A Young Cavalier Executing a Levade
Flemish, 1593-1678
c. 1645
Oil on canvas
A levade is an exercise in which the horse balances on this hindlegs with its forelegs drawn in. Here a young man executes this manoeuvre, observed by his family and the gods Mercury and Mars - suggesting the courtly and military associations of horsemanship. This is one of Jordaen's models for a set of tapestries; a scaled-up version on paper would have been used to guide the weaving. This canvas is so finely composed and finished that it transcends this function. Jordaens even returned to it later to add, at upper right, the statue of Neptune, creator of the horse, which does not appear in the tapestry.
Frame: carved wood, gilded.
Netherlands, mid 17th century
Purchased 1965 (no. 14810)
A Young Cavalier Executing a Levade
Flemish, 1593-1678
c. 1645
Oil on canvas
A levade is an exercise in which the horse balances on this hindlegs with its forelegs drawn in. Here a young man executes this manoeuvre, observed by his family and the gods Mercury and Mars - suggesting the courtly and military associations of horsemanship. This is one of Jordaen's models for a set of tapestries; a scaled-up version on paper would have been used to guide the weaving. This canvas is so finely composed and finished that it transcends this function. Jordaens even returned to it later to add, at upper right, the statue of Neptune, creator of the horse, which does not appear in the tapestry.
Frame: carved wood, gilded.
Netherlands, mid 17th century
Purchased 1965 (no. 14810)