Women Artists of the Renaissance

Levina Teerlinc
Flemish painter, ca.1510-1576

Oldest daughter of the renowned manuscript illuminator Simon Bening. Little is known about her early career or training, but in 1545 she was invited to the court of Henry VIII, who had been the patron of Hans Holbein and Lucas Horenbout (who had both recently passed away), and named royal "paintrix". After Henry's death, she continued in this role under Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I.

She limited her output to portrait miniatures, which are personal mementos which tend to become widely dispersed and are not formally displayed like full-sized paintings are. As a result, she is less well known than her predecessors and it is more difficult to attribute her works authoritatively. In fact, despite the fact that she is known to have painted many members of the court, there is only a handful of works which are attributed to her and none which is definitively known to be by her hand.

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