Jacob JORDAENS ( Antwerp, 1593 - 1678) Shepherdess pouring milk for a shepherd On its original canvas Inscribed 'n°3' on the back Without frame Shepherdess pouring milk to a shepherd, on its original canvas, by J. Jordaens 61.02 x 79.92 in. 155.0 x 203.0 cm Provenance: Collection of Madame Regaus ; Sale at the home of the Regaus girls, Brussels, 18 July 1775, no. 7 (described as follows: "a young shepherd holding a bowl into which a large peasant woman is pouring milk from a jug. Next to her are sheep and a goat. The whole of this painting, whose background represents a landscape, is painted with great art & expression (canvas, 5 feet 7 lines; 7 feet 6 lines, that is to say 155 x 2,075 m, sold 660)"; Private collection, Lyon, since the mid-19th century Related work : Preparatory drawing, Jacob Jordaens, Couple of shepherds, preparatory drawing, black chalk, watercolour and gouache, kept at the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin (KdZ 1200), 30 x 44.2 cm. Published in: Roger Adolf d'Hulst, Joardens Drawings, London, New-York, 1974, vol. 1 p. 247, no. A155, repr. A reduced version, 98 x 108 cm (Sale P. F. Gooris; Mechelen, 20 May 1844, then Sale Van Heck; Antwerp, 27-29 November 1979, as attributed to Jordaens). To the left of our painting, a shepherd is sitting on the ground. He is holding a crook, a stick used to bring lost animals back to the herd. His arm is resting on the back of a goat. A shepherdess is pouring him milk from a copper jug (called a cane). His eyes express a budding feeling of love. At the time, viewers associated goat's milk with carnal temptation, fertility, sensuality and lasciviousness, due to the animal's folkloric and mythological image. Linked to the god Pan, its milk fed the young Jupiter, according to the Greek legend retold by Ovid, who went on to have an intense love life (Jordaens illustrated the subject of Jupiter as a child fed by the goat Amalthea on several occasions). Our two young people live in harmony with nature, both with the animals and with the rural landscape, where the sun shines through the clouds. Pastoral subjects were very popular throughout Europe in the 17th century. They were popularised by numerous novels of the period, including Guarini's Il Pastor Fido (1589) and Honoré d'Urfé's L'Astrée (1627), which recount the adventures and loves of heroes in an idyllic setting inspired by Virgil. Our painting can also be directly compared with the Satyr Playing the Flute in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (inventory SK-A-198), where the treatment of the goats, trees, leaves and sky are identical. It has long been established that the presence of farm animals is particularly present in Jordaens' compositions, which he prepared with numerous drawings and oil studies. When he painted The Rape of Europa (Lille, Palais des Beaux-Arts), it was not a single bull that he represented, but a whole herd. Our artist is no stranger to mixing figures with farm animals, whether in biblical scenes (Adam and Eve, Szépmüvészeti Muzeum, Budapest), mythological scenes (Mercury and Argus, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon) or, as here, secular scenes. The Amsterdam painting is dated to around 1630-1635, and d'Hulst suggests a date of around 1640 for the preparatory drawing. We know that even at this time, Jordaens was helped by collaborators for his large formats, or for the secondary parts of his paintings, but the sincerity of the animal figures can only be attributed to the master himself. Jacob JORDAENS ( Antwerp, 1593 - 1678) 155.0 x 203.0 cm Related work : Preparatory drawing, Jacob Jordaens, Couple of shepherds, preparatory drawing, black chalk, watercolour and gouache, kept at the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin (KdZ 1200), 30 x 44.2 cm. Published in: Roger Adolf d'Hulst, Joardens Drawings, London, New-York, 1974, vol. 1 p. 247, no. A155, repr. A reduced version, 98 x 108 cm (Sale P. F. Gooris; Mechelen, 20 May 1844, then Sale Van Heck; Antwerp, 27-29 November 1979, as attributed to Jordaens). To the left of our painting, a shepherd is sitting on the ground. He is holding a crook, a stick used to bring lost animals back to the herd. His arm is resting on the back of a goat. A shepherdess is pouring him milk from a copper jug (called a cane). His eyes express a budding feeling of love. At the time, viewers associated goat's milk with carnal temptation, fertility, sensuality and lasciviousness, due to the animal's folkloric and mythological image. Linked to the god Pan, its milk fed the young Jupiter, according to the Greek legend retold by Ovid, who went on to have an intense love life (Jordaens illustrated the subject of Jupiter as a child fed by the goat Amalthea on several occasions). Our two young people live in harmony with nature, both with the animals and with the rural landscape, where the sun shines through the clouds. Pastoral subjects were very popular throughout Europe in the 17th century. They were popularised by numerous novels of the period, including Guarini's Il Pastor Fido (1589) and Honoré d'Urfé's L'Astrée (1627), which recount the adventures and loves of heroes in an idyllic setting inspired by Virgil. Our painting can also be directly compared with the Satyr Playing the Flute in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (inventory SK-A-198), where the treatment of the goats, trees, leaves and sky are identical. It has long been established that the presence of farm animals is particularly present in Jordaens' compositions, which he prepared with numerous drawings and oil studies. When he painted The Rape of Europa (Lille, Palais des Beaux-Arts), it was not a single bull that he represented, but a whole herd. Our artist is no stranger to mixing figures with farm animals, whether in biblical scenes (Adam and Eve, Szépmüvészeti Muzeum, Budapest), mythological scenes (Mercury and Argus, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon) or, as here, secular scenes. The Amsterdam painting is dated to around 1630-1635, and d'Hulst suggests a date of around 1640 for the preparatory drawing. We know that even at this time, Jordaens was helped by collaborators for his large formats, or for the secondary parts of his paintings, but the sincerity of the animal figures can only be attributed to the master himself.