Pioneer

About the Scholar: Pioneer Scholar Xingzhi is from Hangzhou, China, where she attended Hangzhou Foreign Languages School

The Research:

Sofonisba Anguissola was one of the pioneering professional female artists of the Italian Renaissance. Xingzhi researched her painting Self Portrait at the Easel to highlight its religious and feminist significance in the 16th century.

In Self Portrait, Anguissola depicts herself painting the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child. Xingzhi examined the painting’s texture, contrast, structure, and color, comparing it to works by Anguissola’s male contemporaries. Xingzhi found that by identifying herself with Biblical figures and highlighting her expertise in the male-dominated genre of historical and religious painting, Anguissola demonstrated her religious devotion and her equality to male Renaissance artists.