(Alkmaar circa 1575/81–1652)
A Witches’ Sabbath,
signed and dated on the right side of the grotto entrance: C Heck fe/ 1650,
oil on panel, 39 x 57.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private collection, Germany

We are grateful to Fred Meijer for endorsing the present painting as an autograph work by the artist on the basis of a photograph.

In the present composition, a horde of swarming demons circle above a panoramic landscape, where a village has just been set on fire by two demons who are exuberantly pranking around at the foot of an obelisk. In front of the composition a procession of mysterious figures and monstrous creatures, derived from the works of Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Brueghel the Elder, is led by a witch and accompanied by a druid. The group passes by Saint Anthony the Great, who can be seen kneeling in front of an altar, surrounded by more witches, demons and creatures, visible lower left. Below a group of witches are stirring in a kettle and await the arrival of the parade and their principal witch. Within the procession a multi headed dragon-like creature is seen, with hats reminiscent of the red cardinal biretta and the red cardinal galero, the golden crown worn by the third monster head might refer to the papal tiara. On the back of this creature a half-naked woman is seated holding two burning torches high above her head. The monster and the woman are reminiscent of the ones described in Revelation 17:3–6 where the Whore of Babylon rides a similar creature, traditionally she was used to represent false religion. The combination of these elements may be understood as a critique of Catholicism by Protestant reformers.

This scene takes place in a landscape similar to the ones by the Flemish artists Paul Bril and Willem van Nieulandt II, who both travelled to Rome in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The classical architecture, ruins and obelisk in the composition refer to the ancient city and might have been motifs the artist took from his fellow artists, as there is no record of Van der Heck crossing the Alps himself. In the upper right corner a group of flying demons have dragged Saint Anthony in the sky plaguing him with their torches reminiscent of the famous print by Martin Schongauer of the same subject, conserved in the Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main (inv. no. 33744). The artist must have been intrigued by the motifs in his compositions because we encounter them in many of his works. At least four other versions of this composition are known amongst which is a signed and dated version by the artist currently conserved in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. SK-A-2373), and on long term loan to the Stedelijk Museum in Alkmaar. Another version is conserved in the Musée Bertrand, Châteauroux (inv. no. 307).

The artist is mentioned by Karel van Mander in his Schilderboeck as one of the founders of the Guild of Saint Luke, Alkmaar in 1631. Van der Heck mostly worked as a landscape painter and was trained by Jan Nagel in this field. His panoramas often are the setting of his biblical and mythological scenes, as is the case in the present painting. From his early years onwards, the artist must have been familiar with the works of the Haarlem master Maarten van Heemskerck, since his father was a nephew of this notable sixteenth-century master and had collected some of his works. Van der Heck named his son after his distant relation and trained him in the profession. He then used the name Maarten Heemskerck van der Heck as a reference to the artist in Haarlem. The paintings of Claes Jacobsz van der Heck are often mistaken and attributed to that of his cousin, Claes Dircksz van der Heck. Recently the artist was re-introduced in his birth town when new research on the master resulted in the first exhibition on his works, held by the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar in 2016.