IMAGE DETAILS

COLNAGHI

Jacob Jordaens (Antwerp, 1593-1678)
A rostrum of musicians in a loggia, circa 1635
Watercolour, gouache, red chalk, pen and brown ink and brown wash. Coated paper
34.5 x 28.2 cm
Provenance: Mrs. Lasserre (Dax, France; 1904); Maurice Delacre (Ghent, 1862-1938); Geoffrey & Bequet sale, Saintes, 20 April 2008; acquired by Jean Luc Baroni; private collection, UK
Literature: R.A. d’Hulst, Jordaens Drawings, Catalogue raisonné, Brussels, 1974, Vol. I – A 199; ill. Vol. III, fig. 214
Exhibition: Antwerp, 1905, n° 126

This beautiful and highly important sheet by Jacob Jordaens belongs to a series of drawings intended as preliminary studies for the tapestry series Scenes from Country Life. The beauty and complexity of this composition has been interpreted by scholarship as Jordaens’ ultimate harnessing of the watercolour medium, and placed amongst his best graphic work.

After the death of Rubens in 1640, Jordaens became the leading painter in Antwerp, producing numerous paintings for public, private, and ecclesiastical patrons, as well as many designs for tapestries.