In SnijdersRockox House (room 7-8 Kitchen)

Legend has it that this is Rubens’ s washerwoman: with software for facial recognition, we should be able compare different portraits of this woman down to the last detail.

According to a source from 1693, this is Rubens’s washerwoman or laundress, painted by Jacques Jordaens. With facial recognition software, we could try and compare different portraits of this woman down to the last detail.

The information sign will tell you that this was first made on paper with oil paint. Then only the portrait was transferred to a panel, so it could not have been intended as a finished product. With some luck, in an exhibition or well-laid-out museum, you can see such portrait studies next to the work in which this head appears together with others.

All professional painters have made drawings as preliminary studies; even a single study tells you a lot about the production process that precedes the masterpiece. Small size works like this one, can also stimulate you to get to know the master better.

In this instance, the full but soft light, maybe candles, falls on three-quarters of the face. The skin tone has a warm glow, due to a slight contrast with the head cap and the white cloth. This cloth reflects the light on the neck and on the edge of the blushing cheek. Each facial wrinkle gets its own curve, which is given a halo of light by the sharp edge of the textile.

A small dark arch puts the eye socket and nostril deeper into the furrowed face, under the neatly combed hair.

Jordaens’s art historians will emphasise the popular character of many of his works. This popular style is used in both the mythological works and in the family scenes; hence, these appeal more to our contemporary taste.

Return for a moment to the passage between Waschhuys and Keucken.

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