Early years

Jacob Jordaens was born in Antwerp on 19 May 1593, the first of eleven children of the wealthy linen merchant Jacob Jordaens and Barbara van Wolschaten.^[7] Little is known about Jordaens' early education. It is likely that he received the advantages of the education usually provided for children of his social class as is demonstrated by his clear handwriting, competence in French and thorough knowledge of mythology. His familiarity with biblical subjects is further evidenced in his many religious paintings. His personal interest in the Bible was illustrated by his later conversion from Catholicism to Protestantism.^[2]

Self-portrait with the Family of his Father-in-Law Adam van Noort, 1616

Like Rubens, he studied under Adam van Noort, who was his only teacher.^[2] He was registered in the local Guild of Saint Luke as a pupil of van Noort in the year 1607.^[8] During this time Jordaens lived in van Noort's house in the Everdijstraat where he became very close to the family. In 1615, after eight years of training with van Noort, he was accepted in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke as a master "waterscilder" ('water painter').^[2][8] It has been inferred from this that Jordaens initially painted tempera canvases, which in the 17th century served as substitutes for tapestries or were used as tapestry cartoons.^[3][9][10] No examples of his earliest tempera works are extant. It is not clear whether Jordaens actually painted such works as his master van Noort was not known to create such works.^[10]

Portrait of the artist's eldest daughter Elisabeth

Jordaens never made the traditional trip to Italy to study classical and Italian art.^[11] On 15 May 1616, he married his master's eldest daughter, Catharina van Noort. The couple had three children, Elizabeth, Jacob the younger, who became a painter, and Anna Catharina.^[12] The couple originally lived with or near Jordaens' father in law. In 1618, they bought two adjoining houses in the Hoogstraat, the street where Jordaens was born, but which were situated behind the house of the merchant Backx. His father in law later moved in with them.^[13] Jordaens became in 1616 a member of the 'Gilde van de Armenbus' (Guild of the Poor Box).^[3] This guild was a sort of insurance pool for artists with health problems.^[6] On 28 September 1621 he took on the position of dean of the Guild of Saint Luke. He accepted the position on condition that he would solely cover the expenses incurred during his tenure and not be responsible for the debts left by his predecessors. He held the position for only one year.^[14]

Career

Even before he was admitted as a master in the Guild he had started working for the free market.^[14] In the early period of his career he had contact with the workshop of Rubens in Antwerp and produced many mythological and allegorical compositions as well as biblical scenes.^[6] In 1628, he was, together with Rubens and van Dyck, commissioned by the Augustine order to each paint an altar in the Augustine church in Antwerp. Rubens painted a Virgin and Child Adored by Saints for the high altar while van Dyck contributed a St. Augustine in Ecstasy for the altar on the left. Jordaens painted the Martyrdom of St. Apollonia for the altar on the right (still in situ).^[15] Jordaens' rendition of the martyrdom of St. Apollonia, who jumped into a fire rather than denounce her faith in the 3rd century, is crowded and dramatic. It was likely Rubens who had been able to secure this commission. That Jordaens was also invited to contribute to this project shows the high regard in which he was already held at that early period of his career.^[16]

The Triumph of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange

Jordaens was one of the artists invited to work on the decorations for the Joyous Entry into Antwerp of the new governor of the Habsburg Netherlands Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand in 1635. Rubens was in overall charge of this project. For this event, Jordaens made decorative paintings after designs by Rubens.^[14] In collaboration with Cornelis de Vos he completed the triumphal arch of Philip that was erected in the Huidenvetterstraat. It was one of the principal decorative elements in Rubens's designs. It has not been preserved as it was solely intended as a temporary decoration for the Joyous Entry.^[1]

