Sofonisba Anguissola is recognized as the greatest female portraitist of the Italian Renaissance. Unlike her contemporaries, she was neither the daughter of a painter nor schooled in a convent.  Rather she hailed from a noble family and was trained by professional artists in her native Cremona. At a young age she was known to both Michelangelo and Giorgio Vasari, who each played a role in fostering and promoting her talent. In 1559 she was called to Madrid, where she served as lady-in-waiting to Elisabeth of Valois, the Queen of Philip II. Her new position provided stature and security, but severely limited the creativity shown in her brilliant portraits of the 1550s, as she was now required to follow the stylistic formulae of the Spanish court.  

Our portrait, which had been known only from an old photograph, is presented here publicly for the first time, having recently emerged from a private American collection. It is signed and dated 1552, making it Sofonisba’s earliest securely dated work and one of fewer than twenty uncontested paintings by the artist. The subject is a Canon Regular, a member of an order of preachers who followed the rule of Saint Augustine. Remarkably and ambitiously, Sofonisba has introduced a narrative element into the portrait, depicting the sitter in the act of lecturing. He gestures with his left hand while touching the Gospel of John with his right. An eagle, the traditional symbol of Saint John, grasps the book with his talons, hovering somewhat menacingly in the dark.

The identity of the sitter is not known. The passage inscribed in the book treats the story of Nicodemus, a Pharisee who secretly visited Christ. In Sofonisba’s time, a “Nicodemite” was one whose public professions were different from his private beliefs, and in Italy was associated with Calvinist, reform-minded clerics. Presumably our Canon is arguing against them.

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