Miniature Self-Portrait is the smaller of two known surviving miniature self-portraits by skilled portraitist Sofonisba Anguissola (ca. 1532–1625). Painted around 1556, this small oil on parchment on cardboard is set in a metal frame with a scroll surmount. The choice of format is based on Anguissola's knowledge of the works of the celebrated Italian Renaissance miniaturist Giulio Clovio (1498–1578), as well as virtuous self-fashioning, and the Renaissance taste for puzzles. The painting is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston.
Description This complex oval miniature portrait is just over three inches in height, and is delicately painted with the tip of the brush on a weathered green background. It depicts a three-quarter self portrait of Anguissola looking at the viewer while holding a prominently featured roundel containing a monogram 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 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."
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 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.
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 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.
Beauty standards in the 16th century Anguissola had the rare ability to control her own image through painting. The physiognomy of this miniature is typical of the self-portraits in which she self-fashioned herself dressed simply in black dresses, pristine undershirts with white lace collars as a confirmation of her modesty and virtue. The austerity of her clothing and lack of ornamentation serve to highlight her natural beauty and features. Befitting the beauty standards of the day, the artist depicts herself with golden hair, a fresh, fair-skinned face with dewy cheeks, and a forehead that is well proportioned with its height being half of its width. She has round dark eyes framed by natural brows of fine hair, a straight nose that pinkens at its tip, a delicately dimpled chin, feminine lips, and small curved ears. Sprezzatura, as described by Castiglione, was the notion of excelling at something without effort. Being an attractive woman without fuss, makeup, or being overly adorned, was a prized characteristic and prominent feature of Anguissola's self-portraits. In his book The Ornaments of Ladies, (Venice, 1562), Giovanni Marinello provides women with tips on health, beauty, and personality, serving to remind women of the Renaissance that the condition of their hair, face, and body is related to their desired and expected roles in society. This and other Renaissance writings, like Castiglione's Cortegiano, offer extremely narrow standards of femininity and beauty of which Anguissola was surely aware. Her talent and renowned beauty were often intertwined. In correspondence with her father, poet Annibale Caro (1507–1566) wrote, "There is nothing I desire more than the image of the artist herself, so that in a single work I can display two marvels, one the work, the other the artist." A 1554 letter from painter Francesco Salviati to Anguissola's teacher, Bernadino Campo, refers to his pupil as "the beautiful Cremonese painter."
Provenance The provenance of Anguissola's miniature self-portrait was unknown until 1801, when it appeared in the Richard Gough (1735–1809) collection in London where it was sold by art dealers, Leigh and Sotheby, July 19–21, 1810, lot 322. By 1862, the work was in the collection of Henry Danby Seymour (1820–1877), and on loan to the South Kensington Museum (now Victoria and Albert Museum) where the painting remained even as ownership was passed down by descent to his niece, Miss Jane Margaret Seymour (1873–1943). It remained on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum until May 9, 1928, when the painting was sold by Sotheby's, London, lot 61. On November 9, 1959, the painting was sold anonymously from "the property of a lady" by Sotheby's, London, lot 28, to F. Kleinberger Galleries in New York (stock no. F1375). In 1960, it was sold by F. Kleinberger Galleries to the MFA for $3,000; accession date to the collection was March 10, 1960.
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