Portrait of Marquess Massimiliano Stampa

Sofonisba Anguissola was one of the best-known women painters of the early modern Italian peninsula. Inspired in part by contemporary texts outlining proper cultural education for elite ladies, Sofonisba’s aristocratic father sent Sofonisba and her sister to study with artist Bernardino Campi. Sofonisba continued on to apprentice with other painters, setting a precedent for future women artists. Denied the opportunity to study anatomy, as drawing from nude models was considered inappropriate for ladies, Sofonisba focused on portraits. This portrait, of a child of the nobility, demonstrates Anguissola’s sensitivity and skill. Childrearing was an important topic among early modern elites in the city-states of the Italian peninsula, as demonstrated in treatises on the family published at the time. Anguissola’s portrait portrays Massimiliano in the pose and austere garments of an adult nobleman, but with the tentative, wide-eyed expression of a young boy.

The boy can be identified as the nine-year-old Massimiliano Stampa, third marquess of the small northern Italian city of Soncino, on the basis of a contemporary annotation on the back of the canvas. This is Sophonisba Anguissola's first major commission. The family commissioned it to commemorate the boy's inheritance of his title in 1557, at his father's death. Anguissola was a sympathetic observer of children: here she leavens the stern, very "adult," impression of the full-length portrait in the traditional black clothing of the Italian courts during the 16th century with the appeal of child's hesitant expression and the inclusion of the boy's sleeping pet. For the latest information about this object, Portrait of Marquess Massimiliano Stampa, visit the Online ...