#autocorrect informs me that Sofonisba better be corrected to 'bassoonist' at my earliest convenience

[mcwhatt]

Spectulative Fiction and Sofonisba

Tonight I attended the last meeting in a Zoom series about secular speculative fiction and its use in envisioning a better, more progressive future. In this final meeting we discussed a story in which--among other evolutions and revolutions--capitalism and assault have more or less ended, and people are no longer afraid of or barred from using their voices to speak up for themselves and their values.

As part of unpacking this idealized and unfortunately difficult-to-imagine society, we discussed intermediate steps--what we would need to do to get from our uncertain social atmosphere today to a point at which we can say “yes, our protesting and persistence was worth the struggle.”

A lot of these steps are challenging and require concerted effort towards unlearning prejudice, dismantling oppressive systems, and uplifting people. However, discussing progress toward the future reminded me of a painting in the National Gallery of Ireland by female Renaissance artist Sofonisba Anguissola, which represents an inadvertent social step forward. The painting was the first painting by a woman to be purchased by the gallery, and the displaying of Sofonisba’s work in a respectable space is a form of social progress in that it promotes the presence and achievements of oft-overshadowed female talent. (Or, at least, that could be considered considerable progress in the 1860s when the painting was acquired)

(continued below this fabulous photo)

But, apparently, the National Gallery of Ireland acquired the painting without knowing it was by Sofonisba. At the time, the work was attributed to male painter Alonso Sanchez Coello. Does this take the progressive/social importance out of its acquisition? 

I find it interesting that this step towards showing more historical art by women--of recognizing the place of female artists in history--was taken unintentionally. Whimsically (and probably too idealistically-passively), I enjoy the idea that this step was taken as if by chance, as if the world recognized it was time to display the achievements of women in art. Social progress certainly cannot happen without conscious effort, yet I appreciate that a step toward the future simply, silently, came about and drove us ever so slightly forward.