Top 50 · Women artists before 1750
From the Renaissance to the Baroque, fifty painters took their place again
From Artemisia Gentileschi, Sofonisba Anguissola and Lavinia Fontana to Judith Leyster, Rachel Ruysch, Giovanna Garzoni and Mary Beale.
Women are not absent from Renaissance and Baroque workshops; they have become less visible in stories, inventories and attributions. In Florence, Cremona, Bologna and Venice, daughters of painters access portraits, altarpieces and sometimes large historical paintings. In Flanders and the United Provinces, guilds, family workshops and specialized markets favor portraits, genre scenes, still lifes and botanical illustrations. The courts of Madrid, London, Stockholm or The Hague offer other spaces for recognition, while convents and religious communities allow Plautilla Nelli, Orsola Maddalena Caccia or Lucrina Fetti to organize a collective production. This classification combines historical influence, ambition of formats, technical mastery, professional autonomy, role in transmission, recent rediscoveries and botanical illustration. The courts of Madrid, London, Stockholm or The Hague offer other spaces for recognition, while convents and religious communities allow Plautilla Nelli, Orsola Maddalena Caccia or Lucrina Fetti to organize a collective production. This classification combines historical influence, ambition of formats, technical mastery, professional autonomy, role in transmission, recent rediscoveries and capacity of works to renew our understanding of the period. The ranks do not erase documentary gaps: they make visible major artists like those whose corpus remains to be reconstructed.
Workshops, orders, signatures, family networks and professional strategies.
Learn and work
Family, court and convent often replace the forbidden academy
Training frequently begins in the workshop of a father, brother or husband: Fontana learns from Prospero Fontana, the Anguissolas benefit from the support of Amilcare, Sirani transforms the Bolognese workshop into a teaching space. But these trajectories are not identical. Sofonisba uses humanist education and court diplomacy; Nelli and Caccia organize religious production communities; Beale documents a commercial workshop run with her husband; Leyster joins the Haarlem guild and leads students. Rather than a story of isolated geniuses, this Top 50 shows the concrete structures that make a career possible.
Genres and strategies
The portrait and the flower open doors, without limiting ambition
Portraiture can be practiced without access to the naked model and values observation, sociability and status: Anguissola, Fontana, Hemessen, Beale or Schalcken make it a space of authority. Still life offers another market, but Peeters, Galizia, Moillon, Ruysch and Oosterwijck charge it with optics, symbol and science. Others cross imposed borders: Gentileschi, Sirani, Wautier and Lama approach history, mythology, anatomy and large formats; Merian, Garzoni, Withoos and Moninckx transform the observation of living things into visual knowledge. These choices are as much an invention as a lucid reading of accessible commands.
Attributions and rediscoveries
Finding a signature can change an entire history of art
The works circulate under a marital name, a variable surname or the convenient label of a male workshop. Judith Leyster's monogram made it possible to restore paintings given to Frans Hals; works by Maria Schalcken have long borne her brother's name; the corpora of Marietta Robusti, Mayken Verhulst or Maria de Grebber remain difficult to isolate. Restorations, inventories, guild archives and monographic exhibitions do not only fill biographical notices: they change the way of understanding collective production, the value of genres and the very construction of the canon.
The Top 10
Ten artists who force us to rewrite the canonical story
Artemisia Gentileschi, Sofonisba Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana, Judith Leyster, Elisabetta Sirani, Clara Peeters, Rachel Ruysch, Fede Galizia, Plautilla Nelli and Giovanna Garzoni transformed portrait, history, still life and scholarly image.
#1
Artemisia Gentileschi
Artemisia Gentileschi transforms biblical stories into dramas of decision and resistance. Judith, Suzanne or Cleopatra occupy the space with a physical presence that its chiaroscuro makes immediately readable.
Discover the works of Artemisia Gentileschi
#2
Sofonisba Anguissola
Sofonisba Anguissola makes portraiture a laboratory of social intelligence: looks, hands, games and instruments tell the story of personality as much as rank. Her career between Cremona and the Spanish court opened a European path for women painters.
Discover the works of Sofonisba Anguissola
#3
Lavinia Fontana
Lavinia Fontana runs a workshop, signs large commissions and paints women, scholars and families with exceptional attention to fabrics and jewelry. She thus conquers genres and formats rarely accessible to artists of her sex.
Discover the works of Lavinia Fontana
#4
Judith Leyster
Judith Leyster captures laughter, music and sociability in direct framing, animated by a quick touch. His star monogram made it possible to render paintings in his catalog long attributed to Frans Hals or those around him.
