Her name having become famous in Italy, in 1559, the King of Spain
ordered the Duke of Alba, who was then at Rome, to invite her to the
court of Madrid. She arrived there in the same year, and was received
with great distinction, and lodged in the palace. Her first work was the
portrait of the king, who was so much pleased with the performance that
he rewarded her with a diamond worth 1500 ducats, and settled upon her a
pension of 200 ducats. Her next sitters were the young queen Elizabeth
of Valois, known in Spain as Isabel of the Peace, then in the bloom of
bridal beauty, and the unhappy boy, Don Carlos. By the desire of Pope
Pius IV., she made a second portrait of the Queen, sent to his Holiness
with a dutiful letter, which Vasari has preserved, as well as the
gracious reply of the pontiff, who assures her that her painting shall
be placed among his most precious treasures. Sofonisba held the post of
lady-in-waiting to the queen, and was for some time governess to her
daughter, the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia,--an appointment which
proves that she must have resided in Spain for some time after 1566, the
year of that princess' birth.