Jacob Jordaens (Antwerp, 1593-1678), A rostrum of musicians in a loggia, circa 1635. Watercolour, gouache, red chalk, pen and brown ink mm and brown wash. Coated paper, 34.5 x 28.2 cm © Colnaghi 

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

Note: 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.Ater 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.