Jacob Jordaens - The Virgin and Child with Saint John and his Parents [c.1620]

Jacob Jordaens - The Virgin and Child with Saint John and his Parents [c.1620], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

This painting probably dates from around 1620, and one other signed version is known to exist. The work exemplifies the vein of robust realism that Jordaens, in the wake of Rubens and Van Dyck, brought to the interpretation of religious subject matter. The theme is derived from the 'Meditations' of the so-called Pseudo-Bonaventura, a popular early renaissance text which recounts the visit of the infant John the Baptist with his parents, Saints Elizabeth and Zacharias, to the Virgin and Child. Accompanied by a lamb, Saint John releases a goldfinch. This bird was believed to have been splashed with the blood of Christ at the Crucifixion, so was seen as a symbol of the Passion. Visually, the high basket chair suggests a halo encircling the heads of the Virgin and Child, thus contributing a symbolic resonance to a painting which is otherwise filled with a vigorous sense of reality.

Jordaens (1593 – 1678) was a follower of Rubens, and the leading Flemish painter after the death of Rubens and Van Dyck. Although he continued to borrow from Rubens, his work from 1620 to 1635 is marked by greater realism and exuberance. His late works are both more restrained and cooler in colour.

[Oil on canvas, 114 x 153 cm]