The cultivated woman

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This interdisciplinary study, illustrated with ninety plates of paintings and prints, explores the overlooked portraiture of cultivated women in seventeenth-century France within broader cultural, intellectual, literary, and social contexts. During France's Grand Siècle, a culture of female intellectuality emerged, sparking lively debates about women's education, social roles, and mental capabilities across all social classes. The portrayal of cultivated women in contemporary art, particularly through allegorical images, linked royal figures like Anne of Austria and Henriette d'Angleterre to Minerva, the goddess of knowledge and the arts. The study also examines historiés portraits and likenesses of female royals, including the duchesse du Maine and Elisabeth Charlotte, duchesse d'Orleans, showcasing their unique representations. Additionally, it addresses the iconography of notable women such as letter writers, authors, and musicians, highlighting their contributions from around 1670 until the end of the Grand Siècle. The proliferation of these images signifies the growing recognition and prestige of cultivated women in France. Unlike the virile Minervas of earlier chapters, most portraits are distinctly feminine, blending ideals of beauty with the concept of the cultivated woman. This richly textured study will engage art historians, scholars, students of French culture, and gender studies specialists, as well as informed ge