Why have there been no great women artists? Perhaps because their masterpieces were too easily shoved into storage. That seems to be what happened to a still life by 17th-century Flemish painter Clara Peeters, previously attributed to Ambrosius Brueghel.

Cynthia Osiecki, a curator at the National Museum of Norway in Oslo, stumbled upon Still Life with Small Game and Grapes on a Gilded Tazza during a storage inventory. The wood panel supplier, ornate dish and bird rendering all pointed to Peeters. Then she saw it: a self-portrait hidden in plain sight—Peeters’ signature in the form of a grape outline.

The attribution brings her total known works to 40 and features prominently in Osiecki’s upcoming show, “Woman Painter,” alongside Sofonisba Anguissola, Lavinia Fontana and Artemisia Gentileschi. The hidden identity of these masterpieces is a reminder that history can be rewritten by those who look closely enough.

Este descobrimento levanta questões sobre porquê as grandes artistas mulheres ficaram em segundo plano e como o conhecimento das suas obras pode ainda ser revelado.