BAD GIRLS ONLY
Women and the Seven Deadly Sins
Rarely seen works from the MMFA's collection of prints and drawings
March 26 – August 10, 2025
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) presents to the public close to 30 works from its collection by some of the biggest names in art history. The prints and drawings on display date from the Early Modern period (late 15th through the 17th century). They depict female allegories of the Seven Deadly Sins: pride, sloth, wrath, envy, greed, gluttony, and lust. Bad Girls Only exhibition tells the story of how women became associated with sin, the role art played to propagate that idea, and how this might still show up in our lives today.
Since the Middle Ages, the Seven Deadly Sins have been traditionally represented as female allegories, each with their own identifying physical characteristics and attributes. This Christian morality code formally established in the 6th century had a particularly strong impact on the lives of women, who were viewed as naturally inclined towards sin and generally lacking in physical and moral stature. By turning our gaze on the role these images played in society, this exhibition examines the underlying reasons why the female body – often eroticized – was used to illustrate sin. Did the male artists of that era used female subjects to project their own sinful desires outside of themselves onto women to justify their own sins?
Mary-Dailey Desmarais, Chief Curator at the MMFA. Stated about the exhibition:
"Visitors will leave Bad Girls Only with a vivid snapshot of a fascinating and ever-relevant period in history. The exhibition reveals the exceptional quality of the Museum's collection of works on paper, and helps us to better understand the codes and conventions that shape the way we navigate the world around us."
Chloé M. Pelletier, Curator of European Art (before 1800) at the MMFA. elaborated:
"These historical depictions of the Seven Deadly Sins merit appreciation, not only for what they can tell us about women's lived experiences in the past, but also for their originality and the remarkable skill it took to create them. The diversity, expressiveness and rich detail of the exhibited works will captivate audiences."
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 – help audiences understand the technically and artistically sophisticated process of translating drawing into print.
Bad Girls Only concludes with an interactive wall featuring question cards that invite visitors to reflect on the ways that rhetoric around the Seven Deadly Sins shows up in our daily lives. The goal of these questions, ranging from profound to playful, is to identify and then reframe the sense of shame that is naturalized in so many of us around these seven traits deemed sinful by society over a millennium ago.
CREDITS
An exhibition organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
It is curated by Chloé M. Pelletier, Curator of European Art (before 1800), MMFA.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Public
Partners: Conseil des arts de Montréal and the Government of
Quebec
Official Sponsor: Air Canada, Air Canada Cargo and Denalt
Paints
Media Partner: La
Presse
All photos @Nadia Slejskova
Visit the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts website to check on the opening hours and to purchase your tickets online.
