beside the easel

The Family of the Artist, ca.1621 Born on May 19, 1593, Jacob Jordaens was a Flemish painter from the Baroque era who worked together on occasion with Anthony Van Dyke under the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens . Jordaens' style, having been taught by Adam van Noort, the same teacher as Rubens, is often difficult to discern between the two and today several drawings and oil sketches require scholarly interpretation to identify the artist. His paintings however are a Rubenesque-Caravaggio Baroque flavor that is uniquely Jordaens with his strong dramatically-lit figures, dynamic composition and vibrant palette. Having never travelled to Italy, Jordaens' artistic inspiration came from studying copies or originals available within his vicinity. His work has an immediacy and depth that is more inviting than his Flemish counterparts, and you can see this in person studying his work in that he relies on color and chiaroscuro. Jordaens, like Rubens, most often painted on a massive sc...