Jacob Jordaens was born in May 19, 1593 and died October 18, 1678. He was one of three Flemish Baroque painters, along with Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, to bring prestige to the Antwerp school of painting. Unlike those contemporaries he never traveled abroad to study Italian painting, and his career is marked by an indifference to their intellectual and courtly aspirations. In fact, except for a few short trips to locations in the Low Countries, he remained in Antwerp his entire life. As well as being a successful painter, he was a prominent designer of tapestries.
Satyr and Peasant, This particular scene, of which Jordaens painted many versions, illustrates a moralizing fable from Aesop's book of "Fables," which was developed in the 6th Century BCE in Ancient Greece. The story begins with a man and a satyr. One cold day, as they talked, the man put his fingers to his mouth and blew on them. When the satyr asked the reason for this, he told him that he did it to warm his hands. Later on that day when they sat down to eat, the man raised his dish of hot food towards his mouth and blew on it. When the satyr again inquired the reason, he said that he did it to cool the food, which was too hot. The satyr then informs the man, ?I can no longer consider you as a friend, a fellow who with the same breath blows hot and cold.? The moral of this story is the duality of human nature, although some believe that Jordaens chose this story not for his interest in it's moral lesson, but for his interest in rendering a peasant scene.
The particular moment which Jordaens depicts in his painting is when the satyr declares that he cannot trust the man who blows both hot and cold. The satyr raises his hand and begins to stand up and leave the man?s home. The man eats his porridge while the satyr rises abruptly addressing him. Jordaens chooses to place the scene inside a farmhouse, complete with a bull, dog, cat, and rooster integrated around the furniture and figures. A variety of age groups are represented around the table; a young boy stands behind the man?s chair, an old woman holds a young child, while a youthful woman peers over the Satyr's shoulder.
Characteristic of Jordaens? artistic style all the figures are pushed forward toward the front of the composition, crowded together in this small space. Also Jordaens uses tenebrism and chiaroscuro to create dramatic lighting, which illuminates certain figures in the scene, such as the baby in the old woman?s lap. Jordaens creates a sense of naturalism with the depiction of the dirty feet of the seated peasant seated in the foreground, linking him with the Carravagistic tendencies contemporaneous in Flemish art of the time. Jordaens created two versions of this subject around 1620-21. For this version, it seems he may have used the same female sitter for The Satyr and the Peasant as he did for The Adoration of the Shepherds, and it is thought that Jordaens used this painting as instruction for his assistants and pupils, as many versions and copies of the scene have been found which bear the same style, but without the master's stamp
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/JordaensSatyrandPeasant.jpg
Satyr and the Peasant
The Infant Jupiter Fed by the Goat Amalthea 1630-35. At the foot of a gentle slope, The Infant Jupiter Fed by the Goat Amalthea (1630-35) is set in a landscape. The focus of the composition is on the nymph Andrastea, whose pale nakedness is contrasted by the darker hues of the other figures. She sits on ground with her legs folded partly underneath her and a cloth draped around her hips. She has one hand on the back of the goat Amalethea and the other pulls on the goat's udder, squirting milk into a dish. The infant Jupiter sits behind her, holding an empty bottle and crying for food. In an attempt to distract Jupiter, a satyr pulls a branch. An engraving after the canvas by Schelte a Bolswert clarifies the moral significance of the subject: according to the Latin inscription on the print, the goat's milk Jupiter was fed as a child was responsible for the god's notorious infidelity.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/Jakob_JordaensJupiterfedbyAmalthea.jpg
Jupiter fed by Amalthea
He is best-known today for his numerous large genre scenes depicting The King Drinks and As the Old Sing, So Pipe the Young.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/Jakob_JordaensTheKingDrinks.jpg
The King Drinks
Jordaens painted several versions of this subject, including one c. 1640 work in the Royal Museum of Art, Brussels. On January 6, Epiphany is celebrated in Flanders. It is a celebration of food, wine and merriment that is shared with family. One person gets to be king for the evening, which as Jordaens thoughtfully depicts as the eldest person in the room. The rest of his subjects are assigned by him
Jordaens relied on a warm palette, naturalism, and a mastery of chiaroscuro and tenebrism. Jordaens was only moderately successful as a portrait painter but excelled in representations of the base character of humanity. His classically inspired peasant themes and large scale Dutch moralistic genre scenes influenced Jan Steen.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/Jakob_Jordaensselfportrait.jpg
Self Portrait with Parents, Brothers and Sisters, painted circa 1615 is oil on canvas, and on loan from The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/467px-Jacob_Jordaens_-_The_Return_o.jpg
Return of the Holy Family from Egypt
Self portrait with wife and daughter was painted in 1612. Here we see Jordaens with his wife Catherine van Noort and his eldest child Elizabeth. The painting has been dated around 1621-22 because Elizabeth appears to be about 4 years old and she was born in 1617. Everyone in the painting is looking out at the viewer as if to invite them in to join the group. Jardin d'amour was an ancient tradition that Jordaens has represented in his family portrait. We see that he has also thrown a fair amount of symbolizim into the painting to help give it meaning. "The intertwined vines behind the couple symbolize the inseparability of husband and wife." Elizabeth is holding fruit in her hand which is symbolic of love and the flowers she has in her basket reflect innocence and purity." In the upper left there is a perched parrot which depicts marital fidelity. Another animal located in the lower right is a dog representing faithfulness and trust."
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/Jakob_Jordaensselfportrait.jpg
As the Old Sang, So the Young Pipe c.1638-40 is considered a companion to The King Drinks (Louvre, Paris). Both paintings are of a moralizing nature, have near identical measurements, and related styles. 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 these types of paintings always represented are elderly and middle-aged figures singing and creating music, as children pipe along. In the paintings, 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.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/Jakob_JordaensAstheOldSang.jpg
((All information and images are taken from Wikipedia. Full credit and rights belong to Wikipedia. Images are Public Domain due to copyright expiration.))
