Jan Massijs, The Unequal Lovers

by Atelier Liesjes

In the centre of the picture, a young woman in an ochre-yellow dress with a white collar leans towards an old man with grey hair and a beard. She rests her hand against his chin and looks at him, whilst he holds her waist; his eyes are half-closed and his lips are pursed. To the right behind him, a woman wearing a white hood and a red bodice grins broadly at the viewer, her hand held outwards. To the left, in the doorway, an old woman wearing a white headscarf peeks inside. On the table are a dish of gold coins, an empty pewter plate, a loaf of bread and a plate of grapes and pears; in the bottom left, a parrot sits on a chair, whilst on the right a little monkey peeks over the edge of the table.
The painting is a genre piece with a clear warning: the unequal love between old and young, driven by money rather than virtue. Massijs tells this story through exaggerated facial expressions and animated gestures, in a palette of warm ochre, carmine red and deep brown that stands out against the dark background. The animals reinforce the message: the parrot symbolises parroting and vanity, the monkey folly and lust. The style is that of Antwerp Mannerism, with smooth paint, bright colours and an almost theatrical arrangement of the figures.
Jan Massijs (Antwerp c. 1509 – Antwerp 1575) was the son of Quinten Massijs and one of the most prolific painters of genre scenes in sixteenth-century Antwerp. His exile on grounds of religious conviction took him to Italy and France, where he became acquainted with the Mannerist style. After his return in 1558, alongside religious works, he mainly painted this sort of entertaining, moralising scene. A small, witty painting full of stories, perfect for a classical interior.