Bad Girls Only

Have you ever felt badly for celebrating yourself, prioritizing rest over productivity, showing anger, feeling jealous, or acting on natural desires to have nice things, eat good food, or experience intimacy? If so, you are already acquainted with the Seven Deadly Sins – pride, sloth, wrath, envy, avarice, gluttony, and lust.

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.

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.