ABSTRACT
Among the body of artifacts and information relating to early modern women musicians stands a series of self-portraits made by some of the most celebrated artists of their eras. The period of European history between the later Middle Ages and the Enlightenment was a watershed not only in music and the other arts and sciences. Understanding of the self, paths toward social status, and the categorical relations between forms of human knowledge also underwent radical revision. The early modern era witnessed a transformation in the relationship between objects of the senses of sight and hearing, which ultimately influenced social perception of artists and musicians of both genders. Thinkers and practitioners across a wide range of disciplines continued to re-categorize art, craft, and science by reconsidering relative aims and modes of creation and production. The seven liberal arts, including music, had long stood as the pinnacle of human learning.