Rubens received in 1636 a commission from the Spanish king Philip IV of Spain to create various mythological paintings to decorate the Torre de la Parada, a hunting lodge of the king near Madrid. The mythological scenes depicted in the series were largely based on the Metamorphoses of Ovid. Rubens realized this important commission with the assistance of a large number of Antwerp painters such as David Teniers the Younger, Cornelis de Vos, Jan Cossiers, Peter Snayers, Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert, Theodoor van Thulden, Jan Boeckhorst, Peeter Symons, Jacob Peter Gowy and others, who worked after Rubens' modellos.^[17] Jordaens also played his part in this collaborative effort.^[18] Two works in the series attributed to Jordaens are Apollo and Pan (1637), made after a sketch by Rubens, and Vertummus and Pomona (1638).^[18] Further contributions which he may have made are the Fall of the Titans, the Marriage of Peleus and Thetis, and Cadmus Sowing the Dragons Teeth.^[18]

The Woman, the Fool and his Cat

Royal patronage

Sometime during the years 1639–40, Jordaens was commissioned through Balthazar Gerbier, the English King Charles' agent in Brussels, and Cesare Alessandro Scaglia, a diplomat residing in Antwerp, to create a set of 22 paintings illustrating The Story of Cupid and Psyche.^[19] Van Dyck's Cupid and Psyche may also be related to this commission. While the works were to be displayed in the Queen's House at Greenwich upon completion, the patron and final location were unknown to Jordaens at the time he received the commission.^[20] When Jordaens submitted his initial designs to his intermediaries between himself and the English court, Gerbier was still attempting to convince the King that Rubens was a better choice for a project requiring a thorough skill in foreshortening.^[21] His efforts failed when Rubens died on 30 May 1640. With Rubens' death, Jordaens was given the sole responsibility for the entire commission.^[19] Efforts to complete the project continued slowly until in May 1641 all plans for The Story of Cupid and Psyche series were disrupted with the death of the diplomat Scaglia. The project was never completed and only eight paintings were delivered to the English Court. A dispute with Scaglia's heirs over payment for seven of these works continued into the next generation.^[19]

He also received a commission from Ruben's heirs to finish a painting of Hercules and Andromeda commissioned by Philip IV of Spain. On 21 April 1648 he received a commission to produce 35 large ceiling paintings for Queen Christina of Sweden's castle in Uppsala, Sweden. It is not clear whether Jordaens ever completed this commission or if the works ever reached their destination.

In 1651 he received one of his final large commissions. Amalia van Solms, widow of the Dutch Stadtholder Prince Frederick Henry of Orange invited various artists to decorate the manorial house Huis ten Bosch in The Hague which was built in 1645. For the Orange hall in the manor, Jordaens painted the Triumph of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, a large allegorical painting of Prince Frederick Henry's military successes.^[6]

Psyche receives the cup of immortality on the Olympus

In 1661, he was commissioned to paint large lunettes for the newly constructed Amsterdam Town Hall. Two of the lunettes deal with biblical subjects, (the David and Goliath and Samson defeats the Philistines) and two depict scenes from Dutch history (A Roman Camp under Attack by Night and Peace between the Romans and the Batavians).^[7]

A palatial residence in Antwerp

In 1633, his parents' estate was divided among himself, his brother Izaak and his sisters Anna, Magdalena and Elisabeth. From the estate he received his birth house "Het Paradijs". In 1634 he bought two more houses on the Verversrui. In 1639 Jordaens bought the large house "De Halle van Lier" or "Turnhoutsche Halle", at number 43 on the Hoogstraat, which was located in front of the houses in which he was then living. He had the three houses converted into a new large complex.^[22] He lived and worked there until his death in 1678.^[12] He designed the facades of the large inner court yard in the style of Rubens' house constructed two decades earlier.^[14] He decorated the house with sculptures, carpets and decorative furniture. For the two back rooms on the south he created ceiling paintings, including the series of The Signs of the Zodiac, twelve allegorical paintings of the signs of the Zodiac, painted around 1640. The series is now installed in the ceiling of the East Gallery of the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris.^[14][23]

