Attributed to Sofonisba Anguissola (Cremona c. 1532-1625 Palermo)

The present portrait relates to three known versions of this composition, the finest of which is the canvas in the Muzeum Zamek, Lancut (see Sofonisba Anguissola e le sue sorelle, exhibition catalogue, Milan, 1994, pp. 184-85, no. 7). Other versions include the painting formerly in the collection of Federico Zeri, Mentana, attributed to the Circle of the Anguissola sisters (Ibid., pp. 200-01, no. 8) and most notably, the smaller panel (23 x 18.5 cm.) that was formerly in the Sterling collection, Kier, and is now in a private Italian collection (see F. Caroli, Sofonisba Anguissola e le sue sorelle, Milan, 1987, p. 106), in which the artist's physiognomy most closely matches that found in the present portrait.