Rediscovered portrait by the Renaissance's leading woman artist goes on display at the Winter Show

"Anguissola was the rare woman painter in the Renaissance who was not the daughter of an artist. Born to Northern Italian nobility around 1532, she and her siblings received a comprehensive education that included art. After moving to Rome as a young woman, she was taken under the wing of Michelangelo and also became acquainted with Giorgio Vasari, who wrote that Anguissola "has laboured at the difficulties of design with greater study and better grace than any other woman of our time"."

"In 1559, Anguissola joined the court of King Philip II of Spain as a court painter and lady-in-waiting to the teenage Queen Elisabeth of Valois, to whom she provided art lessons. While it was considered a well-respected position, her portraits completed during that time conform more with the style of the Spanish court when contrasted with her paintings from the previous decade. Her early portraits from Italy tended to be more intimate and engaging, according to the dealer Robert Simon."

Portrait of a Canon Regular (1552) by Sofonisba Anguissola has resurfaced and is exhibited publicly at the Winter Show in New York. The painting is Anguissola's earliest signed-and-dated work and had been considered lost for decades. Anguissola was born circa 1532 to Northern Italian nobility and received a comprehensive education that included art. She moved to Rome, received mentorship from Michelangelo, and earned praise from Giorgio Vasari. In 1559 she entered King Philip II's Spanish court as a painter and lady-in-waiting to Queen Elisabeth of Valois, where her portrait style aligned with Spanish court conventions.

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