The Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Kassel houses a unique collection of paintings by Jordaens in Germany, which provide a particularly suitable basis for the study of this master. An example of this is the restoration and art-historical analysis of the painting "The Bean Feast," which consists of seven individual canvas pieces. Through the close collaboration of art-historical and art-technological analyses, insights into the extremely complex creative process emerge, which for Jordaens represents an almost dynamic system of transformation, addition, reduction, and reworking, as well as the closely related question of workshop organization and commission orientation.

The basis for the necessary international networking of conservators and art historians to discuss such an extensive catalog of questions, as well as with international museums for all relevant comparison objects, was already laid in Kassel through the Brussels-Kassel exhibition project "Jordaens and the Antiquity" and the accompanying conferences under the title "Reframing Jordaens" on 6-7 December 2012 in Brussels and on 6-7 May 2013 in Kassel.

Conference proceedings "Reframing Jordaens"

The Flemish painter Jacob Jordaens surprisingly remained in the shadow of Peter Paul Rubens in scholarly discussions until recently, a fact owed to the genius cult of the 19th century as well as the discourses on painter princes. Jordaens, however, was the head of a significant large workshop and significantly influenced the Antwerp art market for 40 years after Rubens' death. The extensive collection of essays brings together for the first time the research of renowned experts on Jacob Jordaens from the field of art history with that of painting restoration. The interdisciplinary approach allows for a closer look at the workshop practices and creative processes of the artist. This results in a new image of the artist, characterized by an unprecedented innovative power as well as artistic and intellectual independence.

The conference proceedings are available at the museum shop of Wilhelmshöhe Castle for 49.95 €.