Sofonisba Anguissola: Renaissance Artist
Students will:
• Learn about the life and work of 16th century painter Sofonisba Anguissola
• Closely observe and discuss her work The Chess Game (or Lucia, Minerva, and Europa Anguissola
Play Chess)
• Discuss the role and expectations of women during the Renaissance
• Explore the definition and concept of genre paintings
• Assessment: Create a family portrait that contains objects, ideas, and values important to them
or their family
Time Requirement:
60-90 minutes
Supplies:
Pencils
Easel paper (one piece per student)
Acrylic or watercolor paint
Image of The Chess Game (Lucia, Minerva and Europa Anguissola Play Chess) (included)
Image of Sofonisba Anguissola (included)
Sofonisba Anguissola Fact Sheet (for teacher use, included)
Guided Discussion:
1. Introduce students to Sofonisba Anguissola. The included portrait may be used to provide a
visual representation. Many women of her time were not given the opportunity to be educated
and have a career, yet she was an important artist who painted for the King of Spain.
Supplement information as needed using the included Fact Sheet.
2. She was best known for portraits of herself and her family members. Display the image of The
Chess Game on the computer or overhead. Sofonisba painted this portrait of three of her sisters
and their governess. A governess educated and took care of young children of wealthy families.
3. A painting like The Chess Game is an early form of what is known as a genre painting. Genre
paintings depict scenes from everyday life.
4. Have students take time to study the painting. What do they see? What do they think is going
on? Hundreds of years ago, chess was a very important game and was played by many members
of the upper classes. To be a good chess player was a sign of intelligence and an important social
skill. Today, what kinds of things adults have to know to be independent and productive?
5. Based on the picture, do students think the Anguissola girls enjoy chess? Why or why not? What
kinds of things do students do for fun with their families? Keep a list on the board or overhead.
Classroom Activity:
1. Distribute paper and paints. Have students create their own genre painting—a scene of
themselves and/or their families spending time together or doing something they enjoy.
2. Have students share their paintings when complete. Who appears in the portrait? What are they
doing? Why is this activity something they like to do?
Missouri Grade Level Expectations (GLEs):
Visual Arts – Strand I: Product/Performance
1. Select and apply two-dimensional media, techniques, an processes to communicate ideas and
solve challenging visual art problems
3. Communicate ideas about subject matter and themes in artworks created for various purposes.
Visual Arts – Strand III: Artistic Perceptions
1. Investigate the nature of art and discuss responses to artworks
Visual Arts – Strand IV: Interdisciplinary Connections
1. Explain the connection between Visual Art and Communication Arts, Math, Science or Social
Studies
Visual Arts – Strand V: Historical and Cultural Contexts
1. Compare and contrast artworks from different historical time periods and/or cultures
Social Studies
3b. Knowledge of continuity and change in the history of the world
5. Knowledge of relationships of the individual and groups to institutions and cultural traditions
6. Knowledge of the use of tools of social science inquiry (such as surveys, statistics, maps and
documents)
Communication Arts – Listening and Speaking
1. Develop and apply effective listening skills and strategies
The Chess Game (Lucia, Minerva and Europa Anguissola Play Chess), 1555
Sofonisba Anguissola
(c. 1532 – 1625)
Sofonisba Anguissola Fact Sheet (for teacher use)
When and where was she born? Around 1532 in Cremona, Lombardy (a region of northern Italy)
What was her family background? Sofonisba was the oldest of seven children, six of whom were
girls. Her parents were both from minor noble families, and encouraged their childrens’
intellectual pursuits and interests. Sofonisba and her siblings received a well-rounded education
that included the fine arts—Sofonisba and four of her sisters became painters.
What did her artistic training include? Her father sent Sofonsiba and her sister Elena, then young
teenagers, to study with Bernardino Campi, a respected painter of portraits and religious
subjects. When Campi moved, she continued to study with Bernardino Gatti. In her early 20s,
she traveled to Rome, where she met Michelangelo, who recognized her talent and offered
informal training.
What were popular subjects for her paintings? She is best known for informal portraits and
scenes of her family members. The Chess Game is one such example, which features Sofonisba’s
sisters Lucia, Minerva, and Europa playing chess while their governess looks on.
What were some highlights of her career? After establishing herself as a respected portrait
painter, Sofonisba was recommended to King Philip II of Spain, who invited her to join his court
as a painter and as a lady-in-waiting to his wife, Queen Elisabeth. While in Spain, she painted
many of the country’s highest nobility, even a portrait of the king himself.
How did she spend much of her later/personal life? After about 12 years in service at the Spanish
court, Sofonisba married Don Francisco de Moncada, son of the Prince of Paterno, Viceroy
of Sicily, in 1571. They left Spain with the King’s permission in 1578 to settle in Palermo, where
Don Francisco died in 1579. In 1580, Sofonisba married Orazio Lomellino, a ship captain she met
while travelling. The couple settled in Genoa, where she had her own studio and quarters in
which she could paint. In her later years, despite failing eyesight, she continued to paint and was
visited by both up-and-coming and established artists, who came to her studio to speak with
and learn from her. She died in 1625 at the age of 93 in Palermo.