Sofonisba Anguissola
The Italian artist Sofonisba Anguissola (circa 1532–1625) was one of a few professional female painters in Europe during the 16th century. Born into a noble family, her early sitters were primarily relatives; she taught painting to several of her sisters. Domestic subjects were more easily accessible for a female painter as women were restricted in the places they could go and the company they could keep.
An early masterpiece by Anguissola, “The Game of Chess,” which features three of her five sisters and a servant. Successful and famous in her lifetime, her work is notable for realistically capturing her sitter’s personality and emotion in their portraits.
One of the genres Anguissola perused in-depth was self-portraiture. She created at least 12 examples, with an additional seven believed to have existed but are now lost. Some compositions portray her reading or with a musical instrument, attributes that would reveal to a viewer she was a cultured lady.
Indeed, Anguissola is known for her inclusion of objects in portraits that reveal significant information about the sitter. Her self-portrait, from circa 1556, is one of her most remarkable paintings, and it shows her in the act of painting. It is one of the first self-portraits to show an artist alongside an easel.
Now in the Polish Lancut Castle Museum, her self-portrait provides insight into the working practices of artists in the 1500s. As was typical of the period, her palette is a small rectangular board. She uses a maulstick, prominent in her left hand. The tool was used to rest the dominant painting hand close to the canvas, allowing a steady line.
In real life, Anguissola painted devotional scenes. Her self-portrait at the easel shows her painting an image of the Madonna and Child. An interpretation of this inclusion is that she is advertising her skill in the category of religious works.
Anguissola presents herself as a confident, self-assured artist: She looks directly at the viewer. The artist wears a plain black dress with modestly ruffled collar and cuffs. This was a stark contrast to the sumptuous clothes of her sisters in “The Game of Chess.” Depicting herself in more work-appropriate attire is atypical for self-portraits of the period. It became a tradition for artists, looking to elevate their social position from that of craftsperson to a member of higher society, to depict themselves in fine clothes. Perhaps Anguissola, already of noble stock, did not feel she had anything to prove. Indeed, a few years after painting this work, she moved to Madrid on the invitation of King Philip II of Spain and became a lady-in-waiting to his queen.
During her time at the royal court, Anguissola painted portraits of nobility; many of these works were later attributed to a male court painter or other artists including Titian. Furthermore, Anguissola gave artistic instruction to the queen and her daughters.
Upon her return to Italy, she lived between Genoa and Palermo and focused her attention on religious paintings. She died at the age of 93. A year before her death, the Flemish Baroque artist Anthony van Dyck visited her and painted a portrait of her. He later cited their conversations about painting as the most influential of his life.
Judith Leyster
Judith Leyster (1609–60), a Baroque artist, was born in Haarlem. By the time she was in her late teens, her work was already respected. She lived with her family in the Dutch town of Vreeland (near Utrecht) and city of Zaandam (close to Amsterdam) before returning to Haarlem by autumn of 1631. Leyster trained under different artists, and her style of subject and vigorous brushwork was highly influenced by Haarlem’s famed portraitist and genre painter Frans Hals.Leyster’s work was held in such high regard that she was granted membership as an independent master in the Saint Luke’s Guild of Haarlem. Additionally, she had several art pupils.
Leyster specialized in portraits, often of merrymaking individuals or small groups, and painted still lifes. A star of the National Gallery of Art’s Dutch holdings is Leyster’s self-portrait from circa 1630. Like Anguissola’s self-portrait, Leyster portrays herself with confidence at work. Her gaze meets the viewer as she clasps a paintbrush in her right hand. Her left is laden with a wooden palette, white painter’s cloth, and a bundle of brushes that number around 20.
Her pose has a casualness to it. As her right arm rests on the back of her chair, she appears as if the viewer has interrupted her painting. The unfinished canvas on her easel shows a violin player. Scientific analysis has revealed that originally Leyster painted a portrait of a woman, likely a self-portrait, before switching to the image of a jovial musician. This latter figure comes from her circa 1629 canvas “Merry Company,” which had garnered praise, and highlights her skill as a genre scene painter.
Contrasting the informal air of the self-portrait are Leyster’s formal clothes. She wears a fashionable black and rose-pink dress with an extravagant lace ruff. These are most impractical for painting, but typical of the finery seen customarily in self-portraits. The specific style of her collar and cap have helped scholars date this work.
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard
Adélaïde Labille-Guiard (1749–1803) was a French painter who combined characteristics of Rococo and Neoclassicism in her oeuvre. A significant artist before the French Revolution, she was born the daughter of a Parisian shopkeeper. Her artistic training began with a miniaturist. She was then taught by a pastelist before undertaking instruction with a history painter and portraitist, where she worked on full-scale canvases.While she may have favored pastel, Labille-Guiard became an accomplished oil painter and is best known for her portraits. Her most significant patrons were royal; she was the official painter of King Louis XVI of France’s two aunts, Mesdames Adélaïde and Victoire. Several of Labille-Guiard’s paintings and pastels of them, such as the canvas of Madame Adélaïde, are still part of the Palace of Versailles’ collection.
Labille-Guiard was honored in 1783 with full membership to the French Royal Academy. She was one of only four women allowed admittance at that time. Two years later, she painted her most important work: her self-portrait with two pupils, Marie Gabrielle Capet (1761–1818) and Marie Marguerite Carraux de Rosemond (1765–1788). This beautiful painting, part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, showcases her technical skill and commitment to teaching female artists. It was presented in the Salon of that year, where she was a regular exhibitor, and was met with critical acclaim.
The painting is bold in its form and message. It is a large full-length portrait that shows Labille-Guiard holding a palette, brushes, and maulstick. A box of paints is to her right. She is seated in front of her easel with two pupils standing behind her. One looks at the easel while the other gazes at the viewer. Artist self-portraits in the 18th century continued the practice of featuring impractical, elegant clothing. Labille-Guiard wears a sumptuous pastel blue silk dress adorned with sinuous lace and bows. A matching ribbon and feathers trim her wide-brimmed straw hat. The blue cloth of her dress is reflected in the parquet floor.
In this work, Labille-Guiard was especially interested in investigating the effects of light and shadow as well as complex compositions. The Met owns a rare preparatory drawing for this painting, a chalk study of the pupils’ heads. This work exemplifies her technical skill at capturing these elements.
Modern scholars sometimes interpret her painting’s subject as a statement, advocating for more women to be educated in the arts and allowed to enter the Academy. Although Labille-Guiard had royal commissions, she harbored republican beliefs. She remained in France during the Revolution and received some commissions from leaders in the new government. The Academy was closed in 1793, but subsequent art organizations did not admit women.
By the end of her life, Labille-Guiard’s exhibitions of her work were largely ignored. Today, her self-portrait with pupils is a beloved work at The Met, which cites it as “one of the most remarkable images of women’s art education in early modern Europe.”
These masterful self-portraits by Anguissola, Leyster, and Labille-Guiard are all ranked among each woman’s best work. Though separated by centuries, all three artists spent time as educators and project in their self-portraits confidence in their careers, highlighting the tools of their trade. Overcoming misattributions, the paintings of each woman are today held in and prized by world-class museums.
