Artwork
The King Drinks
The King Drinks is an oil painting by the Flemish Baroque painting artist Jacob Jordaens. It dates from 1640 and is held in the collection of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.
About this work
Overview
Jacob Jordaens’ 1640 oil on canvas, titled The King Drinks, portrays a festive gathering centered on a crowned monarch. The king, clad in white robes, raises a glass amid a crowd of revelers of mixed ages and genders, each caught in various stages of merriment. Warm hues and vigorous brushwork convey a lively, almost chaotic atmosphere of celebration.
Subject & Meaning
The composition illustrates the Twelfth‑Night tradition, a winter feast in which a chosen “king” presides over communal drinking. By placing the sovereign at the table’s head, Jordaes emphasizes the ritual’s social inversion, where hierarchy is temporarily relaxed and participants indulge in collective joy and excess.
Technique & Style
Executed in oil, the work displays Jordaens’ characteristic Baroque vigor: robust figures, dynamic poses, and a palette dominated by reds, golds, and ochres. The painter employs loose, energetic strokes to suggest movement, while careful modeling of light on fabrics and glass enhances the tactile sense of the scene.
History & Provenance
Created in 1640, the painting entered the collection of the Oldmasters Museum, part of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, where it remains on display. An earlier version of the same theme, painted in 1638, is housed in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, indicating Jordaens’ continued interest in the subject.
Context
The work reflects the Flemish Baroque fascination with genre scenes that blend everyday life with moral undertones. Twelfth‑Night festivities were popular subjects for artists seeking to depict communal rituals, and Jordaens’ treatment aligns with contemporary depictions of feasting that balance realism with theatricality.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jacques (Jacob) Jordaens (19 May 1593 – 18 October 1678) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and a designer of tapestries and prints.
Museum
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium
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The Holy Family with Saint Anne and the Young Baptist and His Parents
Untitled
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The Betrayal of Christ
Portrait of the artist with his family
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