Margareta Capsia (1682 – 20 June 1759) was the first professional native female artist in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, which during her lifetime was a part of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. She mainly painted altarpieces, but was also active as a portrait painter.

Biography and career

Capsia was born in

, the child of Gottfried Capsia and Anna Schultz. She married the priest Jacob Gavelin in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in 1719. After the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

in 1721 they moved to Vasa (Vaasa), where Margareta became known as an altarpiece painter in Ostrobothnia. In 1730, they moved to Åbo (Turku), where she became a famous artist throughout Finland, and where she eventually died. Her altarpieces were described as individual illustrations of the bible, and she was regarded as one of the best painters in the genre together with

Mikael Toppelius Mikael Toppelius (10 August 1734, Oulu – 27 December 1821, Oulu) was a Finnish church painter; the last significant representative of the Ostrobothnia (historical province), Ostrobothnian church painting tradition. His grandson was the well-kn ...

. She painted the altarpieces of a long line of churches, such as in the churches of

Paltamo Paltamo (, also ) is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . There are two built-up areas in the municipality: Kon ...

in 1727 and

Säkylä Säkylä () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Satakunta region, southeast of the city of Pori. The municipality has a population of () and the municipality covers an area of of which is inland water (). The population density ...

in 1739.

References

Ladies' Salon
* Aartomaa, Ulla (toim.), Naisten salonki, 1700-luvun eurooppalaisia naistaiteilijoita. WSOY 2007. * Ars : Suomen taide 2. 1988: C. Granroth, Margareta Capsia. * C. Granroth, Margareta Capsia : biografiska uppgifter och tre bibliska motiv / pro gradu, taidehistorian laitos, Helsingin yliopisto. 1985; A. Luukko, Vaasan historia II. 1979.
Evl.fi - Finnish Church Art and Architecture

1682 births 1759 deaths 18th-century Finnish artists 18th-century Finnish women artists 17th-century Finnish artists Swedish painters 17th-century Finnish painters 17th-century women artists 17th-century Finnish women Finnish women painters {{Finland-painter-stub