_Jacob Jordaens_ (Flemish: 1593-1678).
Jordaens, who stands next to Rubens and Van Dyck among the
great Flemish painters, was a fellow-pupil with the former
under Adam Van Noort, whose daughter he married in 1616. In
the same year he became a member of the Painter's Guild of
St. Luke, being described as a "water-colourist"; his first
works were in fact paintings in distemper and cartoons for the
tapestry workers. By 1620 his fame as a painter of pictures
was established. His works, which are very numerous, are of
all kinds of subjects, but he is little represented in British
Galleries. Examples may be seen, however, in the Wallace
Collection and the Dulwich Gallery.
The name of the sitter is on the frame; his coat of arms and crest,
with the inscription "Aetatis suae 63, 1626," are on the upper corner
of the picture. It is a fine portrait, characteristic of the exuberance
and vigour which mark the work of Jordaens.