Christianity CatholicSybilla Fonteijn: benefactress of the Church
Location
Het Hert
Oudezijds Voorburgwal 40
Type
Clandestine church
Religious community
Roman Catholic Church
Object
Mary, Mary Magdalene, John and Joseph of Arimathea mourn by Christ's dead body
Maker and date
Adriaen van de Velde
1664
Visit
At Our Lord in the Attic Museum
Current interior
Current exterior
When the last painting has been lifted up and placed against the church wall, Sybilla Fonteijn is nearly overwhelmed. The dead body of her Lord is depicted with vulnerability and stillness. The helpless grief of those mourning Jesus is tangible and touches her deeply. As she steps closer, she sees the tear in the eye of Joseph of Arimathea. The painter has understood the assignment well. His paintings will help the faithful to better immerse themselves during Mass in the suffering of Jesus, in his human nature, and in the sorrow of his mother and followers. This is exactly as Father Parmentier intended and explained to her and the painter. Sybilla is grateful that she can donate the paintings to the church.
Joseph of Arimathea is given permission by Pilate to take the dead body of Jesus off the cross and place it in a tomb. He is depicted here not as a rich benefactor, but as an ordinary man letting his emotions run wild.
Sybilla Fonteijn (?-1678), also known as Bellitje, commissioned the five paintings that Adriaen van de Velde (1636–1672) created for the hidden church Het Hert (“The Hart”). She came from a prominent and wealthy Catholic family. Her great-grandfather was the last Catholic mayor of Amsterdam. Sybilla herself also possessed considerable wealth and lived in the Begijnhof. As one of the many devout, unmarried Catholic women in Amsterdam, she had taken vows of chastity and poverty. Along with 20 other spiritual daughters, also known as klopjes, she assisted Father Parmentier in supporting the clandestine church both practically and financially, and in caring for the faithful during illness and misfortune. A contemporary praised her humility and the many alms she gave to the poor. She was also known as “a great benefactress of the Church.” Sybilla was buried in the Oude Kerk.
hidden church
Building in which hidden religious services were held in the Dutch Republic (1588-1795). Christian denominations outside the Calvinist church, such as Catholics, Lutherans, Mennonites and Remonstrants, had to practice their religions in hidden churches.
'Klopjes' or spiritual daughters are distinguished by their sober clothing that has a uniform appearance. Thus, they are still recognisable as a group (Catholic religious women) without violating the ban on religious clothing in public spaces.
Petrus Parmentier (1601–1681) served as a priest at the clandestine church Het Hert from ca. 1662 to 1670. After that, he was priest at the clandestine church De Ster until his death. Sybilla Fonteijn and Parmentier likely met the originally Protestant painter Adriaen van de Velde (1636–1672) at the clandestine church. Van de Velde was married to the Catholic Maria Pieters Ouderkerck (1638–1684). Their daughters Eva, Sara, and Aleida were baptized in Het Hert.
A Passion series depicts the suffering of Jesus as described in the Bible. Adriaen van de Velde's Passion series consists of five paintings: Jesus in Gethsemane, Flagellation, Crowning of Thorns and Mockery, Carrying of the Cross, Lamentation. In 2019, the Scourging and Lamentation were restored.
Hermine Pool
Head of collections and research, senior curator of religious heritage Our Lord in the Attic Museum
Thanks to
Thijs Boers
Curator Amsterdam Museum, former curator Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder
Robert Schillemans
Former curator Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder
Last edited
August 12, 2025
Lamentation, Adriaen van de Velde, 1664, oil on canvas, 92 x 140 cm. Collection Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder. Photo Kathrin Kirsch.
Interior and exterior: photography Robert Westera.
Lamentation (detail), Adriaen van de Velde, 1664, oil on canvas, 92 x 140 cm. Collection Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder. Photo Kathrin Kirsch.
Spiritual daughter, Jacob de Man, c. 1680, devotional print, 11 x 7 cm. Collection Museum Catharijneconvent. Photo Ruben de Heer.
Flagellation, Adriaen van de Velde, 1664, oil on canvas, 92 x 140 cm. Collection Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder. Photo Kathrin Kirsch.
Boers, Th., 'De missionaris Petrus Parmentier (1601-1681) en zijn geestelijke dochters' in: Amstelodamum (Jaarboek 103, 2011) pp.70-97.
Lenarduzzi, C., Katholiek in de Republiek. De beleveniswereld van een religieuze minderheid 1570-1750 (Nijmegen 2019).
Monteiro, M., Geestelijke maagden. Leven tussen klooster en wereld in Noord-Nederland gedurende de zeventiende eeuw (Hilversum 1996).
Schillemans, R., Adriaen van de Velde. De Passieserie uit 1664 (Karel van Mander Academie 2022).
Online sources
Giersbergen, P.J.N.A. van, Portret van Petrus Parmentier
Last visited 12-08-2025
