In March 2023, during the Vermeer Symposium at the Rijksmuseum, Judith Noorman and Piet Bakker presented new research identifying Maria de Knuijt as Vermeer’s primary patron and protector. Their findings challenge the long-held assumption that the Delft collector Pieter van Ruijven was Vermeer’s main client. By uncovering new documents and reexamining earlier sources, Judith and Piet show a different picture: it was Van Ruijven’s wife, Maria […]
Rethinking the early modern art market
This NWO-funded VIDI-project measures the impact of women on the Dutch art market in the seventeenth century by studying household consumption. Let’s challenge the persistent assumption that the art market was dominated by men.
Master’s Students Create Magazine on Wendela Bicker
How do you interpret archival traces to uncover the life of a 17th-century woman? Three Master’s students took on that challenge during a tutorial led by Judith Noorman, resulting in a thorough and beautifully designed magazine about Wendela Bicker, the wife of Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt. For four weeks, students Kirsten van Tunen, Bente […]
New Perspective on the Portrait of Geertruida den Dubbelde
During her internship with The Female Impact and the Rijksmuseum, Anne-Linde Ruiter explored the pendant portrait of Geertruida den Dubbelde, wife of Admiral Aert van Nes. Through close visual and archival analysis, combined with research into the roles of seafarers’ wives, Ruiter proposes a new interpretation of Den Dubbelde’s gesture and the maritime background in her portrait. Rather than a passive depiction […]
Reinterpreting Vermeer’s Lacemaker
Long thought to have been purchased by Pieter van Ruijven, Vermeer’s painting “The Lacemaker” was probably acquired by his wife, Maria de Knuijt, who had a much closer relationship with Vermeer. In an interview for Mister Motley and based on new archival documents, Judith Noorman demonstrates that this shifted perspective demands a new interpretation of the painting’s meaning. Read the complete […]
‘Elck heeft sijn eijgen pop’
Judith Noorman contributed an essay to Campaspe Talks Back. Women Who Made a Difference in Early Modern Art (eds. Lieke van Deinsen, Bert Schepers, Marjan Sterckx, Hans Vlieghe, Bert Watteeuw). The book book pays homage to prof. dr. Katlijne Van der Stighelen who recently retired at Leuven University. Judith’s essay is about women dollmakers and about dolls as social signifiers. Title: ‘Elck heeft sijn eijgen pop’: Dollmaker […]
Femke Valkhoff Wins Thesis Prize
Femke Valkhoff, a former intern of The Female Impact, has won the DZE Thesis Prize from the Seventeenth Century Studies Group (Werkgroep De Zeventiende Eeuw) for her master’s thesis ‘Out of the Shadows,’ which explores the role of Haarlem brewers within their family, the brewery, and as art buyers for the household. Her thesis supervisor was […]
Women in the Visual Arts Symposium
Bringing to light the overlooked role of women in the art supply trade, Marleen Puyenbroek unveiled new research at the recent Women in the Visuals Arts in the Early Modern Low Counties symposium in Den Bosch. In her paper, Marleen revealed a significant correction: a paint store, previously misattributed to Abraham van Bubbeson, was, in fact, managed […]
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