The Mennonite Preacher Cornelis Claesz Anslo (1592-1646) and his Wife Aeltje Gerritsdr Schouten

Cornelis Claesz Anslo (1592–1646) was both a successful businessman and at the same time a leading Dutch Mennonite preacher. Anslo had inherited his wealth from his father Claes Claesz, who was also a Mennonite, and like his father, he was a cloth merchant with far-reaching business connections, especially to the Baltic region. Documents also mention him as a ship owner. He continued to run the Anslohofje, a home for needy older women that his father had founded in 1615/16. His social commitment is not, however, the sole indication of his profound religious beliefs. In 1642, he paid 60,000 guilders, a substantial sum at that time, to the creditors of his brother-in-law, who had suffered a commercial failure in Danzig, even though he was not obliged to do so. In 1641, Anslo moved to the city centre, to Oudezijds Achterburgwal, to a large new house, today no. 173, which he bought a year later. The double portrait in the Berlin Gemäldegalerie dated 1641 must have been intended for this residence.
Although the choice of a large format implies that the commission was given by a prosperous businessman, he is not depicted as a member of this profession but as a preacher. Anslo is shown in his study. From the Bible, which lies open on the desk, he turns and speaks to his wife Aeltje Gerritsdr Schouten (1589–1657), to whom he had been married since 1611. The gesture of his left hand, which marks the centre of the whole composition and seems to thrust through the surface of the picture in a spontaneous movement, lends emphasis to his words. That Anslo must have preached the gospel not only in public but also in his private circles, to his children and his wife, with “an ecclesiastical mission” is demonstrated by the notes that Cornelis van der Vliet, a descendant of the preacher and the last head of the family, committed to paper in 1767.
The painting is directly associated with Rembrandt’s etching of 1641, which depicts the preacher alone (fig. left). Presumably in connection with the etching and probably also by commission of Anslo, who was known as an eloquent speaker, Joost van den Vondel composed four lines of verse, which can be freely translated as “Now then, Rembrandt, paint Cornelis’ voice, / What is visible is the least important part of him: / The invisible can only be experienced through the ears. / Those who want to see Anslo must hear him”. The verse expresses the generally held Protestant view that the word takes absolute priority over the image in disseminating religious faith. Although the Mennonites had long ceased to be as iconoclastic in the 17th century as they had been towards the end of the previous century, the theological dispute between the word and the image, hearing and seeing, the mind and the body, was still well and truly alive. This is confirmed by the etching, in which the motif of a painting that has been taken down, showing its reverse side to the beholder and leaning against the wall next to the figure of Anslo beneath a naked nail on the wall, unambiguously answers the question of whether the word or the image has primacy. In the painting, however, Rembrandt has captured the power of the word or of the great preacher’s voice, imparting life to the scene. In extending the likeness to a double portrait, he gives Anslo’s words an audience, his gesture a recipient. That his address is meaningful and effective is made clear by the sympathetic posture of his wife. Thus, the spoken word is elevated to the primary subject of the picture, which explains the juxtaposition of the figures and – in the manner of a history painting – presents the scene to the eye as a coherent act. Jan Kelch | 200 Masterpieces of European Painting - Gemäldegalerie Berlin, 2019