‘Non gloria, sed memoria’ (‘Not for glory, but for memory’) is the motto Joachim Wtewael has added to his portrait and that of his wife. Wtewael married Christina van Halen in 1595. He portrayed her as the ideal, god-fearing wife. The married couple is facing each other but is not looking at each other. Contact between the two is made through the hands. Painting was Wtewael’s second activity after his flax trade. He nevertheless left behind a large body of work and, today, is considered the most important Utrecht Mannerist.
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‘Non gloria, sed memoria’ (‘Not for glory, but for memory’) is the motto Joachim Wtewael has added to his portrait and that of his wife. Wtewael married Christina van Halen in 1595. He portrayed her as the ideal, god-fearing wife. The married couple is facing each other but is not looking at each other. Contact between the two is made through the hands. Painting was Wtewael’s second activity after his flax trade. He nevertheless left behind a large body of work and, today, is considered the most important Utrecht Mannerist.
Joachim Wtewael (Utrecht 1566 - Utrecht 1638) was schilder, vlashandelaar en raad van de stad Utrecht (1610, 1632-1636). In 1611 was hij een van de oprichters van het Sint Lucasgilde te Utrecht. Pendant van inv.nr. 2263, het portret van Christina van Halen, met wie hij in 1595 trouwde.
Documentation
"Kijk maar, er staat niet wat er staat", (Utrecht, 1976), p. 8, afb.
Arnoldus Bucelius "Res pictoriae", J.Q. van Regteren Altena, (Den Haag, 1928), p. 76
Beeldenstorm : 5 : close-ups van beeldende kunst, Henk van Os. onder red. van Thijs Tromp en Ineke Mesdag, (Amsterdam, 2001), pp. 123-124, met afb. 1 in kleur