In 1652 he painted for his 'showroom' (pronkkamer) in the south wing of his home nine ceiling pieces depicting the erotic history of the god of love Cupid and the royal daughter Psyche. According to the inventory left by Jordaens' grandchildren, these paintings were part of the sale of the house in 1708. The walls and doors of the room were also covered with paintings. This was the room where Jordaens received his guests and clients. The decoration of the room was intended to impress his visitors by his mastery through the depiction of the mythological tale of earthly and heavenly love, betrayal and fidelity. As the paintings from the Story of Cupid and Psyche were mounted on the ceiling, Jordaens used a lot of foreshortening in the pictures to create the illusion of depth. The perspective system was borrowed verbatim from Rubens' ceiling pieces in the Jesuit church in Antwerp. The paintings are viewed through an octagonal 'aperture' frame.^[24] The canvas entitled Psyche receives the cup of immortality on the Olympus is the centrepiece of the series. Other paintings in the series are Psyche's Father Questions the Oracle in the Temple of Apollo, the Love of Cupid and Psyche, the Oracle of Apollo, the Curiosity of Psyche, Cupid's Flight, Psyche Received by the Gods and two putti pieces. The original ceiling and door paintings have survived and are now in the collection of The Phoebus Foundation in Antwerp. The paintings on the walls are lost but some of the designs for them have been preserved.^[25]

Meeting of Odysseus and Nausicaa

Religion

In Antwerp, which was ruled by Catholic Spanish monarchs, the Protestant religion was forbidden although it should have been tolerated under the terms of the 1648 Peace of Münster which officially recognised the Dutch Republic. Towards the end of his lifetime Jordaens converted to Calvinism. He, his wife and daughter Elizabeth were members of the Calvinist congregation that had been established in Antwerp after the Peace of Münster despite the continued repression of Protestantism in the Habsburg Netherlands. His daughter Anna Catharina was likely also a member as she married a Jansenist.^[14] His religious affiliation did not stop him from accepting commissions to decorate Catholic churches.^[7][26] De schout of Antwerp fined Jordaens between 1651 and 1658 an amount of 200 pounds and 15 shillings for his 'scandalous' (i.e. heretical) writings.^[14]

Death and burial

In October 1678, Jordaens died of the mysterious sweating sickness ('zweetziekte' or 'polderkoorts' in Dutch), which, on the same day, also killed his unmarried daughter Elizabeth, who was living with him. They were buried together under one tombstone in the Protestant cemetery in Putte, a village just north of the Belgian border, where his wife Catharina had been put to rest upon her death in 1659.^[14]

Candaules Showing His Wife to Gyges

One year after his death, Jordaens' son-in-law donated twenty-five Flemish pounds to the Camer van den Huysarmen ('Chamber of the Almoners') in Antwerp.^[7] He also donated Jordaens' painting The Washing and Anointing of the Body of Christ to the Maagdenhuis, an orphanage for girls in Antwerp. Apparently, these gifts were made in execution of instructions which Jacob Jordaens, who died intestate, had left behind.^[7] During his lifetime the kindness of Jordaens was recognized by those who knew him as is attested by various surviving documents.

The grandchildren of Jordaens moved to the Dutch Republic.^[22]

Workshop practice

Jordaens managed a large workshop as is attested by the large number of pupils that trained with him. A position in Jordaens' studio was highly desirable for young artists. The Guild records show he trained fifteen pupils between 1621 and 1667, the most famous of whom was Jan Boeckhorst. Six other persons are referred to as his pupils in court documents while they do not appear in the Guild records. It is therefore probable that he had more students than those recorded in the Guild records. Among his pupils were his son Jacob and his cousin Arnoldus Jordaens.^[14] Through his international reputation Jordaens attracted foreign artists to his studio as his pupils. After 1642 the Polish artist Aleksander Jan Tricius became his pupil and in 1645 Queen Christina of Sweden intended to send her protégé Georg Waldau (Joris Waldon) to his workshop, but this plan came to nothing due to the threat of war in Flanders.^[3]

