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Portrait of a Young Married Couple
Jacob Jordaens (Flemish, 1593–1678)
about 1621–22
Medium/Technique
Oil on panel
Dimensions
124.5 x 92.4 cm (49 x 36 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Robert Dawson Evans Collection
Accession Number17.3232
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
A richly dressed woman with a confident gaze commands our attention. She sits before grand architecture and a distant landscape, her husband by her side. Jordaens probably painted this double portrait to celebrate their wedding. The prominent ivy above their heads is a symbol of love and fidelity. This painting and those to your left are all by Flemish artists, who often painted large pictures on wooden panels. They preferred the glossy surface provided by wood to the matte effect of paintings on canvas, as seen in the Rembrandts to your right.
Provenance1880, possibly John Robert Townshend, 1st Earl Sydney (b. 1805 - d. 1890), Kent, England [see note 1]. 1907, Messrs. Lawrie and Co., London; 1907, sold by Lawrie, through Blakeslee Galleries, New York, to Robert Dawson Evans (b. 1843 - d. 1909) and his wife, Maria Antoinette Hunt Evans (b. 1845 - d. 1917), Boston; 1917, bequest of Mrs. Robert Dawson Evans to the MFA [see note 2]. (Accession Date: November 1, 1917)
NOTES:
[1] The Earl of Sydney lent the painting, attributed to Rubens, to the "Exhibition of Works by The Old Masters..." at the Royal Academy in 1880 (p. 14, no. 54, "A Lady and a Gentleman," 48 1/2 x 36 1/2 in.).
[2] Accessioned as a work by Peter Paul Rubens.
NOTES:
[1] The Earl of Sydney lent the painting, attributed to Rubens, to the "Exhibition of Works by The Old Masters..." at the Royal Academy in 1880 (p. 14, no. 54, "A Lady and a Gentleman," 48 1/2 x 36 1/2 in.).
[2] Accessioned as a work by Peter Paul Rubens.