Jacobus Ferdinandus Saey

Jacobus Ferdinandus Saey or Jacob Ferdinand Saeys (1658 – after 1726) was a Flemish painter who specialized in architectural paintings depicting gallant companies amidst imaginary Renaissance and Baroque palaces and buildings. After starting his career in Flanders, he moved to Vienna, where he worked for the rest of his life.

Life Jacobus Ferdinandus Saey was born in Antwerp. He was possibly a cousin of the art dealer Jan Saey. Some sources state that van Ehrenberg was his uncle. He became a master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in the guild year 1679–80. He was still recorded in the Antwerp Guild records in 1681.

He was still recorded in Vienna in 1726. The date and place of his death are not known. Unlike his master, who occasionally painted the interiors of real existing buildings, Saey mostly concentrated on imaginary structures and outdoor settings with elegant companies congregating in an informal manner.

Saey was particularly skilled in the use of perspective and the realistic rendering of different materials, in particular the marble of columns. Characteristics of his work are the recurring checkered floors and his dramatic use of light. He regularly collaborated with other artists including Hieronymus Janssens who painted the staffage in his work.

As Saey rarely, in fact almost never, signed his paintings, it is difficult to differentiate his artistic production from that of two other even rarer Flemish painters who worked in almost exactly the same style: his contemporary Jacob Balthasar Peeters and a pupil of Peeters by the name of Jan Baptist van der Straeten.

Some of Saey's architectural scenes appear to represent subjects from mythology or the bible while others may simply represent some entertainment or story involving fantastic figures imagined by the artist. For example, his Baroque palace with Hermes delivering a message (at Dorotheum sale of 12 December 2011, Vienna, lot 25) depicts a mythological scene while his Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (Lempertz sale of 20 May 2017, Cologne, lot 1103) depicts a biblical scene. Some works appear to be related to the extraordinary events in the life of Cleopatra. This could be the case with the Picnic in a palace courtyard (At Jean Moust in 2018), which possibly depicts a picnic of Cleopatra and Mark Antony.

That his works are principally aimed at impressing the viewer through their technical feats of architectural perspective, the dramatic lighting and the mysterious scenes with fantastic figures is evident in the pair of paintings depicting palace architecture with nocturnal illumination and numerous figures (Auctioned at Hampel on 28 September 2017, Cologne, lot 739). Both compositions in large format (119 x 147 cm) depict a monumental portico in front of which an elegant company is gathered. They were designed as counterparts to be displayed side by side. The extremely lavish palace architectures are placed respectively on the left and right in each composition and disappear in the distance with foreshortening at the rear. The round fluted columns in stained marble with various capitals, cornices and balconies are illuminated by artificial light emanating from torches, which are held by stone statues and vases as well as persons holding lighted torches. The scene in the composition to be hung on the left may refer to the story of the arrival of the Queen of Sheba who is standing with her crown on the stairs while servants are carrying luggage and treasure boxes. The meaning of the second work is not yet understood.

A composition by Saeys in the collection of the Louvre referred to as the Hunting meal differs from his other work in that it depicts an elegant company in a landscape rather than in front of an imaginary palace.