This singular novel is based upon the life and work of the Italian Renaissance painter Sofonisba Anguissola, one of the most famous artists of her time.  Praised by Michelangelo and repeatedly paid homage to by Velázquez, she was later erased from the history of art, her life forgotten and her paintings attributed to various contemporaries from Zurbarán to El Greco.    

Born in Cremona to a noble Lombard family, Sofonisba Anguissola became the court painter of Felipe II and a lady in waiting to the queen.  Her birthplace happened to be cradle as well to the most famous violin makers in the world, the Amati and the Stradivarius.  The Virgin & the Violin deftly intertwines the crafting of a perfect violin with the creation of Sofonisba’s own haunting paintings, tracing the paths of her life and work amidst the rise and fall of the famous workshop of the Klotz, contemporaries of the Amati. 

The heart of the novel is a love story between Renzo Klotz and Sofonisba Anguissola, inspired by one of the artist’s self-portraits, which contains a medallion with an enigmatic “R” and “K.”  Since marriage between the two is impossible, Renzo calls upon Magdalena, an African griot from the city of Gao, who offers to help him and fails, but having fallen in love with him, provides a way of entering into contact the Devil.  Renzo hands himself over to the Evil One in order to attain his greatest desire.  The Devil, as ever the rogue, tricks him, robbing his parents of life and in exchange granting him the obsession and the secret skills to construct the perfect violin.  When Renzo realizes how he has been played for a fool, he commits suicide. After the disappearance of Renzo, Sofonisba eventually marries, but her husband is murdered by Mediterranean pirates. She ultimately falls in love with a much younger man whom she marries and with whom she finally discovers the pleasures of carnal love. 

Boullosa brilliantly sets Sofonisba’s sentimental education against the fascinating background of Cremona’s musical workshops, where exquisite Renaissance instruments were crafted, and illuminates as well the life of the Spanish court, the intrigues of the nobility, and a host of fascinating characters, including African artists and artisans, various Moors, a rich Indian, and the grandson of Montezuma.

"an action-packed novel about Anguissola that has all the ingredients – passion, intrigue, love, travel – to enchant readers, especially those who love art."

Estrella De Diego
Professor of Contemporary Art, University of Complutense, Madrid,
in Babelia [El País], September 6, 2008

back