Anna Francisca de Bruyns (1604, in Morialmé – 1675, in Arras) was a Flemish Baroque painter. She was born in 1604 in Morialmé (near Dinant, in the province of Namur). Here, her father, Cornilla de Bruyns was bailiff. Born into an upper middle class family and raised by outstanding court artists who happened to be her relatives, De Bruyns is one of many women artists of her time, and while there is not a lot on her in English, she is one of the best documented of her peers. She was taught to paint by her older cousin, Jacques Francart. She was painting by the age of seventeen and is said to have surpassed many painters of her time. Career as an artist At as young as eleven, Anna Francisca de Bruyns was displaying talent and interest in the arts. In March 1616, de Bruyns made a masterly copy of a print of Mamluke horsemen by Jan Swart van Groningen. She also made pen and ink copies of pious prints such as depictions of the Virgin. Once she had acquired a level of skill in drawing she was sent to Brussels to sharpen her skills under the mentorship of her cousin Jacques Francqart. He was very serious with his tutoring and by 1622, at the age of seventeen, de Bruyns made a portrait of Francart on a silver plate. Francart also introduced Anna Francisca to the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, showing her the portrait she made of him. and she was so impressed that Anna was commissioned fifteen small paintings of the Mysteries of the Rosary, which were sent as a gift to Pope Paul V. After marriage, it became much harder for her to find time to paint, but she still managed to. Family As mentioned previously, Anna Francisca de Bruyns was born into an upper middle class family and surrounded by court artists. This gave her unusual opportunities to develop her artistic craft. In 1613 her cousin, Jacques Francart, was appointed court painter to the Archdukes Albert and Isabella, and on 27 July 1622 he became Royal Architect-Engineer to Philip IV of Spain. Anna's father, Cornilla de Bruyns, was bailiff of Morialmé from before she was born until moving to Mons where he became superintendent of the Bergh van Bermherticheyt (translated as public pawnshop) which was an institution founded many years earlier by Wenceslas Cobergher. Cobergher was a