How to Spot a Masterpiece

Why It Matters

The reattribution corrects historical bias in art attribution, broadening understanding of women’s contributions to Baroque art and prompting reexamination of other works miscredited to male artists. It has implications for scholarship, museum curation, and the market value of recovered works.

Summary

Researchers have reattributed a 1650s painting long thought to be by a man to Michaelina Wautier, a talented 17th-century Brussels painter whose work was largely forgotten. Conservators and art historians identified recurring models, a distinctive palette—notably red accents—and her dramatic handling of light and shadow as visual signatures. Conservation work also revealed an overpainted skull, underscoring previous misattributions. Scholars are now piecing together Wautier’s oeuvre and restoring her place in art history.

Original Description

★★★★★

The Guardian

★★★★★

The Standard

Michaelina Wautier is a 17th-century trailblazer rediscovered.

Active in Brussels in the middle of the 17th century, she challenged the limits imposed on female artists at the time by working on an unusually varied range of subjects: from flowers and portraits to grand history paintings – a format usually reserved for her male counterparts.

Many of her works were posthumously attributed to men over the centuries. But how do you spot a Wautier amongst her peers?

Author and broadcaster Emma Dabiri highlights some telltale signs.

Michaelina Wautier is on at the Royal Academy until 21 June 2026.

Find out more and book tickets: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/michaelina-wautier