Sofonisba Anguissola, The Chess Game, 1555, The National Museum in Poznań. ArtStor digital library

When we put the new roof on the 17th-century part of the Watermill at Posara in the next month or so, we are going to take the opportunity to create two new stylish Tuscan guest bedrooms for our visitors at the same time. (This is where we normally sleep, so we are going to relocate to another part of the mill.) The problem is: What on earth are we going to call these bedrooms?

As you know, our policy has been to name our rooms after renowned Renaissance Italian artists and architects: Botticelli, Bronzino, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Fra Angelico, Ghiberti, Ghirlandaio, Lippi, Uccello, and Vasari. At Lois’s suggestion, we also named one bedroom after that feminist icon, Artemisia Gentileschi.

We think it behooves us to add another Italian female painter. But who? Our research has come up with two names: Plautilla Nelli (1524-1588), a Florentine nun who concentrated on religious subjects, and Sofonisba Anguissola (c.1532-1625), from Cremona, who became the official court painter to Philip II, the King of Spain.

In the interests of marital harmony, Bill is quite happy to name one of the new bedrooms after a female Italian artist, but he balked at Plautilla Nelli: “Not on your Nellie! Nobody is going to stay in a bedroom called that.”

You will have noticed that we use our artists’ surnames (we have no Leonardo [di ser Piero da Vinci], Michelangelo [di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni], or Raphael [Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino], who are universally known by their first names alone.) Which is just as well. When I first encountered Sofonisba Anguissola’s name, I pronounced it ‘Son of a bitcha,’ an unfortunate malapropism.

Mind you, her surname also poses difficulties with pronunciation. It is ‘an-gwi-sol-la,’ with the stress on the second syllable. Pronunciation apart, I much prefer Sofonisba Anguissola’s paintings to the somewhat dreary religious creations of Plautilla Nelli, particularly the wonderful ‘The Chess Game’ (at the top of this story), which features her three younger sisters (and a housemaid). It was painted in 1555 when she was only 23. All the protagonists are dead now, of course, but the painting captures their youthful vitality and keeps them alive even after more than 450 years. The personality of each of the sisters shines out, particularly the youngest.

We’d love to know what you think! Should we honour Plautilla Nelli and her role as one of the first recognised female painters, or should we celebrate the elegance and vitality of Sofonisba Anguissola? Let us know your thoughts!

If you’re inspired by the stories of these remarkable women and would like to immerse yourself in art and creativity, explore our creative retreats in Tuscany, where we honour Italian art, culture, and history.