A Groundbreaking Monograph Illuminating a Forgotten Baroque Master
This volume positions Josefa de Óbidos as part of a broader legacy of early modern women artists
Josefa de Óbidos
Author
Carmen Ripollés
Body Content
Josefa de Ayala, known as Josefa de Óbidos (ca. 1630–1684), defied traditional gender norms of her time as an artist during the Portuguese Baroque period.
Despite never marrying, Óbidos had access to personal independence as a woman due to her legal status as a donzela emancipada (emancipated maiden). She learned still-life painting from her father as a child, which led to her later versatile works featuring secular subjects, engravings, and church altarpiece paintings. Over the course of her exceptional career, the scope and breadth of her work transcended what was expected of women at the time.
While she is celebrated in Portugal, with streets, schools, and institutions bearing her name, Josefa de Óbidos remains largely unknown outside her homeland. With this book (Getty Publications, $45), author Carmen Ripollés introduces her accomplishments with the first English-language monograph of Óbidos’s career. While previous studies of Óbidos observed her as an isolated figure in history, Ripollés places her in a broader context within the Portuguese Baroque period alongside other women artists from her time. This publication explores the astounding story of a woman who was able to rise to wealth as a landowner and leave her mark on the visual history and culture of the Portuguese empire.
Josefa de Óbidos is the 11th title in a series of books entitled “Illuminating Women Artists” published in partnership with UK publisher Lund Humphries.
Endorsements
“Josefa de Óbidos’s vast output has, until now, regrettably remained under-appreciated outside the world of Portuguese-language art history. This thoughtful, timely consideration not just of her oeuvre but also of the social and historical contexts in which she worked is an incredibly important addition to the historiography of women artists.”
— Rebecca J. Long, Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Curator, Painting and Sculpture of Europe, The Art Institute of Chicago
“Carmen Ripollés’s book on Josefa de Óbidos is a landmark work of historiography on the Portuguese painter and will certainly contribute to renewed attention on the most interesting painter of the Portuguese Baroque.”
— Joaquim Oliveira Caetano, Curator of the Painting Collection, National Museum of Ancient Art, Lisbon
Josefa de Óbidos
$45
