Michaelina Wautier

The Education of the Virgin, 1656

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De vrouwen van het Mauritshuis
Tamar van Riessen - Art historian
  • Tamar van Riessen

    Art historian

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  • Tamar van Riessen

    Art historian

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Women of the Mauritshuis

Meet the leading lady of the baroque: Michaelina Wautier (1604 - 1689). Most women who managed to become artists generally focused on one genre: floral still lifes - like Rachel Ruysch – or portraits. But not Michaelina Wautier. She could paint anything, from portraits to still lifes and from scenes from everyday life to history paintings. And often on huge canvases. History paintings were the most highly regarded genre, so they were painted almost exclusively by men. Michaelina Wautier’s were therefore often attributed to men. But this one wasn’t. She signed it with 'fecit' (made by) and ‘invenit' (devised by) Michaelina Wautier. So let there be no doubt as to who painted it.

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  • Tamar van Riessen

    Art historian

Michaeline Wautier De opvoeding van Maria Den Haag

Michaelina Wautier
The Education of the Virgin, 1656

1656 On view in Room 3

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Details

General information
Michaelina Wautier
The Education of the Virgin, 1656
1656
painting
L184
Room 3
Material and technical details
oil
canvas
147 x 124 cm
Inscriptions
on the pedestal of the column: Michaelina Wautier, invenit et fecit 1656

Provenance

Sale Amsterdam (Christie’s), 29-11-1988, no. 65; on loan from private collection, by courtesy of the Hoogsteder Museum Foundation. since 2021