Evidence of this can be seen in numerous works of art from the seventeenth century forward.” Due to this association, the presence of a Moor in this panel further augmented the parable on display for the contemporary viewer. One path of advancement lay in the military, where “the earliest blacks to appear in uniform were apparently musicians. The majority of these images were of Moors who came from North Africa. As their numbers increased so too did their representations in art. Slavery was outlawed within the Dutch Republic. From the sixteenth century on black Africans lived in The Netherlands working as soldiers, musicians, dancers and servants. His presence is intended to infuse an element of exoticism into the scene. The Moor’s gaze directly engages the viewer.

In our panel four figures are depicted singing from songbooks and a sheet of music. This was a popular subject for paintings in the seventeenth century. Works by Valckert formed part of the permanent collections of the museums of Amsterdam, Berlin, Boston, Chateauroux, Copenhagen, Emden, Leiden, Louisville, New York, San Francisco, and Utrecht.Īs a late Mannerist painter, Valckert’s allegories in particular display a unique and compelling imagery, with An Allegory of Music, being an excellent example. He is recorded as the teacher of Andries Jeremias. About 1613 Valckert moved to Amsterdam and established himself as a painter where he specialized in subject and portrait painting. According to Arnold Houbraken he was at one point also the student of Hendrick Goltzius. At first, he worked as a printmaker executing both woodcuts and engravings. Between 1600 – 1605 he entered the Guild of St. Monicx van Montvoort and married his daughter Jannetje Cornelis. He began his artistic training with the stained-glass painter Cornelis Sybertsz. It is believed that he started his career in The Hague in 1605. What is known about Valckert’s career is that he worked as a painter, etcher, woodcutter, draughtsman and writer. And yet he is surely one of the greatest artists of his day, not only because of the quality of the individual portrait heads, but also because of the splendid impression his group portraits make as a whole.” It is a typical work by Werner van den Valckert showing the influence both by Rubens and Goltzius.” He has further noted that the figures of the old man and young boy in An Allegory of Music appear in the 1620 signed work by Valckert, Christ Blessing the Little Children, in the Utrecht Museum Catharijneconvent.Īlois Riegl in his landmark book on group portraiture wrote, “Werner van den Valckert of Amsterdam has the distinction of being the first artist to solve the problem of fully unifying the external coherence of a group portrait in place and time.

In a written communication dated April 24, 2019, he wrote “The painting looks splendid after restoration. Schnackenburg in his catalogue raisonné had regarded the work as “presumably by Werner van den Valckert”, after its cleaning there was no doubt. After its recent cleaning a partially effaced signature appeared as well as the date of 1625. Schnackenburg published this painting in his rejected attribution section, along with an illustration of this painting before its cleaning. When this work was sold by Christie’s London in 2009, it was catalogued as having been painted by Jan Lievens. Bernhard Schnackenburg published his book on Jan Lievens along with a catalogue raisonné of his early work from 1623 – 1632. R4 (as not by Jan Lievens, whereabouts unknown, and illustrated with an image prior to cleaning

Anonymous sale, Sotheby’s, London, April 3, 1985, lot 250 (as attributed to Otto van Veen)Īnonymous sale, Christie’s, London, April 24, 2009, lot 5 (as Jan Lievens)īernhard Schnackenburg, Jan Lievens, Friend and Rival of the Young Rembrandt, Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersburg, Germany, 2016, no.

Painting external coherence