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拍品專文
Born to a Cremonese noble family, Sofonisba Anguissola showed precocious talent which, matched with her personality – and her father’s promotional skills – led to her unprecedented success for a woman artist of the period. In 1559, Sofonisba was invited to the court of King Philip II of Spain in Madrid and became attendant to Philip’s eldest daughter, Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia and lady-in-waiting to his wife, Elisabeth of Valois. Sofonisba’s role was teacher of drawing and painting, permitting her to complete portraits of almost all members of the Spanish royal family. Given the informality of her position, she was compensated for her paintings in the form of costly textiles and jewels.
This portrait depicts Philip's younger daughter, Infanta Catalina Micaela. The inscription refers to her as DVCISSA ('Duchess') a title she received upon her marriage to Charles Emanuel I, Duke of Savoy in 1585. As kindly indicated by Michael Cole, Sofonisba left Spain when Catalina Micaela was six years old, and is only known to have seen her again a single time, in Genoa around the time of the latter's wedding. This encounter may have been brief, and there are no reports of Sofonisba making a portrait on the occasion (private communication with the department, 24 August 2021). Cole believes the portrait was therefore likely to have been executed by a different hand.
We are grateful to Prof. Marco Tanzi for tentatively endorsing the attribution on the basis of photographs and to Prof. Michael Cole for his assitance with its research.
This portrait depicts Philip's younger daughter, Infanta Catalina Micaela. The inscription refers to her as DVCISSA ('Duchess') a title she received upon her marriage to Charles Emanuel I, Duke of Savoy in 1585. As kindly indicated by Michael Cole, Sofonisba left Spain when Catalina Micaela was six years old, and is only known to have seen her again a single time, in Genoa around the time of the latter's wedding. This encounter may have been brief, and there are no reports of Sofonisba making a portrait on the occasion (private communication with the department, 24 August 2021). Cole believes the portrait was therefore likely to have been executed by a different hand.
We are grateful to Prof. Marco Tanzi for tentatively endorsing the attribution on the basis of photographs and to Prof. Michael Cole for his assitance with its research.