Quinten Massys’ An Old Woman (‘The Ugly Duchess’) is one of the Renaissance’s most famous faces. In a fresh review of the iconic image, this book unveils the painting’s original context: its status as a pioneering work of satirical art, its debt to Leonardo da Vinci’s grotesque drawings, and what it tells us about the period’s complex attitudes towards women, age and normative beauty.  The painting and its partner, An Old Man, are parodic portraits that mock the supposed lust and vanity of older women. Yet a closer look also reveals a figure defiantly flouting conventions and a painter subverting artistic expectations.  The publication traces the eventful afterlife and enduring power of this seminal image: how she gained her nickname ‘The Ugly Duchess’ and inspired John Tenniel’s much-loved illustrations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), capturing the imagination of generations of readers.  Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press  Exhibition Schedule: National Gallery, London, 16 March–11 June 2023

The extraordinary story behind Manet's portrait of his only pupil Eva Gonzales, placed within the broader context of women painters of the period Edouard Manet (1832-1883) only ever had one formal pupil, Eva Gonzales (1849-1883). The daughter of a prominent writer, she entered Manet's studio aged 19. He portrayed her the year they met and exhibited the ambitious full-length portrait at the Paris Salon of 1870, at which Gonzales also displayed her own work, for the first time, to positive reviews. The first in a new series of Discover titles, in which a single work of art in the National Gallery's collection is reconsidered from a fresh perspective, this book reveals the extraordinary story behind Manet's portrait by examining it in the context of women's artistic practice in nineteenth-century Paris, Gonzales's development as a professional painter, and Manet's career in 1870. Combining new art historical research with engaging essays on women artists and their representation in visual culture, Discover Manet & Eva Gonzales provides a richly illustrated, in-depth study of Manet's portrait and offers a groundbreaking viewpoint on both artists. Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press Exhibition Schedule: Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin June 1-September 18, 2022 The National Gallery, London October 21, 2022-January 15, 2023