Three regentesses and the housemistress of the Leper-House, Amsterdam

Werner van den Valckert

1624

oil on panel

Rijksmuseum

Four formally dressed women are seated around a table with various objects. A detailed architectural interior is depicted behind them, with a smaller scene visible through an archway. The regentesses were responsible for overseeing the domestic affairs of the Lepers’ Asylum. The woman at right is writing on a slate. At the base of the stairs in the background is the poor figure of Lazarus, begging for crumbs from the table of the selfish rich man. This biblical scene is rendered – in natural colours – as though it were part of the portrait.