Jordaens and the Antique

Jacob Jordaens (15931678) was a Flemish Baroque painter whose work has largely been overshadowed by his contemporaries Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck. Providing new insight on the artist as well as art historical context for his works, Jacob Jordaens and Antiquityemphasizes his strategic intelligence with respect to imagery and the art market and challenges the common characterization of Jordaens as a bourgeois artist of genre scenes. Jordaens's work is examined as an example of classical culture being introduced into the commercial and intellectual life of Antwerp. He was an artist with an unusual talent for conveying imagery from classical literature, ranging from Satyr and Peasantto Diogenes Searching for an Honest Man. Focusing on the theme of antiquity, this volume features eighty paintings, drawings, tapestries, and sculptures from private collections and major museums, including the Museo Nacional del Prado in Spain and the Statens Museum for Kunst in Denmark.

Joost Vander Auwera is Professor in Art History at Ghent University and curator at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium., Brussels. Dr. Irène Schaudies is scientific attaché at the Royal Museums for Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels.