Carla Rossi, philologist and art historian, presents new archival research on Sofonisba Anguissola, based on primary documents, notarial records and critical editions.
This page gathers recent peer-reviewed studies, documentary discoveries and scholarly publications authored by Carla Rossi, with DOI and ORCID verification. The research focuses on Renaissance visual culture, women artists, material philology and the historical reconstruction of documentary evidence.

https://www.isfida.eu/vol-10-nr-2-2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no7hYMIEmjY

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Recent Research on Sofonisba Anguissola

Between 2024 and 2026, Carla Rossi has published new studies reconsidering Sofonisba Anguissola’s biography, chronology and documentary context through direct archival investigation. These works combine palaeography, codicology, art historical analysis and legal-documentary sources, providing verifiable evidence rather than conjectural narratives.

The studies are grounded in:

• original notarial deeds

• archival inventories

• early modern devotional language

• manuscript and documentary transcription

• critical semi-diplomatic editions

All publications are available with DOI identifiers and are permanently archived.

Article 1

1532–1629: Reassessing the Birth and Death Dates of Sofonisba Anguissola

Author: Carla Rossi (ORCID: 0000-0001-6557-3684)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18471285
Pages: 10–38
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Abstract
This study reconsiders Sofonisba Anguissola’s dates of birth and death through a renewed examination of Antoon van Dyck’s Italian Sketchbook and related documentary evidence. The correct reading of the entry dated 12 July 1629 places the painter’s birth in 1532 and confirms her meeting with van Dyck at the age of ninety-six. The expression pittora de natura et miraculata is interpreted within the devotional language that developed in Palermo after the plague. Additional notarial documentation allows the painter’s death to be situated between the summer of 1629 and that of 1630. The article further examines Lomellini’s post-mortem inventory and the painter’s material legacy, proposing new avenues for attribution grounded in primary sources.

Article 2

Critical Edition of the Notarial Deed of Donation of the Madonna dell’Itria

Author: Carla Rossi (ORCID: 0000-0001-6557-3684)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18471363
Pages: 103–120
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Abstract
This article presents a critical and annotated edition of the notarial deed recording Sofonisba Anguissola’s donation of the Madonna dell’Itria panel. Based on a rigorous semi-diplomatic transcription, the study preserves notarial formulae and clearly distinguishes documentary evidence from interpretation. The deed contains no claim of authorship but records a votive donation with specific liturgical obligations. The article also analyses the choirbooks depicted in the painting, identifying measured polyphonic notation and the Marian gradual Benedicta et venerabilis, offering a typological reconstruction of the repertory.

Methodological Approach

Carla Rossi’s research is based on:

• direct archival consultation

• documentary philology

• critical transcription of primary sources

• material analysis of manuscripts and images

• historically verifiable evidence

The aim is to provide documented scholarship grounded in sources rather than secondary narratives.

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About the Author

Carla Rossi is a philologist, art historian and manuscript scholar specialising in medieval and Renaissance material culture, women artists and documentary reconstruction. Her work integrates textual philology, archival research and digital humanities methodologies.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6557-3684
Research profile: https://www.isfida.eu/carla-rossi-philologist

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All publications listed on this page are authored by Carla Rossi and are available as verifiable scholarly documents with DOI identifiers.