Neptune and Amphitrite

Neptune and Amphitrite, dated 1644 and now in the Rubenshuis in Antwerp, depicts the sea god and his consort — the most powerful couple in the marine world — in a characteristically Flemish interpretation of classical divinity. Neptune and Amphitrite had been celebrated in Flemish art since Rubens's magnificent version, and Jordaens's canvas, made four years after Rubens's death, can be read as both homage and independent statement. The Rubenshuis setting is particularly charged: this is the house where Rubens lived and worked, now a museum, and Jordaens's canvas hangs in the space where the older master once dominated. By 1644, Jordaens had absorbed and transformed Rubens's approach, retaining the physical exuberance but redirecting it through his own earthier sensibility. Neptune's maritime domain — sea creatures, waves, tritons — gave Jordaens the opportunity for rich visual invention alongside the central divine couple.

The composition deploys the marine setting's full visual resources: foaming waves, sea creatures, triton figures, and the god's trident create a complex visual environment surrounding the central couple. Neptune's muscular body is modelled in the full Rubensian tradition, while Amphitrite's form is Jordaens's own — more substantial, less ideally proportioned than Rubens's nudes. Blue-green sea tones provide the painting's dominant cool note against the warm flesh.