Two hundred thirty-three years after her death, painter Judith Leyster is more popular than ever. Leyster was born in Haarlem in, Netherlands, on July 28th, 1609. Poet Samuel Ampzing first noticed her works in 1628, and by the age of 24, she was one of two women admitted to Haarlem's selective painter's guild. The artist is known for filing a complaint against Frans Hals for stealing her assistant and forcing him to pay a fine.

She married artist Jan Miense Moleanaer in 1636 and quit painting after becoming a mother. Her artworks were misattributed to her husband or fellow artist Frans Hals until, in 1893, a Louvre visitor noticed a star by the signature of a painting attributed to Hals. Historian Cornelis Hofstede de Groot confirmed that the signature J.L crossed by a star belongs to Leyster, whose last name translates to lodestar. Thirty other pieces by the same artist have been discovered since. Google doodle celebrates the date Leyster reclaimed her legacy through 2 exhibitions staged on December 19th, 1999.

Featured image: Judith Leyster, Self-Portrait (c. 1630). via Wikimedia Commons