After her second marriage, Sofonisba continued to pursue the art at
Genoa, where her house became the resort of all the polished and
intellectual society of the Republic. The Empress of Germany paid her a
visit on her way to Spain, and accepted a little picture,--one of the
most finished and beautiful of her works. She was also visited by her
former charge, the Infanta, then the wife of the Archduke Albert, and
with him co-sovereign of Flanders. That princess spent many hours in
conversing with her of by-gone days and family affairs; she also sat for
her portrait, and presented Sofonisba with a gold chain enriched with
jewels, as a memorial of their friendship. Thus courted in the society
of Genoa, and caressed by royalty, this eminent paintress lived to the
extreme age of ninety-three years. A medal was struck in her honor at
Bologna; artists listened reverentially to her opinions; and poets sang
her praises. Though deprived of sight in her latter years, she retained
to the last her other faculties, her love of art, and her relish for the
society of its professors. Vandyck was frequently her guest during his
residence at Genoa, in 1621; and he used to say of her that he had
learned more of the practical principles of the art from a blind woman,
than by studying all the works of the best Italian masters.