1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. 3 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. So that same trip into 4 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: Boston that brought about our recent episode on Mary Dyer 5 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,880 Speaker 1: also inspired this one. I was wandering around the Museum 6 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: of Fine Arts and I stumbled onto a set of paintings. 7 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: They depicted the Five Senses, and I found them to 8 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: be just very striking and very beautiful, very realistic, with 9 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 1: this very dark, almost somber kind of color palette, and 10 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:45,880 Speaker 1: also at the same time just full of lovely details, 11 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: like the way the light would fall onto the curls 12 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 1: of one subject's hair, or the way their clothing draped 13 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:59,280 Speaker 1: around them. These paintings turned out to be by seventeenth 14 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: century Flammish painter Michelina Wotier, who you will also hear 15 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: pronounced more like Wautier, depending on whether the person is 16 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:13,479 Speaker 1: using a French pronunciation or a Dutch one. I heard 17 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: a lot of our historians talking about her. They were 18 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: split on what pronunciations that they used, and it also 19 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 1: didn't seem to like fall along the lines of English 20 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: speakers using one pronunciation in French or Dutch or whatever 21 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: speakers using a different one. We're gonna stick with Watier 22 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: just because that seems like it will work best for us, 23 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: and we also won't randomly be slipping into a different 24 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: pronunciation and random times in the episode. This is somebody 25 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: who has been relatively unknown even among people who specialize 26 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 1: specifically in seventeenth century are until very recently. So unfortunately, 27 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:59,560 Speaker 1: we don't have a lot of biographical detail about Mickelina Watier, 28 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: and what we do know is still evolving. For example, 29 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: her birth year. The first major retrospective of Watier's artistic 30 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:10,880 Speaker 1: career was held in twenty eighteen as a collaboration by 31 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: the Museum on the Stroom see that as mas or 32 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: Moss and Ruben's House in Antwerp, Belgium. Material created for 33 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: that exhibition, including the exhibition catalog, gives the date of 34 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 1: her baptism as September second, sixteen oh four. The first 35 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: US exhibition of her artwork is the one that's going 36 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: on at the MFA in Boston, and material connected to 37 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: that exhibition gives the date of September second, sixteen fourteen. Normally, 38 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: in this kind of a situation, we might say something 39 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: like source X gives her birth date as X, but 40 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: source Y gives her birth date as why. But in 41 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:50,959 Speaker 1: the case of Mcleena Watier, that ten year difference is 42 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: a big deal. Her father, Charles Watier, died non November 43 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: twenty fourth, sixteen seventeen. Mcleena would have been one of 44 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: at least six siblings and half siblings still living at home, 45 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: and the youngest of them was only about a year old. 46 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: We really don't know how her mother, Jean George, supported 47 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: herself and all of these children after Charles's death, although 48 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: she was from a pretty wealthy merchant family and she 49 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: might have gotten financial support from them. So was this 50 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,079 Speaker 1: Mckelina's experience from the age of three or from the 51 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,240 Speaker 1: age of thirteen. Was she one of the oldest children 52 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 1: in the household and her father died, or was she 53 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:33,080 Speaker 1: one of the youngest. One of Mickelina's brothers was also 54 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: named Charles, and he became an artist as well. He 55 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: was born in sixteen oh nine. If he was five 56 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: years older than Mickelina, we can imagine that maybe she 57 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: looked up to him as an artist, and perhaps he 58 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,440 Speaker 1: was able to mentor her and help oversee her artistic 59 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: education as she was growing up. If he was five 60 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: years younger than Mickelina, he may still have provided her 61 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: access to artistic training and space that she wouldn't have 62 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: had otherwise when they were with adults, but it could 63 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: have been a very different dynamic. So the catalog from 64 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: that twenty eighteen exhibition in Belgium cites a record of 65 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 1: baptism that was part of a volume of records that 66 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,840 Speaker 1: ended in March of sixteen oh nine. So as I 67 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: started working on this, it seemed like the sixteen oh 68 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:22,360 Speaker 1: four date was probably the correct date. But then I 69 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: emailed the Center for Netherlandish Art at the MFA, which 70 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:28,839 Speaker 1: organized this current exhibition there, to ask if there was 71 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: maybe some newly uncovered information correcting the date to sixteen fourteen, 72 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:36,280 Speaker 1: And according to the response that I got back from them, yes, 73 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: newly discovered documents have indeed placed her birth year as 74 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: sixteen fourteen and not sixteen oh four. If you're curious 75 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:45,880 Speaker 1: about what those documents might be, so am I, but 76 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:50,159 Speaker 1: I don't know. Miguelino Woitier was born in Monts, southwest 77 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: of Brussels, which at the time was part of the 78 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,719 Speaker 1: Southern Netherlands under the control of Habsburg Spain. Habsburg Spain 79 00:04:56,920 --> 00:04:59,840 Speaker 1: is a modern term describing the territory ruled by Charles 80 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: the First and Charles the Second in the sixteenth and 81 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:07,800 