(b Antwerp, c. 1555; d Delft, bur 23 May 1630). Flemish painter, active in the northern Netherlands. In 1572 he was recorded in Antwerp as a pupil of Noe de Noewielle and in 1581 as a qualified master in the Antwerp painters’ guild. In 1582 he married Anna Mahu, widow of Frans Pourbus the elder. Abraham Jordaens, presumably his brother, was apprenticed to him in 1585, and in 1601 he is mentioned as a painter in Delft. About 1590 his son Simon was born; he also became a painter. Between 1590 and 1597 Jordaens moved permanently to Delft, perhaps for religious reasons, since he joined the Lutheran community there. On 3 August 1612 he provided sureties for his son Simon, who was granted citizenship of Delft. By 1613 Hans was a member of the Guild of St Luke there and one of the town’s best-selling painters. His religious and mythological paintings, such as Queen Esther before King Ahasuerus (1610; Montreal, Mus. F.A.), had a more intimate and decorative character than the work of local painters and soon became popular. This is clear from the many works attributed to him in Delft inventories. Of the 146 pictures sold by his widow after his death, only four were attributed to him. Most of them, however, must have been his work. It is thus surprising that so few of his paintings are now known; these include a Wooded Landscape with Christ and the Woman of Canaan (sold London, Christie’s, 1983; see Briels, p. 318) and two versions of a Village Feast (one sold London, Christie’s, 1986; the other, untraced; for both, see Briels, p. 131), which he made in collaboration with Willem van den Bundel (1575–after 1653).

• Jordaens, Hans, I (c. 1555-1630)
  • Netherlands,the, §III, 4(vi): Painting and graphic arts, c 1550–c 1680: Delft