The fool, his cat and a horse

Jordaens dealt with this theme several times (including ‘A woman, the fool and his cat’, Instituto Moll, Madrid/ The good cat and the treacherous one’, Galerie Sankt Lucas, Vienna, whereabouts unknown and several drawings). Only here, the jester and cat are depicted with a horse in the background. Typical is the ballustrade and the cloth hanging in front of it.
 The drawing was started with red chalk and later finished with brown pen, ink and brush. The liveliness, spontaneity, power and precision of this small sheet betray the hand of the master.    
It is possibly a design for a painting from the same series as ‘A jester makes fun on a balcony’ (Phoebus foundation). The exact meaning of the theme still remains somewhat unclear.

Red cray, Pen, Brush and Brown ink, 139 x 110 mm