Speaker 1: seventeenth centuries. Habsburg Spain included what's now Spain and Portugal, 82 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 1: much of modern Germany, the Netherlands, southern Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia, 83 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,720 Speaker 1: although it gained a lost parts of that territory at 84 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:22,239 Speaker 1: various points. Spain also started aggressively colonizing the Americas during 85 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 1: these years. Mcalina's mother was her father's second wife. The 86 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,320 Speaker 1: elder Charles Woitier had five children with his first wife, 87 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:33,520 Speaker 1: Barb before her death sometime in sixteen oh one or 88 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: very early sixteen oh two. Then Charles and Jehan got 89 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:40,560 Speaker 1: married in February of sixteen oh two, and they had 90 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:45,359 Speaker 1: six children together, Mcalina and five boys. We mentioned that 91 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 1: Jean was from a wealthy merchant family, Barb was as well, 92 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: and there was more than one marriage connecting these two families. 93 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: Mckelina's certificate of baptism lists her name as Maria Magdalena, 94 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: and we don't really know when the name Michelina came 95 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: into the picture. There are also a lot of different 96 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:09,920 Speaker 1: spellings of the name Waitier. In written records, people used 97 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: different spellings and pronunciations depending on which dialect of Dutch 98 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 1: they spoke, or if they spoke French or some other language. 99 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 1: As far as we know, she was the only girl 100 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: among her siblings and half siblings to survive to adulthood. 101 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 1: Based on what we know of Mickelina's mother's family and 102 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: the fact that Mckelina was able to focus so much 103 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:34,960 Speaker 1: on painting, this family was probably very affluent even after 104 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 1: her father's death, and the quality of her artwork suggests 105 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,599 Speaker 1: that she had private art teachers. The subjects that she 106 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: chose to portray in her art also suggest that she 107 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: had a really solid education in subjects like religion, mythology, 108 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: and history. She signed contracts in both French and Dutch, 109 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:57,600 Speaker 1: so she probably spoke both of those languages, and it 110 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 1: also seems that the Watier family was socially prominent and respected. 111 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: Nicquelina's grandfather and great grandfather had served as aldermen, and 112 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 1: her father held positions at court. Nicquelina's half brother, Jacques, 113 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: joined the Royal Guard in the capital of Madrid in 114 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: sixteen fifteen, and he was later elevated to the nobility. 115 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 1: Her brother Pierre also became the herald of Arms for 116 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 1: the Duchy of Guilders in sixteen twenty eight. Miquelinootier probably 117 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:28,679 Speaker 1: started studying art while living in Mons, but we don't 118 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 1: really know where she studied, or who her teachers were, 119 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: or if she traveled to study art elsewhere. She also 120 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: wasn't the only woman artist in the area at the time. 121 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: Another was Anna Francisco du Brune, who was born in 122 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: sixteen oh four and got married in the church of 123 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 1: Saint Germain in Mont in sixteen twenty eight. In sixteen 124 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: thirty two, the chapel of Notre Dame du bon Voulois 125 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 1: was completed not far away, and de Brune painted the 126 00:07:57,040 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: Assumption of the Virgin to hang behind the chapel's high 127 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: office her We don't really know if Mickelina and Anna 128 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: Francisca knew one another. It seems like they might have. 129 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:11,080 Speaker 1: Mickelina almost certainly would have known about Anna Francisca's work 130 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:13,960 Speaker 1: as an artist. She was painting for the chapel that 131 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 1: was sort of right down the street from where her 132 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:21,080 Speaker 1: family lived. Mickelina's mother, June, died on June nineteenth, sixteen 133 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: thirty eight. Since Mickelina was not married, she was probably 134 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: still living with her mother in Moles. At least that 135 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: would have been what was expected of her, especially if 136 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: Juhne needed any kind of help or care near the 137 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:38,440 Speaker 1: end of her life. Sometime after Juhne's death, Mickelina moved 138 00:08:38,440 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: to Brussels, where her brother Charles lived, probably into the 139 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: home that he had already established there. This means that 140 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: Charles had enough money for a home that was large 141 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:51,680 Speaker 1: enough to also accommodate his sister and possibly to house 142 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: an art studio for the two of them as well. 143 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: The first written mention we have of Charles Wattiers an 144 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:02,200 Speaker 1: artist as from sixteen teen forty two, and the first 145 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:05,080 Speaker 1: mention we have of Miquelina Watier as an artist is 146 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: from righte about the same time. But both of these 147 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:11,560 Speaker 1: really suggest that neither of them was just starting out 148 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:14,840 Speaker 1: as a painter. For Charles, this was a mention that 149 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: he was one of the people who was painting in 150 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: Brussels without first becoming a citizen of Brussels or joining 151 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 1: the guild. That suggests he was supposed to have done 152 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,199 Speaker 1: both of those things already. He was not a student. 153 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: He was somebody who was expected to join the guild 154 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,760 Speaker 1: and pay its associated fees in order to work professionally 155 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: as an artist. For whatever reason, he was not doing that. 156 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: Later references also describe him as foreign trained as an artist. 