Satyr and Peasant, This particular scene, of which Jordaens painted many versions, illustrates a moralizing fable from Aesop's book of "Fables," which was developed in the 6th Century BCE in Ancient Greece. The story begins with a man and a satyr. One cold day, as they talked, the man put his fingers to his mouth and blew on them. When the satyr asked the reason for this, he told him that he did it to warm his hands. Later on that day when they sat down to eat, the man raised his dish of hot food towards his mouth and blew on it. When the satyr again inquired the reason, he said that he did it to cool the food, which was too hot. The satyr then informs the man, ?I can no longer consider you as a friend, a fellow who with the same breath blows hot and cold.? The moral of this story is the duality of human nature, although some believe that Jordaens chose this story not for his interest in it's moral lesson, but for his interest in rendering a peasant scene.
The particular moment which Jordaens depicts in his painting is when the satyr declares that he cannot trust the man who blows both hot and cold. The satyr raises his hand and begins to stand up and leave the man?s home. The man eats his porridge while the satyr rises abruptly addressing him. Jordaens chooses to place the scene inside a farmhouse, complete with a bull, dog, cat, and rooster integrated around the furniture and figures. A variety of age groups are represented around the table; a young boy stands behind the man?s chair, an old woman holds a young child, while a youthful woman peers over the Satyr's shoulder.
Characteristic of Jordaens? artistic style all the figures are pushed forward toward the front of the composition, crowded together in this small space. Also Jordaens uses tenebrism and chiaroscuro to create dramatic lighting, which illuminates certain figures in the scene, such as the baby in the old woman?s lap. Jordaens creates a sense of naturalism with the depiction of the dirty feet of the seated peasant seated in the foreground, linking him with the Carravagistic tendencies contemporaneous in Flemish art of the time. Jordaens created two versions of this subject around 1620-21. For this version, it seems he may have used the same female sitter for The Satyr and the Peasant as he did for The Adoration of the Shepherds, and it is thought that Jordaens used this painting as instruction for his assistants and pupils, as many versions and copies of the scene have been found which bear the same style, but without the master's stamp
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/JordaensSatyrandPeasant.jpg
Satyr and the Peasant
The Infant Jupiter Fed by the Goat Amalthea 1630-35. At the foot of a gentle slope, The Infant Jupiter Fed by the Goat Amalthea (1630-35) is set in a landscape. The focus of the composition is on the nymph Andrastea, whose pale nakedness is contrasted by the darker hues of the other figures. She sits on ground with her legs folded partly underneath her and a cloth draped around her hips. She has one hand on the back of the goat Amalethea and the other pulls on the goat's udder, squirting milk into a dish. The infant Jupiter sits behind her, holding an empty bottle and crying for food. In an attempt to distract Jupiter, a satyr pulls a branch. An engraving after the canvas by Schelte a Bolswert clarifies the moral significance of the subject: according to the Latin inscription on the print, the goat's milk Jupiter was fed as a child was responsible for the god's notorious infidelity.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/Jakob_JordaensJupiterfedbyAmalthea.jpg
Jupiter fed by Amalthea
He is best-known today for his numerous large genre scenes depicting The King Drinks and As the Old Sing, So Pipe the Young.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/Jakob_JordaensTheKingDrinks.jpg
The King Drinks
Jordaens painted several versions of this subject, including one c. 1640 work in the Royal Museum of Art, Brussels. On January 6, Epiphany is celebrated in Flanders. It is a celebration of food, wine and merriment that is shared with family. One person gets to be king for the evening, which as Jordaens thoughtfully depicts as the eldest person in the room. The rest of his subjects are assigned by him
Jordaens relied on a warm palette, naturalism, and a mastery of chiaroscuro and tenebrism. Jordaens was only moderately successful as a portrait painter but excelled in representations of the base character of humanity. His classically inspired peasant themes and large scale Dutch moralistic genre scenes influenced Jan Steen.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/Jakob_Jordaensselfportrait.jpg
Self Portrait with Parents, Brothers and Sisters, painted circa 1615 is oil on canvas, and on loan from The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/467px-Jacob_Jordaens_-_The_Return_o.jpg
Return of the Holy Family from Egypt
Self portrait with wife and daughter was painted in 1612. Here we see Jordaens with his wife Catherine van Noort and his eldest child Elizabeth. The painting has been dated around 1621-22 because Elizabeth appears to be about 4 years old and she was born in 1617. Everyone in the painting is looking out at the viewer as if to invite them in to join the group. Jardin d'amour was an ancient tradition that Jordaens has represented in his family portrait. We see that he has also thrown a fair amount of symbolizim into the painting to help give it meaning. "The intertwined vines behind the couple symbolize the inseparability of husband and wife." Elizabeth is holding fruit in her hand which is symbolic of love and the flowers she has in her basket reflect innocence and purity." In the upper left there is a perched parrot which depicts marital fidelity. Another animal located in the lower right is a dog representing faithfulness and trust."
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/Jakob_Jordaensselfportrait.jpg
As the Old Sang, So the Young Pipe c.1638-40 is considered a companion to The King Drinks (Louvre, Paris). Both paintings are of a moralizing nature, have near identical measurements, and related styles. 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 these types of paintings always represented are elderly and middle-aged figures singing and creating music, as children pipe along. In the paintings, 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.
http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj171/Azjahh/Art%20Museum/Jakob_JordaensAstheOldSang.jpg
((All information and images are taken from Wikipedia. Full credit and rights belong to Wikipedia. Images are Public Domain due to copyright expiration.))