Sofonisba Anguissola, a Painter and a Lady-in-Waiting

Relying on primary source documents, Cecilia Gamberini outlines the reality of Sofonisba Anguissola’s experiences in the Household of Queen Isabel of Valois following the artist’s appointment to the Spanish court in 1559. Anguissola’s position is generally credited to her two roles there: painter and lady-in-waiting. The author argues that while Anguissola’s appointment was due in part to her remarkable painted self-representations, it was also facilitated by a largely overlooked network of familial contacts and the political climate of the time. Analyses of Anguissola’s behaviour in the Queen’s Household also offers a glimpse into the young woman’s personality, which was at times irreverent and rebellious, and the opportunity for new attributions.

Caterina van Hemessen in the Habsburg Court of Mary of Hungary

Jennifer Courts considers the career of Caterina van Hemessen, a portraitist and a member of the court of Mary of Hungary. Her virtues as a painter were praised by contemporaries, and she is recognized by modern scholars for her artistic innovation; yet signed paintings by the artist ceased at approximately the same time she entered courtly service. Rather than viewing painting as the pinnacle of her career, the author argues that Caterina’s artistic output served as a means of social mobility. The author also suggests that van Hemessen’s activities created opportunities for subsequent artists, notably Sofonisba Anguissola, who arrived at the Habsburg court in Spain after shortly after van Hemessen’s departure in 1558.

Women Artists in the Early Modern Courts of Europe

This volume presents the first collection of essays dedicated to women as producers of visual and material culture in the Early Modern European courts, offering fresh insights into the careers of, among others, Caterina van Hemessen, Sofonisba Anguissola, Luisa Roldán, and Diana Mantuana. Also considered are groups of female makers, such as ladies-in-waiting at the seventeenth-century Medici court. Chapters address works by women who occupied a range of social and economic positions within and around the courts and across media, including paintings, sculpture, prints, and textiles. Both individually and collectively, the texts deepen understanding of the individual artists and courts highlighted and, more broadly, consider the variety of experiences of female makers across traditional geographic and chronological distinctions. The book is also accompanied by the Global Makers: Women Artists in the Early Modern Courts digital humanities project (www.globalmakers.ua.edu), extending and expanding the work begun here.