Anguissola’s portrait, in which the female painter is painted by the male mentor whose hand rests above her heart, seems almost regressive, but it might be a subtle and slippery way for Anguissola to compare herself to male painters. She uses a male substitute to reframe herself.
Campi does indeed reach across the space, and his hand rests above her heart/breast, but he is crowded in the left (viewer’s left) corner. Anguissola is centered in the painting. His clothes are most in danger of slipping into the void of the dark background. His expression is almost identical to Anguissola’s, but her expression has the slightest hint of a Mona Lisa smile as if she’s letting us in on a very subtle joke.