Arcadópolis
Juana of Austria with a Young Girl
Sofonisba Anguissola, 1561
What you see
Juana of Austria stands full-length in a long black gown that fills most of the canvas. One gloved hand holds a closed fan; the other rests on the shoulder of a young girl at lower left. Both look out at us gravely. At upper left, a panel of cloudy sky opens like a window.
Black dominates, broken by the pale band falling from her collar, the lace ruff and a jeweled pendant. The girl brings color: a green dress with gold braid, yellow-striped sleeves and a small bunch of roses in her hand. Notice the ring on the hand resting on the girl’s shoulder, and Juana’s pale headdress.
About Sofonisba Anguissola
Sofonisba Anguissola was born in Cremona into a noble family whose father wanted all six of his daughters to study art and letters, something very rare at the time. She painted her sisters playing, laughing and posing, and made so many self-portraits that her face was one of the best known of her age. She was painter and lady-in-waiting at the court of Philip II in Madrid and lived past ninety; in her old age the young Anthony van Dyck visited her in Palermo and drew her.
More by Sofonisba Anguissola
The Chess Game
Self-Portrait at the Easel
Self-Portrait with a Book
Miniature Self-Portrait
Portrait of Her Father Amilcare with Minerva and Asdrubale
Boy Bitten by a Crayfish
Portrait of Minerva Anguissola
Portrait of the Marquess Massimiliano Stampa
Elisabeth of Valois Holding a Portrait of Philip II
Philip II
Self-Portrait
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