An engraving of Christ sitting at a draped table with male pilgrim on either side, both looking at him as though listening intently. Christ's hands lifted as though he is explaining something to them.
The supper at Emmaus, 1705, engraved after Titian by #SuorIsabellaPiccini (born #ElisabettaPiccini, Italian, 1644–1734). Held by @britishmuseum.bsky.social; source, www.britishmuseum.org/collection/i... #womenartists #artherstory #nuntastic
Op 14 mei 1942 werden 21 Joodse vrouwen gevangengezet in de gevangenis in Scheveningen. De reden: zij wilden trouwen met een niet-Joodse man. Ik sprak over mijn onderzoek naar deze vrouwen met journalist Victor Posthuma van Omroep West.
www.omroepwest.nl/cultuur/5089...
I Work Very Hard, And I Would Like To Try Cake By A Horse Hello. I am a horse. I work very hard at my job of being a horse. When humans say move the heavy thing, I move the heavy thing. When humans sit on top of me and pull on my head, I carry them where they want to go. The main food the humans give me is hay and oats. But I am thinking it would be nice to have a different food. I am thinking I would like to try cake. Yes, yes. Cake. I know all about it. When humans eat cake, it is in glad times. It is the food for a celebration, such as when a woman becomes 47. I have seen cake on the Fourth of July. When humans have a cake, they stand around it and clap hands and smile and say happy birthday at each other. Sometimes there are beautiful markings on a cake, such as balloons or a pink shape. Sometimes the top of a cake is on fire and a boy must blow on the fire with mouth wind. This is the scariest cake. I do not want this kind. But I will eat any other cake. Any cake that is not the fire cake that tries to kill the boy. Please understand: I do not get money for doing work. I do not get to go inside the house. All I am either doing my horse job or standing in my pen or eating food off the floor. I always do these things. But I have never once gotten cake and I would like it very much. I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children. I am more helpful to the farm. Children do not move the heavy things like me or let anyone ride on them. And yet they get cake. Maybe the humans will realize this. Maybe they will say, "You know who deserves cake? That horse. That horse whose back we are always on." Every day I dream about what it will be like if I get to eat cake. Here is what will happen. First, I will walk to the cake and putt my nose at it like hrrfff to make and stomping my hooves to make sure it is not a snake. Then I will trot in a circle to show that I am a horse and I am large. After that, I will nuzzle the cake to …
The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me.
It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."
Spotted this 15thC boss of the last supper in the cloister at Norwich Cathedral when visiting recently. It's making wonderfully varied use of perspective but I was most intrigued about the table spread, which says rather more about late medieval England than Roman Judea. Let's decode it! 1/5
You can see some of Koerten's work at the fantastic "Unforgettable: Women artists from Antwerp to Amsterdam, 1600–1750" exhibition at the MSK in Ghent! www.mskgent.be/en/exhibitio...
You're so welcome, and the praise is well earned :).
Much looking forward to the book!
Liz! Are you retiring? If so many congratulations on an incredible, impactful career. You're a titan in our field!
Oh! This depicts "St. Dominic in Soriano," a miraculous image delivered by saints to the Soriano priory in 1530. An Antwerp Beguine had a copy of it in the 17th century; there must have been a bunch circulating.
And a great read it is!
I wonder if a Beguine ever had a pet eel.
The Journal Religions is putting together a special issue: " Women in the Christian Tradition: Paradigms and Expressions of Religious Life in Early Modern Western Contexts"
Submissions due Sept 1. www.mdpi.com/journal/reli...
This one is wild!
We need to de-marginalize Spanish painting in Western art history. So much unique and fascinating stuff to discuss.
I’m thrilled that my article on Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarchy is currently being featured by the Historical Women Project. You can read it in English or in Dutch here: www.historicalwomenproject.nl/post/vrouwen...
#womenwhoruledtheworld
📢 CFA - 3 Postdoctoral Researchers in Early Modern History (35 months) within the project ‘Travellers’ interactions in early modern Italy’ at the Italian-German Historical Institute in Trento. Deadline: 8 May 2026. jobs.fbk.eu/Annunci/Jobs...
Please circulate widely!
Yes!! And also please order & read Katlijne's latest book -
Michaelina Wautier
www.lundhumphries.com/products/mic...
Katlijne is an absolute TITAN in this field - not ony is her work incredible in itself, but she's opened up so many doors (and funding possibilities) for new scholarship on Low Countries women artists. Go listen to her on the podcast!
Check out this #nuntastic lady.
Yikes.
Free conference at Bowdoin College!
Annual conference of the New England Medieval Consortium, with the theme "Reenvisioning the Medieval World(s) in the 21st Century.”
April 10-11
Program: newenglandmedieval.org/upcoming/
CFP! Conference "Growing Up in the Early Modern World: Children, Institutions and Belonging"
26 November 2026
Macquarie University, Sydney
Deadline 15 July
#earlymodern
an archivist doing some sort of conservation work on a gargantuan elephant folio tome
consulting my Book of Grievances
Symposium: Thinking through Tea: Art, Resistance, and Global Entanglements in the Age of American Independence
Thursday, May 7, 2026–Friday, May 8, 2026
Yale Center for British Art, Lecture Hall and *Livestream*
britishart.yale.edu/exhibitions-...
Lunder Institute@ Yale Center for British Art
This program is why I’m an art historian! If you have students from the LA area let them know!
McMaster university is hiring an Associate Professor or Professor with Tenur of History and Medicine.
They are looking for someone whose work bridges humanities-based historical inquiry and contemporary infectious diseases scholarship.
#histmed #histstm
AI is fundamentally a labor issue - and if after reading these testimonials from educators that @bcmerchant.bsky.social has collected you're not convinced it's time for a Luddite praxis in K-12 and higher education, then shit, I'm not sure what else to tell you.
An opulently dressed white woman with long curly reddish-brown hair, seated and gazing upward, her face tilted slightly so that her right cheek rests on her right hand. Her left hand is open face down in her lap, loosely covering two white rose stems. Behind her left shoulder there are loose flower stems on a windowsill, including a red rose and a daffodil among other blooms. Through the window, a mountain and a city are visible in the distance. A beam of light emits from the upper right corner of the painting, angling down through the window to touch the Magdalene's left shoulder.
Penitent #MaryMagdalene, c. 1620s, by #OrsolaMaddalenaCaccia (Italian, c. 1596-c. 1676). Private collection; source, artherstory.net/portrayals-o... #artherstory #womenartists #SuorOrsolaMaddelenaCaccia #nuntastic
Vandaag is mijn nieuwe boek ‘Karel V’ officieel verschenen. Uiteraard zeer trots dat het resultaat van het harde, maar dankbare, werk eindelijk te zien is. Hopelijk valt de biografie van de keizer in de smaak 🙂
VERY sad I can't make this! I'll look up Sam's work..
Ah! Kind of wish I was going to Antwerp again this spring to check out this Plants of Plantin exhibition.
But I'm not - I'm going to Leiden to fangirl over Clusius where he worked.
If anyone's got any tips for celebrating his 500th birthday, let me know! 🍄
museumplantinmoretus.be/nl/de-plante...
Fake references make Waite’s job as a librarian “so much harder,” she added.
“I expect this on the wider internet, but not in reputable scientific journals,” she told us. “…It’s really worrying.” retractionwatch.com/2026/03/06/l... #medlibs