Portrait Group with the Artist’s Father Amilcare Anguissola, Brother Astrubale and Sister Minerva

Sensitivity, warmth and mutual tenderness permeate this family portrait depicting the artist’s father, Amilcare, brother, Astrubale, and sister, Minerva. The family relationship is weighted higher than the figurative and formal characteristics. The spontaneously expressive and immediate character of a number of her portraits would later inspire an artist like Caravaggio. Sofonisba mastered the portrait genre in particular, which she practiced under the influence of, among others, the Central Italian school, represented by artists such as Correggio. Meanwhile, she was also receptive towards the new realist tendencies in Lombardy. When she was young, she engaged in a written correspondence with Michelangelo, who recognised the young woman’s talent and took on the role as a long-distance teacher. The painting was never finished, because King Philip II of Spain offered Sofonisba the position of court painter. She worked at the Spanish court for twenty years. The painting is considered one of the artist’s masterpieces.