The Gallery of Honor in the Rijksmuseum leads the visitor so unerringly to Rembrandt’s Night Watch that the paintings displayed in its alcoves are easily overlooked, if not for guides who point out the paintings she or he finds most worthy of notice. Paintings by Johannes Vemeer, for example, have many more viewers pressing towards their framed canvases than more prosaic group portraits of charitable organizations or the works of once famous artists who are now overlooked.

Frans Hals’s Marriage Portrait of Isaac Massa & Beatrix van der Laen (1622) is well-known, but not a crowd pleaser. I, however, find it endearing. As indicated by his clothing, Massa was a successful merchant. In 1622, Massa married a burgomaster’s daughter. Hals’s painting is not simply a wedding portrait, but a story in itself. The couple seem quite pleased with themselves, for reasons revealed in the picture’s symbolism. To the bride’s right, is a symbol of the garden of love. On the groom’s left is an eryngium thistle, a symbol of conjugal fidelity.

The couple’s clothing demonstrates their material success. The Dutch enjoyed wearing colors, but in portraits of the upper classes, the sitters invariably wore black, because black was the most expensive dye available. Thus, wearing black clothing in a portrait was a clear sign of wealth. Likewise, the ruff around Beatrix’s neck.

Dutch portraits featured ruffs that might be up to 200 pleats. The length of fabric to create such pleats could be well over 20 meters. The laundress starched the fabric and set the pleats with a hot poking stick. During the course of the 17th century, ruffs were replaced by broad lace or linen collars similar to what Isaac is wearing.

Both the bride and groom wear lace cuffs which were made of thin linen that was pleated and then edged with either bobbin or needle lace.

Lucas de Clercq & Feyntje van Steenkiste

Thirteen years after painting Isaac & Beatrix, Hals painted pendant portraits of another couple: Lucas de Clercq and Feyntje van Steenkiste. Lucas was a successful Haarlem potash merchant who married the daughter of his supplier in 1629. Hals painted the couple nine years later. The couple had three children before Feyntje died in 1640.

The Mennonite couple wears black clothing to modestly signify their wealth without boasting of it too much. He wears a lace collar; she, a ruff. The sling on Lucas’s arm was a fashion accessory.

The Regentesses

Amsterdam was a wealthy city during the Dutch Golden Age, and with wealth came the responsibility of sharing with those who were less fortunate: those who were sick, orphaned, aged, or feeble. Among them, the lepers housed just outside the city.

The Lepers’ House was governed by four regents and three regentesses. Men took care of the general management of the charity, while women concerned themselves with supervising those who served within the hospital and purchasing supplies. The Rijksmuseum has two paintings of regentesses. Visitors do not spend much time looking at these portraits. Neither the artists nor the subjects hold particular interest. But, these women also have stories to tell.

In 1624, Werner van den Valckert painted this portrait of the Three Regentesses and the Housemother of the Amsterdam Lepers’ Asylum. The woman with the flat collar and head band is the housemother. All of the women wear black, but only the regentesses have lace at their wrists, ruff collars, and diadem caps.

In the background, the viewer can see the story of Lazarus, the beggar who begged for mercy from the rich man. In life, the rich man had more than he needed while Lazarus starved. In death, Lazarus went to paradise and the rich man to Hades — an apt reminder to the viewer of the importance of charity.

The women are shown with the symbols of their office: the Bible with the story of Lazarus marked, bags of money and a slate for keeping accounts.

Ferdinand Bol painted the Portrait of the Three Regentesses of the Leprozenhuis in 1668. We have names for these women. From left to right, the women are Clara Abba, Elisabeth van Duijnen, & Agatha Munter. Wearing black garments and fashionable lace collars and cuffs, they too are shown with the symbols of their office — coins, a pen and inkwell, and an account book. Van Duijinen was the treasurer and Munter the secretary. Munter holds out open hands, though whether she is giving or receiving is not clear. Van Duijinen is a widow, as shown by her hood.

The regentesses demonstrate that women in the Dutch Golden Age exercised a certain amount of autonomy through their participation in charitable activities. And clearly, they had access to funds to pay artists to preserve their likeness in charitable history. Moreover, their facial expressions indicate a certain satisfaction with their lot in life.

But, I wondered, where were the female artists? More on the next blog.

? ? ? ? ?

Sandra’s Books: Sea Tigers & Merchants. Ambition, Arrogance & Pride. Saxon Heroines. Two Coins. Rama’s Labyrinth.

Illustrations & A Few Sources

Marriage Portrait of Isaac Massa & Beatrix van der Laen by Frans Hals; Photo of Eryngium Bourgati by Ramin Nakisa; Portrait of Lucas de Clercq by Hals; Portrait of Feyntje van Steenkiste by Hals; Three Regentesses and the Housemother of the Amsterdam Lepers’ Asylum by Werner van den Valckert; Portrait of the Three Regentesses of the Leprozenhuis by Ferdinand Bol. Sophie Ploeg. “Seventeenth Century Dutch Dress.” Sophie Ploeg. Feb. 13, 2018. Ploeg. “Dress in Seventeenth Century Portraiture. Sophie Ploeg. Dec. 31, 2022.

The post Women’s Portraits in the Rijksmuseum first appeared on Sandra Wagner-Wright.