Study of two male nudes

This study of two male nudes, around 1615, by Jordaens, is a studio exercise that served as preparation for larger compositions. Such academic studies demonstrate the importance of life drawing in the training and practice of Flemish Baroque painters. 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 nude figures are rendered with powerful anatomical observation characteristic of the Flemish tradition. Jordaens's broad, confident brushwork models the musculature with sculptural convinction.