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In April of 2015, the Rubenianum in Antwerp will host a two-day conference entitled “Considering Women in the Early Modern Low Countries.” This interdisciplinary event will bring together twenty-six international scholars to present their current research and to develop new approaches to the study of women and gender in the Low Countries from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries.Women were fundamental actors in early modern Low Countries society, not only shaping the domestic sphere but also playing major roles in the dynamic environment of economic, artistic, and cultural exchange of both the Catholic Southern Netherlands (present-day Belgium and Luxembourg) and the Protestant Northern Netherlands (the modern-day Netherlands, founded during the Dutch revolt at the end of the sixteenth century). The Habsburg territories were governed by a string of women rulers, from Margaret of Austria (1480 – 1530) and Mary of Hungary (1505 – 1558) to the archduchess Isabella of Spain (1566 – 1633). More ordinary Netherlandish women ran businesses, pursued careers as painters and writers, joined religious communities, helped steer the course of debates between Protestants and Catholics, and patronized the arts. The wealthier among them had their portraits painted by the most famous artists of their time – Rubens, Van Dyck, and Rembrandt – while women of lesser means might find themselves in difficult situations, eking out a living in the “shadow” market for untaxed goods or imprisoned for committing crimes. At the same time, evolving traditions of the visual representation of women both reflected and determined attitudes towards gender. Understanding women’s roles in Netherlandish society and the formative part played by visual culture in defining these roles is critical for gaining a fuller picture of early modern Flemish and Dutch culture; yet despite remarkably rich archival and material resources, this field remains in many ways undeveloped.The conference “Considering Women in the Early Modern Low Countries” represents a major step towards redressing this problem. It will be the first conference to focus on historical Netherlandish women in both the North and the South, and the program’s structure invites participants and attendees to make comparisons across the political and religious border. The conference is highly interdisciplinary: the speakers comprise eight art historians, seven social historians, and three literary scholars, and our panel chairs likewise come from diverse academic backgrounds. Subthemes that will be addressed include:The representation of gender in the visual artsWomen as authors and artistsWomen and agingMarriage and familyWomen’s work and economic rolesConvent culture and nuns’ textual and visual practicesWomen’s artistic patronageWomen as religious activistsWomen’s material cultureGender in the legal systemWomen’s fashion and dressTraditional and innovative historical sources and methodologies“Considering Women in the Early Modern Low Countries” will increase exchange among scholars working on these questions, and also aims to inspire both established and emerging researchers to take up the study of Netherlandish women.ProgrammeFriday, April 24, 20158:30-9:00:       Coffee and Registration9:00-9:15:       WelcomeVéronique van de Kerckhof, RubenianumLuc Duerloo, University of Antwerp9:15-9:30:       Introduction, Amanda Pipkin, University of North Carolina Charlotte9:30-11:00:     Panel I: Writing and Public CulturePanel Chair: Lia van Gemert, University of AmsterdamJudith Keßler, Radboud University: “The Perception and Self-Fashioning of the Antwerp Poetess Anna Bijns (1493-1575) in Male Vernacular Literary Society”Martine van Elk, California State University Long Beach: “Publicizing Female Virtue: Mariamne in Plays by Elizabeth Cary and Katharina Lescailje”11:00-11:30:   Coffee break11:30-13:00:   Panel II: Picturing NunsPanel Chair: Aaron Hyman, University of California BerkeleyAndrea Pearson, American University: “Disability and Salvation in a Mechelen Besloten Hofje”Margit Thøfner, University of East Anglia:  “‘Adorned With the Pictures of Many Devout Women’: Portraying Nuns in the Low Countries”13:00-14:30:   Lunch14:30-15:30:   Keynote Address IMartha Howell, Columbia University: “The Problem of Female Agency: Assessing Gender Relations in the Early Modern Low Countries” 15:30-16:00:   Coffee break16:00-18:00:   Panel III: Feminine Ideals and Transgressions in the Dutch RepublicPanel Chair: Anne-Laure van Bruaene, Ghent UniversityMartha Moffitt Peacock, Brigham Young University: “The Maid of Holland – Allegory or Role Model?”Manon van der Heijden, Leiden University: “Criminal Women in Early Modern Holland”Mirjam de Baar, University of Groningen: “Representations of Female Dissenters in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic”Saturday, April 25, 20159:00-10:30:     Panel IV: Aesthetics of Authority and AgingPanel Chair: Bert Watteeuw, RubenianumCordula van Wyhe, University of York: “The Fabric of Female Rule in Leone Leoni’s Statue of Mary of Hungary, c. 1555”Frima Fox Hofrichter, Pratt Institute: “Wrinkled Old Women (WOW!) – The Overlooked in the Early Modern Period”10:30-11:00:   Coffee break11:00-13:00:   Panel V: Marriage, Money, and WorkPanel Chair: Ariadne Schmidt, Leiden UniversityDanielle van den Heuvel, University of Kent: “Considering the Economic Role of Women in the Dutch Republic”Tine de Moor, Utrecht University: “Yes, I do! Marriage Patterns in Early Modern Amsterdam”Katlijne van der Stighelen, KU Leuven: “Anna Francisca de Bruyns (1604-1656): The Artist, the Mother and the Wife. A Contextual Approach to Her Early Career” 13:00-14:30:   Lunch14:30-15:30:   Keynote Address IIDiane Wolfthal, Rice University: “Foregrounding the Background: Images of Dutch and Flemish Household Servants” 15:30-16:00:   Coffee break16:00-17:30:   Panel VI: Writing and Convent CulturePanel Chair: Ellen Decraene, University of AntwerpPatricia Stoop, University of Antwerp: “Religious Women and the Writing of Vernacular Sermons in the Southern Low Countries (1550-1600)”Ping-Yuan Wang, Ohio University Lancaster: “Sisters for Life: Narratives of Sisterhood in the Visitandine Necrologies in the Spanish Netherlands, ca. 1668-1715”17:30-17:45:   Closing RemarksSarah Moran, Swiss National Science Foundation &#38; University of AntwerpLieuThe RubenianumKolverstraat 202000 AntwerpThis conference will take place at the Rubenianum – a research center founded in 1959 that promotes the study of Flemish art, in particular that of its golden age from Pieter Bruegel to Peter Paul Rubens. The Centrum Rubenianum has produced a number of publications related to this field, has collaborated on major exhibitions, and has organized international symposia for scholars and interested public.Source : site internet du colloque