Anonymous: Memorial tablet of Jacob Jan van Assendelft and his wife Haesgen van Outshoorn (1500)
(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
A memorial painting made by an anonymous artist. Depicted on the painting is Jacob Jan van Assendelft (1396-1478), the most right kneeling man of the left group of 7 men, and his wife Haesgen van Outshoorn (d. 1471), the kneeling woman on the right with a praying book. In the center is the virgin Mary and the child Jesus. The people behind Jacob Jan and Haesgen are their sons and daughters - the black shrouds of the daughters and the crucifixes they are holding signify that they are deceased. Behind each group are saints. On the left are Saint Barbara of Nicomedia with her tower and Saint Cosmas with a urine flask, on the right are saint Damian with a mortar and saint Catherine with her crown, broken wheel and sword. Saint Damian and Cosmas are the patron saints of physicians and protectors of the sick while Saint Barbara of Nicomedia and saint Catherine represent the active and contemplative lives. Nothing is known of this couple otherwise that the family of Jacob Jan were lords and ladies of Oudshoorn and Aarlanderveen, and thus came from the region around Alphen and den Rijn in the Netherlands. The text at the bottom reads:
Inscription, bottom left: "Int Jaer ons heren .M. CCCC.LXXVIII. op Sinte Arnulphus dach // sterf meester Jacob Jan out LXXXII Jaer en leijt begraven // tot Alphen in die kerck wiens ziele rust in vrede." - "In the year of Our Lord 1478 Master Jacob Jan died on Saint Arnulf’s Day (15 August) aged 82 years and is buried in the church in Alphen, may his soul rest in peace."
Inscription, bottom right: "Int Jaer ons heren .M. CCCC. LXXI. op Sinte Agapitus // dach sterf haesgen meester Jacobs wijf en leyt begrave // tot Alphe in de kerck wiens ziele rust in vrede." - "In the year of Our Lord 1471 Haesgen, Master Jacob’s wife, died on Saint Agapetus’s Day (20 September) and is buried in the church in Alphen, may her soul rest in peace."
Painted around 1500.