WOMEN IN THE BACKROUND OF HISTORY

(Mons, 1604-Bruselas, 1689)

She was a Flemish Baroque painter, active in Brussels where she settled from 1642 together with her brother Charles Wautier, also a painter. Wautier was noted for the variety of subjects and genres in which she worked, including the large genre of history painting, something unusual among female artists of the time who often limited themselves to small-format paintings, usually portraits or still lifes. She was born in Mons, capital of the county of Hainaut, now Belgium. The only daughter in a large family of nine siblings, Michaelina Wautier descended from a noble lineage, rooted in Hainaut where its members had held government positions and with ties to the militia. These family origins would explain, according to experts, the deep knowledge of classical mythology and symbolism that can be seen in his pictorial work. Around 1642 or 1643, when the lost portrait of Andrea Cantelmo is dated, his first documented work, he settled with his brother Charles in Brussels, where they both remained unmarried, and it is likely that they shared a studio in a noble house. Both Michaelina and Charles seem to have dedicated themselves to business, particularly in real estate, and certainly received a good artistic training, but it is not known where or with whom. Part of that good education that the brothers are supposed to have acquired must have been acquired on trips to Italy, France and Spain, where their older brother Jacques had fixed his residence in Madrid. Little else is known about Wautier’s life, and much of his biographical information is based on conjecture and scholarly analysis of his available works.

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michaelina_Wautier