157 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: That foreign training may have happened in Italy. He did 158 00:09:46,720 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 1: eventually become a citizen and join the guild. First mention 159 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:52,800 Speaker 1: of his doing that is in sixteen fifty one. Not 160 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 1: really clear why he didn't do it initially, He just 161 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:02,720 Speaker 1: didn't know that he had to fil For Miquelina, the 162 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,640 Speaker 1: first reference we have is an engraving of her portrait 163 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: of military commander Andreas Cantelmo Ducopopoli, which was created in 164 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:15,080 Speaker 1: sixteen forty three. Although Mquelina's original painting no longer exists, 165 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: the engraving made from it suggests that she was already 166 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: a mature, skilled artist. The fact that Cantelmo commissioned this 167 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 1: work from her also suggests that she had already established 168 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: a reputation for herself, although we don't know what work 169 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:31,959 Speaker 1: he might have seen that led him to want her 170 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:35,760 Speaker 1: to paint his portrait. The engraving was also created by 171 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 1: Paulos Pontius, who did extensive work with artists like Peter 172 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:43,080 Speaker 1: Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyke, so it seems like 173 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:45,760 Speaker 1: she already had a lot of connections within the artistic 174 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:50,600 Speaker 1: community and to possible customers and patrons. We will talk 175 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 1: about Nichelino Watier's career as an artist and gleans some 176 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:56,640 Speaker 1: more stuff about her life from what we know of 177 00:10:56,640 --> 00:11:09,080 Speaker 1: her work after a sponsor break. Miquelina Watier is not 178 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: the first seventeenth century woman artist we have talked about 179 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:17,920 Speaker 1: on the show. Others include Italian artist Lavinia Fontana and 180 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:23,320 Speaker 1: Artemisia Gentileski and German entomologist and illustrator Maria Sebuia Mariam. 181 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,040 Speaker 1: Other prominent women artists from the period who we have 182 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 1: not discussed include Dutch artist Judith lester She, Artemisia Gentdeleski, 183 00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 1: and Mikuelina Watier are sometimes grouped together as examples of 184 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 1: just especially prominent and skilled women artists from this period, 185 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:45,680 Speaker 1: but there were many many other women working as artists 186 00:11:45,720 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 1: in the seventeenth century whose work did not become as 187 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:52,800 Speaker 1: well known. In the chapter Mickelina Watier and Working Women 188 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 1: in Early Modern Europe from the twenty eighteen Exhibition Catalog, 189 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: Martha Howell writes that there were dozens of professional women painters, 190 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:04,679 Speaker 1: perhaps even hundreds, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and 191 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:07,680 Speaker 1: that there were also many more women who painted, but 192 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 1: just not professionally. Many, but not all, of the most 193 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:15,520 Speaker 1: well known women artists during this era were the daughters 194 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:21,320 Speaker 1: of male artists, like Artemisia Gentileski's father, Razzio and Lavinia 195 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: Fontana's father Prospero, were both prominent professional painters. Of course, 196 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: not every woman artist who came to prominence also had 197 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:33,680 Speaker 1: an artist father. Judith Lester's father was a brewer, but 198 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 1: having a father or maybe an uncle or some other 199 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: adult male artist in the immediate family could really open 200 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:43,520 Speaker 1: up a lot of doors for women to study art 201 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 1: and find commissions and find places to exhibit their work. 202 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:50,960 Speaker 1: There were also a lot of limits on the lives 203 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:54,440 Speaker 1: and careers of most women artists. In much of Europe, 204 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:58,079 Speaker 1: membership in an artist guild was required to work professionally, 205 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:03,559 Speaker 1: but many artists guilt accepted few, if any women. Women 206 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:06,720 Speaker 1: were often barred from art schools and anatomy classes and 207 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 1: workshops where they might learn to draw and paint the 208 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:13,560 Speaker 1: human form, especially if those classes involved working with nude 209 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:17,520 Speaker 1: male models. As a result, a lot of women artists 210 00:13:17,559 --> 00:13:20,680 Speaker 1: focused on subjects that they had easier access to, so 211 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:24,319 Speaker 1: things like flowers and landscapes and their own families and 212 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:28,199 Speaker 1: the families of people they knew. The style of painting 213 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:32,079 Speaker 1: that evolved in the Southern Netherlands under Spanish Habsburg rule 214 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:36,120 Speaker 1: is known as Flemish Baroque painting, and still lifes of 215 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: flowers and flower gardens were a big part of this style. 216 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: This gave professional women painters some opportunities to make a 217 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:46,920 Speaker 1: living by painting something that was really popular and that 218 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:50,679 Speaker 1: they also had easy access to, and which was considered 219 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:55,360 Speaker 1: appropriate subject matter for women to be interested in. Of course, 220 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:59,079 Speaker 1: there were exceptions to these trends, a notable one being 221 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,400 Speaker 1: Artemisia Gentileski, who we have covered on the show before. 222 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 1: We just ran our episode on her as a Saturday Classic. 223 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:11,200 Speaker 1: But another is Mikuelina Wotier. The only other artist we 224 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: know of in her family is her brother Charles, and 225 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:15,880 Speaker 1: the two of them seem to have come into their 226 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: own as professionals at roughly the same time, at least 227 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 1: within a few years of each other. We know of 228 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:25,640 Speaker 1: only two still life paintings in Woitier's body of work, 229 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: which may have been made together and intended as a pair. 230 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 1: We're going to talk a bit more about those pieces later. 