Christ and the Adulteress | MSK Gent
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Christ and the Adulteress, ca. 1670

  • oil paint, canvas
  • 177.5 x 243 cm
  • Inv. S-6

Public Domain

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After 1640, after the death of Rubens, the reputation of Jacob Jordaens grew in importance. The same was true of his commissions, which forced the artist to surround himself with collaborators. It is known that from this time onwards, Jordaens left it to his studio to transpose onto canvas the compositions that he himself had drawn. Once the work had been transposed, he took over and completed certain parts of the whole. Many of the paintings produced in collaboration with the studio were merely repetitions with variations of themes already exploited, such as The Allegory of Fertility. The same applies to Christ and the Adulteress, which comes from the Abbey of St Peter in Ghent. Jordaens had already exploited this theme on several occasions. The theme of Christ and the adulteress from the Gospels of Luke and John is of great importance in the post-Tridentine religion. Indeed, Christ's refusal to judge the woman according to the Mosaic law and suggesting to the one who has never sinned to throw the first stone to stone the sinner symbolises the divine leniency in the face of humanity's faults. The museum owns a preparatory drawing by Jordaens for this painting (inv. 1908-B-recto). This sketch shows a similar composition, except for a few details, such as the woman carrying a basket on her head, which is absent from the finished painting. As in many of the works produced by the artist and his workshop during the 1660s and 1670s, the colouring is darker, dominated by brown, the chromatic contrasts are more strongly contrasted and the brushstrokes looser.

Artist

Jacob Jordaens RKD VIAF Wikidata
Antwerp 1593 - Antwerp 1678
painters (artists)AAT

Title Christ and the Adulteress
Date ca. 1670
Period 17th century
Collection paintings AAT
Object type oil paintings (visual works) AAT
Inventory number S-6
Acquisition credit
onbekend
Current whereabouts Work currently not on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/S-6
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/6358/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300055874 religious symbolism AAT
Keywords Iconclass 11D Christ Iconclass
12A521 high priest ~ hierarchy of priests Iconclass
73 New Testament Iconclass
73C7222 Pharisees bring a woman accused of adultery before Christ (John 8:2-11) Iconclass
School / Style Baroque AAT
Voyage pittoresque de la Flandre et du Brabant / Jean-Baptiste Descamps. - Paris : Desaint, Saillant, Pissot, Durant, 1769 (p. 213)
Note des tableaux dessins et estampes déposés dans la ci-devant école de l'abbaye de Baudeloo. Ceux marqués d'un K sont conformes à la note du 10 ventôse an V, trouvés au quartier de l'abbé de Saint-Pierre / Charles Piot. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 446)
Notice et description des tableaux et statues exposés au Muséum du Département de l'Escaut situé à Gand dans l'église de la ci-devant Abbaye St. Pierre + Plusieurs statues antiques et bustes, moulées en plâtre sur les originaux qui sont au Musée de Paris / Pierre François Antoine de Goesin-Verhaeghe. - A Gand : De l'Imprimerie de P.F. de Goesin-Verhaeghe, 1802 (nr. 50)
Notice des tableaux du musée de la ville de Gand, situé au local de l'académie royale de dessin, sculpture, architecture, etc. - Gand : D.J. Vanderhaeghen-Hulin, 1846 (nr. 27)
Catalogue du musée de peinture de la ville de Gand, 1900 / Louis Maeterlinck. - Gand : Imprimerie Victor Van Doosselaere, 1900 (nr. 88)
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. 81)
De tekeningen van Jacob Jordaens : Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis van de XVIIe-eeuwse kunst in de Zuidelijke Nederlanden / Roger-Adolf d'Hulst. - Brussel : Paleis der Academiën, 1956 (p. 274)
Jacob Jordaens / Roger-Adolf d'Hulst. - Antwerpen : Mercatorfonds, 1982 (p. 252)
Jacob Jordaens / Moniek Nagels. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 28)
Cornelis Schut / Moniek Nagels. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.]
La vie des peintres flamands, allemands et hollandais / Jean-Baptiste Descamps. - Genève : Minkoff Reprints, 1972
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. 115 (ill.))
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
Museum of Fine Arts Ghent : The Collection (exhibition opened on March 21th 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Ghent : Museum of Fine Arts Ghent, 2021
Voyage pittoresque de la Flandre et du Brabant (extrait Gand) / Jean-Baptiste Descamps. - Paris : chez J. Grangé, 1792
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