Flemish masterpiece by Jordaens displayed at Plantin-Moretus Museum
The Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp has been able to add an exceptional work by Jacob Jordaens to its collection. The Flemish government has purchased the drawing “The Triumph of Minerva” for 125,000 euros as a masterpiece and is lending the work to the museum on a long-term basis.
Following the deaths of Rubens and Van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens (1593–1678) emerged as the most important Antwerp Baroque painter of his time and is often mentioned in the same breath as them. The Plantin-Moretus Museum houses what is arguably the most important collection of Jordaens’ drawings in the world.
The drawing “The Triumph of Minerva”, which dates from the period 1660–1665, was in private hands for a long time. When the owner wished to sell the work outside Flanders, the Flemish government was able to intervene under the Masterpieces Decree.
According to the Flemish government and the Plantin-Moretus Museum, this is a drawing of exceptional quality and offers a rare insight into Jordaens’ creative process. It is not known with certainty whether the design was ever developed into a painting. The numerous corrections and adjustments on the drawing show how the artist built up his composition step by step.
“It is a drawing from his late period, which was generally characterised by lower quality and a great deal of repetition, but this drawing stands head and shoulders above the rest,” stated curator Virginie D’Haene of the Plantin-Moretus Museum. “It is a work of high quality, a new and complex subject for him, with many figures and an allegorical theme that we have not yet fully understood, and finally, it is also an unusually large work.”
The drawing depicts the victory of the Roman goddess Minerva, symbol of wisdom, knowledge and peace, over the god of war, Mars. According to art historians, the allegorical representation conveys a clear message: reason and wisdom triumph over war and violence. The presence of Mercury, the god of commerce, would further suggest the resumption of international trade following the end of the violence of war. “So, in fact, it is also a topical message,” declared the Plantin-Moretus Museum.
According to D’Haene, the hypothesis is that Jordaens created the work as a reference to the Peace of Münster, which ended the Eighty Years’ War between the Spanish Empire and the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands.
The work is now on exceptional display at the museum until 5 July. Afterwards, it will be returned to the storeroom because prolonged exposure to light can cause serious damage. The drawing can, in the future, however, be viewed on request. It has already been digitised and may well feature in short-term exhibitions in the future.
#FlandersNewsService | A drawing by Jacob Jordaens, bought by the Flemish government and loaned to the Plantin-Moretus Museum © BELGA PHOTO TIJS VANDERSTAPPEN + © BELGA VIDEO TIJS VANDERSTAPPEN
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