The Baroque Bearded Lady: Magdalena Ventura

Art of History

Today, gender is largely understood as a fluid concept. And while an increasingly loud minority insist that "men are men and women are women," and that’s simply the way it’s always been…a look through the lens of art history is just one way to quickly realize how flawed that worldview just might be.

Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652) provides that lens in his 1631 portrait of Magdalena Ventura, subtitled 'The Bearded Woman.' Is this a depiction of a woman boldly defying gender norms? Or simply a person existing with the hand they were dealt by nature?

Today's Image: Jusepe de Ribera, Magdalena Ventura with Her Husband and Son (La Mujer Barbuda) (1631). Museo Fondación Duque de Lerma, Toledo, Spain.

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