44 - Jacob JORDAENS (Antwerp 1593–1678)

Jacob JORDAENS (Antwerp 1593–1678) Jesus Heals the Lame on the Sabbath Watercolor over black pencil lines, pen and brown ink, gray and brown washes, red chalk, red chalk washes 33 x 31.5 cm Inscribed lower right “J.Jordaens”; inscribed on the reverse of the mount “Lucas Jacques Jordaens fecit /No. 53/12” Drawing is doubled; creases and small tears along the edges Provenance: Formerly in the L. Corot collection; his stamp in the lower right corner (L.1718) This drawing is related to the drawing *Jesus Heals the Lame on the Sabbath* (see Roger-Adolf d’Hulst, *Jordaens Drawing*, London, Phaidon Press, 1974, Volume V, no. A296, p. 372, pl. 313, vol. IV), in which Jesus stands beneath a doorway facing a lame man whose features resemble those of our paralytic. The architecture and setting of our drawing—such as the columns, the doorway, and the dome in the background—are also similar to the drawing in the Lehman Collection, *Saint Paul Healing a Paralytic in Lystra* (see the work cited above by R-A Hulst, vol. V, no. A311, p. 386, pl. 328, vol. IV). The figure of Christ and his clothing are comparable to other drawings by Jordaens, such as the Arras drawing *Let the Little Children Come to Me* (see opus supra R-A Hulst, vol. V, no. A307, p. 383, pl. 323, vol. IV), dated around 1655 by Hulst. Hulst also records the sale on June 9, 1939, at the Hôtel Drouot of a canvas depicting the Healing of a Paralytic, signed “I. Iord 1655,” which is now lost (see Roger-Adolf d’Hulst, *Jacob Jordaens. Fonds Mercator*, Albin Michel, Paris, 1982, p. 237, note no. 37). A 17th-century Flemish painter and engraver working in Antwerp, Jacob Jordaens had a profound influence on Flemish Baroque painting with his works inspired by everyday life, mythology, and the Bible. A student of Peter Paul Rubens and a contemporary of Anthony van Dyck, he ran a prosperous studio that received commissions from all over Europe. Although he openly declared himself a Protestant beginning in the 1650s, he nevertheless continued to receive commissions from Catholic authorities.