Drapery Study of a Seated Man Wearing a Cap c. 1655 - 1665

Jacob Jordaens created this drawing of a seated man wearing a cap out of chalk, with watercolor, on paper. The image reflects artistic conventions of Northern European art in the 17th century, and Flanders was then a Catholic region within the Spanish Netherlands. Such drawings were used as models for history paintings that often promoted conservative religious and political ideas. This sketch is a study of drapery that probably served as preparation for a larger painting; it depicts a figure perhaps intended to represent an apostle, saint, or even a member of a monastic order. By studying the material culture of the time, we can speculate about the symbolic meanings behind these choices; looking to sources such as inventories and religious texts, for example, we might better understand the public role of art and the politics of imagery. The drawing reminds us that art is a product of its time, reflecting and shaping the social conditions of its production.