De Zaligmaker in Church (oil on canvas)

This painting depicts Geertje Karregat (1837-1924) known as de Zaligmaker (the Saviour), holding a rosary, in a pew of the seventeenth century Protestant Church of Volendam.Behind her, an older man and two children are seated. Geertje was married to the fisherman Jan Pooijer Pantjes (1828-1898) with whom she had five children. They lived in the Doolhof, on a narrow street in the oldest part in he centre of Volendam, in a house so tiny that the Land Registry regarded it as too small to list. In their old age, they took any job they could find to keep financially afloat. After Geertje was widowed at the age of 61, she knitted sweaters, socks, and muffs on order. Why she came to be known as de Zaligmaker stems from the job she took to pray and prepare the villagers for their funerals. Clothed in the traditional garb of the village, Geertje was photographed by tourists, and due to her striking appearance, became a popular model for artists.