Sofonisba Anguissola (1532–1625) was a painter from Cremona who achieved considerable success during her lifetime, even though very few women were working as professional painters at the time—and even fewer were successful.

This miniature, now housed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, dates to around 1556 and depicts a self-portrait of Sofonisba holding a roundel with a complex monogram containing the letters that make up her father Amilcare's name: ACEILMR. The miniature was likely intended as a gift for him.

Around the monogram, there is an inscription painted in Latin capital letters:

“SOPHONISBA ANGUSSOLA VIR(GO) IPSIUS MANU EX (S)PECULO DEPICTAM CREMONAE”

(“The virgin Sofonisba Anguissola, painted by her own hand from a mirror, in Cremona”).