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Elisabeth Jordaens died on the same day as her father, after taking care of him until the very end. Part of their private lives remained in the shadows: both had converted to the Calvinist faith.

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Elisabeth Jordaens says:

How long has it been? We are October 1678 now, – I am 61!- so it must be about forty years ago. At that time– in 1638 – I was young, and I looked up at elder people.
‘So d’ouden songen, so piepen de jongen’. book:You can read this proverb on top of the painting; it translates as: ‘As the old folks sing, the young folks pipe’. In 1632 the whole family, grandfather Adam van Noort, mom and dad and myself, travelled to Holland where the famous poet, Jacob, called ‘Father’, Cats had just published a

‘Mirror of Times Ancient and New, consisting of proverbs, derived from the past and present century, relieved by many aphorisms, with poems and prints thereon appropriate; useful to report on all parts of life’

Dad wanted to illustrate these on canvas. What could be simpler than presenting ourselves as models for the perfect family?

On the left, you can see Grandpa Adam beat the rhythm, according to the songbook. Grandma – or someone like her – follows the music sheet. Dad plays the bagpipes, not the first time he presents himself in this way; he’s 45 here. The kids do their best to play along with the melody on flutes. Does it all sound so nice? Our dog pricks up his ears!

We are inside, late afternoon, maybe Sunday, a time for relaxation. A nice light is coming from the left, so that grandpa can see well with his glasses on. On the table, next to the bun, on the left are the grapes. A patty takes centre stage, pears can be seen on the right. On the tin pot we can see the shine of the window frame. Full light falls on me.

In case you doubt it, that’s me in the middle: I don’t look like my mom at all!

Around the same time ‑ I was about twenty ‑ my dad portrayed me also as a healthy country girl with flowers on her hat, a basket and the same string of pearls you find on this painting. But in reality we were city people who, like many others, had the habit of singing together.

Today, at the age of 85, my dad is not well at all. And I am not feeling great either. The disease that is spreading through the city has already led to the death of many of our neighbours, friends and acquaintances.
Should my mom also have gone through this ordeal? She passed away almost 20 years ago and since then I have taken care of my dad. For an unmarried daughter like me, that’s pretty obvious, especially since I live with him.

When Prince William III of Orange paid us a visit over a year ago, his secretary Christiaan Huyghens wrote that “Jacques was carried in a chair and he was raving all the time.”

That saddens me a lot because, because all through his life my father had always a been a cheerful and friendly man, that’s on record. In 1669, a painter from Hamburg, Matthias Scheits, noted that my father was “painting diligently“.

Where can I find comfort? The Holy Scripture have always been by my side, especially since we joined the congregation of the Mount of Olives in Brabant, seven years ago (in 1671).
Because of the presence of foreign traders, merchants and bankers, Antwerp is a fairly tolerant city, as long as you don’t cause a scandal. Even when dad in 1660 testified in court, pledging an oath ‘to God‘ and no longer ‘and to all his saints‘ (as he had done in 1649), the judge found that convincing enough.

Route South (continued from Oever/Kloosterstraat): turn left onto Muntstraat, this becomes Augustijnenstraat and turn right onto Waaistraat to the little square in front of St. Andrew’s Church (possibly a construction zone). The main entrance is on this Pastoor Visschersplein (the side entrances are on the Augustijnenstraat or on the Sint-Andriesstraat).