The Artist with his Family
Karel van Mander III
1640
This informal self-portrait shows the artist Karel van Mander with his family. His wife, Maria Fern, is shown with an open book, presumably the Bible, and lovingly clasping her mother’s hand. All three look toward the spectator with alert gazes.
Family life was a favourite motif within Dutch and Flemish art in the 17th century. This makes the work typical of its day. The persons in the painting are depicted as distinctive individuals, full of life and character, and attention is focused on the figures’ emotional relationships with each other. Nothing in the painting points to van Mander’s profession as an artist, a fact that only serves to accentuate its focus on family life.
SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen · Image: SMK – National Gallery of Denmark, Public domain · Text: SMK – National Gallery of Denmark (text: Eva de la Fuente Pedersen) (adapted), CC0