Lot 120
120
Circle of Sofonisba Anguissola (1532-1625)
Property from the Metropolitan Museum of Art*, New York
Circle of Sofonisba Anguissola (1532-1625)

Portrait of Alfonso I d'Este (1476-1534), small bust length, wearing ceremonial armor and a linen collar

Details
Circle of Sofonisba Anguissola (1532-1625)
Portrait of Alfonso I d'Este (1476-1534), small bust length, wearing ceremonial armor and a linen collar
inscribed on a 16th century (?) card on the inside of the lid 'Ritrato/di alfonso I. d'Este/figlio di Ercole I./e di Leonara figlia di Ferdinardo/III. ne di Napoli/nato 2. juglio 1476. si ammorglio/con anna Sforza figlia di Gio:/Galeazzo Duca di Milano li 23./Giugio 1491. e mori 1. Nove 1497./in seconda nozze con Lucretia Bor-/gia nel 1502, e mori 1. Feb 1519/in Terze Spose Laura Eusto/chia che mori 27 giugno 1573/Alfonso I mori 1534/25 **bre'.
oil on paper--circular--set into the inside of a sixteenth century (?) turned wood box.
3½in. diam. (8.9cm.)
Provenance
Theodore Rousseau, by whom given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Lot Essay

For similar miniatures, in almost identical turned wood boxes, see Rossana Sacch in the catalogue of the exhibition, Sofonisba Anguissola e le sue Sorelle, Cremona, Santa Maria della Pietà, Sept. 17-Dec. 11, 1994, pp. 218-9, no. 17, illustrated, and pp. 286-7, no. 44, illustrated.