231 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: She also did portraits and paintings depicting moments from history 232 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:38,760 Speaker 1: and mythology, which was not common for women artists at all, 233 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: and one painting in particular suggests that she had a 234 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: lot of opportunity to work with nude male models, something 235 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:50,040 Speaker 1: that women were generally prohibited from doing, and most, but 236 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,600 Speaker 1: of course not all, women painters at the time slowed 237 00:14:53,640 --> 00:14:58,080 Speaker 1: down or stopped working entirely after getting married, but Wotier 238 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: never married. It seems likely that living and working with 239 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:06,640 Speaker 1: her brother, Charles, gave Mickelina Watier access to resources and 240 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 1: educational opportunities that she just would not have had access 241 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: to otherwise. She and her brother almost certainly consulted one 242 00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 1: another on their work as well, and they may have 243 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:21,480 Speaker 1: even collaborated, although each of them really developed their own style. 244 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:26,360 Speaker 1: In particular, Charles's brushwork tends to be smoother and more blended, 245 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,520 Speaker 1: while Mickelina's is often a lot more layered, with a 246 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:33,520 Speaker 1: lot shorter and tighter strokes. This is something you can't 247 00:15:33,600 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: really see unless you're looking at the painting in person, 248 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: or if you have a really really high resolution image 249 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:42,400 Speaker 1: of it that can retain all of that detail. Some 250 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,680 Speaker 1: of their commissions may also have come about through their 251 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:50,480 Speaker 1: other brothers military connections. Both Charles and Mcalina painted a 252 00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: lot of portraits of officers who were serving the Spanish 253 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:57,560 Speaker 1: crown and other people who were connected with the Spanish Habsburgs. 254 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:02,120 Speaker 1: One of Mickelina Watier's made her patrons was Archduke Leopold 255 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,240 Speaker 1: Wilhelm of Austria, who bought at least four of her 256 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:09,280 Speaker 1: works and probably commissioned at least one of them. Leopold 257 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:12,440 Speaker 1: was Governor of the Spanish Netherlands from sixteen forty seven 258 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,680 Speaker 1: to sixteen fifty six, and he was also an avid 259 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:19,080 Speaker 1: art collector. There's a painting of him in his enormous 260 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:24,800 Speaker 1: gallery surrounded by his collection, which includes paintings by Titian Raphael, Peter, 261 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 1: Paul Rubens, and Anthony van Dyke, among others. A painting 262 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 1: that the Archduke almost certainly commissioned from Michelina Watier is 263 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,600 Speaker 1: called the Bacchanal or the Triumph of Bacchus, which is 264 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:42,640 Speaker 1: often described as her masterpiece, and this one painting illustrates 265 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 1: so many of the ways that Watier really broke away 266 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 1: from what was expected of women and women artists, like 267 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:52,960 Speaker 1: there was a period when the creator of this painting 268 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:56,000 Speaker 1: was not identified and people saw it and just assumed 269 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: that it was by a man, because of all the 270 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 1: things we're about to talk about. Number one is painting 271 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 1: was big. It was more than nine It is still 272 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:06,040 Speaker 1: exists more than nine feet high and twelve feet wide, 273 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: or about two point seven by three point seven meters, 274 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,719 Speaker 1: So it really wasn't something a person could easily create 275 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 1: while painting on an easel in her own home or 276 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:19,680 Speaker 1: in a small studio space. Number two was the subject matter, 277 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:23,480 Speaker 1: the mythical god Bacchus reclining on a leopard skin while 278 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,080 Speaker 1: being carried in what looks like a wheelbarrow pushed by 279 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:28,879 Speaker 1: a satyr. He's in the middle of a procession of 280 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:32,240 Speaker 1: more than fifteen people, most of the male, and most 281 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:35,919 Speaker 1: of them at least partially nude. These people represent a 282 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:40,120 Speaker 1: spectrum of ages and body types, suggesting that Watier had 283 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 1: extensive knowledge of anatomy and had worked with enough live 284 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:46,040 Speaker 1: art models to be able to represent this level of 285 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 1: physical diversity, and specifically that she had worked with nude 286 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:54,439 Speaker 1: male models, and this painting is radical and subversive. And 287 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:58,399 Speaker 1: yet another way, there is only one figure who's looking 288 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: outward from the canvas, and that is a woman painted 289 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:04,960 Speaker 1: in the right corner, wearing a blush pink drape that 290 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,480 Speaker 1: exposes one of her breasts. This is a self portrait 291 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: of Wotier herself. We of course do not know her 292 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,800 Speaker 1: motivations or her thought process for putting herself and the 293 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: painting in this way, but it is really easy to 294 00:18:17,359 --> 00:18:19,639 Speaker 1: conclude from it that she was a person who wanted 295 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 1: to push some boundaries. Watier also created a full self 296 00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: portrait sometime around sixteen forty nine. It shows her as 297 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,720 Speaker 1: an artist, sitting in an easel, holding brushes in an 298 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:33,440 Speaker 1: artist's palette with the paints that she's about to use. 299 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 1: There's a faintly visible outline of a person's head on 300 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 1: the canvas, suggesting that she is working on a portrait 301 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: of a man. She is elegantly dressed, wearing a pearl necklace, 302 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,960 Speaker 1: with her hair curling down to her shoulders. There's a 303 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:50,879 Speaker 1: small pocket watch near the edge of the easel, something 304 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,680 Speaker 1: several art historians have interpreted as reference to the passage 305 00:18:54,760 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 1: or fleetingness of time, and also as a mark of 306 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 1: her affluence. Because watches were ex and it's incredibly detailed. 