Allegory of Fertility | MSK Gent
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Allegory of Fertility

  • oil paint, canvas
  • 117.5 x 180.5 cm
  • Inv. 1903-F

Public Domain

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The Allegory of Fertility is an ode to sensuality and earthly pleasures. The mythological representation is probably related to the popular proverb of the time, Sine Cerere et Libero friget Venus – ‘Without Ceres (goddess of agriculture and grain) and Bacchus (god of wine), Venus (goddess of love) is cold.’ Jacques Jordaens painted several versions of this subject. The painting we see here was probably executed by studio assistants. Like Peter Paul Rubens, Jordaens had a studio in which numerous apprentices and fellow painters worked for him doing sections of or even whole paintings which he had been commissioned to carry out.

Artist

Jacob Jordaens RKD VIAF Wikidata
Antwerp 1593 - Antwerp 1678
workshop / studio

Title Allegory of Fertility
Period 17th century
Collection paintings AAT
Object type oil paintings (visual works) AAT
Inventory number 1903-F
Acquisition credit gift
The Friends of the Museum
Ghent
1903
Current whereabouts Work currently not on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1903-F
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/339/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300055865 symbolism (artistic concept) AAT
300055866 allegory (artistic device) AAT
Keywords Iconclass 25F animals Iconclass
25F2 mammals Iconclass
42A18 fertility Iconclass
47I2112 cow Iconclass
47I214 goat Iconclass
9 Classical Mythology and Ancient History Iconclass
92 gods ~ classical mythology Iconclass
92C the great goddesses of Heaven, and their train Iconclass
92C4 (story of) Venus (Aphrodite) Iconclass
92C45 non-aggressive, friendly or neutral activities and relationships of Venus Iconclass
92C455 'sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus' Iconclass
92L gods of the earth and fertility ~ life in mountains and woods Iconclass
92L17911 the drunken Bacchus Iconclass
92L3 nymphs (in general); 'Ninfe in commune' (Ripa) Iconclass
92L4 satyrs, fauns, Sileni Iconclass
92M1 (story of) Ceres (Demeter) Iconclass
School / Style Baroque AAT
Jordaens' leven en werken ; Met 147 afbeeldingen in en 33 photogravuren en autotypieën buiten den tekst / Max Rooses. - Amsterdam : Elsevier, 1906 ; Antwerpen : De Nederlandsche Boekhandel, 1906 (p. 48)
L' oeuvre de J. Jordaens à l'exposition d'Anvers 1906 / Gabriel Mourey. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 28)
Museum van Schoone Kunsten : Catalogus ; Oude Meesters, Schilderstukken, teekeningen, plaatsneden (met geschiedkundig overzicht) / Maurice Dupuis, Georges Charles Nicolas Marie Hulin de Loo, Fritz Van Loo. - Gent : Drukkerij F. De Vos, 1938 ; Gent : Stad Gent, 1938 (p. 82)
Chefs-d'oeuvre du Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand (exposition itinérante 'Quarante chefs-d'oeuvre du Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand' Bruxelles, Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, 12 février - 6 mars 1949 ; Liège, 12 mars - 3 avril 1949 ; Luxembourg, 9 avril - 1 mai 1949 ; Lille, 14 mai - 12 juin 1949) / Georges Chabot, Paul Eeckhout. - Bruxelles : Editions de la Connaissance, 1949 (p. 5, nr. 15)
Jordaens / Léo Van Puyvelde. - Paris : Elsevier, 1953 (p. 114)
Jacob Jordaens / Léo Van Puyvelde. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 118)
Reflections on the Jordaens exhibition (exhibition Ottawa, Galerie National du Canada , 29.11.1968 - 05.01.1969) / Michael Jaffé. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 9)
Jacob Jordaens / A. Lohaus. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 340, nr. 740)
Jordaens Drawings / Roger-Adolf d'Hulst. - Brussel : Arcade, 1974 (p. 141)
Jacob Jordaens / Arlette Sérullaz. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 138)
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent / Robert Hoozee. - Brussel : Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, 1988 (p. 51)
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl. I, p. 114-115 (ill.))
Antwerpen - Brugge - Gent : De musea en hun kunstschatten van Van Eyck tot Magritte ; ontdek het rijke erfgoed in drie Vlaamse steden ; de Vlaamse Kunstcollectie / Geert Souvereyns, Till-Holger Borchert, Paul Vandenbroeck. - Dijon : Éditions Faton, 2007 (p. 3 (ill.))
Rubens : Inspired by Italy and Established in Antwerp (exhibition Tokyo, The Bunkamura Museum of Art, 09.03 - 21.04.2013 ; Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, 28.04 - 16.06.2013 ; The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, 29.06 - 11.08.2013) / Toshiharu Nakamura, Dennis Paul Weller, Anna Bisceglia. - Tokyo : The Mainichi Newspapers, 2013
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : De collectie (tentoonstelling vanaf 21 maart 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2021
Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand : La Collection (exposition dès le 21 mars 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gand : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand, 2021
De vrienden rond het museum : Het Gentse kunstnetwerk in relatie tot de collectieuitbreiding van het Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent (1870-1914) / Julie Landuyt. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 42)
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