1. THE VOCATION But who is this Judith Salomé? Her story begins in Paris, in the Pont Notre Dame district, on May 15, 1643, when she was baptized. She was the daughter of a portrait and still-life painter named Jacques. From an early age, she showed a marked artistic predisposition. Her father, a member of the brotherhood of Saint Germain des Prés, where artists from the old Netherlands were numerous, taught her a few rudiments, and then, perhaps, the still-life painter and art dealer Pieter van Meyel, whom Judith's mother Marie Granier married for the second time. 2. THE WORKSHOP Judith was a prolific artist from an early age, whose output, perhaps thanks to her stepfather's trade, was appreciated, since we know that Charles I of England acquired five of her works. The majority of her signed paintings date from the period 1662-1675, which appears to have been her most productive, although her activity continued until at least 1685. In 1665, she opened her studio to other women wishing to study painting. This was quite exceptional at the time. It is said that many men visited her studio to admire Judith's legendary beauty with their own eyes. In 1673, this sustained and successful activity led to her appointment as ordinary painter to the king, a position that ensured her a certain financial ease. 3. THE DESTINY In 1678, Judith married Protestant art dealer Philippe Talmière de Sancy, with whom she had two children. But dark days lay ahead for the followers of the "so-called reformed religion", as it was known at the time. In 1685, Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, leaving them no choice but between conversion and exile. In 1686, Louise's husband was imprisoned, and one of her children was forced to recant, while the other two fled to London. Judith Salomé, who had reached the age of 42 after her husband's death, encountered serious financial difficulties. She had to convert to Catholicism to escape the persecution of Protestants and to avoid having her remaining property confiscated.
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