Michaelina Woutiers

Self-portrait (around 1649)

Michaelina Woutiers (* around 1620 , † after 1682 , name variants: Michelina, Magdalena, Wouters, Wauters) was a Dutch baroque painter . Her complete oeuvre includes works of various genres such as history painting , flower pieces , portraits , altarpieces and genre painting .

Life

She came from Bergen in Hainaut , but it is not certain whether she was born there. From around 1640 to around 1660 she worked in Brussels . She probably had a brother named Charles Woutiers, who studied in Italy and joined the Guild of Saint Luke in Brussels in 1651 .

Michaelina Woutiers enjoyed a high reputation in her time under the protection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria , the governor of the Spanish Netherlands . He worked as an art patron and during his tenure (1647–1656) bought all important works by painters such as Peter Paul Rubens . He sponsored Michaelina Woutiers and had acquired four of her paintings by 1659. These included a portrait of St. Joachim and a portrait of St. Joseph , which were described as originals by Jungfraw Magdalena Woutiers from Mons or Berghen, Henegaw i Niderlandt , a procession and a painting of Bacchus.

Michaelina Woutier's style suggests that she studied in Italy. She preferred large formats.

Works

Two girls as saints Agnes and Dorothea

• Portrait of a Man (1646), oil on canvas, 63 × 56.5 cm, signed upper right "Michaelina Woutiers / 1646", acquired in 1812 by the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Brussels.

• Two girls as Saints Agnes and Dorothea , Royal Museums of Fine Arts, Antwerp

• Bacchanal , oil on canvas, 270 × 354 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna . The monumental painting was inspired by the Metamorphoses of Ovid . Woutiers painted this masterpiece around 1650 and possibly portrayed herself as a bacchante who looks the viewer in the face. The virtuoso work shows her knowledge in the field of anatomy. The painting was described in the inventory of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm as an original by N. Woutiers .

• The Annunciation (1659), oil on canvas, 200 × 134 cm, Musée Promenade Marly le Roi. The painting was previously attributed to the French painter Pierre Bedeau. However, the overpainting was removed during the restoration. Michaelina Woutiers signed and dated it with Michaelina Wautier fecit 1659 [1] The dominant colors are a striking cobalt blue and a deep red. Despite the large format, the figures stand out vividly.

• St. Anna teaches Maria to read, in the background Joachim , (1656), oil on canvas, 147 × 124 cm, Kunsthandlung Hoogsteder & Hoogsteder, The Hague The painting shows Maria as a child learning to read with her parents, Joachim and Anna. The picture is painted with dramatic clair-obscur that is reminiscent of Caravaggio .

• St. Joachim , described in Archduke Leopold Wilhelm's list as 'Original by Jungfraw Magdalena Woutiers von Mons or Berghen, Henegaw i Niderlandt'.

• St. Joseph (approx. 1657), oil on canvas, 76 × 66 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna. This painting was also the property of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm. Saint Joseph is warmly portrayed as a formidable personality.

• Flower garland with a magnificent dragonfly , 1652, oil on canvas, 41.1 × 57.4 cm, private collection

• Flower garland , 1652, oil on panel, 42 × 57 cm,

• The Flute Player (1650), oil on canvas, 70 × 61 cm, location unknown. The boy playing the recorder is part of a series of five images depicting all boys. The painting was auctioned in Paris in 1999.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Still life and animal pieces . Dutch painting of the 17th century from the SØR Rusche collection, Hans-Joachim Raupp, Lit Verlag (2001)
2. ↑ ^{a b} Tentoonstellingscatalogus, Katlijne van der Stighelen, Mirjam West, ea Elck zijn waerom. Vrouwelijke kunstenaars in België en Nederland 1500-1955, Ludion, Gent, 1999, 400 p. Tentoonstelling from October 17, 1999 to January 16, 2000 in the Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Antwerp. [1]
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Jordi Vigué, Grote Meesters van de Westerse Schilderkunst Schilderessen, Zuid Boekproducties, 2003
4. ↑ Sponsors of the Past: Flemish Art and Patronage 1550-1700. Proceedings of the Symposium Organized at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, December 14-15, 2001. Edited by Hans Vlieghe and Katlijne Van der Stighelen. Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2005. 238 pp. ISBN 2-503-51500-2 . [2]
5. ↑ Portraits of St. Joseph and St. Joachim
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Machteld De Schryver en Karen Geurts, Over beeldende kunstenaressen in Brussel. Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ ^{a b} Mirjam West, Waarom? Daarom! Elck zijn Waerom, Museum voor Moderne Kunst Arnhem, Historisch Museum Arnhem, Museumkrant Tweede jaargang No 1 februari 2000 ( PDF  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )  
8. ^ Directory, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
9. ↑ Reference to flower garland in oil on wood
10. ↑ Nicholas S. Lander, Recorder Iconography Archived copy ( memento of the original from February 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.