J. Jordaens Attr. Oil on Canvas North-European School XVII Century

Oil painting on canvas.
Northern European school of the seventeenth century.
The large pastoral scene presents a broad landscape that pushes the gaze to the distant sea coast; on it the sky is gradually opening up, revealing flashes of blue on the left, while on the right, among the darker clouds left over from the storm, a large rainbow is revealed.
In the foreground, a group of shepherds and shepherdesses enjoy amorous games, discrete and festive, in the midst of their herds, which rest and drink from the nearby stream.
The whole scene is animated by a dimension of joyful relaxation and refreshment, as if the rainbow had restored serenity to the environment, bringing light and with it serenity to the world.
The attribution to Jordaens is linked both to the typology of subject, the pastoral one, a recurring theme in the production of the Flemish artist, and to the pictorial modalities: in this work we find his warm and luminous colours, the strong contrasts of light and shadow, the robust figures with red and healthy faces, sometimes with satyristic features, the compositions full of figures that give an air of sensual vitality.
Restored and relined, the painting is presented in a period gilded frame.