Katharina, or Catharina Rozee (1632,

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

– 1682,

), was a

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...

artist. She is remembered for her ability to create exceptionally realistic images in the medium of

embroidery Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on c ...

Biography

Rozee was born in the city of Leiden in the Netherlands. Accounts of her life claim that she was able to depict landscapes, animals, flowers, and insects with such detail and naturalism that her work was often mistaken for an

oil painting Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

. One work in particular, described by the biographer Jacob Weyerman, depicted the trunk of a tree with a spider spinning its web and was said to have sold for “five hundred guilders”. In fact, Rozee’s work was so realistic that she was stigmatized as a

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

and sorceress. According to Houbraken she made clever designs with silk fibers on panels of landscapes, animals, flowers and insects that looked so real that they confounded their viewers and common folk claimed she must be a magician.Katharina Rozee Biography
in ''De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen'' (1718) by

Arnold Houbraken Arnold Houbraken (28 March 1660 – 14 October 1719) was a Dutch painter and writer from Dordrecht, now remembered mainly as a biographer of Dutch Golden Age painters. Life Houbraken was sent first to learn ''threadtwisting'' (Twyndraat) fr ...

, courtesy of the

Digital library for Dutch literature The Digital Library for Dutch Literature (Dutch: Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren or DBNL) is a website (showing the abbreviation as dbnl) about Dutch language and Dutch literature. It contains thousands of literary texts, second ...

Her works were in great demand, and one of her works with "a landscape with a tree stump and a spider in its web" fetched 500 guilders. Houbraken's source was

Michiel Carré Michiel Carree or Carré (1657 – October 1727) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. Carree was born in The Hague. He received his first instructions from his elder brother Hendrik Carré, and afterwards became the scholar of Nicolaas Berchem, bu ...

, who told him about a portrait she made with such natural skin tones "that it looked like an oil painting". One of her best works was purchased by the Grand Duke of Florence. She died unmarried at age 50. Rozee’s artwork was owned by well-known figures including

(1657-1747), the court painter of the King of Prussia, and Cosimo III de’ Medici, the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Miss Rozee died at age fifty and no known works survive.

References

* Houbraken, Arnold. "De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen", 3 vols., Amsterdam, 1718-21. * Pilkington, Matthew. The Gentleman’s and Connosseur’s Dictionary of Painters: From the Revival of the Art to the Present Period. Edited by Henry Fuseli. London, England. 1810, 426. * Russell, Margarita. “The Women Painters in Houbraken's Groote Schouburgh”. Woman's Art Journal 2, 1 (1981): 7–11. doi:10.2307/1357893 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rozee, Catharina Dutch Golden Age artists Dutch women artists 1632 births 1682 deaths Artists from Leiden 17th-century Dutch artists 17th-century Dutch women artists Dutch embroiderers

Biography

References

Further reading