Women painters of the 17th century arrive for the first time in the Rijksmuseum's gallery of honor

'Self-portrait' (1635), by Judith Leyster.

For the first time in its history, the Gallery of Honor of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam will permanently hang the paintings of three 17th-century painters alongside those of such famous colleagues as Rembrandt, Vermeer and Frans Hals.

The room is also the National Museum of History of the Netherlands, and this was announced this Monday, International Women's Day.

The chosen ones are Judith Leyster, Gesina ter Borch and Rachel Ruysch.

Absent to date from its floor considered noble, the center is also making an inventory of the life and work of the women artists present in the collection to enhance their contribution to national culture.

Temporarily closed due to the pandemic, the chosen canvases are two portraits and a still life of flowers.

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The Rijksmuseum has nearly a million works spanning eight hundred years of the country's art and history, and the management estimates that there are few female painters in its collection.

The exact figure is unknown because in the past the list of works was not based on whether the artist was a man or a woman.

The step taken now responds to the effort of the museum director, Taco Dibbits, to enrich the collection with another look.

Among them, the one that affects slavery in the colonies of the Netherlands, to which he has dedicated an exhibition that will open as soon as the pandemic allows it.

"By asking ourselves questions and by studying various sources and objects, in addition to their exhibition, we try to give a more complete picture of the Netherlands," explains Dibbits, in the statement issued to announce access to the paintings by the artists to the physical environment of the great firms of the Golden Age.

Jenny Reynaerts, curator of 19th century painting, will be in charge of the research, and in the same note she assures that they are catching up "because the permanent collection offers an image of culture with little female perspective".

Hence, they have planned to track down the museum's art collectors, patrons, donors or curators.

Among the three painters who will look Rembrandt face to face, Judith Leyster (1609-1660) stands out.

Specializing in traditional scenes, portraits and still lifes, she is the most famous artist of the Golden Age and was highly appreciated by her contemporaries.

At his death, however, it fell into oblivion and was not recovered until the end of the 19th century thanks to the monogram of his signature: JL.

It appeared in one work that had been attributed to Frans Hals, and in five others.

His painting is titled

(1629) and presents a musician looking towards the balcony where his beloved is supposed to be, whom he celebrates.

Married at 26 to another artist, the couple had five children, of whom two survived.

After her marriage, the only work that can be attributed to her with certainty is a drawing of a tulip, dated 1643. Her husband did work until the end of his life.

Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750) was luckier.

She became one of the best authors of floral still lifes of the 16th and 17th centuries.

As some of the flowers reproduced were not fresh, but taken from botanical books, or dried, the insects that he added gave life to the whole.

She came to earn more money than Rembrandt and was the first woman to be admitted to the Guild of Painters in The Hague, in 1701. The painting that can be seen is titled

(circa 1690).

She had ten children with her husband, also a painter, seven of whom did not exceed childhood, and continued working after motherhood.

Gesina ter Borch (1633-1690) is the third creator.

Daughter and sister of painters, she specialized in watercolor, of which three albums are preserved with added poetry and songs, and daily scenes treated with humor.

Single, she was the model for the paintings of one of her brothers, Gerard, and the work that will be exhibited is signed by both:

(1667-1669), in memory of another brother, who died.