Michaelina Wautier

Michaelina Wautier, The Triumph of Bacchus, c. 1655–59, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Picture Gallery, inv. 3548 Photo: © KHM-Museumsverband

Active in Brussels in the middle of the 17th century, Michaelina Wautier challenged the limits imposed on female artists at the time by working on an unusually varied range of subjects: from flowers and portraits to grand history paintings – a format usually reserved for her male counterparts.

In her most famous painting, The Triumph of Bacchus, she painted herself as a pagan bacchante in monumental scale, looking squarely at the viewer and confidently asserting her position as the maker.

Although Wautier was hugely successful in her time, her breathtaking paintings and her place in art history were almost lost in the 18th century.

This exhibition puts Wautier back in her rightful place as one of Europe’s most important artists, and establishes her as "the greatest artistic rediscovery of the century" (Artnet).

Check out Athena’s reel about her spectacular Five Senses series!

Exhibition organised in collaboration with the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.