Anguissolla (or
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Anguissolla (or Anguissola), Sofonisba: (b. c1528 or 1532, Cremona; d. 1625, Palermo). Painter. Having received training under Bernardo Campi and Soiro (Bernardo Gatti), she traveled to Spain in 1560 where she was received at the court of King Philip II. While there she produced portraits of members of the royal family. Marrying a Spanish nobleman, Don Francisco Moncada, son of the prince of Paterno, viceroy of Sicily. in 1571, she accompanied him to Sicily in 1578. Her husband died the next year in Palermo and Sofonisba decided to return home to Cremona. While sailing north drom Palermo, she became acquainted with the ship’s captain, Orazio Lomellino, who she married in 1580. The couple settled at Genoa where Sofonisba opened her own studio. There she became the premier portrait painter of the city. She eventually returned to spend her last years at Palermo. As a very aged and nearly blind woman, she was visited by Anton Van Dyke who drew the last known portrait of her.