Allegory of Adulthood (Aetas Virilis) - Jacques de L'Ange (1596 - 1642)

Oil on copper, numbered on the reverse. N°104.
Inscribed at the top: “AETA / VIRLIS”

Exhibition:
Abraham Bosse: savant graveur, Tours, Musée des Beaux-Arts, April 20 - July 11, 2004, no. 336, reproduced (France or Flanders, 17th century, L'Age viril as a counterpart to L'Enfance in the Musée National de l'Education, Rouen).

Dimensions: 28 x 36 cm, 37 x 45 cm (framed)

THE ARTWORK

Our painting is the copper version (28.3 x 35.6 cm) titled 'L'Enfance', housed in the Musée de l'Éducation Nationale in Rouen, and attributed to Just d'Egmont, a Flemish painter active in Paris. This artwork completes the 'Ages of Life' series, two pieces, 'La Jeunesse' and 'L'Âge mûr', of which were sold in Monaco in 2020 for €23,000.

This painting offers a truly original insight into both the artist's oeuvre and the varied landscape of Antwerp painting in the 1630s and 1640s. Furthermore, the work tells us a story about adulthood and coming of age. We see a little girl asking her father something. The father appears to be listening to his child and waiting until she has finished speaking. To the right of the scene we see a young woman. This could be the older sister of the family. She watches as her smaller sister asks for their father's attention. In the middle of the table we see a blonde woman. From her position at the table she seems to be the mother of the group. She is holding a fruit in her right hand. The child next to her also seems to be part of the family. He, just like his little sister, seems to be asking something from one of his parents. Compared to the father, the mother is not really listening attentively.

In the background, behind the parents, we see a servant pouring a glass. further on you can see someone entering the set on the right. This one comes in with a fruit bowl. If we look closely, we see a text on the column above the blonde woman's head. We read 'Vetas virilis', which means adulthood.


THE ARTIST

Jacques de l'Ange was a Flemish painter of genre paintings and historical scenes. He was born in 1621 and died in 1650. Little is known of his life. We assume that he was enrolled as an apprentice to Jans Cossiers. After his training he did not become a guild master, but continued to work in his master's studio. From 1640 he painted works under his own name. In 1642 he went to Italy. No documentary evidence of this has yet been found, but we do know that he spent some time in Naples. During his trip he came into contact with the works of Matthias Stom. This later influenced his works.
In his attributed works he paints not only religious and mythological subjects, but also historical and allegorical scenes.He is best known for his series The Seven Deadly Sins. Series were extremely popular in his day. He was only rediscovered around 1994, before his works were attributed to other artists such as Gerard van Honthorst and Joachim von Sandrart.