Catherine da Costa - Self-portrait

Français : Autoportrait attribué à Catherine da Costa (1679–1756), inspiré d'un autoportrait daté 1556 de Sofonisba Anguissola (c.1535–1625)
English: This miniature is based on the self-portrait (dated 1556) by Sofonisba Anguissola (c.1535–1625). The miniature has extended the original image to form a horizontal composition, possibly to fit the miniature into the lid of a box.
The technique, which would appear to date the miniature to the first quarter of the eighteenth century, displays a typical application of watercolour paint to an ivory support from this time. A watercolour gouache paint has been applied in thick layers, leaving the ivory to show through in the area of the face and hands. The technique also corresponds with another copy by da Costa, now at Ham House, in the manner of Bernard Lens the younger (1682-1740).