Lotto, and Bernardino Gatti. Anguissola lingers on certain details and captures the sweetness, and the intensity of the look and the calmness of the nun to create a silent and contemplative image, built around the almost solid geometries of the nun's costume.

References

Caroli 1987, pp. 92–93.
Italian women, p. 106 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFItalian_women (help).
Sacchi 1994, pp. 186–187.
For a biography of Elena Anguissola see Gilardi, Anastasia (1994). "Le sorelle di Sofonisba". Sofonisba Anguissola e le Sue Sorelle. Milano: Leonardo arte: 75.
Italian women, p. 108 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFItalian_women (help).

Bibliography

Sacchi, Federico (1872), Tip. Ronzi e Signori (ed.), Notizie pittoriche cremonesi, pp. 6–7
Caroli, Flavio (1987), A. Mondadori (ed.), Sofonisba Anguissola e le sue sorelle, pp. 24–26 and 92–93
Rodeschini, Maria Cristina (1994). "Pittura a Cremona dal Romanico al Settecento". Sofonisba Anguissola e le Sue Sorelle. Milano: Leonardo arte: 274–275.
Gregori, Mina (1994). "Sofonisba Anguissola". Sofonisba Anguissola e le Sue Sorelle. Milano: Leonardo arte: 18–19.
Sacchi, Rossana (1994). "La famiglia Anguissola". Sofonisba Anguissola e le Sue Sorelle. Milano: Leonardo arte: 186–187.
AA VV, Catalogo della mostra tenuta a Cremona nel 1994, a Vienna e a Washington nel 1995

v t e Sofonisba Anguissola
Paintings:	List of paintings by Sofonisba Anguissola
1550s	Portrait of Elena Anguissola Self-portrait {Gallery} Self-portrait (Kunsthistorisches Museum) Self-portrait (Museo Poldi Pezzoli) The Game of Chess Self-Portrait at a Spinet Miniature Self-Portrait Self-Portrait Self-portrait at the Easel Painting a Devotional Panel Portrait of a Monk Portrait of Massimiliano II Stampa Portrait of Bianca Ponzoni Anguissola (the artist's mother) Portrait of the Artist's Family Self-portrait Portrait of Giovanni Battista Caselli Bernardino Campi Painting Sofonisba Anguissola
1560s	Portrait of Prince Alessandro Farnese Portrait of Joanna of Austria Portrait of Elisabeth of Valois, (Madrid) Portrait of Juana of Austria and a Young Girl Portrait of Minerva Anguissola Portrait of Elisabeth of Valois (1545–1568), Queen consort of Spain and her daughter Isabella Clara Eugenia (1566–1633) Portrait of Philip II of Spain Portrait of a Boy at the Spanish Court
1570s	Virgin and Child Portrait of a Couple Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia and Infanta Catherine Michaela Portrait of Philip II of Spain Portrait of Anna of Austria (1549–1580) Portrait of Francesco I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1541–1587)
1580s	Portrait of a Young Woman in Profile A Man with his Daughter Three children with dog Portrait of a Young Lady Portrait of Giuliano Cesarini
1590s	Madonna Suckling the Infant Christ Portrait of Queen Elisabeth of Spain (1545–1568) Portrait of the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia
1610s	Self-portrait in old age
Drawings	Child Bitten by a Lobster
Relatives	Elena Anguissola (sister)

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