This small copper is the last identified painting by Josefa de Óbidos, and immediately raised a great deal of interest from specialists and collectors, both for its high quality and uniqueness of its theme. Revisited in 2015, at a major exhibition at the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Josefa de Ayalla, known as Josefa de Óbidos, has been proving to be one of the most culturally interesting cases among women painters of the Baroque.
The painting depicts Child Jesus having his palm read by a gypsy woman during the Holy Family's stay in Egypt. The association between Egypt and the Gypsies (Gitanos) was common at the time. In Spain it can be found in both engraving collections and paintings by Luis de Morales. In Portugal it is also traditionally present both in visual culture, through António de Holanda, Francisco de Holanda, Diogo de Teixeira, or Baltasar Gomes Figueira (Josefa’s father), either in literature, through the poems of Maria Mesquita Pimentel and Soror Violante do Céu which directly addressed the reading of Child Jesus Fortune.

PRESENTATION (only in portuguese)
September 6th | 18h