Like Rubens and other artists at that time, Jordaens' workshop relied on assistants and pupils in the production of his paintings. Not many of these pupils went on to achieve fame themselves.^[27] His workshop practices occasionally caused him trouble. In 1648 one of his patrons, Martinus van Langenhoven, accused him of having sold him inauthentic paintings. Jordaens defended himself against the accusation with the argument that he had personally put the finishing touches on works executed by assistants in his workshop.^[14]

General

The Satyr and the Peasant, c. 1650, at Christie's

Jordaens was a very prolific painter, draftsman and designer of tapestries and prints who left a large oeuvre. He worked primarily, though not exclusively, for the rich Antwerp bourgeoisie. He received also a few commissions from aristocratic patrons. The many commissions, also from church patrons, he received after becoming the leading Flemish painter following Rubens' death resulted in a decline in the quality of his output due to an increased reliance on workshop assistance. Jordaens' paintings are populated with many figures, even though he lacked compositional talent. He combined high art with folk culture related elements. The popular tone of his genre painting sometimes borders on the caricature as he depicts his personages acting in a very effusive manner. His art has often been regarded as less idealized than that of Rubens and van Dyck.^[6] Nevertheless, it is now known that even though he did not read Latin or Greek and was thus unable to access the classical sources in their original language, he did rely on his knowledge of French to read classical literature in French translations. It is, for instance, known that for his Marsyas ill-treated by the Muses (on display at the Mauritshuis, The Hague), Jordaens relied on a French translation of the Eikones (Images) by Greek author Philostratus. This author of the third century A.D. wrote descriptions of 65 paintings which he had seen in a picture gallery in Naples. Jordaens's painting of Marsyas illustrates the painting entitled "Pan" in the Eikones.^[28]

An example of this combination of high art and populist tendencies is shown in his multiple versions of the fable of The Satyr and the Peasant. Based on the fable of the Satyr and the Peasant from Aesop's Fables, Jordaens used the fable to combine two of the painting genres in which he excelled: mythological painting and the peasant genre. His various interpretations of the subject and the many repetitions of these works by his workshop and followers popularized the theme which was then taken up by Flemish and Dutch painters such as Jan Cossiers and Jan Steen.^[29]

Influence of Rubens

The King Drinks, 1640-1645

Jordaens was greatly influenced by Rubens who occasionally employed him to reproduce his designs in a larger format. After the death of Rubens, Jordaens advanced to the position of one of the most prominent painters in Antwerp.^[30] Like Rubens, Jordaens relied on a warm palette, naturalism, and a mastery of chiaroscuro and tenebrism. Jordaens excelled in representations of the base character of humanity. His classically inspired peasant themes and large-scale moralistic genre scenes influenced Jan Steen. Although Jacob Jordaens did not specialize, he often repeated a theme based on a proverb that depicted a wide range of characters of a variety of ages, crowded in a festive scene around a banquet table. These humorous pieces have a sense of coarseness.^[7] While Jordaens drew upon Rubens' motifs throughout his career, his work is distinguished by its greater realism, a crowding of the surface of his compositions and a preference for the burlesque, even within the context of religious and mythological subjects.^[30]

In the final years of his career between 1652 and 1678 his creative and artistic abilities declined. He abandoned vibrant colours in favour of a grey-blue palette, accented at times with a dull brown and applied paint so thinly that the canvas could be seen. However, there were some exceptions to this such as the religious paintings he produced after he had converted to Protestantism and the Story of Cupid and Psyche that he created for his own house.^[7]

Subjects

In addition to being a well-known portrait painter, Jordaens painted biblical, mythological and allegorical subjects and landscapes and even etched a number of plates. Although primarily a history painter, he also painted illustrations of Flemish proverbs, such as As the Old Sing, So the Young Pipe, and depictions of Flemish festivals, for example The King Drinks, also called The Feast of the Bean King.^[7] Several of his works hint at a passion for animal painting. He often included a variety of animals, most likely drawn from life, including cows, horses, poultry, cats, dogs, and sheep. His life drawings of both animals and people were used and referenced throughout his life.^[4]

