Three Regentesses and the Housemistress of the Leper-House, Amsterdam

Entry

Despite the 20 cm difference in width, these two group portraits are undoubtedly pendants (see SK-C-417).⁵ Both hung until 1860 in the Leper-House, also known as the Sint Anthonisgasthuis, which had housed lepers since medieval times. There were very few lepers at the beginning of the 17th century, when the hospital was also used to care for people with other ailments.⁶

Many portraits of regents were produced in the 17th century, but the number made for each social institution varied widely. Some of the governing bodies were only portrayed once, but that of the Leper-House was painted no fewer than six times.⁷ Van den Valckert was the first artist to be awarded the commission.

There were usually four male governors of the hospital. Those depicted here are, from left to right, Syvert Pietersz Sem (1560-1632), Hendrick van Bronckhorst (1561-1626), Ernst Roeters (1581-1648) and Dirck Vlack (1577-1624). All four were Amsterdam merchants.⁸ They are sitting at a table on which there is a book, documents, an inkstand and a small pair of scales. The man on the far left is the housemaster.

The three female governors are: Trijntie ten Bergh, Anna Willekens and Trijntie Weelinx. They are seated at a table on which there is a book, money-bags and loose coins, while the housemistress is handing over a hank of knitting wool.

Van den Valckert depicted various scenes featuring Lazarus in the background of the portraits of both the regents and regentesses of the Leper-House. St Luke describes the tribulations of the leper Lazarus in a parable about wealth and poverty: ‘There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom’ (Luke 16:19-31). According to the parable, earthly riches lead to the torments of hell after death, whereas a life of poverty is rewarded with a place in heaven.

Van den Valckert depicted the parable in a number of sculpted reliefs in the male group portrait. At top right the dogs are licking Lazarus’ sores, while the scenes below it are Lazarus in Abraham’s Bosom and Clothing the Naked. In the background of the female group portrait is the scene of the rich man and Lazarus, who is begging on the palace steps. The figures are not shown in imitation reliefs, as in the companion piece, but as being physically present on a high podium. Van den Valckert may have borrowed this device from 16th-century kitchen pieces.⁹ The festive figures, painted in blue, yellow and red against a pink background, are wearing contemporary dress, giving this part of the portrait of the regentesses the look of a genre scene.¹⁰ The inclusion of the story of Lazarus in the background of the two group portraits must have been done at the request of the governors, who wanted to illustrate the fact that their actions were based on biblical or classical culture.¹¹

From the point of view of style and composition, Van den Valckert took his lead from Cornelis van der Voort, the most innovative and influential portraitist in Amsterdam, who died in 1624, the year of this painting. However, Van den Valckert did add some very distinctive touches of his own, such as the narrative reliefs in the male group portrait.¹² He also employed stylistic devices borrowed from the brothers Pieter and Aert Pietersz. Van den Valckert adopted a freer approach in his group portrait of the female governors of the hospital.¹³

Everhard Korthals Altes, 2007

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This entry was published in J. Bikker (ed.), Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, I: Artists Born between 1570 and 1600, coll. cat. Amsterdam 2007, no. 283.