27

Werner van den Valckert (ca. 1580-ca. 1630)
Family group as Caritas, with self-portrait; in the background, St. John the Baptist preaching. Inscribed on the sheet of paper Ick heb dit... int Iaer ons heeren 1623... September in Amstelredam. Interpreted by van Thiel as: I completed this in the year of our Lord 1623 on September 10th in Amsterdam. Panel, 162 × 125.5 cm. Cut down on the right by about 49 cm.

The Netherlands Office for Fine Arts, inv.nr.NK 1785. From the collections of W. Peech, Amsterdam and Dr. Keulens, Anderlecht.

The painting was known to Arnold Houbraken in 1718, but he does not say where he saw it, or who the figures are. It is closely related to another family portrait by van den Valckert, dated 1620, which also includes a self-portrait, and shows the Amsterdam Catholic patrician Michiel Poppen and his family as participants in the Bible story of Christ and the little children. 'Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them; and when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called to them saying, "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it"'(Luke 18:15-17; see also Matthew 19:13-15 and Mark 10:13-16).

Our painting would seem to convey a related message. A woman surrounded by children is a figure of charity or Christian love; the message of John the Baptist includes the exhortation to charity: 'He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise' (Luke 3:11). The common ideal expressed in both works is that of the Christian who opens his heart to the needs of others, and thereby earns admittance to the kingdom of heaven. Similar sentiments, evoked with comparable means, can be found in the depiction of public charity by Jan de Bray (cat.nr.29) and that of familial love by Nicolaes Verkolje (cat.nr. 88).

This part of Christianity was fortunately free from sectarianism. Van den Valckert worked for Catholics, de Bray for Calvinists and Verkolje for Mennonites.

This analysis does not begin to do justice to the rich imagery of our painting. However, it is unlikely that we will be able to decipher the painting satisfactorily until we find out more about the sitters and their ties to the painter.

Houbraken, vol. I, p.215. Van Thiel 1983, pp. 133, 182-183.