Josefa de Óbidos (c. 1630 – 1684)

• Was a Spanish-born Portuguese painter.
• She was born in Seville.
• Josefa was the daughter of the renowned Portuguese painter Baltazar Gomes Figueira.
• In 1634, when she was only four years old, Josefa’s parents left Spain and moved to Portugal.
• In 1644, Josefa is documented as a boarder at the Augustinian Convent of Santa Ana in Coimbra.
• Sometime before 1653, she and her family left Coimbra and settled at the Quinta da Capeleira in Óbidos.
• Josefa's first signed painting dates to 1647, a small Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine on copper.
• Many of her still-life paintings, considered her specialty, are now preserved in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga in Lisbon.
• Josefa's will is dated 13 June 1684.
• In this document, the artist is described as a "virgin who never married."
• Next