10 remarkable women

In this painting, you see five so-called filia devota: unwed Catholic women who had taken a vow of chastity. These self-assured women were nonetheless fully part of society and many of them had careers, in education for example.

Rachel Ruysch is one of the most famous female painters, thanks to her colourful floral still lifes. She became well known internationally even during her lifetime and her paintings sold for high prices – sometimes as much as 1200 guilders. Cosimo III de’ Medici, the influential art collector and Grand Duke of Tuscany was a great admirer of Ruysch’s work.

Born into an artistic family, Cornelia van der Mijn learned to paint as a young girl from her father. She grew to become one of the 18th century’s most important painters of floral stills lifes.

The seated figure in this painting is Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, one of the most important female patrons of the arts in the 17th century. As the wife of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, she commissioned the building of several palaces decorated by leading artists such as Gerard van Honthorst.

Despite the crucial part she played in the liberation of Leiden in 1574, the history books don’t mention the name Magdalena Moons. She begged her lover the Spanish general Francisco Valdez to postpone his attack on Leiden for just one night. And it was that night that Leiden was liberated.

After buying an estate near The Hague in 1709, Anna Maria Gool went to live there with her best friend Josina Clara van Clitters. The two women stayed together all their lives, and when Anna died in 1743, Josina inherited the manor.

Anna Maria Gool and Josina Clara van Citters were such close friends that they prioritised their relationship over marriage, a truly exceptional outlook in the 18th century.

Despite being Christ’s most important female disciple, Mary Magdalene was for centuries regarded as a sinner and a prostitute. It was only in 1969 that the Catholic Church acknowledged her influential role.

The Bible tells us of Salome, whose seductive dance so delighted King Herod that he granted her a wish. At her mother’s urging, Salome asked Herod to bring her the severed head of John the Baptist. And that is how John came to his unfortunate demise.

Judith is one of the few biblical heroines. In order to free her people from oppression, Judith snuck into General Holofernes’ camp, where she seduced him and then used his own sword to behead him while he slept.