Saint Matthew and two apostles

Saint Matthew and Two Apostles, painted around 1650 and now at the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, belongs to the tradition of apostle series that enjoyed sustained popularity across seventeenth-century Catholic Europe. Such series — depicting each of the twelve apostles individually or in small groups — served devotional and didactic purposes in churches, private chapels, and the homes of pious Catholics. Jordaens executed multiple versions and variants of apostle subjects throughout his career, and his interpretations are consistently remarkable for their psychological intensity and the unglamorous humanity he gives to these founding figures of the Church. Matthew, the tax collector turned evangelist, is typically depicted with his gospel manuscript; in group compositions he shares the scene with fellow apostles identified by their traditional attributes. The Lille museum holds one of France's most distinguished collections of Flemish Baroque painting, and this work sits within a broader context of Counter-Reformation imagery that Jordaens supplied throughout his mature decades.

The canvas shows Jordaens's mature technique: a warm ground, confident glazed shadows, and impasto highlights that give the aged faces their characteristic tactile presence. The close grouping of heads in shallow space creates an intense, almost confrontational effect. Paint application is economical — Jordaens achieves deep shadow with thin dark glazes rather than thick paint.