307 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,239 Speaker 1: Watier even painted in the weave of the canvas that 308 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,600 Speaker 1: she's about to start painting on, with such clarity that 309 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:12,199 Speaker 1: it is hard to tell what's detail that she added 310 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,600 Speaker 1: and what is the actual weave of the physical canvas. 311 00:19:16,359 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 1: About a year after making this self portrait, Wotier created 312 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:24,399 Speaker 1: a series of paintings depicting the five senses. Sets like 313 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:28,919 Speaker 1: these depicting the five senses, the four seasons, the four elements, 314 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,400 Speaker 1: the seven deadly sins, things like that. They had started 315 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:36,080 Speaker 1: to become popular in the sixteenth century, although artists had 316 00:19:36,119 --> 00:19:38,960 Speaker 1: been creating these kinds of sets as far back as 317 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:43,439 Speaker 1: the early Middle Ages. These sets of paintings were often 318 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: full of allegory and symbolism. In terms of the five senses, 319 00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:52,359 Speaker 1: artists often drew from Arisitelian philosophy, and they arranged the 320 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 1: senses in a hierarchy, with sight at the top of 321 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:59,280 Speaker 1: the hierarchy, and then hearing, smell, taste, and touch. What 322 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 1: reason for the popularity of sets like these was that 323 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 1: printmakers could sell prints of the whole set at once, 324 00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:09,680 Speaker 1: rather than one painting at a time at the same time, 325 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:13,680 Speaker 1: Though intact sets of all of the original paintings are 326 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: pretty rare, Watier's Five Senses may have been another commission 327 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,919 Speaker 1: from someone very wealthy, because these paintings seem to have 328 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:24,280 Speaker 1: been intended to be hung as a set in a 329 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: row that would have required a lot of wall space. 330 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:31,000 Speaker 1: But if that's the case, we don't know who commissioned them. 331 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 1: Often paintings of the Five Senses focus on beautiful, idealized 332 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:40,960 Speaker 1: women in very elaborate settings, but these are much simpler, 333 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:45,719 Speaker 1: and they depict five boys. The boy's orientation and positioning 334 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: suggests that they're meant to be displayed in that Aristelian order. 335 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:52,440 Speaker 1: They were ordered this way the first time they were 336 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,800 Speaker 1: listed in a sale catalog as well. That happened in 337 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty three. These paintings are very dark. They're mostly 338 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:03,360 Speaker 1: painted in shades of browns and blacks and dark greens. 339 00:21:04,119 --> 00:21:06,919 Speaker 1: Sight looks a bit older than the other boys, and 340 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,840 Speaker 1: he's looking at his own hand through glasses that are 341 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: held up to his space. Hearing is looking out from 342 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 1: the canvas playing a recorder. Smell is pinching his nose 343 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 1: with one hand while holding a rotten egg in the other. One, 344 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,159 Speaker 1: Taste is about to bite into a piece of bread, 345 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:28,200 Speaker 1: and Touch has just cut his finger on a knife, 346 00:21:28,280 --> 00:21:32,720 Speaker 1: and he's looking at this situation as though he's just 347 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,720 Speaker 1: not quite sure what just happened. Her models for these 348 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:39,800 Speaker 1: paintings may have been boys and teenagers who she knew 349 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:43,320 Speaker 1: and whose family she was friends with. The same boys 350 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 1: appear in some of her other works. The boys in 351 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:49,480 Speaker 1: Taste and Touch are also painted in a piece called 352 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,640 Speaker 1: Two Boys, in which one boy is holding a partially 353 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 1: eaten egg and the other seems to be trying to 354 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 1: take it from him. The boy shown in Hearing is 355 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:01,880 Speaker 1: also one of the two boys. Boys blowing bubbles, which 356 00:22:01,920 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: is exactly what it sounds like. It's boys blowing soap 357 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:08,440 Speaker 1: bubbles through a straw. Two Boys and Boys Blowing Bubbles 358 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:12,680 Speaker 1: are examples of Watier's genre paintings, that is, paintings meant 359 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:16,480 Speaker 1: to represent scenes from everyday life. We will talk about 360 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:20,320 Speaker 1: some of Woitier's later works after a quick sponsor break. 361 00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:33,560 Speaker 1: We mentioned earlier that still life paintings of flowers were 362 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,600 Speaker 1: very popular in seventeenth century artwork, and that they were 363 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:40,920 Speaker 1: a particularly popular subject for women, in part due to 364 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:43,919 Speaker 1: those flowers being so easy for women to access. But 365 00:22:44,320 --> 00:22:47,640 Speaker 1: as we noted earlier, there are only two known floral 366 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: still lifes painted by Michelina Watier. They are Flower Garland 367 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:56,160 Speaker 1: with Dragonfly and Flower Garland with Butterfly. Both of them 368 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:59,200 Speaker 1: were painted in sixteen fifty two. These may have been 369 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 1: a set. In both of these paintings, the garland is 370 00:23:02,960 --> 00:23:07,760 Speaker 1: draped in between two animal skulls. The flowers are really 371 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:12,000 Speaker 1: detailed and delicate, which contrasts with these animal skulls that 372 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:15,760 Speaker 1: extend sort of past the edges of the canvas. Another 373 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:19,159 Speaker 1: painting that may have been commissioned by Archduke Leopold Wilhelm 374 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:24,840 Speaker 1: was one of Italian Jesuit missionary Martino Martini. Miquelino Watier 375 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 1: painted this portrait in sixteen fifty four. Martini was in 376 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:31,879 Speaker 1: Brussels from February to June of that year and he 377 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:36,160 Speaker 1: had audiences with the Archduke. During that time, Martini did 378 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:38,520 Speaker 1: his missionary work in China, and he was the first 379 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:42,400 Speaker 1: person in Europe to publish an atlas of China. Watier 380 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,760 Speaker 1: painted him in Chinese garments, which is likely what he 381 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:49,320 Speaker 1: was wearing while in Brussels. He was known as Waiquan 382 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 1: in China. That name is shown in the painting's top 383 00:23:52,840 --> 00:23:56,720 Speaker 1: right corner. This is the only known portrait of Martini 384 00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: made during his life. A posthumous portrait created after he 385 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 1: died in sixteen sixty one doesn't resemble this one much 386 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:09,520 Speaker 1: at all. Mickelina Watier's last known work is Annunciation, painted 387 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 1: in sixteen fifty nine, showing that Angel Gabriel telling Mary 388 00:24:13,840 --> 00:24:16,919 Speaker 1: that she would conceive and give birth to Jesus Christ. 