This is a study for one of the twelve signs of the Zodiac (also called The Twelve Months) painted for a ceiling in Jordaens’s own house around 1641. Inspired by Rubens’s practice, Jordaens used black, white and red chalk for this vibrant drawing. The red chalk outlines correspond to those of the figure in the final painting, a depiction of the nymph Adrastea. She is shown milking a goat to feed the infant Jupiter. The scene represents the astrological sign of Capricorn (and the month of December). The paintings, sold in 1802, remain on the ceiling of a room in the Palais du Luxembourg, Paris.