Michaelina Wautier: The Woman Who Painted ‘The Five Senses’

The 17th-century Flemish artist Michaelina Wautier was exceptional in every way. Her paintings demonstrate a remarkable breadth, ranging from flower garlands, portraits, and genre scenes of everyday life to religious and mythological pictures in both small and large scales. The variety of her iconography indicates an outstanding intellectual education, and the superiority of her style hints at an excellent artistic training. Recently, Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo have lent the five fully signed and dated paintings comprising Wautier’s series The Five Senses (1650) to the MFA. On view alongside the artist’s self-portrait (1645), the allegories of Sight, Smell, Taste, Hearing, and Touch are among the highlights of her oeuvre. This lecture, presented by the Center for Netherlandish Art, is an invitation to discover Wautier’s fascinating personality and unimaginable versatility.

Katlijne Van der Stighelen, professor of Early Modern Art History, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), and curator of the first-ever exhibition dedicated to Michaelina Wautier (MAS Museum Antwerp)

The Founders of the Center for Netherlandish Art are Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo and Susan and Matthew Weatherbie.