User:Nshanoff/sandbox

Life
Lucia Anguissola was an Italian Renaissance artist. She was born in Cremona, Italy, she was the third daughter of seven children born to Amilcare Anguissola and Bianca Ponzone. Her father Amilcare was a member of the Genoese minor nobility and encouraged his five daughters to develop artistic skills alongside their humanist education. Lucia most likely trained with her renowned eldest sister Sofonisba Anguissola. Her art work, mainly portraits, are similar in style and technique with her sister. Her skill was seen by contemporary critics as exemplar. According to seventeenth-century biographer Filippo Baldinucci, Lucia had the potential to "become a better artist than even Sofonisba" had she not died so young.

One of her extant paintings, Portrait of Pietro Maria, Doctor of Cremona, (early 1560s) was praised by Vasari, who saw it when he visited the family after her death. He stated "Dying, had left of herself not less fame than that of Sofonisba, through several paintings by her own hand, not less beautiful and valuable than those by the sister."(F) The man in the portrait is depicted with a sensitive portrayal, in a restricted palette of greys and browns. Lucia's skill is demonstrated in her ability to illustrate the sitter's personality in the animated face with a cocked eyebrow and the shoulders held are at different levels. Lucia's only other signed work is a half-length self-portrait (c. 1557). Lucia also painted a Virgin and Child, and A Portrait of a Woman (early 1560s; Rome, Gal. Borghese) is thought to be either a self-portrait by her or Sofonisba, or a portrait of Lucia by Sofonisba. Two portraits, in the Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo in Brescia and the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan, probably of Minerva Anguissola, may also be by Lucia.

Paintings
The Portrait of Pietro Maria is estimated to be made around 1557-1560, for there is no specific year that Lucia finished it. The portrait excises many subjects of Lucia's education that she received growing up: humanism, classical mythology, psychology, and art. It is also the only painting she signed with her full name, most likely because of the length of her name. Her signature is “ Lucia Angolllisa Amilcaris Filla Adlescens Fecit” translation to “Lucia Anguissola, adolescent daughter of Amilcare, made this.” In this painting, she represented her family's name and heritage. The man sitting in the portrait is thought to be a relative to the Anguissola family, and is commonly calculated to be a physician or doctor, but that is false. The snake on the rod in his left hand have two main meanings. The first one would be that the single snake wrapped round this certain rod called Asclepeion rod, indicating a medical symbol. The second is that the snake is the visual translation to the artist's name Anguis Sola which appeared on her family coat as Anguis Sola Fecit Vinctoriam literally translating to “the lone snake became victorious.”. The Asclepeion rod is also a sign of her education in classical mythology. This painting may have been intended to indicate the rise of the next female painter in the Anguissola family. Her father, Amilicare, showed it to Giorgio Vasari shortly after Lucia had died.

In Lucia Anguissola's Self Portrait she portrays herself sitting in modest clothing, with a book in her left hand. This book has been identified as either a prayer book or a Petrarchan. Her right hand rests on her heart, similar to her sister, Sofonisba's own self portrait. There are many other similarities between the two self portraits, such as, clothing choices and gaze, but both can be attributed to the sister’s upbringing and maturity. Her clothing is meant to represent her modest and elegant exterior.

Sofonisba Anguissola created the painting The Chess Game or Game of Chess in the year 1555. In this painting she depicts her siblings Lucia and Europa, who are partaking in a chess game and Minerva observing the game. It serves as a visual to the roles and interactions between her and her siblings, as well as a representation of their higher status. Lucia is the oldest and largest sibling depicted in the painting. She gazes directly with the viewer, creating an interaction between either Sofonisba or the viewer themselves. Lucia's darker face is possibly an analogy to living in Sofonisba's shadow, which gives her a gloomy look. This specific gloom is in many of Lucia's portraits and is thought to reference the inferiority she felt compared to her sister.