"was more benefited by the counsels of the blind Sofonisba than by all
his studies of the masters of his art!" From a pupil of Rubens this was
praise indeed!

The chief characteristics of Sofonisba's painting were grace and spirit.
Her portrait of herself when at her best is in possession of the
Lomellini. A second is the splendid picture at Althorpe, in which she is
represented as playing the harpsichord. One can scarcely imagine a place
in which a portrait would be more severely tested than in the gallery of
the Earl of Spencer, beside portraits of lovely women and famous men,
painted by master artists. Yet this work of Sofonisba's is praised by
discerning critics and connoisseurs. Of the other portraits of herself,
that in the Uffizi is signed by her as "of Cremona," which suggests that
it was painted before she went to Spain. That in the Vienna Gallery is
dated 1551, and inscribed Sophonisba Anguissola. Virgo. Sc. Ipsam Fecit.
Still another, in which a man stands beside her, is in the Sienna
Gallery. He holds a brush in his hand, and is probably one of her
masters.

Her portrait of her sisters playing chess, while an old duenna looks on,
was in the collection of Lucien Bonaparte and is said to be now in a
private gallery in England. Her religious pictures are rare; a "Marriage
of St. Catherine" is in the gallery at Wilton House.

She painted several pictures of three of her sisters on one canvas; one
is in the National Museum of Berlin, and a second, formerly in the
Leuchtenberg Gallery, is in the Hermitage at Petersburg. A small Holy
Family, signed and dated 1559, belonged to the art critic and author,
Morelli.

One regrets that so remarkable a woman left no record of her unusual
experiences. How valuable would be the story of Don Carlos from so
disinterested a person. How interesting had she told us of the _bal
masque_, given by Isabella in the fashion of her own country, when Philip
condescended to open the ball with the Queen; or of the sylvan fetes at
Aranjuez, and of the gardens made under the direction of Isabella. Of all
this she has told us nothing. We glean the story of her life from the
works of various authors, while her fame rests securely on her
superiority in the art to which she was devoted.

<b>ANCHER, ANNA KRISTINE.</b> Genre painter, won high praise at Berlin in
1900 for two pictures: "Tischgebet," which was masterly in its smoothness
and depth of expression, and "Eine blinde Frau in ihr