Mayken Verhulst
Encyclopedia
Mayken Verhulst was a sixteenth-century miniature
, tempera
and watercolor
painter, identified by Lodovico Guicciardini
in 1567 as one of the most important female artists in the Low Countries
.
in 1518. She was the second wife of Pieter Coecke van Aelst, mother-in-law of Pieter Brueghel the Elder
and, according to Karel van Mander, the first teacher of her grandsons Pieter Brueghel the Younger
and Jan Brueghel the Elder
. No works survive that can be securely attributed to her, although she is frequently identified as the person behind several works assigned to the Master of the Brunswick Monogram. She might also have been the author of a painting in the Kunsthaus Zürich
with a self portrait with her husband (panel, 50.5 x 59 cm). Following Pieter Coecke's death in 1550, she likely oversaw the publication of a large woodcut
series Ces Moeurs et Fachons de Faire des Turcz (Manners and Customs of the Turks) (1553). Verhulst died in Mechelen in 1599.
Miniature (illuminated manuscript)
The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, red lead, is a picture in an ancient or medieval illuminated manuscript; the simple decoration of the early codices having been miniated or delineated with that pigment...
, tempera
Tempera
Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium . Tempera also refers to the paintings done in this medium. Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the 1st centuries AD still exist...
and watercolor
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
painter, identified by Lodovico Guicciardini
Lodovico Guicciardini
Lodovico Guicciardini was an Italian writer and merchant from Florence, but who lived primarily in Antwerp. He was the nephew of historian and diplomat Francesco Guicciardini.-Description of the Low Countries:...
in 1567 as one of the most important female artists in the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
.
Life
Mayken Verhulst was born in MechelenMechelen
Mechelen Footnote: Mechelen became known in English as 'Mechlin' from which the adjective 'Mechlinian' is derived...
in 1518. She was the second wife of Pieter Coecke van Aelst, mother-in-law of Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Pieter Brueghel the Elder
Pieter Bruegel the Elder was a Flemish renaissance painter and printmaker known for his landscapes and peasant scenes . He is sometimes referred to as the "Peasant Bruegel" to distinguish him from other members of the Brueghel dynasty, but he is also the one generally meant when the context does...
and, according to Karel van Mander, the first teacher of her grandsons Pieter Brueghel the Younger
Pieter Brueghel the Younger
Pieter Brueghel the Younger /ˈpitəɾ ˈbɾøːxəl/ was a Flemish painter, known for numerous copies after his father Pieter Brueghel the Elder's paintings and nicknamed "Hell Brueghel" for his fantastic treatments of fire and grotesque imagery.-Life:Pieter Brueghel the Younger was the oldest son of the...
and Jan Brueghel the Elder
Jan Brueghel the Elder
Jan Brueghel the Elder was a Flemish painter, son of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and father of Jan Brueghel the Younger. Nicknamed "Velvet" Brueghel, "Flower" Brueghel, and "Paradise" Brueghel, of which the latter two were derived from his floral still lifes which were his favored subjects, while the...
. No works survive that can be securely attributed to her, although she is frequently identified as the person behind several works assigned to the Master of the Brunswick Monogram. She might also have been the author of a painting in the Kunsthaus Zürich
Kunsthaus Zürich
The Kunsthaus Zürich houses one of the most important art museums in Switzerland and Europe, collected by the local Kunstverein, called Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, and holdings running from the Middle Ages to contemporary art, with an emphasis on Swiss art.Kunsthaus is also the name of the tram stop...
with a self portrait with her husband (panel, 50.5 x 59 cm). Following Pieter Coecke's death in 1550, she likely oversaw the publication of a large woodcut
Woodcut
Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...
series Ces Moeurs et Fachons de Faire des Turcz (Manners and Customs of the Turks) (1553). Verhulst died in Mechelen in 1599.
Sources
- Bergmans, Simone. "Le Problème de Jan van Hemessen, monogrammatiste de Brunswick," in Revue belge d'archéologie et d'histoire de l'art, vol. 24, 1955, pp. 133–57.
- King, Catherine. "Looking a Sight: Sixteenth-Century Portraits of Woman Artists," in Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, vol. 58, 1995, pp. 381-406.
- Op de Beeck, Jan, Mayken Verhulst (1518-1599). The Turkish Manners of an Artistic Lady. Mechelen: Museum Het Zotte Kunstkabinet, 2005. ISBN 90-9019982-9.
- "Woodcut offers panoramic view of 16th-century Muslim life." Yale Bulletin & Calendar 18 January 2002. (accessed 21 May 2007)