Discover the works of Judith Leyster
#5
Elisabetta Sirani
Elisabetta Sirani produced altarpieces, portraits and ambitious stories in a very brief career, while training numerous students in Bologna. Its heroines favor moral mastery and action rather than just decorative beauty.
Discover the works of Elisabetta Sirani
#6
Clara Peeters
Clara Peeters builds tables where metal, glass, cheese and flowers become exercises in optical precision. In certain reflections of goldsmithing, tiny self-portraits discreetly affirm the identity of the painter.
Discover the works of Clara Peeters
#7
Rachel Ruysch
Rachel Ruysch combines botanical knowledge and baroque staging: species from different seasons, insects and curved stems make up larger-than-life bouquets. Its court and market success spans more than six decades.
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#8
Fede Galizia
Fede Galizia moves from meticulous portraiture to Judith's versions, then to fruits arranged with radical sobriety. His still lifes are among the founding milestones of the genre in Italy.
Discover the works of Fede Galizia
#9
Plautilla Nelli
Plautilla Nelli organizes a real women's workshop at the convent of Santa Caterina da Siena. Her monumental Last Supper demonstrates that a nun could master storytelling, large formats and collective work despite limited access to anatomical training.
Discover the works of Plautilla Nelli
#10
Giovanna Garzoni
Giovanna Garzoni transforms parchment into a luminous surface for fruits, insects and porcelain observed at very short distances. Traveler and sought after by several courses, she unites miniature, science and collectible luxury.
Discover the works of Giovanna GarzoniChapter I · Ranks 11 to 20
Professional workshops, courses and convents
Louise Moillon, Michaelina Wautier, Josefa de Ôbidos, Mary Beale and Orsola Maddalena Caccia show the diversity of places where a woman could build a sustainable practice: house-workshop, palace, urban market or religious community.
#11
Louise Moillon
Louise Moillon orders plums, peaches and grapes in calm compositions where each skin reacts differently to light. Its rare market scenes also give a social dimension to Parisian still life.
Discover the works of Louise Moillon
#12
Michaelina Wautier
Michaelina Wautier refuses any narrow specialization: portraits, genre scenes, religious subjects and Triumph of Bacchus reveal a confident knowledge of the nude and large format. His rediscovery corrects the masculine image of Flemish Baroque.
Discover the works of Michaelina Wautier
#13
Josefa de Obidos
Josefa de Ôbidos gives sacred objects, pastries and flowers a clear and often enigmatic frontal presence. His autonomous workshop makes him a central figure in Portuguese Baroque.
Discover the works of Josefa de Obidos
#14
Maria van Oosterwijck
Maria van Oosterwijck transforms the bouquet into meditation: rare tulips, watch, skull, butterflies and ears combine visual luxury and a reminder of fragility. His works are sought after by European courts.
Discover the works of Maria van Oosterwijck
#15
Mary Beale
Mary Beale was one of Britain's first professional portrait painters. The notebooks kept with her husband document orders, materials and the organization of a particularly active family workshop.
Discover the works of Mary Beale
#16
Caterina van Hemessen
Caterina van Hemessen paints mid-body figures on sober backgrounds, where jewelry and gestures precisely define the model. Her self-portrait in front of the easel very early on affirms the professional identity of a woman artist.
Discover the works of Caterina van Hemessen
#17
Marietta Robusti
Marietta Robusti, known as the Tintoretta, trained in her father Tintoretto's studio and acquired a reputation as a portrait painter. The rarity of the signed works, however, requires us to cautiously distinguish his hand from the family production.
Discover the works of Marietta Robusti
#18
Barbara Longhi
Barbara Longhi favors Virgins, saints and small-scale portraits, intended for an intimate relationship with the viewer. His calm and close figures give Ravenna's mannerism a very personal sweetness.
Discover the works of Barbara Longhi
#19
Orsola Maddalena Caccia
Orsola Maddalena Caccia runs a convent workshop in Moncalvo capable of producing altarpieces and devotional paintings. Its fruits, birds and flowers introduce concrete observation into a symbolic universe.
Discover the works of Orsola Maddalena Caccia
#20
Maria Sibylla Merian
Maria Sibylla Merian raises caterpillars and observes their transformations before representing them with their food plants. His trip to Suriname made the painted image a major instrument for understanding living things.
Discover the works of Maria Sibylla MerianChapter II · Ranks 21 to 30
Miniatures, portraits and networks of the Renaissance
Tudor courses in Cremona and Florence, Van Schurman, Teerlinc, Horenbout, Verhulst, the Anguissola sisters, Quistelli, Spilimbergo and Paladini use family, erudition and diplomatic circulation to make their talent visible.
