Isaac bénissant Jacob

1621–1667

His workshop: fifteen pupils in the guild records

Between 1621 and 1667 the guild registered fifteen pupils with Jordaens (the best known being Jan Boeckhorst), and six more are named in court documents; his son Jacob and his cousin Arnoldus also trained with him. His fame drew foreigners: after 1642 the Polish painter Aleksander Jan Tricius became his pupil, and in 1645 Queen Christina of Sweden meant to send her protégé Georg Waldau, but the threat of war in Flanders prevented it.

1651–1658

Fined for “heretical” writings

The schout (chief law officer) of Antwerp fined Jordaens 200 pounds and 15 shillings for his “scandalous”, that is heretical, writings (other accounts give 1651–1659 and speak of “heretical” works). As a famous master he was tolerated as long as he did not speak openly on matters of faith.

1652–1678

Late years: a grey-blue palette

In the final years of his career his creative powers declined: he abandoned vibrant colours for a grey-blue palette with dull brown accents and applied paint so thinly that the canvas showed through. The exceptions were the religious paintings made after his conversion to Protestantism and the Cupid and Psyche series for his own house.

1659

Death of his wife Catharina

Catharina was buried in the Protestant cemetery at Putte, a village just north of the present Belgian border; the painter and his daughter Elisabeth would later be buried there under a single tombstone.

1661

Lunettes for Amsterdam's new Town Hall

Already an old man, Jordaens, along with other painters, was commissioned to paint large lunettes for the newly built Amsterdam Town Hall: two biblical subjects (“David and Goliath”, “Samson Defeats the Philistines”) and two scenes from Dutch history (“A Roman Camp under Attack by Night”, “Peace between the Romans and the Batavians”).