The wise man and the jester

This circa 1650 painting of the Wise Man and the Jester is one of Jordaens' many moralizing genre scenes based on Flemish proverbs and folk wisdom. The contrast between wisdom and folly was a perennial theme in Netherlandish art, from Bosch and Bruegel through the Baroque period. Jordaens, who outlived both Rubens and Van Dyck to become the dominant figure in Flemish Baroque painting for the second half of the seventeenth century, was particularly celebrated for his exuberant genre subjects, especially his series on the Flemish proverb about the King of the Bean.

The painting juxtaposes the two character types with Jordaens' characteristic directness, using expressive faces and gestures to embody the moral contrast between wisdom and foolishness.