#21
Anna maria van schurman
Anna Maria van Schurman practices drawing, engraving, miniature and portraiture alongside a multilingual intellectual work. Her self-portraits accompany her argued defense of women's access to knowledge.
Discover the works of Anna Maria van Schurman
#22
Levina Teerlinc
Levina Teerlinc worked as a court painter under several Tudor rulers and received a remarkable salary. The attributions remain difficult, but his role attests to the political and emotional importance of the miniature.
Discover the works of Levina Teerlinc
#23
Susanna Horenbout
Susanna Horenbout, from a family of illuminators in Ghent, was one of the first artists identified at the Tudor court. His career sheds light on the circulation of miniaturist techniques between Flanders and England.
Discover the works of Susanna Horenbout
#24
Mayken Verhulst
Mayken Verhulst is a painter, miniaturist and responsible for a decisive family network. Even if few works are attributed to him with certainty, his workshop ensures the formation and dissemination of the Bruegel heritage.
Discover the works of Mayken Verhulst
#25
Lucia Anguissola
Lucia Anguissola constructs concentrated portraits, with firm silhouettes and restrained expressions. His early death limits the corpus, but Vasari already recognizes the quality of his drawing.
Discover the works of Lucia Anguissola
#26
Europa Anguissola
Europa Anguissola extends to Cremona the culture of portraiture developed by her sisters. The rare works attributed, including the portrait of an elderly woman, favor presence and observation rather than pomp.
Discover the works of Europa Anguissola
#27
Anna Maria Anguissola
Anna Maria Anguissola belongs to the youngest generation of this remarkable family of painters. His religious paintings show how the language learned in Cremona continued into the 17th century.
Discover the works of Anna Maria Anguissola
#28
Lucrezia Quistelli
Lucrezia Quistelli trained in Alessandro Allori's entourage and practiced religious painting structured by drawing. The rare preserved works make visible the presence of women in Florentine mannerist circles.
Discover the works of Lucrezia Quistelli
#29
Irene di Spilimbergo
Irene di Spilimbergo studied painting in Titian's environment before dying at the age of twenty-one. Literary tributes published after her death show the fame that a young artist could acquire even when the works disappeared.
Discover the works of Irene di Spilimbergo
#30
Arcangela Paladini
Arcangela Paladini is recognized at the Medicean court as a painter, singer and embroiderer. His self-portrait of the Offices condenses social assurance and mastery of a public image constructed before his early death.
Discover the works of Arcangela PaladiniChapter III · Ranks 31 to 40
Figures, altarpieces and flowers in Baroque Europe
Virginia da Vezzo, Chiara Varotari, Lucrina Fetti, Ginevra Cantofoli, Giulia Lama, Margarita Caffi and Elisabetta Marchioni move from portrait to grand decor, from anatomy to bouquet, without letting themselves be locked into a minor genre.
#31
Virginia da Vezzo
Virginia da Vezzo trained in Rome then worked in Paris alongside Simon Vouet. His Self-Portrait as Saint Catherine combines artist identity, contemporary costume and Caravaggesque dramatization.
Discover the works of Virginia da Vezzo
#32
Chiara Varotari
Chiara Varotari paints portraits where clothing and posture build authority without emphasis. She also opened a school in Venice for women and spoke publicly for their recognition.
Discover the works of Chiara Varotari
#33
Lucrina Fetti
Lucrina Fetti, Ursuline nun and sister of Domenico Fetti, painted for the Gonzaga court and its convent. His female portraits combine frontality, richness of costume and psychological attention.
Discover the works of Lucrina Fetti
#34
Ginevra Cantofoli
Ginevra Cantofoli constructs saints and allegories in a flexible light that shapes faces without freezing them. Her work testifies to the female training environment developed around Bologna.
Discover the works of Ginevra Cantofoli
#35
Johanna Helena Herolt
Johanna Helena Herolt combines blooming flowers, ripe fruits and insects in highly precise watercolors. Trained by her mother Maria Sibylla Merian, she continues a practice between Amsterdam and Suriname where art and natural history are strengthened.
Discover the works of Johanna Helena Herolt
#36
Anna maria ehrenstrahl
Anna Maria Ehrenstrahl works in the Swedish court environment formed by her father David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl. Her portraits and allegories, notably the self-portrait, explicitly claim the intellectual dignity of the painter.
