Featuring exceptional and rarely seen works from the Museum’s collection of early modern prints and drawings, this exhibition showcases northern European depictions of “sinful” women to tell the story of how women became associated with sin, the role art played, and how that history shows up in our lives today.

In addition to their capacity to open a window onto the lived experiences of women in the past, historical images of the Seven Deadly Sins demand to be appreciated for their remarkable artistry and innovation. Each series of works showcased in the exhibition is impressively varied, expressive, and full of delightful details.

Hieronymus Wierix (1553-1619), after Philip Galle (1537-1612), Pride, from the series The Seven Deadly Sins, ca. 1585-1612, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, photo: MMFA, Jean-François Brière

The exhibition features two prints by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) as well as an impressive series of preparatory drawings by Hendrick Goltzius (1558-1617). These highlights of the MMFA’s drawings collection will be shown for the first time since 1980 alongside Jacob Matham’s (1571-1631) prints made after them. Additional works by Matham and a series by Hieronymous Wierix (1553-1619) enrich the exhibition.

Engaging didactic materials – including a vitrine of materials and a process video featuring a local artist – will guide you through the technically and artistically sophisticated process of translating drawing into print. The exhibition will conclude with an interactive wall featuring question cards that invite you to reflect on the ways that rhetoric around the Seven Deadly Sins shows up in your daily lives.