Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The popular term “renaissance man,” meaning a person with extensive knowledge, is rooted in the richly interdisciplinary world of the early modern era. Naturalists wrote poetry while artists invented new scientific instruments and composed music. Because they were largely shut out of most formal models of training and education, early modern women were even more likely than men to cross between and move among different disciplines and activities. Take a closer look at Rachel Ruysch as one example of a creative and intellectual woman, and look at the broader community of women in the Netherlands who pushed boundaries and progressively crafted more public lives and careers in the 1600s and 1700s.
Nicole Cook, senior program manager, Center for Netherlandish Art
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
The popular term “renaissance man,” meaning a person with extensive knowledge, is rooted in the richly interdisciplinary world of the early modern era. Naturalists wrote poetry while artists invented new scientific instruments and composed music. Because they were largely shut out of most formal models of training and education, early modern women were even more likely than men to cross between and move among different disciplines and activities. Take a closer look at Rachel Ruysch as one example of a creative and intellectual woman, and look at the broader community of women in the Netherlands who pushed boundaries and progressively crafted more public lives and careers in the 1600s and 1700s.
Nicole Cook, senior program manager, Center for Netherlandish Art
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
