Influencers: Women who shaped the art world
Released: Autumn 2023
5 part series
Throughout the ages, female patrons have used art as a crucial form of social and political expression. Their patronage allowed them to explore their passions, nurture artists and build unique collections. Rose Balston will look at women who were revered as taste makers, thinkers and leaders in their field during their lifetimes, yet have remained in the shadows as history took hold.
Rose will journey from the 16th to the 19th centuries to discover a selection of leading female patrons and how they influenced the art world and their own social and political status. Women will include Marguerite of Austria, Isabella d’Este, Eleanor of Toledo Catherine the Great of Russia, and Queen Victoria of England.
NB: In previous talks that can be found in our archive, Rose has already discussed the patronage of Queen Elizabeth I of England, Catherine de Medici, Madame de Pompadour and Queen Marie Antoinette of France. For more information, please contact office@artscapesuk.com.
Buy individual lectures from the series
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The remarkable Isabella d’Este was on a mission to break the gender stereotypes of her time. She succeeded with charm, enormous intellectual capabilities, a good dose of demanding determination, and was soon held in great esteem across the noble courts of the Italian peninsular. As well as looking at her critical patronage of artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Titian and Perugino, we will also consider her role as one of the most pre-eminent politicians of the day. As astonishing feat for a 16th century woman.
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12:30 PM BST
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Marguerite of Austria was a phenomenal collector of art, architecture, illuminated manuscripts and curiosities coming in from the New World. Part of her collection included one of the most impressive gathering of portraits of her age, a series of images intimately tied to the international politics of the day. This was no whimsical collection of art – it was a statement of powerful political and diplomatic intent that cast lasting light onto the patronage of the Spanish Netherlands.
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12:30 PM BST
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Eleanor of Toledo was one of the most influential figures in 16th century Florence. She was key in driving forward the Mannerist style of art; a highly stylised, fashionable movement that emerged from the ‘completed’ innovations of the High Renaissance. As we get into the heart of Eleanor’s impact on this new art movement we’ll consider portraits, chapels and gardens – most prominently, the famous Boboli Gardens of Florence.
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12:30 PM BST
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Under the banner of Catherine the Great of Russia, St Petersburg became one of the most culturally stupendous cities in the whole of the western world. Catherine understood the power of art and placed it at the centre of her wider political and diplomatic strategy. Sweeping up collections from the west – famously the Walpole Collection from Houghton Hall – she was able to place herself in a leading position on the complex chessboard of 18th century history.
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12:30 PM GMT
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Queen Victoria was one of Britain’s most extensive patrons of the arts. Alongside her husband Prince Albert they built up the art scene in Britain and added extensively to the Royal Collection. The 19th century was a dramatically changing one - as the mechanical world was ever evolving and the Empire expanding outwards, the art this passionate couple patronised responded in a fascinating way.
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12:30 PM GMT