Jacob Jordaens

Watermark: none.
Attributions of drawings to Rubens, van Dyck, and Jordaens are sometimes the subject of ongoing debate. This arresting portrait of a woman dressed according to the fashion of the late 1630s is just such a case. For many centuries it was considered to be by Rubens, but in 1980 it was reattributed to Jordaens after it resurfaced in a French collection. Although Jordaens made fewer portrait drawings than Rubens and van Dyck, he did execute a modest number in the 1630s, when his bold, fresh portraits became popular. This portrait certainly displays several characteristics of Jordaens's drawing style, such as the broad, angular contour lines, the complex combination of charcoal, colored chalks, and washes, and the abandoned red chalk lines at bottom right. A conspicuous difference from Jordaens's other portraits is that the sitter is depicted in profile while her head is turned to face the viewer. Equally unusual for Jordaens is the generously applied dark brown wash in the woman's hair, both accentuating her curls and indicating the shadow of her broad-rimmed hat. An artist who did depict his sitters in such dynamic positions and applied similar washes in the areas of the hair was Jan Cossiers (1600-1671), who has sometimes been suggested as the author of the drawing. Cossiers's small drawn oeuvre consists mainly of exquisite portrait drawings of his family members executed in the late 1650s, including a portrait of the artist's son in the Morgan Library's collection, inv. I, 248. Could it be that this is a work by the young Cossiers looking at Jordaens? Or is this beautiful portrait an unusual drawing by Jordaens? In either case, it is a work that embodies the bold style and elaborate technique that are the benchmarks of Flemish Baroque drawings. -- Exhibition Label, from "Power and Grace: Drawings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and Jordaens"