1532–1629: le date di nascita e di morte di Sofonisba Anguissola, "pittora de natura et miraculata", tra la peste di Palermo e il culto di Santa Rosalia

This article reconsiders Sofonisba Anguissola’s dates of birth and death through a renewed examination of Antoon van Dyck’s Italian Sketchbook. The correct reading of the entry dated 12 July 1629—long misinterpreted as 1624—places the painter’s birth in 1532 and confirms her meeting with van Dyck at the age of ninety-six, as recorded by the Flemish artist. The expression pittora de natura et miraculata is interpreted within the devotional language that developed in Palermo after the plague. Giovanni Mendola’s discovery of a notarial deed dated 26 November 1630, which records Orazio Lomellini as already remarried, makes it possible to place Sofonisba’s death between the summer of 1629 and that of 1630. The study further examines Lomellini’s post-mortem inventory, notable for its unusually rich group of paintings. The reappearance on the art market of a Saint Charles Borromeo and of works attributable to Sofonisba’s milieu suggests new avenues for attribution and provides concrete evidence regarding the painter’s material legacy.