Antwerp, c. 1660. A poet stands taut with anticipation, reaching toward inspiration. Polymnia, muse of lyric poetry, raises a cup to his lips. The waters of the Hippocrene are about to flow. Genius, perhaps, is about to be born.
A scene inhabited by golden light
At the centre, a figure draped in ochre holds a lyre. She presides over an assembly of figures: pearly-skinned muses, child musicians, allegorical forms. Jordaens paints broadly, generously. His touch is fleshy, almost sculptural. In the background, a waterfall surges. In the dramatic sky, putti swirl and tumble. And high above, to the left, Pegasus — the winged horse — leaps from the summit of Mount Parnassus.
The Flemish Parnassus
In the 17th century, poetry is a noble art, a divine pursuit. Jordaens lays out here a precise iconographic programme: Polymnia offers the poet the sacred waters of the Hippocrene, the spring born from the hoof-strike of Pegasus on Mount Helicon — which Baroque tradition frequently conflates with Parnassus. To drink these waters is to receive inspiration. This kind of learned allegory flourishes in Flemish humanist circles and courtly settings. The painting is a celebration of creative power.
Jacob Jordaens
Jacob Jordaens (1593–1678) stands as one of the pillars of Flemish Baroque, alongside Rubens, whose pupil and collaborator he was. An Antwerper all his life, he developed a powerful and sensuous pictorial language: robust bodies, expressive drapery, and contrasted light inherited from Caravaggism. He painted with boundless energy, never at the expense of precision. This canvas is a perfect illustration — Baroque in form, humanist in spirit.
Think about it
💭 In the 17th century, inspiration was something one received. Today, we say it must be earned through work. Was Jordaens wrong?
About this work
- Allegory of the Poet
- Jacob Jordaens
- c. 1660
- Oil on canvas
- 162.56 × 117.48 cm
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
- https://collections.lacma.org/node/206280