Adoration of the Shepherds, 1618, National Museum, Stockholm

Throughout his career Jordaens had a penchant for returning to the same subjects resulting in various works reprising the same subject, sometimes in almost identical copies and in other instances as reworkings of the subject matter. Examples are the multiple versions of the fable of The Satyr and the Peasant discussed above and the multiple versions of the story of Mercury and Argus, the earliest version of which was painted circa 1620 (Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon).^[31] As a devout Christian he also painted various versions of the Adoration of the Shepherds of which he painted at least 7 versions. In the latter subject he usually grouped half-length figures closely together and cropped the scene so that the viewer would focus all attention on the figures. This compositional approach sought to intensify the narrative and accentuate the characters' expression.

As the Old Sing, So the Young Pipe

As the Old Sang, So the Young Pipe

As the Old Sang, So the Young Pipe (c.1638–1640) is considered a companion to The King Drinks (also called The Feast of the Bean King) (Louvre, Paris). Both paintings are of a moralizing nature, have near identical measurements, and related styles.^[32] As the Old Sang, So the Young Pipe shows three generations of wealthy Antwerp burghers sitting around a table making music. Being a popular theme among Jordaens and his clients, several versions of this painting were created. In the version shown, Jordaens' father-in-law Adam van Noort is depicted as the old man. In this popular painting genre, elderly and middle-aged figures are always portrayed singing and creating music, as children "pipe" along.^[32]

The title is based on a popular proverb from the book Spiegel van den Ouden ende Nieuwen Tijdt, an Emblem book by Jacob Cats published in 1632. The Dutch proverb is Zo de ouden zongen, zo piepen de jongen, referring to the habit of birds to echo the pipe, or peeping chirp of their parents. Cats, a Calvinist, translated the proverb into a moralizing message; parents must be mindful of their actions and words, because children will copy their elders.^[32] The Dutch word for peep is just as in English, very close to the word pipe, and in this version, the bagpipe and flute pipe are used, but in some versions, the children are portrayed smoking a pipe, which even in those days was considered unhealthy for children.

Jan Steen also used a bagpipe and flute in his paintings on the same subject from around 1668 and 1670, even depicting the poem by Cats in the former of the two scenes. In his paintings however, Jordaens conveys this moralizing message as well as the idea that younger generations succeed their elders. The owl, considered the bird of the night, perched on the older woman's wicker chair, serves as a memento mori, a reminder of mortality.^[32]

Prometheus

Jordaens' 1640 painting Prometheus (depiction of the mythological tale of the titan Prometheus who had his liver pecked out by an eagle each day only to regenerate and begin the cycle anew the next day.^[33] Prometheus was punished for his audacity by Zeus for having given fire to man, not just in its physical form, but also in the fire of reason, which can be related to man's creativity in arts and sciences.^[33] Jordaens' depiction is very much likened to Rubens Prometheus. Jordaens' positioning of the eagle, the backwards, heroically nude bloodshot-eyed Prometheus as well as the depiction of the punishment and pain through spastic twisting and contorted movements, are also common themes in Rubens' version.^[34]

Prometheus (1640), Cologne

In contrast with Rubens' version, Jordaens' depiction of Hermes arguable holds out the hope of release from the punishment; as in certain versions of the mythological story, Hermes helps obtain Prometheus gain freedom.^[35] Still, in the Prometheus Bound attributed to Aeschylus, Hermes treats Prometheus badly, which would undermine this optimistic interpretation. The depiction of the sacks of bones (used in another part of the myth to deceive Zeus) and a clay statue (which represents his creation of man) are also not part of Rubens' composition.^[35] Another notable difference is the look of pure agony in Jordaens' Prometheus while Rubens relies on the contortions of the body to convey the same feeling. Jordaens' Prometheus is a facial study, a prevalent subject found in the paintings of Jordaens and other artists of the period.