This theme does not appear in panel painting of the pre-Reformation era; Christ blessing the children may be found sporadically in Medieval illuminated manuscripts of the 11th to 14th centuries. The great distribution of this theme soon after the onset of the Reformation is linked with the polemic of the period between Martin Luther and his supporters and the Anabaptists, who refused to christen children. Luther spoke out several times against the Anabaptists, inter alia in the years 1522 and 1537-1538. The depiction of Christ as the friend of children also touches on a further aspect of Lutheran teaching: the emphasis on the role of the family and Luther's rejection of celibacy. Many of the preserved examples of Suffer the Little Children to Come unto Me come from this period around 1537-1538. Even though the painting depicts a scene from the New Testament, which is referred to in the Gospels according to Matthew (19,13-15), Mark (10,13-16) and Luke (18,15-17), all the preserved examples are provided with quotations only from St Mark's Gospel: they quote either verse 13, or, as in our case, they quote the following verse. In our scene Christ is blessing the children, turning directly only to the very youngest, brought by their mothers. In the background several of the Apostles are watching with displeasure, outstanding among them being Peter.
