Hans Jordaens III

Noah Entering the Ark illustrates a well-known passage from the Book of Genesis, imbued with characteristics of 17^th century Flemish painting that reflect the advances of the natural sciences and fashions popular at the time.

On the basis of style and composition, the signature “S.DAENS” would appear to be an abbreviated form of Hans Jordaens III who was enrolled in the Antwerp guild of St. Luke.  Jordaens was a successful painter, known for his gallery interiors, cabinet paintings, and landscapes.  Many of the works that are attributed to him depict subjects from the Old Testament, though his style in these types of paintings also resembles that of Frans Francken II. 

Noah Entering the Ark portrays the following passage from the King James translation of the Bible:

And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark; They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. And they went in unto Noah in the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. (Genesis 7: 12-16)

The man wearing a turban in the foreground of the present work must be Noah, with his wife on his left, beckoning him and the rest of their party towards the ark which is seen on the right.  The two men and two women behind Noah and his wife are presumably two of their sons accompanied by their wives.  The wide-brimmed hat worn by the woman on Noah’s right was associated with Egypt in the seventeenth century and, along with Noah’s turban and the general costumes of all the figures, Jordaens has imbued his composition with a sense of exoticism.  

The other critical element to the story of Noah is the gathering of the animals.  Jordaens has painted a wide variety of animals from the domestic to the exotic, horses following cattle flanked by lions and camels.  Birds are painted flying towards the ark, the scarlet macaws in particular displaying Jordaens’ attention to naturalism.  

The motif of Noah and the animals entering the ark is one of which Jordaens reproduced in a number of versions.  An identical composition by Jordaens is in the Musee des Beaux Arts, Valenciennes, France, and another is in the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Musuem, Bournemouth (attributed to Jan van Balen).  Individual elements of the composition are also quoted from other paintings.  The grey horse in the right corner of Noah Entering the Ark is quoted in reverse from Jordaens’ Entry into the Ark (sold, Christie’s, London, 15^th April 1983, lot 68).  The pair of camels in Noah Entering the Ark is quoted from another painting by Jordaens, Before the Flood (Sold, Kunsthaus Lempertz, Cologne, 9^th-15^th November, 1960, lot 98).  The elements of the ark, and the figure of Noah wearing a turban and cape, are both quoted, along with the pair of camels, the rearing horse, and the pair of macaws, from a painting by Jordaens in the Khanenko Museum of Art in Kiev.  

In his depictions of figures and animals, Jordaens reflects a growing interest in fashion and the natural sciences.  Antwerp was a vital centre of trade and an increasingly cosmopolitan city in the 17^th century and the present picture displays Jordaens’ keen observation of the tastes and trends developing around him.

This painting has a distinguished provenance.  The Nerée tot Babberich family originated in Normandy, arriving in the Dutch Republic thanks to Richard Jean de Nerée who served as chaplain to the troop of the Stadholder Prince Maurice.  It is possible that the present picture was in the family collection until it was finally sold at Christie’s in 2001.

Hans Jordaens III, Noah’s Ark, 66 x 51 cm., Khanenko Collection, Kiev, Ukraine (Witt Library, Courtauld Institute, London).

See pre-lot text, Old Master Pictures sale catalogue, Christie’s, Amsterdam, 9th May 2001, lot 39.