The study of female patronage - particularly in the field of manuscripts - has undergone major developments over the past twenty years. Those publications amplify the movement initiated in 1982 by Susan Groag Bell’s article, considered as foundational for understanding the role of women in material culture. In particular, she promotes new analytical schemes focused on the transmission of artworks and the concept of ownership. Nearly forty years after this publication, it is useful to ask how this article, and more generally gender studies, have renewed the understanding of the female patronage.