TEMPEL, Abraham van den

Abraham van den Tempel painted a series of three allegorical history pieces for the governors of the Lakenhal, or Clothmakers’ Hall in Leiden between 1648 and 1651. The commission was a prestigious one, not only because of the size of the pictures, but also because they were history pieces to be displayed in a high ranking public building. The governors who commissioned the work were men of considerable stature, too. They were entrusted by the city fathers with the day-to-day management of one of Leiden’s nine textile sectors, known in Dutch as ‘neringen’. In this capacity they were responsible for the manufacture of and trade in worsted, a sector that was booming at the time. Their seat of office was the brand-new building which has been known to this day as the Lakenhal. They wanted classicist decorations worthy of their modern building.

Regarding the series, Minerva Crowns the Maid of Leiden originally served as the overmantel, while the other two, Mars Banishes ‘Nering’ and The Maid of Leiden Welcomes ‘Nering’ hung on the long wall beside one another. The latter two paintings form pendants, being the same size and related in subject-matter. The theme that connects them is ‘nering’, the term formerly used in Leiden for the production of and trade in textile.

In Mars Banishes ‘Nering’, Minerva and Mercury escort the personification of nering, who looks back in disgust, from Mars in his suite of armor. The war god in his bellicose guise is attended by his henchmen Deimos and Phobos, the sowers of fear and dread. The woman he tramples underfoot, whose hat identifies her as Liberty, shows how Mars puts an end to freedom. A second prostate figure, recognisable by her scales and sword as Justice, is another of his victims. The buildings ablaze in the background warn of the adversity that comes in his wake.

Abraham van den Tempel painted a series of three allegorical history pieces for the governors of the Lakenhal, or Clothmakers’ Hall in Leiden between 1648 and 1651. The commission was a prestigious one, not only because of the size of the pictures, but also because they were history pieces to be displayed in a high ranking public building. The governors who commissioned the work were men of considerable stature, too. They were entrusted by the city fathers with the day-to-day management of one of Leiden’s nine textile sectors, known in Dutch as ‘neringen’. In this capacity they were responsible for the manufacture of and trade in worsted, a sector that was booming at the time. Their seat of office was the brand-new building which has been known to this day as the Lakenhal. They wanted classicist decorations worthy of their modern building.

Regarding the series, Minerva Crowns the Maid of Leiden originally served as the overmantel, while the other two, Mars Banishes ‘Nering’ and The Maid of Leiden Welcomes ‘Nering’ hung on the long wall beside one another. The latter two paintings form pendants, being the same size and related in subject-matter. The theme that connects them is ‘nering’, the term formerly used in Leiden for the production of and trade in textile.

Minerva Crowns the Maid of Leiden is a coronation scene in which Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and industry, places a crown of laurel on the head of a woman kneeling beside her, the personification of Leiden. The Maid of Leiden holds a banner emblazoned with the civic coat-of-arms, two crossed keys surmounted by laurels.

Jacquemijna Le Pla (1647-1696) was the wife Justus Ghys (1638-1680), a Leiden merchant and distant cousin of van den Tempel. The lost pendant of the painting represented the husband.

Abraham van den Tempel was renowned for his depiction of the sumptuous materials and objects worn by the elegant and privileged sitters he painted. In the present painting the sitter poses with a smooth-haired brown and white spaniel before an extensive garden, a statue behind her to the right and a classical balustrade in the distance. Her garments are luxurious.

Abraham van den Tempel was one of the numerous followers of Bartholomeus van der Helst. He was the most talented of them, whose portraits have been mistaken for those of van der Helst. His father, Lambert Jacobs (¹⁵⁹⁸⁄₉₉-1636) was a painter, dealer, and Mennonite preacher, who is said to have been in Italy and to have studied with Rubens.

Abraham van den Tempel painted a series of three allegorical history pieces for the governors of the Lakenhal, or Clothmakers’ Hall in Leiden between 1648 and 1651. The commission was a prestigious one, not only because of the size of the pictures, but also because they were history pieces to be displayed in a high ranking public building. The governors who commissioned the work were men of considerable stature, too. They were entrusted by the city fathers with the day-to-day management of one of Leiden’s nine textile sectors, known in Dutch as ‘neringen’. In this capacity they were responsible for the manufacture of and trade in worsted, a sector that was booming at the time. Their seat of office was the brand-new building which has been known to this day as the Lakenhal. They wanted classicist decorations worthy of their modern building.

Regarding the series, Minerva Crowns the Maid of Leiden originally served as the overmantel, while the other two, Mars Banishes ‘Nering’ and The Maid of Leiden Welcomes ‘Nering’ hung on the long wall beside one another. The latter two paintings form pendants, being the same size and related in subject-matter. The theme that connects them is ‘nering’, the term formerly used in Leiden for the production of and trade in textile.

Whereas the Mars Banishes ‘Nering’ illustrates the misfortune caused by war, the painting The Maid of Leiden Welcomes ‘Nering’ embodies the antithesis, where freedom, justice and peace foster trade and industry. Here Minerva and Mercury return as witnesses of the principal scene in which the Maid of Leiden stands on a step in her purple gown and crimson mantel and extends a hand to Nering, while Liberty, with her broken weapons and the hat symbolising freedom, kneels at her feet. Under her arm Nering clutches a bound volume containing the statutes establishing the worsted nering in 1638.