Christmas Day 1900
The painting depicts selected female members of the Brøndum family. On the left are Marie and Hulda, in the centre, Ane Brøndum, then Helga and Anna Ancher. The women are gathered around a table placed alongside one of the walls in Brøndum’s dining room, where Michael Ancher’s triptych Breakers on the coast from 1884/85 is installed in the panelling of the room. On the table is an open bible, from which Marie has been reading aloud, before apparently being interrupted by something taking place outside the picture frame. The seriousness and solemnity of the prayers are underlined by Ane’s folded hands and the serenity that the women exude is offset by the turbulent sea in the picture behind them. The women can be divided into two groups: Marie, Hulda and Ane Brøndum constitute the first group, while Helga and Anna Ancher form the second.
