(Cremona 1532–1625 Palermo)
Portrait of a clergyman, possibly Ippolito Chizzola,
oil on canvas, 53.5 x 44.5 cm, framed

Literature: M. Kusche, Comentarius sobre las atribuciones a Sofonisba anguisola por el Doctor Alfio Nicotra, in: Archivo español de arte, LXXXII, no. 327, Madrid 2009, pp. 285–316, fig. 10

We are grateful to Andrea G. de Marchi for endorsing the attribution on the basis of a photograph.

The present painting, which depicts a canon, probably Ippolito Chizzola, is an early work by Sofonisba Anguissola. In terms of technique, style, and the treatment of the figure, it is closely related to another early work by Anguissola, the Portrait of a Dominican Astrologer (1555, formerly Gino Calligaris collection). Moreover, it resembles the Portrait of a Canon (1556, Brescia, Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo) who can possibly be identified as Ippolito Chizzola. Anguissola is said to have executed the portrait formerly in the Calligaris collection on the basis of an improvised sketch that was made during a mass held in Cremona. However, it seems hard to believe that such a rigid portrait would rely on a fleeting sketch. The present portrait, on the other hand, is much more vivacious: the sitter is depicted turned slightly to the side, almost in profile, as if he were preaching.
Even if there is no proof that Sofonisba actually based the present portrait on the sketch, it can at least be considered that it probably depicts Ippolito Chizzola.