Portrait of a Man

Anguissola, to whom this portrait has recently been attributed, was probably trained by her elder sister Sofonisba Anguissola, an internationally renowned portraitist. The treatment of form and handling of paint are similar to Lucia’s portrait of her younger sister, Europa, and to a self-portrait dated 1557. Such small-scale portraits on copper were cherished records of loved ones and popular among the European elite before ivory supports became common in the 1700s and photography in the 1800s.