Frans Francken the Younger/ Frans Francken II Flemish school, 1581-1642

 

Frans Francken the Younger is the best-known member of an extended artistic family that worked in Antwerp from the late sixteenth to the late seventeenth century. Born in 1581, he almost certainly studied with his father, Frans Francken the Elder (c. 1542-1616), before becoming a master in the Antwerp Saint Luke's Guild in 1605. In 1627 he became a member of the Antwerp archers' guild De Oude Handboog.

 

Francken was an extremely productive and imaginative artist who specialized in expressively rendered small-scale religious and mythological scenes. He also painted larger altarpieces for Catholic churches. His depictions of collectors' cabinets introduced a genre of painting that influenced several artists, including Jan Brueghel the Elder and David Teniers the Younger. Francken ran a large and productive workshop, where he was assisted by a number of pupils, including his sons Frans III (1607-1667), Hieronymus III (1611-after 1661), and Ambrosius III (c. 1614-1662). Also active in his studio were his brothers Thomas (1574-c. 1626), Hieronymus the Younger (1578-1623), and Ambrosius the Younger (c. 1590-1632). Francken painted many works for the art dealer Christian van Immerzeel, who sold them to Spanish collectors.

 

Francken frequently collaborated with other artists. For example, he painted figures in landscapes by Abraham Govaerts (1589-1626) and Joos de Momper II (1564-1635) and in architectural scenes by Bartholomeus van Bassen (c. 1560-1652) and Peeter Neeffs the Elder. He also collaborated with flower painters, among them Jan Brueghel the Elder, Jan Brueghel the Younger (1601-1678), and Andries Danielsz (active c. 1600-1625).

 

2. Description of the painting

 

The scene depicted in our painting is directly inspired by St. Matthew's Gospel (2-1-11), which recounts the arrival of "Magi from the East": " On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh."

 

The Mother of God is enthroned on a stepped stone pedestal from which she dominates the scene. She presents the divine child on a sheet placed on her lap, in which he lies and looks at the viewer. A winter landscape can be seen in the left background.

 

Over the centuries, these three characters (whose number derives from the number of gifts offered according to the Gospel) have been known as the Magi, the Wise Men and, since the Middle Ages, as Kings. While the Gospels are silent on their names, they do appear in a 6th-century Greek manuscript that has been adopted into Church tradition: Gaspard, Melchior and Balthasar. Different iconographic traditions are superimposing. A young man, a middle-aged man, and an old man symbolize the three ages of Man. To symbolize the universality of the Church, they also represent the three continents known in the Middle Ages: Europe, Asia and Africa. Balthasar is then represented as an African.

 

According to Johannes Molanus (1533-1585), the leading Catholic theologian in Flanders at the time of Francken, Gaspard was 60, Balthasar 40 and Melchior 20. This tradition is reflected in our painting. Two of them wear turbans and carry containers of gold and myrrh as gifts. Only the light-skinned king, probably the European, has placed his scepter and turban at the feet of the mother with and her child, and kneels in adoration of the Son of God. But behind his turban rises the smoke from his censer...

 

The oval medallion adorning the pedestal on which the turban has been placed depicts a horseman, perhaps another reference to the New Testament: the Faithful and True Rider (Revelation 19) who will rule the nations with a rod of iron on the last day. This reference links this scene of adoration with the proclamation of the Salvation at the end of times brought about by Christ.

 

The three Magi are joined by two pages and several other figures depicted in costumes contemporary with the period in which the painting was made, thus drawing the viewer into the picture. The shimmering colors of the various garments are further enhanced by the use of a gold background to evoke Gaspard's brocade coat.

 

3. Related artworks

Another autograph version of this composition is known and was presented in 2008 by the New York gallery Lawrence Steigrad Fine Arts. Very similar to our composition[2], it differs mainly by the two-tone colors of the turban at the Virgin's feet.

 

Our composition was also used in several studio versions (in which Gaspard's dress is generally painted in golden yellow rather than with gold). Frans Francken the Younger would later depict this theme again and again, as evidenced by this version dated 1618, sold by Koller in 2011 .[3]

 

Ursula Härting - Frans Francken der Jüngere - Die Gemälde, Freren 1989

Catalog of the exhibition La Dynastie Francken, Musée de Flandre Cassel 2020