JACOB FRANSZ VAN DER MERCK ('s-Gravendeel c. 1610 – Leiden 1664)
Indulgence in Worldly Pleasures
signed in monogram IVM on the map
oil on panel
15 ¾ x 21 1/16 inches (39.5 x 53.5 cm.)
MORAL MAYHEM?
Maybe you think this particular email arrives in your inbox at a funny time of year. Spring is bursting, vaccines are helping to claw the world slowly out of lockdown (hopefully) and we are on the cusp of a significant shift in the way we may live our lives moving forward.
Before we delve into the subject of this week’s painting, let’s put it out there: Prostitution was considered ‘normal’ (loaded word) in Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome! There is a variety of information on this subject, but most is probably not what you are up for reading with your morning coffee. In summary, it was not a prominent position in those societies, but in no way did prostitution have the stigma it carries with it today.
Researchers believe that – in general- the immorality of prostitution was always tolerated. It is mentioned in the Bible and seen as a necessary evil of humankind. In many medieval cities in Europe, it was regulated and confined to certain sections of the city. In the teachings of the church in the middle ages, it was considered a forgivable sin – prostitutes, procurers and their subjects could all be absolved. Given that during this time, there was no separation of church and state, the civic laws were the church’s morals and thus it was not considered criminal. However, in the 16th century this moral position altered dramatically in Northern Europe. Why the shift? One word – Syphilis.
Syphilis’s effect on Europe cannot be understated. This deadly disease swept through Europe creating a fear of sex and a hatred of prostitutes that would forever alter the way society viewed prostitution. Along with this epidemic, the sweeping changes of the Reformation brought a noticeable revision in the handling of this oldest of professions. Whenever a city was taken over by the Calvinists during the course of the Dutch Revolt, one of the first acts of the new city government was to close down the municipal brothels and to suppress prostitution. In Amsterdam, this happened in 1578. This represented more than a change in prostitution policy. It marked a paradigm shift in the way the relationship between God and man was conceived. God no longer forgave sins, He punished them. Prostitutes were no longer sinners who could be saved, they were criminals who should be punished.
As is often the case, there is theory and there is reality. Couples unwed but living together were able to avoid this criminality, however adultery, was another story: it was viewed very seriously indeed. This was especially the case, if the adulterers were wealthy! The charge of adultery could be bought off with a part of the fine going to the bailiff personally, thus justice weighed more heavily on the upper classes! So, ironically in the 17th century, it was more difficult to be immoral if you were rich!
The Brunswick Monogrammist (Jan van Amstel?), Tavern or Brothel Scene, ca. 1540, oil on panel, 29 x 45 cm. Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, inv. no. 558 (artwork in the public domain)
Now, what is interesting is how much this was reflected in art. 16th century genre pictures of this subject were larger compositions – a multitude of characters and activities. Drunken fools being robbed, gamblers, musicians, prostitutes and their procuress are all depicted in an inn or tavern – raucous behaviour abounds. Many were overlaid with such themes as Luxury and Gluttony but they were still larger, broader compositions. (see Fig 1)
However, as the morality of this behaviour became more offensive, the scenes depicted are still the same, but the composition is scaled down. A more typical 17th century scene, as we have in our painting, is a particularly private affair. We still have the procuress, the prostitute and the fool (or client!) but in a smaller, intimate scene. As the activity became more immoral (criminal), it went further underground. Inns were shut down and the spaces that these illicit activities took place were further limited, yet the acts themselves were consistently represented. The procuress as a nasty old woman, the client as a drunken fool and the prostitute as young temptress. So, the oldest profession in the world stays the same, but the morality of it fluctuates.
To be clear, prostitution was never seen as a respectable job in modern society, but it was generally tolerated until the church decided that syphilis was God’s punishment for this lascivious evil. As society has evolved, the pendulum seems to have swung back the other direction and for parts of the world (and society) this same medieval tolerance and possible understanding is strangely more fashionable. It is famously known that in 2000, The Netherlands officially made prostitution legal – thus regulated and taxable. Once again, history seems to naturally close the circle and we realize that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
7 April, 2021
For more information about this painting click here.
Much of this information is taken from the research of Lotte C. van der Pol and her article "The Whore, the Bawd, and the Artist: The Reality and Imagery of Seventeenth-Century Dutch Prostitution," in Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art.