ries needed to marry six daughters. It was the "iron rule, at least in patrician circles, that the bride had to contribute to the upkeep of the new household." Thus her training as a painter was meant to aid in securing an appointment at a court--where she would be supported and earn the money, in a suitable courtly position, that would enable her to marry. In her eventual position as a lady-in-waiting at the Spanish court Sofonisba earned an "ordinary" salary and payments for "extraordinary expenses," but, more importantly, she eventually earned a lifetime pension.
The 1592 painting of the Holy Family, which is the last dated work by the artist, is from the period when Anguissola had returned to Italy after 14 years at the Spanish court. She had married a Genoese ship's captain, Orazio Lomellini, a man of somewhat lower social standing. They led busy and interesting lives in which "artists and literati were frequent visitors." Sofonisba's visits to various courts provided subjects for her portraits and her contact with painters, such as Luca Cambiaso, whom she probably met in 1583 while he was on his way to Spain, kept her abreast of current developments in art.
The subject of the painting at the Lowe Museum is somewhat confusing since the figures in the painting do not seem to fit the named subject. Though it is called The Holy Family with Saints Anne and John the Baptist, the figures seem to be St. Elizabeth, St. John the Baptist and the Holy Family. Anne was the mother of the Virgin Mary and Elizabeth, Mary's cousin, was the mother of St. John the Baptist. There is nothing in the painting that would help to tell the two women apart except the presence of John, Elizabeth's son. According to Hall, Anne has no "distinctive attributes" and Elizabeth has no "regular attributes," though she is "generally represented as an elderly woman." In representations of the Virgin and Child with St. Anne the common theme is th...