As the Old sing, so pipe the Young
Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678)

As the Old sing, so pipe the Young. The Arenberg Painting, 1640

Oil on canvas, H. 1.65 m; W. 2.35 m

Inscription on the paper held by the old man: Een.Nieu Liedeken.Van Callo

Provenance: Reportedly from the Convent of the Alexian (Cellite) Brothers in Antwerp ;
Acquired by Pierre Jacques François Vrancken (Antwerp 6 August 1757 -17 November 1833 Lokeren), resident of Lokeren (between Antwerp and Ghent) by 1825 at the latest when described in a general publication of the region and the collection of P.J.F. Vrancken as: n° 73: a king’s feast, with many lifesize figures, with the proverb: Zoo de ouden zongen, zoo piepen de jongen, by Jordaens .
Passed on the death of P.J.F. Vrancken in 1833 to his widow Theresia Caroline Van den Berghe (d. 29 July 1838) and, as the couple was without issue, to their nephews Jean-Baptiste van Hooff and Petrus Leonardus Rooms;
Sold on the orders of Jean-Baptiste van Hooff as from the collection of the late P.J.F. Vrancken, 15th May 1838, Lokeren[Lugt nr. 15075], lot 31: Jacob Jordaens, As the Old Sing, so Pipe the Young, from the convent of the Cellite brothers of Antwerp
Bought at the 1838 sale by Jean François Thys on behalf of Prosper-Louis, 7th duke d’Arenberg (1785-1861), who exhibited the canvas in his painting gallery at the ducal Egmont Palace, Brussels;
By descent to his eldest son Engelbert-Auguste, 8th duke d’Arenberg (1824-1875), Egmont Palace, Brussels;
By descent to his eldest son Engelbert-Marie, 9th duke d’Arenberg (1873-1949), and retained at the Egmont palace in Brussels until October 1918 when moved to Schloss Pesch near Düsseldorf (Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany);
By descent to his eldest son Engelbert-Charles, 10th duke d’Arenberg (1899-1974), by whom moved to the newly built Villa Encar, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France and identified as part of his collection in the 1956 Scaldis exhibition at Tournai, Belgium
By whom sold , possibly directly to T.P. Grange, London, who owned the painting by 1959 ;
Roger V. de Ramée, Villa Cyrnos, Roquebrune Cap-Martin, France, by 1965 ;
By descent to his daughter Simone de Ramée, Ostende, Belgium ;
By whom sold to Mme Van der Pas, Belgium, in 1986;
By descent to her son, Dr. H.F.M. Van der Pas, Ijzendijke, Belgium in 1988;
By whom sold anonymously at auction, Paris, Piasa, 26 June 2009, lot 15 with a certificat d’exportation pour un bien culturel, n° 111069, dated June 22nd 2009, delivered by the French Ministry of Culture.

Literature:
  • A.J.L. Van den Bogaerde, Het distrikt St. Nikolaas, voorheen Land van Waes, provincie Oost-Vlaanderen : beschouwd met betrekking tot deszelfs natuur-, staat- en geschiedkunde; gevolgd door eene bijzondere beschrijving van elke stad, dorp, of gemeente in hetzelve gelegen, 1de deel, St-Nicolas, 1825, p. 361 and 368 sub n° 73.
  • H.G. Moke, Ed. Fétis, A. Van Hasselt, Les splendeurs de l’art en Belgique, Brussels, 1848, p. 230.
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  • R.-A. d’Hulst, Dessins flamands du dix-septième siècle. Collection Frits Lugt. Institut néerlandais, ex. cat., London, Paris, Bern & Brussels, 1972, p. 59 sub n° 40.
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  • R.-A. d’Hulst, N. de Poorter & M. Vandenven, Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678): Paintings and Tapestries, exh. cat. Antwerp, 1993, p. 178 & note 10, p. 180.