Portrait of the De Moucheron Family

There exists a type of painting in the 16th Century representing a bourgeois family sitting at table. These family portraits depict prosperous families whose members, belonging to various generations, are ranged around a covered table. Contemporary family portraits by Cornelis de Zeeuw and Maerten van Heemskerck are good examples of this genre.

Pierre de Moucheron (1508-1567) was the son of a Norman noble. He became he became a burgess of Middelburg in 1530 and built up a thriving trading company. In 1545 he moved his business to Antwerp. In this family portrait he is depicted with his wife Isabeau de Berbier and their eighteen children, their son-in-law Allard de la Dale, and their first grandchild.