Mieke Leenders is an art historian, writer, and social justice activist. She fell in love with art history as a discipline because of its highly interdisciplinary nature and how visual phenomena intersect with all aspects of our world. She holds an MA and BA in Art History from the University of Leuven, where she studied western art, especially medieval and renaissance imagery, and its relation to literature, history, politics, the environment, science, psychology, and philosophy. Next to that, she made a profound study of 18th and 19th century European art with a particular interest in how it captured social change, revolution, and artistic autonomy.
Areas of Expertise
How George Eliot Novelized Spinoza’s Musings on Freedom
George Eliot’s work, especially Middlemarch, is often seen as a fictional retelling of Spinoza’s Ethics. How does Spinoza’s concept of freedom take form in Eliot’s novels?
Here’s What You Need to Know About Francisco Goya’s Los Caprichos
Francisco Goya created the satirical Los Caprichos at the dawn of a new age. What are the observations he left us with?
Why Are We So Obsessed With Van Gogh’s Last Paintings?
For Vincent van Gogh, nature was a source of life and inspiration. But his abstract interpretations of tree roots and wheatfields would also define the way we perceive his death.
Beethoven: The Composer Who Lost His Hearing and Found Inspiration
Beethoven is known as the famous composer who went deaf. But what were the main inspirations behind his groundbreaking music?
Marie Antoinette: From Versailles to the Guillotine
Marie Antoinette was the last Queen of France prior to the French Revolution. Her frivolity and excess became a symbol for everything that was wrong with the monarchy.
How Henry VIII’s Lack of Fertility Was Disguised by Machismo
To most, Henry VIII is not a ruler with a nuanced tale. Instead, the infamous King of England’s propaganda inspired a timeless iconography we can no longer separate from him.
Who Was the Queen of Sheba?
The Queen of Sheba visits King Solomon and stands in awe of his wisdom and riches. Why has such a simple story inspired so many legends?
The Shocking Graffiti on the Walls of Isla San Lucas Prison
The Graffiti on the walls of San Lucas Prison in Costa Rica show sex, spirituality, and rebellion. Some were even painted with blood. What fueled this brutal yet fascinating expression?
Henry VIII: His 6 Wives in Order & One True Love
Henry VIII’s wives are primarily remembered for the way their marriages ended and how they died. But who were they outside of their often-lamentable fates?