The Holy Family with Saint John, His Parents, and Angels

Jacob Jordaens painted big, crowded, earthy scenes full of life: feasting families, satyrs and peasants, bagpipers and drinkers, with plump figures, ruddy skin and strong light. He liked his mythology and proverbs brought down to ground level, with a sense of humour. He was born and died in Antwerp and trained with Adam van Noort. He often worked as an independent collaborator of Rubens, and after Rubens died in 1640 he became the leading painter in Flanders. His best known subjects are The King Drinks, a Twelfth Night feast, and As the Old Sing, So Pipe the Young, which he painted in several versions. His work hangs in the Louvre, the Mauritshuis and many other European museums. In The Abduction of Europa and his allegories of abundance, look for the warm flesh tones and the fruit and animals packed into every corner.