© Royal Academy
Michaelina Wautier
27 March 2026 — 21 June 2026
Ending SoonWautier was hugely celebrated in 17th-century Brussels, then nearly erased from art history. Her rediscovery — led by The Triumph of Bacchus, in which she painted herself as a pagan bacchante at monumental scale — has been called the greatest artistic find of the century by Artnet.
From Royal Academy
Active in Brussels in the middle of the 17th century, Michaelina Wautier 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. In her most famous painting, The Triumph of Bacchus, she painted herself as a pagan bacchante in monumental scale, looking squarely at the viewer and confidently asserting her position as the maker....
Read more at Royal Academy →Critic Reviews (4)
TimeOut
Annabel Downes
Michaelina Wautier
"Like someone laying out every qualification in a job interview, she throws everything she can into the canvas. In The Triumph of Bacchus, which now rivals Diego Velázquez's more famous version of the same subject."
Read full review →The Standard
Melanie McDonagh
Intensely pleasurable look at neglected female artist
"This is an uplifting show; an encounter with a brilliantly assured woman artist of immense skill and psychological insight. Remember the name: she's finally getting the recognition she deserves."
Read full review →The Guardian
Olivia McEwan
An astounding lost artist steps out of her male contemporaries' shadows
"This will probably be the first encounter with Michaelina Wautier's work for UK audiences; grouping all her known works together, having been previously practically nonexistent in the collective imagination, has the uncanny effect of conjuring an entirely new person. An astonishing one of exceptional, fully formed ability."
Read full review →The Telegraph
Alastair Sooke
Baroque art's brilliant blonde steps out of the shadows
"Since our knowledge of Wautier remains sketchy, this is an exhibition of questions as much as answers. For most gallery-goers, though, that won't matter, because – even incomplete – her story and her art are sufficiently compelling."
Read full review →Visit
Mayfair, London·View on artmap
Sunday10am–6pm
MondayClosed
Tuesday10am–6pm
Wednesday10am–6pm
Thursday10am–6pm
Friday10am–9pm
Saturday10am–6pm
© Royal Academy
Michaelina Wautier
27 March 2026 — 21 June 2026
Ending SoonWautier was hugely celebrated in 17th-century Brussels, then nearly erased from art history. Her rediscovery — led by The Triumph of Bacchus, in which she painted herself as a pagan bacchante at monumental scale — has been called the greatest artistic find of the century by Artnet.
From Royal Academy
Active in Brussels in the middle of the 17th century, Michaelina Wautier 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. In her most famous painting, The Triumph of Bacchus, she painted herself as a pagan bacchante in monumental scale, looking squarely at the viewer and confidently asserting her position as the maker....
Read more at Royal Academy →Critic Reviews (4)
TimeOut
Annabel Downes
Michaelina Wautier
"Like someone laying out every qualification in a job interview, she throws everything she can into the canvas. In The Triumph of Bacchus, which now rivals Diego Velázquez's more famous version of the same subject."
Read full review →The Standard
Melanie McDonagh
Intensely pleasurable look at neglected female artist
"This is an uplifting show; an encounter with a brilliantly assured woman artist of immense skill and psychological insight. Remember the name: she's finally getting the recognition she deserves."
Read full review →The Guardian
Olivia McEwan
An astounding lost artist steps out of her male contemporaries' shadows
"This will probably be the first encounter with Michaelina Wautier's work for UK audiences; grouping all her known works together, having been previously practically nonexistent in the collective imagination, has the uncanny effect of conjuring an entirely new person. An astonishing one of exceptional, fully formed ability."
Read full review →The Telegraph
Alastair Sooke
Baroque art's brilliant blonde steps out of the shadows
"Since our knowledge of Wautier remains sketchy, this is an exhibition of questions as much as answers. For most gallery-goers, though, that won't matter, because – even incomplete – her story and her art are sufficiently compelling."
Read full review →Visit
Mayfair, London·View on artmap
Sunday10am–6pm
MondayClosed
Tuesday10am–6pm
Wednesday10am–6pm
Thursday10am–6pm
Friday10am–9pm
Saturday10am–6pm