Michaelina Wautier: the female Flemish artist now seen as an old master

<p>Opening in Vienna on Tuesday, an exhibition gathers her works into one show for the first time</p><p>The first time Katljine von der Stighelen cast her eyes over The Triumph of Bacchus, it made her question her own judgment. The Dutch art historian and Rubens expert was visiting Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches museum for a conference in 1993 and had asked to see a van Dyck in the archives. On her way out she caught a glimpse of a vast, 2.7-metre by 3.5-metre oil painting of a wild and drunken parade writhing with naked bodies young and old.</p><p>“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” von der Stighelen recalled. “I really know my way around Flemish paintings from the 17th century, but when I saw this picture I could not match it with anything I knew.” The archivist informed her of an intriguing fact: it was believed to be the work of a woman.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/sep/28/michaelina-wautier-female-flemish-artist-exhibition-vienna">Continue reading...</a>