Jacob Jordaens: 12 works

'Like many Dutch artists of his time, Jordaens depicted moral sayings in many of his drawings and in a set of tapestry designs that was purchased by the governor of the Spanish Netherlands in 1647.'

'This is a study for one of the twelve signs of the Zodiac (also called The Twelve Months) painted for a ceiling in Jordaens's own house around 1641. Inspired by Rubens's practice, Jordaens used black, white and red chalk for this vibrant drawing.'

'This is without doubt one of Jacob Jordaens' most magnificent compositions. In this work, painted around 1623, a good eight years after Jordaens had become a free master, the painter is at peak of his career.'

'Through the application of a rich allegorical repertoire, so characteristic for the High Baroque, Jacob Jordaens presented Bacchus as a child with the attributes of the god of wine: bunches of grapes and various types of fruit, among lush vegetation in which, according to the ancients, his power manifested itself the strongest. The boy, with looks typical for Jordaens's style, is shown in a bold foreshortened perspective and the arrangement of the canvas, with the composition of still life in the foreground and the broad landscape in the background, reveals the plan of the artist: an attempt to create an illusion of three dimensions.'

'But he combined the influence of his mentor with a selection of burlesque, coarse and common physiognomies (showing the influence of the Netherlands successors to Caravaggio in both this and the usually close-up view) to create his own, unmistakeable style. In presenting "laughing but didactic" contents, Jordaens is also assimilating modern Dutch influences: in the Protestant Netherlands moralising genrepaintings -- always, however, in small format -- were much more highly esteemed than in Catholic Flanders.'

'Jordaens was one of the last great practitioners of the genre.'

'Using a characteristically Baroque sweeping horizontal composition, he effortlessly interwove human figures and animals into a frieze that follows from left to right, from anticipation--with jars and drinking vessels at the ready--to Moses' theatrical gesture. The figures' proportions and subtle foreshortening indicate that Jordaens intended the picture to be viewed from below.'

'Jordaens probably associated the scene with salvation, with Christ, the Virgin and St Joseph together with different figures of various characteristics, on route to a safe haven.'

'In accordance with Flemish baroque ideals of beauty Jacob Jordaens depicts Susanna with quite a voluptuous physique and has even put a smile on her face.'