The Preaching Of Saint John The Baptist – Workshop Of Frans II Francken (1581 – 1641)

Oil on reinforced oak panel. Antwerp School early 17th century, Frans II Francken workshop.
Our painting depicts a representation of Saint John the Baptist preaching before an assembly of the faithful. Gathered in a clearing, whether seated, standing or on horseback, they form a compact crowd that forms a circle around the preacher. A veritable portrait gallery, his audience mixes characters of various ages and conditions who adopt very marked attitudes. John the Baptist, dressed modestly and haloed in gold, is camped in an elegant contrapposto. He stretches his arm out in front of him and, in his extension, the threatening sky seems to lighten. Did the painter want to prefigure the imminent arrival of the Messiah? Matthew, in his Gospel, places the scene in the desert while Luke places it on the banks of the Jordan. And our painter transposes it to the edge of a continental forest, recalling that he has never seen these distant lands and demonstrating his talent for painting lush nature. The narrative scenes showing Saint John the Baptist preaching are rare because they are relegated to the background of the more frequent representations of the baptism of Christ or episodes of the Passion.

Our painting is presented in a beautiful frame with an inverted profile with blackened wooden guillochures.
Dimensions: 48 x 60 cm – 64 x 76 cm with the frame
Sold with invoice and certificate of expertise

Related works:
- Preaching of John the Baptist, Frans II Francken, oil on panel 37 x 57 cm, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen Munich, illustrated in “Frans Francken der Jüngere (1581-1642)” by Ursula Harting n° 89 p. 258.
- Preaching of John the Baptist, Frans II Francken, oil on panel 56 x 91 cm, Museo del Prado Madrid, illustrated in “Frans Francken der Jüngere (1581-1642)” by Ursula Harting no. 90 p. 258.

Frans II Francken or Frans Francken the Younger (Antwerp 1581 – Id. 1641). Son of Frans I and brother of Hieronymus II and Ambrosius II, he is the most renowned of the Francken dynasty. Excelling in the most diverse genres, he specialized in small and medium-sized paintings (also called cabinet paintings) and which Rubens called “cose piccole”. He painted numerous biblical, mythological and historical scenes in which he depicted compact crowds according to the rule of isocephaly. Pushing the glazing technique to perfection, he achieves a delicacy of nuances and fluid effects that give all their interest to the figures in the background. The greatest Flemish artists call upon his talent, we thus find the virtuoso groups of Francken in the landscapes of Abraham Govaerts, Joos de Momper or Jan Brueghel I and II, in the architectures of Bartholomeus van Bassen, Pieter Neeffs I or Hendrick van Steenwijck to name but a few.

Bibliography:
- HARTING, Ursula, Frans Francken der Jüngere (1581-1642): die Gemälde mit kritischem Oeuvrekatalog, Freren, Luca, 1989.
- La Dynastie Francken, dir. Sandrine Vézilier Dussart, (exhibition cat., Cassel, Museum of Flanders, September 4, 2021 – January 2, 2022), In Fine, 2020.