Catharina van Hemessen: The Artist and Her World

Catharina van Hemessen was the only known 16th century Flemish woman painter to have signed her works, leaving a remarkable record of her ambition and artistic skill.Presenting fourteen of the pioneering artist’s paintings in partnership with the National Gallery and Museum Snijders&Rockoxhuis in Antwerp, this exhibition places her career within the artistic and commercial world of sixteenth-century Antwerp.Brought to life by works from the museum’s collection, the exhibition will explore the artist’s life against the backdrop of Antwerp and the northern European Renaissance.

It also offers a glimpse beneath the surface of her paintings through technical analysis and research into pigments, paint layers and van Hemessen’s signature.