Forgotten Queen of Renaissance Art at the Timken Museum in San Diego

Art with Bob Pincus
I explore one of San Diego’s hidden gems: The Timken Museum of Art. For centuries, this Renaissance masterpiece was hidden in plain sight. And so were many paintings by this “Queen” of Renaissance art. Now, Sofonisba Anguissola has returned to the spotlight, and two once misidentified portraits now sit side by side. She was a celebrity in her time (she even corresponded with Michelangelo), but was erased from art history for years until recent decades, where her reputation has grown to be a major painter from the Renaissance.

The exhibition at the Timken, called Poetic Portraits: Allegory and Identity in 16th-Century Europe, is up through March 29, 2026. If you’re looking for things to do in San Diego in March, this is a must-see.

On a rare loan from the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid, the painting, “Portrait of Giovanni Battista Caselli” along with “Portrait of a Spanish Prince (probably Philip II)” help showcase how Renaissance portraits advanced technique, process, and changed the way we view and connect with art.

0:00 Welcome to Poetic Portraits
0:37 Talking about the Timken
1:12 Portrait of Caselli and Renaissance Art
2:37 The art mystery behind Caselli
3:07 Portrait of a Spanish Prince
3:45 Veneto - Portrait of a Lady in a Green Dress
5:15 Boltraffio (Da Vinci's student) - Portrait of a Youth Holding an Arrow
6:10 Tagliavini - Artemisia from the 1503 Portfolio
6:52 Prints from Poetic Portraits
07:24 Beyond the exhibition - Anguissola's other portraits
09:15 Thanks for watching! Next episode preview - MONUMENTS

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