Michaelina Wautier told by Katlijne Van der Stighelen (part 1) and Julien Domercq (part 2)

Michaelina Wautier told by Katlijne Van der Stighelen (part 1) and Julien Domercq (part 2)

From The Great Women Artists by Katy Hessel

March 25, 2026 · 60 min

About this episode

The episode features discussions with scholars Katlijne Van der Stighelen and Julien Domercq about the artist Michaelina Wautier and her significance in art history.

I am so excited to say that my guests on the GWA Podcast are the esteemed scholar and curator, Katlijne Van der Stighelen, and Royal Acdemy senior curator, Julien Domercq! Part 1 – Katlijne Van der Stighelen Part 2 – Julien Domercq A professor at KU Leuven until 2024, who has published books on artist Anna Maria van Schurma, Katlijne is also a curator, having, in 1999, along with Mirjam Westen, curated the first ever exhibition on women artists in Belgium and the Netherlands. She is also the curator of Van Dyck l'Europeo: His Journey from Antwerp to Genoa and London', currently on view at the Palazzo Ducale in Genoa. But, the reason why we are speaking with Katlijne today is because she has, according to some news outlets, made the greatest artistic discovery of the 21st century - and no, we are not talking about Banksy. It was digging around in a museum basement just over 30 years ago that Katlijne stumbled upon the extraordinary work of Michaelina Wautier, then a totally obscure name not even known to 17th century specialists, active in the mid-1600s and at famed for her colossal paintings of mythological scenes, smaller meticulously rendered, almost breathable garlands of…

People in this episode

Host: Katy Hessel

Guests: Katlijne Van der Stighelen, Julien Domercq

Topics covered

  • art history
  • women artists
  • curation
  • scholarship
  • mythological paintings

Keywords

  • Michaelina Wautier
  • Katlijne Van der Stighelen
  • Julien Domercq
  • art discovery
  • women in art

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Van Dyck l'Europeo: His Journey from Antwerp to Genoa and London, Michaelina Wautier

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