Discover the works of Anna Maria Ehrenstrahl
#37
Giulia Lama
Giulia Lama contrasts the seductions of Venetian rococo with heavy bodies, deep shadows and austere compositions. Her nude studies attest to exceptional anatomical training for an artist of her time.
Discover the works of Giulia Lama
#38
Margarita Caffi
Margarita Caffi releases the bouquet of symmetry: stems, petals and foliage seem to unfold in the moment. His lively touch earned him orders in Italy, Spain and several courses.
Discover the works of Margarita Caffi
#39
Elisabetta Marchioni
Elisabetta Marchioni transforms floral still life into theatrical abundance: garlands, baskets and vases overflow in asymmetrical rhythms. His work is a landmark of late Baroque in Veneto.
Discover the works of Elisabetta Marchioni
#40
Maria Theresa van Thielen
Maria Theresa van Thielen mastered flower painting in the studio of her father Jan Philip van Thielen. Its garlands sometimes frame figures created by other artists, revealing the collaborative logic of Flemish Baroque.
Discover the works of Maria Theresa van ThielenChapter IV · Ranks 41 to 50
Netherlands, Northern courses and life sciences
Van Thielen, Ykens, De Bruyns, Louise Hollandine, Gesina ter Borch, Schalcken, Withoos, Moninckx, Waser, De Grebber and De Heer connect family workshops, botany, miniature, album and court portrait.
#41
Catharina Ykens II
Catharina Ykens II organizes flowers and fruits into living frames around a central image. This specialization requires as much botanical precision as coordination with figure painters.
Discover the works of Catharina Ykens II
#42
Anna Francisca de Bruyns
Anna Francisca de Bruyns develops drawing, miniatures and religious subjects in an environment of Antwerp artists. The portraits engraved after his image attest to the recognition of scholarly and professional practice.
Discover the works of Anna Francisca de Bruyns
#43
Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate
Princess then abbess, Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate paints her entourage in the clear and theatrical language of Gerrit van Honthorst. His self-portraits connect dynastic status, humanist culture and artist identity.
Discover the works of Louise Hollandine of the Palatinate
#44
Gesina ter Borch
Gesina ter Borch composes albums where watercolors, songs, emblems and family memories interact. His patient archival work also made it possible to preserve a large part of the work of his brothers.
Discover the works of Gesina ter Borch
#45
Maria Schalcken
Maria Schalcken depicts herself painting, clearly asserting her craft in an orderly interior. Several works formerly given to his brother Godfried are now returned to him.
Discover the works of Maria Schalcken
#46
Alida Withoos
Alida Withoos observes plants and insects for gardens and albums by major Dutch collectors. His watercolors combine descriptive accuracy and decorative sense of the page.
Discover the works of Alida Withoos
#47
Maria Moninckx
Maria Moninckx paints species cultivated at the Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam on vellum. His plates from the Moninckx Atlas transform the scientific inventory into refined composition.
Discover the works of Maria Moninckx
#48
Anna Waser
Anna Waser became a court painter in Solms-Braunfels at a very young age and specialized in miniatures. His self-portrait from 1691 affirmed an early mastery of drawing and self-image.
Discover the works of Anna Waser
#49
Maria de Grebber
Maria de Grebber belongs to a family of artists active in Haarlem and practices portraiture in a cultured Catholic environment. Attribution questions show how much female production has often been absorbed by the male names of the studio.
Discover the works of Maria de Grebber
#50
Margaretha de Heer
Margaretha de Heer paints insects, birds, flowers and small animals on paper with attention to silhouette and behavior. Its leaves bring together a cabinet of curiosities, naturalistic study and decorative pleasure.
Discover the works of Margaretha de HeerSources and routes
Deepen the history of women artists
Explore Alpha Reproduction
These painters do not complete the canon: they change its structure
Adding Artemisia, Sofonisba, Lavinia or Leyster to an existing timeline is not enough. Their careers force us to look differently at workshops, signature, family, order and the hierarchy of genres. The still life of Peeters or Ruysch is no longer a minor refuge when measuring its optical ambition and its international market; Gesina ter Borch's album becomes an essential archive; the plates of Merian and Garzoni connect painting, collection and science; the convent of Nelli appears as a monumental place of production.
To go through this ranking, compare working conditions as well as styles. Who can study the nude, sign, sell, travel, train students or join a guild? Then look at the objects that construct an identity: palette, harpsichord, book, flower, insect, jewelry or court costume. Finally, keep areas of uncertainty visible. A discussed attribution does not erase the artist; it reveals the mechanisms that dispersed his work. It is by combining pictorial quality and material history that these fifty trajectories regain their full scope.
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