However, it was the works of Rubens, who occasionally employed him to reproduce small sketches in a larger format, which had the greatest impact on the artist.
Jordaens excelled at lively, large-scale scenes with a variety of figures and characters infused with naturalism, and after the death of Rubens he became the most admired painter in Antwerp and also benefited from patronage from the royal houses of Europe.
The painting above, which comes up for sale at Ansorena in Madrid on April 20, shows the wedding scene of Neptune and Amphitrite, with the god of the sea and his official consort surrounded by a procession of marine deities, nereids and hippocamps.
It is known that Jordaens returned to this theme more than once, and this example, measuring 3ft x 3ft 10in (94cm x 1.2m), is a smaller version of a canvas of the same subject which was previously in the Arenberg collection of Brussels.
It is estimated at €48,000.
