Michaelina Wautier

What is unquestionable is that the Wautier siblings shared their working careers, studio and lives, with their having access to the highest military elite, the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm being among their most important patrons. Indeed, whilst Michaelina and Charles were prolific and talented artists, not only within Brussels but further afield, the recognition and appreciation built up during a lifetime’s work seems to have evaporated for a long time; they were forgotten in the chronicles of art history for centuries, being recently rediscovered with works such as this brilliant portrait, characterised by an uncompromising truth.