Une histoire d’intimité cachée : Sofonisba Anguissola portraitiste et dama de compañía (1559-1573) à la cour de Philippe II d’Espagne

Abstract

This study analyses the notion of intimacy within the context of the Spanish Golden Age during the stay at the court of Philip II of an Italian artist, Sofonisba Anguissola (1532?-1625), employed in 1559 as lady-in-waiting or “companion artist” of the young queen Isabelle of Valois. A gallery of portraits gathered in a quiet room of the Prado Museum in Madrid, is enquiring us about the intimate relation between the Italian artist and its models inside the royal family during her stay in Spain, which will end in 1573. Once the young queen Isabelle died, the correspondence of King Philip II with his two daughters also reveals some intimate characters of the king and of family life.

Keywords

• Sofonisba Anguissola
• portraitist
• court of Spain
• intimacy at court
• Isabelle of Valois
• Isabel Clara Eugenia