Sofonisba's Chess Game - Premiere Part 1

Paid subscribers have access to an exclusive prerelease of our new film, Sofonisba’s Chess Game, while others will have an extended preview of the first four and a half minutes. Today we’ll release Part 1, while Parts 2, 3 and 4 will be released on the following three Fridays.

At a time when women were typically regarded as objects or madonnas to be represented in art, Sofonisba Anguissola (1532/5-1625) was something very different indeed: a highly respected painter and teacher who interacted with the likes of Michelangelo and Anthony van Dyck, and whose remarkable portraits were enthusiastically sought by many of the most powerful figures of the age.

The Chess Game by Sofonisba is a captivating group portrait of three of her sisters and a maid. It is widely considered to be one of her most compelling and innovative artworks: a painting whose many subtle levels of meaning offer a fascinating window on Sofonisba, her family, and contemporary 16th-century values.

Ideas Roadshow new documentary offers an illuminating examination of Sofonisba ’s iconic masterpiece as a window into the artist’s full oeuvre while painting a detailed picture of her journey and the world she lived in to become one of the most accomplished female artists of her time.

“The film does not limit itself with simply looking at the painting, but also examines its cultural context, including an illuminating discussion of the distinctive importance of chess itself. It also delves into the personal factors which may have inspired its creation, the artistic influences it draws on and its own subsequent influence, particularly on other female painters. Highly recommended.” – Journal of Art in Society

We hope you’ll enjoy watching Part 1, which includes a wealth of intriguing biographical details of this remarkable female painter of the Italian Renaissance. We look forward to your feedback!

Howard Burton