Mayken Coecke

Mayken Coecke was a Flemish painter active between 1545 and 1578, born into a distinguished artistic lineage as the daughter of Mayken Verhust and Pieter Coecke van Aelst. Her life centered on a family deeply committed to the visual arts, marked by her marriage to the renowned artist Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Together they raised two sons who would also become significant painters, Pieter Brueghel the Younger and Jan Brueghel the Elder. Coecke's documented role as a painter places her within this influential circle, connecting generations of artists through both blood and profession during the sixteenth century.