[2] This complex oval miniature portrait is just over three inches in height, and is delicately painted with the tip of the brush on a weathered green background.

[4] It depicts a three-quarter self portrait of Anguissola looking at the viewer while holding a prominently featured roundel containing a monogram in the lower two-thirds of the painting.

"[5] As a minor Cremonise nobleman, Anguissola's father, Amilcare, used his status to procure an education for Sofonisba and her sister Elena with a local prominent painter named Bernardino Campi.

[6] Amilcare promoted Sofonisba's portraits by sharing them with wealthy patrons and dignitaries to show her portraiture, and by the time she was in her twenties, she had created a reputation for her skills and her beauty.

[1] Women of high status and nobility were obligated to meet certain standards of skill and personal traits to maintain their noble distinction in society, as made popular by Italian Renaissance writer, Baldassare Castiglione.

[1] In his book, Cortegiano (The Book of the Courtier, 1528), Castiglione clearly outlines the qualities that women of this period and social strata should strive to have: knowledge of literature and painting, musical proficiency with gender appropriate instruments, comprehension of current fashionable games and dances, and proper attire to display modesty and beauty while also avoiding the appearance of vanity or frivolity.

[1] In her portraits, Anguissola self-fashions herself as meeting these standards with depictions of herself holding books, painting, playing a piano, and having knowledge of the game chess.

[7] Befitting the beauty standards of the day, the artist depicts herself with golden hair, a fresh, fair-skinned face with dewy cheeks, and a forehead that is well proportioned with its height being half of its width.

[7] She has round dark eyes framed by natural brows of fine hair, a straight nose that pinkens at its tip, a delicately dimpled chin, feminine lips, and small curved ears.

[1][4] Further, Costa believes the Renaissance taste for puzzles would have piqued interest in this work, and would have shown the intelligence of the painter; also noting, it likely would have pleased her miniaturist teacher, Clovio, who studied and practiced monograms in cifre quadrate (square digits).

[1] Neapolitan historian Onofrio Giannone verifies an earlier account by Bernardo de Domincini (1683-1758) which stated that Anguissola taught miniaturist Giovanni Battista Anticone while she lived in Sicily.