389 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:20,199 Speaker 1: Although this painting still exists, it seems like it was 390 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:22,960 Speaker 1: cut down on the top and sides at some point. 391 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: It's currently two hundred by one hundred and thirty four 392 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:29,919 Speaker 1: centimeters or six point five feet by four point four feet, 393 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: but older catalogs give dimensions that are more than three 394 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,080 Speaker 1: meters high and two meters wide, or roughly ten feet 395 00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:39,959 Speaker 1: by six and a half feet, so it's hard to 396 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,680 Speaker 1: get the full effect of what this painting was supposed 397 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,960 Speaker 1: to look like. The Angel Gabriel's wings and garments are 398 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:49,040 Speaker 1: cut off at the side, and what should really look 399 00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:51,480 Speaker 1: like a very dramatic break in the clouds with the 400 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 1: Holy Dove and beams of light coming through it seems 401 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:59,240 Speaker 1: almost muted. We don't really know if Watier continued to 402 00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:02,840 Speaker 1: paint after eating this work, or if she didn't, why 403 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,880 Speaker 1: she stopped. Over the sixteen years between sixteen forty three 404 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,840 Speaker 1: and sixteen fifty nine when we know she was active 405 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: as an artist, she created roughly forty known works. These 406 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: represented nearly every genre of painting that was part of 407 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:22,680 Speaker 1: the Flemish Baroque style, including portraits, still lifes, genre paintings, 408 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:26,639 Speaker 1: and history paintings. This is a much broader range than 409 00:25:26,680 --> 00:25:29,720 Speaker 1: the vast majority of women painters at the time, and 410 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:33,080 Speaker 1: the history paintings in particular are notable because they are 411 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,800 Speaker 1: so far outside the realm of what women were thought 412 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:40,119 Speaker 1: capable of depicting. In sixteen sixty eight, Michleita and Charles 413 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:43,000 Speaker 1: Woitier bought a home near Notre Dame de la Chapelle 414 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: in Brussels, and in sixteen eighty nine she died. With 415 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 1: the birth year of sixteen fourteen, she would have been 416 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:52,440 Speaker 1: about seventy five years old. She was buried at Notre 417 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:54,439 Speaker 1: Dame de la Chapelle, and she left all of her 418 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: possessions to her brother, so any paintings that had not 419 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,800 Speaker 1: already been sold to someone else, probably stayed within her family. 420 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:07,159 Speaker 1: Charles Watier died in seventeen oh three. Like Mickelina, he 421 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:09,879 Speaker 1: had never married, and he left most of his possessions 422 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:13,480 Speaker 1: to his nephew, Augustine Charles, who was master of the mint. 423 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:17,760 Speaker 1: Augustine Charles was allowed to dispose of those possessions however 424 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:21,679 Speaker 1: he saw fit. Charles Watier also left an annuity to 425 00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: his maid, a woman named Jean Ldeux, and his will 426 00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:28,199 Speaker 1: specified that this was in recognition of her service and 427 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:32,280 Speaker 1: devotion to his sister. That has led to some speculation 428 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: about whether Mickelina needed particular care in the last years 429 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,879 Speaker 1: of her life that Jeune was responsible for, or what 430 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:42,760 Speaker 1: their relationship might have been. Based on all of the 431 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:45,639 Speaker 1: stuff that we have gleaned from her what we know 432 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 1: of her life and work, Mickelina Watier seems to have 433 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:51,320 Speaker 1: been really well known and well respected in Brussels during 434 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: her life. Multiple paintings of hers were bought by and 435 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:59,199 Speaker 1: possibly commissioned by Archduke Leopold Bilhelm, and she also made 436 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 1: multi portraits of prominent people who only would have worked 437 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 1: with her if she had an established and respected reputation 438 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:09,520 Speaker 1: as an artist. She and her brother also seemed to 439 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:12,280 Speaker 1: have been really well off. They bought and sold various 440 00:27:12,320 --> 00:27:15,680 Speaker 1: pieces of property. They were able to support themselves and 441 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: their lives and work as artists with no apparent problem. 