Christ blessing the Children

Artist: Nicolaes Maes (Dutch, 1634 - 1693)

Original Dimensions: 85 7/8" x 60 5/8"

Location: National Gallery of Art, London

About Artwork: (1652-3) "Nicolaes Maes has turned a biblical moment into a scene from his own time, illustrating part of the Gospel of Matthew (19.13–14): ‘Then there were brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’ The words would have been familiar in seventeenth-century Protestant Holland, where the godly upbringing of children was important. Although Christ is dressed in a ‘biblical’ robe, the other figures wear the clothes of working people of the time. Maes used strong contrast between light and dark, and dark colours enlivened with touches of red, most vividly in the cheeks of the little girl Christ blesses. He would have learned these techniques as a student in Rembrandt’s studio." - (National Gallery of Art, London)