Three Musicians

This painting of Three Musicians, around 1640, by Jordaens, depicts a small ensemble in the tradition of Flemish musical genre painting. Music-making subjects were popular in Antwerp collecting circles, combining aesthetic pleasure with moralizing undertones about the senses. 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 three musicians are rendered with Jordaens's characteristic physical vitality, their animated poses suggesting actual performance. The instruments are depicted with documentary precision.