Portrait du père, du frère et de la sœur de l’artiste

Sofonisba Anguissola began this portrait of her family in Cremona around 1559, and then left it unfinished. That year word came from Madrid. Philip II of Spain wanted her at court, an astonishing summons for a woman painter, and she went, staying roughly 20 years as a lady-in-waiting and teacher of painting to the queen. Her father Amilcare sits at the centre, holding his young son Asdrubale by the hand, with her sister Minerva to one side and the family dog below. It is the only known likeness of the man who did something almost unheard of for his time. He had Sofonisba and her sisters properly trained as artists, and here he looks straight out at us while his children look only at him.