Attributed to Ludger tom Ring the Younger (German, 1522–1584)
Oil on wood
Central panel 31 3/8 x 37 5/8 in. (79.7 x 95.6 cm); each wing 32 x 14 5/8 in. (81.3 x 37.1 cm)
Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917 (17.190.13–15)
This formal portrait of an unidentified Westphalian family was made around 1575–80, perhaps on the occasion of the wedding of the unidentified man, whose age is indicated as thirty-three, and the woman, only eighteen, on the left and right wings. In keeping with this theme, the flowers strewn on the table before Christ symbolize love, commitment, faith, and possibly fertility, while the book nearby and those held by the men signal the habitual reading of the Holy Scriptures. The triptych is generally attributed to Ludger tom Ring the Younger, who converted to Protestantism and was known as a specialist in portraiture and still-life painting. The presence of a divine yet human Christ in the midst of this family gathering indicates their espousal of Protestant teachings. The texts above the figures from the Gospel of Saint John and from Psalms are, indeed, translated from Martin Luther's Bible into Low German (Niederdeutsch). The frames on the three panels are original, but their decoration in blue paint and with cast medallions and flourishes in thickened gesso was added later. The panels were never hinged together and thus were not intended to be opened and closed; this is an unusual, secular adaptation of a form associated with religious painting.
