Joachim Anthonisz. Wtewael

Possibly Antoinetta Pater-Wtewael, the artist’s daughter, and Johan Pater, Utrecht, until 1655;

Possibly thence by descent to Hillegonda van Nellesteyn-Pater and Johan van Nellesteyn, Utrecht;

Private collection;

Anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 4 December 2012, lot 17;

Where acquired and with whom until anonymously sold, New York, Christie's, 25 January 2023, lot 124;

Where acquired by the present collectors.

A.W. Lowenthal, in Pleasure and Piety: The Art of Joachim Wtewael, exhibition catalogue, S. Alsteens and A.W. Lowenthal (eds.), Princeton 2015, pp. 164-166, cat. no. 38, reproduced (as signed and dated lower center: Jo·wte·wael·fecit Anno 1623).

Utrecht, Centraal Museum; Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art; Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, Pleasure and Piety: The Art of Joachim Wtewael, 21 February 2015 - 31 January 2016, no. 38.

In Maternal Charity, Joachim Anthonisz. Wtewael transforms a traditional Christian allegory into an intimate and almost playful domestic scene. Drawing on the iconography of Caritas—a female figure who nurses three children, and itself rooted in depictions of the Virgo Lactans—Wtewael imbues the religious theme with a secular warmth. Within a bustling interior, a remarkably calm mother nurses one of her children as three others play, eat, and interact with the family pets. Although grounded in religious tradition, the composition is animated by genre elements and an unmistakable sense of familial affection permeates the depiction. Executed in 1623, during the later phase of Wtewael’s career, the present painting is his earliest known treatment of the subject. Wtewael revisited the theme multiple times, reimagining it with each version: this work is distinguished by its elegant synthesis of allegory and contemporary life.