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Sophonisba Anguissola
One of the first female artists about whom anything is known. Sophonisba (c.1532-1635) came from an unusual family -- with six daughters, her father, from either a humanist Renaissance outlook or prudence decided to educate a number of them as artists. Sophonisba became a court painter to Philip II of Spain, as well as something of a curiosity, and paved the way for other women artists such as Artemesia Gentileschi, Judith Leyster, and Maria Sibylla Merian.