Portrait of a Family

The family stands on the bank of a river in front of what presumably is their house. The people in the picture are clearly divided into two groups, masters and servants. The gentry is depicted in all their finer clothes while the others - with faces coarsened and darkened by outdoor work – stand in the background or to one side.
As Arentsz spent his whole career in Amsterdam and did not travel far afield, the river may well be the Ij and the location a village close to Amserdam. The topographical depiction and de squatness of the figures are typical of his early Amsterdam work.
The family portrait in the Hallwyl Collection is the only known family portrait by Arent Arentsz. Although its composition clearly follows the rest of his production as far as can be ascertained by comparing his works in other museums. Arentsz normally painted on elongated panels like this one and mostly restricted himself to painting fishermen and water front scenes.