Maria Verelst

Her father was the Dutch painter Harman Verelst, who taught her and her brothers Simon and Cornelis how to paint.

When she again spoke, it was to insist that women could not be barred from learning languages, despite the fact that they were not allowed to participate in public proceedings.

The gentlemen were so impressed they inquired of her occupation and came to visit her the next day bearing gifts and to order their portraits made.

In the 1720s she worked with William Aikman and Charles Jervas but her style more closely reflected Thomas Hudson by the next decade.

Landscape backgrounds and informal dress were her style of choice for the majority of her female subjects.