This lady fascinates me. I know very little about her, the information here is taken directly from wikipeadia but her work speaks for itself.
She
was a true master in a world dominated by men. Technically she was as
good as any of her male contemporaries and her chosen subject matter was
similar to that of many other artists. She is known for her still life
and religious paintings. I look at her work and think the saying
‘looking at the world through rose coloured spectacles’ could have been
invented for her. Because to me that’s exactly how her paintings look,
as if someone is seeing the world through a sweet rosy haze. Her work is
littered with little flowers and cherub like faces but none of the
‘sweetness’ (a quality I’m not always a fan of) detracts from the
strength of her technical expertise and her extraordinary talent. When
you think of the period in which she lived and the way in which women
were disadvantaged at that time it makes her achievements all the more
remarkable.
Information below fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josefa_de_%C3%93bidos
Josefa
de Óbidos (1630 – 2 July 1684) was a Spanish-born, Portuguese painter
from the seventeenth century. Her birth name was Josefa de Ayala
Figueira, but she signed her work as, "Josefa em Óbidos" or, "Josefa de
Ayalla". She is one of the relatively few female European painters known
to have been active in the Baroque era. All of her work was executed in
Portugal, her father's native country, where she lived from the age of
four.
Josefa de Óbidos was born in Seville, Spain. Her father, Baltazar Gomes Figueira, was a Portuguese painter from the village of Óbidos. He went to Seville in the 1620s to improve his painting technique and, while there, married Catarina de Ayala y Cabrera, a native Andalusian, who would become the mother of Josefa. The family returned to Portugal in 1634. They first settled in Peniche, where Baltazar continued his work as a painter.
It
is known that by 1644, at the age of fourteen, Josefa, was in Coimbra
in the Convent of The Grace (Convento da Graça), where her father
painted the main altarpiece of the church.
Josefa's
first known works are engravings, executed in 1646. They demonstrate
that she had achieved a high degree of skill by the age of sixteen.
Sometime before 1653, she and her family left Coimbra and settled in
Óbidos.
While
in Óbidos, she drew an allegory of Wisdom for the Book of Rules of the
University of Coimbra, which was being decorated by her father. Highly
esteemed as a painter by that time, her father Baltazar is considered to
be the main influence upon her. He possessed a great number of
engravings among his collection that made Josefa familiar with the art
of her time.
Still-life (c.1679). Santarém, Municipal Library.
Still-life (c.1679). Santarém, Municipal Library.
During
the decades that followed, Josefa executed several religious
altarpieces for churches and convents in central Portugal, as well as,
paintings of portraits and still-life for private customers. Among her
chief religious works are the five panels for the Saint Catherine
altarpiece of the Church of the Holy Mary (Santa Maria) in Óbidos, in
1661. During 1672-1673 she painted the altarpiece of Saint Theresa of
Ávila for the Carmelite Convent of Cascais. In 1679 she completed an
altarpiece for the Church of the Mercy of Peniche. Her best known
portrait is that of Faustino das Neves, dated c.1670, which is in the
Municipal Museum of Óbidos.
Many
of her still-life paintings, considered her specialty, are among other
works by her that are now in the National Museum of Ancient Art in
(Lisbon). Her work appears in several other museums and as well as in
private collections.
Josefa
de Óbidos died in Óbidos and was buried in the Church of Saint Peter of
Óbidos. She is considered to be one of the most accomplished painters
of seventeenth century Portugal and is especially significant because of
the recognition she gained among the Baroque painters, an art period
which was dominated by male painters.
acousticeagle wrote on Jun 23, '11
It's
not a hard one to understand. The imagery is representative of the Lamb
of God, Christ crucified, the innocent 'lamb' sacrificed for the sins
of the world. The lamb here is portrayed as particularly innocent and
young, and thus given a very delicate and highly empathetic approach.
Could this be because the artist is female and is thus of a maternal
attitude? I would think so.
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OooooooOOoo! Thank you for the introduction, amazing talent, amazing woman!
http://bjorbo.multiply.com/journal/item/298 |
forgetmenot525 said
 It obviously doesn't, its just a shame that in previous times women were virtually invisible in the art world. 
exactly ~ they were kept from doing it
when i hear people taking about "the good ole days of the past" i think what huey!!!! how many great artists never came to be :( |
forgetmenot525 wrote on May 15, '11
oh
I know, isn't this one odd?? its beautifully painted with little
flowers and the lamb looks so angelic, but for some reason the lamb is
tied up? I did think I should try to find out the history and/or the
meaning behind that painting.
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forgetmenot525 wrote on May 15, '11
It obviously doesn't, its just a shame that in previous times women were virtually invisible in the art world.
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artprevails wrote on May 15, '11
Beautiful and dark...
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brendainmad wrote on May 14, '11
I'd say her painting was as good as any of the other painters of her time.
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