Jacob Jordaens

Meyer collection, Minden;

Bartels collection, Minden and Berlin;

From whom acquired by Peter II (1827-1900), Grand Duke of Oldenburg, 1869;

Thence by descent to his son, Frederick Augustus II (1852-1931), Grand Duke of Oldenburg, until at least 1906;

Dr. Hans Tietje (1880-1954), Amsterdam and Caracas, by 1929 and until at least 1933;

With Esher Surrey, The Hague, by 1949 (as Rubens);

Anonymous sale, Lucerne, Galerie Fischer, 2 December 1968, lot 3742 (as Rubens);

Probably where acquired by John and Johanna Bass, New York;

By whom bequeathed to the Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, 1979 (inv. no. 1979.275).

W. Bode, Die Grossherzogliche Gemälde-Galerie zu Oldenburg, Vienna 1888, pp. 72-73, reproduced p. 69 as an engraving (as Rubens);

Verzeichnis der Gemälde, Gypse und Bronzen in der Grossherzoglichen Sammlung zu Oldenburg, Oldenburg 1890, p. 60, cat. no. 123 (as Rubens);

M. Rooses, L'Oeuvre de P.P. Rubens, Antwerp 1890-1892, vol. III, pp. 133-134, cat. no. 653; vol. V, pp. 339-340, cat. no. 653 (as Rubens);

A. Rosenberg, P.P. Rubens, Des Meisters Gemälde, Stuttgart 1905, p. 90, reproduced (as Rubens);

A. Bredius, Die Grossherzogliche Gemäldegalerie zu Oldenburg, Oldenburg 1906, p. 24 (as Rubens);

R. Oldenbourg, P.P. Rubens, Des meisters Gemälde, Stuttgart 1921, p. 457, reproduced p. 60 (as Attributed to Pieter Soutman);

Austellung alter Malerei aus Privatbesitz veranstaltet zur Hundertjahrfeier des Kunstvereins für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, exhibition catalogue, Düsseldorf 1929, p. 40, cat. no. 54 (as Rubens);

G. Glück, Rubens, Van Dyck und ihr Kreis, L. Burchard and R. Eigenberger (eds.), Vienna 1933, p. 392 (as not by Rubens);

Catalogues der Rubens-Tentoonstelling, exhibition catalogue, Amsterdam 1933, n.p., cat. no. 35 (as Rubens);

C. Norris, "The Rubens Exhibition at Amsterdam," in Burlington Magazine 63, no. 368 (November 1933), p. 229 note 4 (as not by Rubens);

R.A. d’Hulst, De Tekeningen van Jakob Jordaens, Brussels 1956, pp. 48, reproduced fig. 15 (as Jordaens);

The John and Johanna Bass Collection at Miami Beach, Florida, Miami 1973, p. 51, cat. no. 275 (as Rubens);

R.A. d'Hulst, Jacob Jordaens, Ithaca 1982, pp. 55, 75, 107, reproduced fig. 22 (as Jordaens);

M. Russell, in Paintings and Textiles of the Bass Museum of Art: Selections from the Collection, M. Russell (ed.), Miami 1990, pp. 48-49, reproduced (as Jordaens);

R.-A. d’Hulst, in Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678), exhibition catalogue, H. Devisscher and N. de Poorter (eds.), Antwerp 1993, vol. I, pp. 48-51, cat. no. A4, reproduced (as Jordaens);

J. van der Auwera, in Jordaens and the Antique, exhibition catalogue, J. van der Auwera and I. Schaudies (eds.), Brussels 2012, p. 169, reproduced (as Jordaens).

Düsseldorf, Kunstverein, Austellung alter Malerei aus Privatbesitz veranstaltet zur Hundertjahrfeier des Kunstvereins für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, 1 June - 28 July 1929, no. 54;

Amsterdam, Kunsthandel Jacques Goudstikker, Rubens-Tentoonstelling, August - September 1933, no. 35;

Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678), 27 March - 27 June 1993, no. A4;

Miami, Bass Museum of Art, Cultural Capital of Europe, 4 April - 27 June 1993;

Miami, Bass Museum of Art, Pascale Marthine Tayou: Beautiful, 29 October 2017 - 21 May 2018.

In this early work, Jacob Jordaens paints an exuberant celebration of fertility and abundance. Teeming with activity and rendered with coloristic vitality, the composition focuses on the Roman goddess Pomona (the only figure not entirely nude), who holds a cornucopia of plenty. Surrounded by a lively entourage of satyrs, fauns, and putti, she presides over the harvest scene as her attendees gather fruit from the bucolic landscape into a basket that has been placed atop a ram at left.

The composition's dynamic nudes, rendered in rosy flesh tones, convey a strong erotic charge and reflect the influence of Peter Paul Rubens, whose Allegory of Fruitfulness of circa 1614-1615 (known only through a copy formerly in the J.L. Menke collection, Antwerp) served as an important source of inspiration. Produced during the Twelve Years' Truce (1609-1621) between Spain and the Northern Netherlands, Jordaens' composition reflects the era's fascination with fecundity and plentitude—allegorical themes that flourished during this rare period of peace.