Illuminating Josefa de Óbidos: Carmen Ripolles explores the art and life of the baroque artist

Carmen Ripolles, assistant professor in the Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design, whose research focuses on the art of the Iberian world in the early modern era, recently published "Josefa de Óbidos," a book exploring the life and work of the influential Portuguese painter.

Ripolles' monograph provides readers with insight into Josefa de Óbidos' life and work, recognizing the various kinds of paintings she created throughout her career and what they represent. Her success as a female painter challenged gender expectations, offering a deeper understanding of her significance within the Baroque period. The book is part of the publisher's "Illuminating Women Artists series," which aims to bring attention to under-studied women artists.

This month, we had the opportunity to speak with Ripolles about the project.

COTA: What first drew you to the work of Josefa de Óbidos?

CR: I had been working quite a bit on seventeenth-century Spanish still life-paintings of flowers, fruit, and such by artists like Juan Sánchez Cotán and Juan van der Hamen--so I knew about Josefa de Óbidos' still lifes (who was Portuguese, but born in Seville, Spain). However, when I looked more into the artist, I realized she had produced many other kinds of paintings, even prints. I learned about this other facet of her career at the 2015 exhibition "Josefa de Óbidos e a Invenção do Barroco Português" (Josefa de Óbidos and the Invention of Portuguese Baroque), which took place at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon. The fact that a woman artist of the 17th century was considered the "inventor" of the style of a period and a geographical area really piqued my interest, because I had never come across anything like it, especially in the early modern period when male artists dominated the field. It was fascinating to learn that Josefa de Óbidos is indeed the most celebrated artist-male or female-of Portuguese Baroque art.

COTA: You write that Josefa garnered remarkable independence and success during her lifetime -- a surprising feat given the patriarchal hierarchies and structures of the time. She attained the legal status of "emancipated maiden," owned an extensive array of land and property, and ran her own workshop. Based on your research, what allowed her to reach this level of success at a time when women were typically relegated to less powerful roles such as wife, nun, or servant?

CP: This is a very interesting question. Being raised in a family of artists-her father was also a painter-definitely helped, and in fact her family appears to have been quite supportive. Many female artists who were born into families of artists worked silently as assistants, and their names are often not recorded. In Josefa's case, we find a very different situation. Her first documented works, which are engravings, are prominently signed, which shows a desire to establish an artistic identity independent from her father's. Having the legal status of "emancipated maiden"-a distinctively Portuguese title that gave independence to unmarried women-in fact allowed her to conduct business without the intervention of a male figure (her father). She never married, but was not a nun either, which gave her a lot of professional independence. So, in addition to her talent and determination, she seems to have lived in a relatively favorable environment to pursue her work.

COTA: Art historians have previously focused on her still lifes, which they interpreted to represent her innocence and naivete, and the isolated, bucolic nature of the town of Óbidos, But in fact, she seems to have had ties to the University of Coimbra and the royal court and a much more sophisticated and connected worldview. How have our perceptions of Josefa's work and career changed over time?

CP: Before starting the research for this book, I was also under the impression that Josefa de Óbidos was mainly a still life painter because this was what earlier studies had mostly focused on. But it turns out that it was her father, Baltazar Gomes Figueira, who specialized in the genre, while Josefa de Óbidos dedicated much energy to religious paintings, some in small format, but also many large altarpieces for churches and monasteries. These large altarpieces were the most prestigious commissions one could get at the time, especially because they could be seen by many people, like what a museum or art gallery is for artists in later periods. This made me realize that many times we have assumptions about female artists that need to be revised-for example, that they would paint more still lifes because they are confined to domestic spaces. Although Josefa de Óbidos participated in the production of still lifes within her father's workshop, she only signed 4 still lifes, quite extraordinary ones, and all after her father's death.

Further, learning about her connections with the University of Coimbra and, most likely, the Portuguese court, changed my perception that she was a pious recluse without professional ambition. Those connections show how valued and sought after she was as an artist. My perception of the town of Óbidos also changed, because rather than a small and isolated village, I realized it was an important place with significant connections to the Court, specifically to the Queen's Household. Living in this environment gave Josefa access to objects from across the world that she incorporated into her own work.

COTA: What were her contributions to baroque painting (and art in general) of the 1600s, and how did her work influence the art movements that followed?

CP: Most artists elsewhere in Europe were looking at the same sources-mainly Italian art-for inspiration. Working mostly in Óbidos, which was outside the official art circuits of the capital, Lisbon, gave her the freedom to look at less canonical materials. This included artworks from non-European regions that were connected to Portugal via trade or colonial contexts, and these artworks were usually not paintings, but rather what historiography has often called, pejoratively, "decorative arts:" rugs, lacquer boxes, coverlets (called colchas in Portuguese), porcelain, tile work, etc. Her study of these materials explains her penchant for decorative surfaces and patterns, which is one of the most idiosyncratic aspects of her art. While her works were not known outside of Portugal until recent centuries, her work had a definite influence on Portuguese artists, and she had many followers and imitators.

COTA: In doing your research for this book, did you come across any details or anecdotes that surprised you?

CP: One thing that surprised me was in her last will and testament. She made sure that other women in her family benefited from her own success, and specified that her houses should be inherited by her closest relatives, preferably female. This, along with her preference for the depiction of strong religious women such as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, who was known for her learning, Saint Theresa of Avila, one of the major figures of Spanish literature, and the Virgin Mary, whom she often paints as larger than life and powerful, and of course her own career, suggests to me that Josefa de Óbidos believed in, and wanted to promote, women's independence.

COTA: What do her life and work teach us today?

CP: Josefa de Óbidos conducted her life with an extraordinary level of determination and independence. Her upbringing in a family of artists and her connections helped her achieve her goals, but regardless, her life and work were remarkable in a time when fewer-although more than we assume-women were professional artists. I think her life and work teach us that before making assumptions about women artists, one needs to take the time to look at them carefully, with the same attention paid to male artists.

More information on Carmen Ripolles and her book are available here: https://www.lundhumphries.com/products/josefa-de-obidos.