Artwork

The regents of the Tuchthuis (house of correction) in Middelburg, 1643

The regents of the Tuchthuis (house of correction) in Middelburg, 1643 is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Allaert van Loeninga. It dates from 1643 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

About this work

Subject & Meaning

The painting is a group portrait of the regents of the Tuchthuis, a house of correction in Middelburg, dated 1643.

The painting is a group portrait of the regents of the Tuchthuis, a house of correction in Middelburg, dated 1643. As a regent portrait, it depicts the administrators who governed the institution, presenting them collectively as the responsible custodians of the city's correctional facility. The classification of the work as a portrait and its identification with regenten, the governing board members, situate it within the Dutch tradition of civic group portraiture, in which the likenesses of officeholders were recorded to mark their tenure and public service.

The work thus functions both as a documentary record of the 1643 board of the Middelburg Tuchthuis and as a symbolic assertion of civic duty, embodying the regents' collective stewardship over the moral and social discipline of the institution under their charge.

Technique & Style

The work is executed in oil paint on panel, a standard support choice for mid-seventeenth-century Dutch group portraits. Its broad horizontal format, measuring 147 cm in height by 220 cm in width, accommodates the multiple sitters arranged across the composition. The painting is classified as a portrait and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

Stylistically, the large-scale panel and group-portrait format are consistent with the conventions of Dutch regent portraiture of the period, in which officials of charitable institutions were depicted in formal arrangements emphasizing institutional identity.

History & Provenance

The group portrait The regents of the Tuchthuis (house of correction) in Middelburg, 1643 was painted by Allaert van Loeninga in 1643, as indicated by the artist’s date and the work’s title recorded in the artist’s corpus entry.

The painting entered the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where it is currently held in the depot of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands. The work is listed in the Rijksmuseum’s holdings under the material category of oil on panel, with dimensions of 147 cm in height and 220 cm in width.

The painting The regents of the Tuchthuis (house of correction) in Middelburg, 1643 by Allaert van Loeninga is held within the cultural heritage collections of the Netherlands. It is currently located in the depot of the Rijksmuseum, managed by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed) and formerly associated with Instituut Collectie Nederland. The work, created in 1643, is cataloged under the inventory of the Rijksmuseum's depot RCE.

While the specific accession number is not provided in the available records, the piece is identified as a portrait group depicting regenten executed in oil on panel.

Overview

Created in 1643, this oil on canvas by Allaert van Loening portrays the governing board of Middelburg’s house of correction, known as the Tuchthuis. The work is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection and presents five formally dressed men seated side by side, their gazes directed toward the viewer.