Teerling, Levina (c. 1520–1576)
Teerlinc, Levina (c. 1520–1576)
Flemish artist. Born Levina Benninck c. 1520 (some sources cite 1515) in Bruges, Flanders (now a part of Belgium); died 1576 in Stepney, England; dau. of Simon Benninck (painter of miniatures and book illuminator); married; children: Marcus.
Achieved some fame in Flanders before migrating to England (c. 1546) to accept an annuity from the court of Henry VIII; stayed at court for a number of years, working for Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I, whose portrait she 1st painted in 1551; became an English subject (1566) and made her home in Stepney with husband; was the only Flemish miniature painter known to be at the English court (1546–76); was also the most important miniaturist between the death of Hans Holbein the Younger (1543) and the ascent of her successor, Nicolas Hilliard. Miniatures thought to be from her hand are Portrait of a Young Woman (1549), Katherine, Countess of Hertford, and a portrait of Elizabeth I in her coronation robes that dates to approximately 1559.
See also Women in World History.