442 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:23,840 Speaker 1: But after her death, Nikolina Waitier was almost entirely forgotten, 443 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:27,240 Speaker 1: and a lot of her work was misattributed to other artists, 444 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:31,160 Speaker 1: in some cases with her signature on her work painted 445 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,880 Speaker 1: over and replaced with someone else's. One thing that could 446 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:37,200 Speaker 1: have helped keep her name and legacy alive in the 447 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:41,280 Speaker 1: public consciousness was Prince of her Self portrait. This is 448 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:44,359 Speaker 1: something many artists did, essentially as a marketing tool to 449 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,920 Speaker 1: promote themselves while living and to help protect their memory 450 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: after their deaths. But no Prince of her Self portrait 451 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:55,080 Speaker 1: were ever made, and we don't know why. To be clear, 452 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:59,160 Speaker 1: her name did not totally disappear from history. She signed 453 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: and dated roughly half her known pieces, and even with 454 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:07,480 Speaker 1: somebody painting over some of her signatures for unknown reasons, 455 00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:09,879 Speaker 1: art historians and other writers still knew who she was. 456 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:13,080 Speaker 1: She was mentioned in texts from time to time in 457 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:16,560 Speaker 1: the centuries that followed, but it really wasn't until the 458 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:20,719 Speaker 1: end of the twentieth century that people started really taking 459 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:25,199 Speaker 1: dedicated effort to correct those misattributions, and also realizing just 460 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:29,520 Speaker 1: how prominent and groundbreaking her work had been. Various art 461 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:33,320 Speaker 1: historians today describe her as one of the Old Masters, 462 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:38,280 Speaker 1: alongside contemporaries like Artemisia Gentileski, Peter Paul Rubins, Anthony van Dyke, 463 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 1: and Johannes Vermier. In terms of misattributed work. At least 464 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 1: one of those signed paintings wound up being attributed to 465 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:49,240 Speaker 1: Frowns Wowders, who was one of Rubens's students, probably because 466 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:53,400 Speaker 1: of their similarly spelled last names. Some of Watier's works 467 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:58,000 Speaker 1: were also incorrectly attributed to her brother. Her Bacchanal was 468 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:01,000 Speaker 1: listed in the Inventory of the archdukes possessions after his 469 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 1: death in sixteen sixty two, but her name was not included. 470 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,880 Speaker 1: Watier was reidentified as its creator in nineteen sixty seven. 471 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 1: Her annunciation was attributed to French court painter Pierre Badeaux 472 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:19,120 Speaker 1: until her signature was discovered during a restoration in nineteen 473 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 1: eighty three. By the eighteenth century, her self portrait had 474 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: been misattributed to past podcast subject Artemisia Gentileski. Three different 475 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:33,320 Speaker 1: experts independently reviewed it in twenty thirteen and concluded that 476 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 1: it was Watier's work. By that point, people had started 477 00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:42,280 Speaker 1: unearthing more information about her. In nineteen ninety one, art 478 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:46,200 Speaker 1: historian Pierre eves Caries had seen a painting by Charles 479 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:50,200 Speaker 1: Watier while visiting a church. He learned that Charles was 480 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,640 Speaker 1: from Mons, and then he found mention of a Michelina Woitier, 481 00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:56,760 Speaker 1: also from Mons, and thought they might be siblings, but 482 00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:59,960 Speaker 1: really didn't have a way to prove it. In nineteen nine, 483 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:03,960 Speaker 1: twenty three, art historian Kadlena van der Stieglen had been 484 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:06,880 Speaker 1: visiting a museum in Vienna to see a painting they 485 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:09,960 Speaker 1: had in storage which had been attributed to Anthony van Dyck. 486 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:14,320 Speaker 1: While walking through the storage area, the bacchanal caught her eye. 487 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:16,880 Speaker 1: She could see it had to be something notable, but 488 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:20,600 Speaker 1: it didn't match a style she immediately recognized, so she 489 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:26,040 Speaker 1: started researching its creator. In nineteen ninety six, Kiri's read 490 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:29,480 Speaker 1: an article she'd published about Watier and realized that their 491 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:33,239 Speaker 1: work was overlapping. Following the work of these and other 492 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 1: art historians, people started looking for and finding lost and 493 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:42,239 Speaker 1: previously unknown works by Mcklina Watier, While preparing for that 494 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,560 Speaker 1: twenty eighteen exhibition that we've mentioned a couple of times, 495 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:49,600 Speaker 1: Rubenhaus and Antwerp announced an effort to find The Five 496 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:53,640 Speaker 1: Senses and Garland with a Butterfly. At that point, the 497 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,640 Speaker 1: Five Senses was known only as a black and white 498 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:59,960 Speaker 1: representation of Hearing that had been printed in a nineteen 499 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:04,600 Speaker 1: teen seventy five auction catalog. Garland with Butterfly had been 500 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:09,400 Speaker 1: rediscovered before disappearing again in nineteen eighty five. All of 501 00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:14,200 Speaker 1: these paintings have since been found. Rose Marie and Eichvan Otterlow, 502 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:17,440 Speaker 1: who founded the Center for Netherlandish Art at the MFA 503 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:21,520 Speaker 1: along with Susan and Matthew Weatherby, bought The Five Senses 504 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:24,360 Speaker 1: in a private sale in twenty twenty and have loaned 505 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:27,680 Speaker 1: it to the MFA. Garland with Butterfly is on loan 506 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:32,040 Speaker 1: from a private collection to Nord Verbron's Museum in the Netherlands. 507 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,720 Speaker 1: The twenty eighteen exhibition of Boitier's work at Museum on 508 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:40,680 Speaker 1: Destrum was called Michelina Baroke's Leading Lady that included twenty 509 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,520 Speaker 1: one of her paintings, as well as related pieces by 510 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:48,680 Speaker 1: other artists. This exhibition really sparked renewed interest and name recognition, 511 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:51,840 Speaker 1: and that led to discoveries of other previously lost or 512 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:55,800 Speaker 1: unknown work, including and in addition to the Five Senses 513 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:59,560 Speaker 1: and Garland with Butterfly that we just mentioned. The exhibition 514 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:02,840 Speaker 1: at the is called Mikeelina Wattier in the Five Senses 515 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:07,880 Speaker 1: Innovation in seventeenth century Flemish Painting. It includes the Five Senses, 516 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:12,720 Speaker 1: Watier's self portrait and other works by her predecessors and contemporaries. 