Creator Bio

Catherine da Costa

1679–1756

Catherine da Costa was an English miniature painter, commonly recognized as the first known female Jewish painter. Likewise, she was the first English-born Jewish artist and the second English-born female artist in recorded history. Da Costa’s father, Fernando Mendez, who was of Portuguese origin, was physician to Charles II and named his daughter after Queen Catherine. Da Costa married a wealthy merchant, Anthony Moses da Costa. She studied under the famous drawing master and engraver Bernard de jongere Lens and painted miniatures of her family and other members of the Jewish community. In a self-portrait from ca. 1721, she depicts herself at work in a studio, painting a portrait of mother and child that resembles paintings of Madonna and child. Among her works is also a painting of her father in full eighteenth-century dress, a miniature of her son, Abraham, and a portrait of the merchant Francis (Daniel) Salvador.

Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator

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Portrait of Abraham da Costa

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Among the portrait miniatures of family members that Catherine da Costa painted is this locket portrait of her son, Abraham da Costa (b. 1704), when he was ten years old.

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Portrait of Francis (Daniel) Salvador

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Francis Salvador (Daniel Francisco Salvador, 1685–1754) was born in Amsterdam. He was a relative of Catherine da Costa, the artist who painted his portrait. He was the grandfather of Francis Salvador…

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Self-Portrait

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In a self-portrait from ca. 1721, Catherine da Costa depicts herself at work in a studio, painting a portrait of mother and child that resembles paintings of the Madonna and child.

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Portrait of Dr. Fernando Mendes

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Among Catherine da Costa’s surviving paintings is the full-length portrait of her father, Dr. Fernando Mendes (1647–1724). Mendes was a prominent Jewish physician, who attended both King Charles II…

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Portrait of Rachel da Costa with the Child Catharina Suasso

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Here, Catherine da Costa, the first known female Jewish painter, has painted her daughter and granddaughter to resemble a Madonna and child. An unidentified woman leans over the infant, seemingly…