Sofonisba Anguissola (Anguisciola), after her self-portrait

Baillie created this print after a self-portrait by one of the few well-known female artists of the Italian Renaissance, Sofonisba Anguissola (1532–1625). In the original painting (Self-Portrait at Easel, ca. 1556), Anguissola depicts herself in her best dress, at work on a devotional painting. This representation responds to the convention of women painters presenting themselves as the allegorical figure of La Pittura (Painting).