This extraordinary woman, whose labors contributed so much to the improvement and embellishment of the natural history of insects, was little favored by gifts of beauty or personal grace. Her portrait shows hard and heavy-lined features. A curious headdress, made of folds of black stuff, rises high above the head, and inclines a little to the left. Short, light curls appear above a cambric ruffle, finishing a half-low corsage. She is undoubtedly entitled to a place among great artists.
The history of Madame Merian rounds off that of German female artists belonging to the seventeenth century with an exhibition of more than ordinary interest.
THE DANISH WOMEN ARTISTS.
A glimpse may here be had of the artists of Denmark and England. Anna Crabbe was a painter by profession in Copenhagen before the year 1618. She painted a series of portraits of Danish princes, to which she added a poetical description of each. The daughter of King Christian IV., Eleonora Christina, who married the minister Ulefeld, was not only celebrated for her beauty and intellectual gifts, but for skill in various branches of art—engraving, modeling in wax, and miniature-painting. Her daughter Helena Christina possessed like talents.
Toward the close of the century, Sophie Hedwig, the daughter of King Christian V., became noted as an artist, gaining much reputation by her performances in portrait, landscape, and flower painting.
Neither in Denmark nor in England was any special direction given to art by the national character; on the contrary, in both these countries, the prevailing taste was governed by that of foreign nations—as the Dutch and German.
ENGLISH FEMALE ARTISTS.
In England there were not many women artists, although in literature the sex was not without its share of laurels, and in dramatic poetry and prose romance women contended for appreciation with masculine writers. The poetess Joanna Weston was a great admirer of Anna Maria Schurmann, and took her for a model; but there were no painters who could be compared in merit to the women who cultivated poetry.
As miniature-painters, Susannah Penelope Gibson may be mentioned; also Penelope Cleyn. The latter was the daughter of a German painter, and her sisters Magdalen and Sarah were also devoted to the art. They painted the portrait of Richard Cromwell’s daughter.
Mary More obtained some distinction as a portrait-painter. It was in England that the Princess Hollandina, before mentioned, took lessons in painting, with her sister Sophie, from Gerard Honthorst.