517 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 1: This is a collaborative effort by the Center for Another 518 00:32:16,040 --> 00:32:20,320 Speaker 1: Landish Art at the MFA and Brown University. Six doctoral 519 00:32:20,320 --> 00:32:23,320 Speaker 1: students from Brown helped curate this exhibition as part of 520 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:26,960 Speaker 1: a graduate practicum. The Center for Another Landish Art has 521 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,560 Speaker 1: also started a new series called CNA Studies, and its 522 00:32:30,600 --> 00:32:35,000 Speaker 1: first volume features essays by these six students. The order 523 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 1: of things that really caught my eye when I was 524 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:39,320 Speaker 1: walking through here were like the paintings and the fact 525 00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:41,520 Speaker 1: that it was student curated. I was like, the how 526 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:46,720 Speaker 1: cool is that? That's amazing? Yeah, so yeah, that's Nickoelina Watier, 527 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:51,680 Speaker 1: who I chose to new an episode on knowing we 528 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,280 Speaker 1: didn't know much about her, and then realized we really 529 00:32:54,480 --> 00:33:00,200 Speaker 1: know almost nothing about her. Do you have listener mail? 530 00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:03,920 Speaker 1: I do not know if this person says Brianna or 531 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:08,560 Speaker 1: Brianna so one or the other. Hello, Holly and Tracy. 532 00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: I was once again so excited to hear mention of 533 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:14,760 Speaker 1: my hometown on your show. I've spent so much time 534 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:17,000 Speaker 1: listening to you as I explore the place where I 535 00:33:17,040 --> 00:33:19,960 Speaker 1: grew up and have moved back to as an adult. 536 00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:23,680 Speaker 1: It is interesting how history is told through the bias 537 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:27,080 Speaker 1: of the teller. I always understood the invention of the 538 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:32,280 Speaker 1: roller coaster was absolutely derived from the inspiration of tourism 539 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:36,520 Speaker 1: and being outdoors from our Switchback. There was never a 540 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 1: mention of Christianity nor a diversion from alcohol. When local 541 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:44,240 Speaker 1: historians would brag about the inspiration, I thought i'd share 542 00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:48,600 Speaker 1: some fun anecdotes about the Switchback today. While the original 543 00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:52,480 Speaker 1: Switchback tracks are long gone, its history still brings tourists 544 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,680 Speaker 1: to visit jim Thorpe. There is a tourist train that 545 00:33:55,760 --> 00:33:58,640 Speaker 1: goes to the peak of an adjacent mountain in town 546 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:01,400 Speaker 1: and you can view the clear for the Switchback cars, 547 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:05,200 Speaker 1: the nearby river, and the Pocono scenery. The Switchback is 548 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,040 Speaker 1: part of the rails to trails projects something I'd love 549 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:10,600 Speaker 1: to hear more about, as I enjoy hiking, biking, and 550 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:14,000 Speaker 1: walking on those paths frequently. We have a run to 551 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:17,360 Speaker 1: the top of the Switchback trail every fall. Our soccer 552 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:19,920 Speaker 1: and track coaches in school would have us run to 553 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:21,880 Speaker 1: the top or as far as we could of this 554 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:25,160 Speaker 1: mountain several times during conditioning season, and I'm glad as 555 00:34:25,200 --> 00:34:28,160 Speaker 1: an adult I can opt out of that activity. I've 556 00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:31,520 Speaker 1: attached a photo of a replica railroad car that resides 557 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:33,319 Speaker 1: at the bottom of the trail, as well as a 558 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:36,680 Speaker 1: photo of the path. Although it admittedly doesn't do it justice, 559 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:40,400 Speaker 1: it truly is quite narrow, quite tall, and quite steep. 560 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:42,920 Speaker 1: My doggo Paisley, and I love to listen to you 561 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:45,800 Speaker 1: while we take our walks. Keep up the well researched work. 562 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,040 Speaker 1: That is either Brianna or Brianna or hopefully not a 563 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:55,000 Speaker 1: third pronunciation that I did not think of. So uh, 564 00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:59,840 Speaker 1: I loved this email about the switchback railway in this 565 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,200 Speaker 1: city of jim Thorpe. I should have said at the 566 00:35:03,200 --> 00:35:05,160 Speaker 1: top of the reading this email if that was what we 567 00:35:05,160 --> 00:35:08,399 Speaker 1: were talking about. Also, I don't know if we can 568 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:11,120 Speaker 1: make an episode about the rails to Trails project, but 569 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:13,799 Speaker 1: that is also a project I am very fond of. 570 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:17,920 Speaker 1: And one of the things I thought about in reading 571 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:21,240 Speaker 1: about how this picture does not really do it justice 572 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,920 Speaker 1: because it really is narrow and steep, reminded me of 573 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:30,680 Speaker 1: the time that we did a live podcast in San Francisco, 574 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:36,200 Speaker 1: and I've seen plenty of footage of San Francisco, and 575 00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:40,080 Speaker 1: I had looked at Google Maps, and where I was 576 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:42,279 Speaker 1: thinking about going was like like a mile away. A 577 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:46,080 Speaker 1: mile is a like a space. I walked routinely a 578 00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:49,640 Speaker 1: mile somewhere, not a big deal, and I just it 579 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:51,680 Speaker 1: wasn't until I was there in person that I really 580 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:58,600 Speaker 1: understood how big the hills were. It was like, I 581 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:02,040 Speaker 1: didn't understand this. So I'm imagining at the bottom of 582 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:06,280 Speaker 1: the former switchback railway, and Jim Thorpe I might also 583 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:08,720 Speaker 1: be like, well, I was not prepared for house beefus. 584 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:14,520 Speaker 1: Actually no, thank you, yeah, so thank you so much 585 00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:17,120 Speaker 1: for these pictures and for this email. If you would 586 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:19,120 Speaker 1: like to send us a note about this or any 587 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:23,080 Speaker 1: other podcast, we're at History Podcasts at iHeartRadio dot com. 588 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:26,080 Speaker 1: We're also all over social media and missed in History. 589 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:28,640 Speaker 1: That's where you'll find our Facebook, Twitter, Panterests and Instagram. 590 00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:31,520 Speaker 1: And you can subscribe to our show on the iHeartRadio 591 00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:35,160 Speaker 1: app and anywhere else you like to get your podcasts. 592 00:36:39,040 --> 00:36:42,160 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 593 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:47,080 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 594 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:49,240 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.