The present lot repeats the central figure of Jordaens' 'Le Roi Boît', in the Staatliche Gemäldegalerie, Cassel, of circa 1630/40 (see R.A. d'Hulst, Jacob Jordaens, 1982, p. 163, fig. 132). It should be dated circa 1640/45, as it is close in style to Jordaens' self portrait as a bagpipe player in a private collection, Genk, from the same period (d'Hulst, op.cit., p. 184, fig 153). It was Jordaens' studio practice at this time to produce variants of earlier highly successful compositions and details from them. The model here used was undoubtely Abraham Graphaeus (1572-1624), servant of the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp, who was portrayed by various members of the guild including Maerten de Vos and Anthony van Dyck. Like Van Dyck, Jordaens drew Graphaeus from the life, the most important sketches, from circa 1620-1621, in the Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent (d'Hulst, op.cit., p. 102, fig. 67), the Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan (d'Hulst, op.cit., fig 68) and in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Douai (d'Hulst, op.cit., fig. 69). Graphaeus's features also appear in the Crowning of Pomona of circa 1623 in the Musées des Beaux-Arts, Brussels (d'Hulst, op.cit., p. 112, fig. 79) and in the Four Evangelists of 1625-1630 in the Louvre (d'Hulst, op.cit., p. 127, fig. 91)

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