The Van Moerkerken Family
by TERBORCH, Gerard, Oil on wood, 41 x 36 cm
The picture represents the artists’s cousin Hartogh van Moerkerken (1622-1694), his first wife Sibilla Nijkerken (1625-1665), and their son Philippus (1652-1688). The watch held by the head of the family can be interpreted as a vanitas motif (a reminder of mortality) or as a symbol of temperance.