Sofonisba Anguissola, painter

One artist of the artists discussed in Meryl Zwanger’s article was Sofonisba Anguissola. She was an Italian painter, who worked with and even critiqued some of Michelangelo’s work; one could say she was pretty good at painting. She is best known for her portrait paintings, and eventually became a court painter. You can see some of her work here as well as a biography and analysis of her work. Looking at some of her self portraits, critics account for her “governess” like attire to portray her virtuous side as well as chastity. I wonder if critics would go so far as to say that this makes her sexless? It is interesting that in every portrait she’s wearing black, and critics account this to her virtuous and modest side. All of these are attributes to how women should behave, I’m not sure if it’s that easy to tell just by looking at an outfit. Clearly she was an amazing painter, and much of her work is still can still be found today.