In the history of art, Josefa de Óbidos is one of the names that keeps being returned to.
The record lists Josefa de Óbidos as Portuguese and Spanish artist (1630-1684).
Josefa de Óbidos was born at Seville in 1630. Her recorded nationality is Portugal.
Patronage, the guild system and a new open art market shaped what could be painted and for whom.
She worked as painter and artist.
Among her best-known works are Lactation of St. Bernard and The Penitent Magdalene Comforted by Angels. Looking is a skill, and the artists who last are those who taught their audience how to do it.
That the work was made in Portugal shaped it: artistic traditions, academies and the galleries that decide what is seen have never been evenly distributed.
Josefa de Óbidos died in 1684, aged 54. The work remains, hanging in collections that outlived both the artist and the market that first priced it.
Achievements
- Notable work: Lactation of St. Bernard
- Notable work: The Penitent Magdalene Comforted by Angels
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