Details
Frans Francken II (Antwerp 1607-1667)
The Lamentation
signed 'f francken in et f:' (lower right)
oil and gold on panel, with the panel maker's mark of Lambrecht Steens (active c. 1608-1638)
1338 x 1918 in. (34 x 48.5 cm.)
Provenance
Private collection, United States.
with Paul Drey Gallery, New York, where acquired by the present owner in 1968.
Literature
U. Härting, Studien zur Kabinettbildmalerei des Frans Francken II, 1581-1642: Ein repräsentativer Werkkatalog, Hildesheim, Zurich and New York, 1983, no. A169, fig. 77.
U. Härting, Frans Francken II, Freren, 1989, pp. 293-294, no. 224, illustrated.
Exhibited
Worcester, Worcester Art Museum, The Collector's Cabinet: Flemish Paintings from New England Private Collections, 6 November 1983-29 January 1984, no. 12.
New Haven, Yale University Art Gallery, July 1977-September 1978, on loan.
Sale Room Notice
Please note the artist’s life dates are ‘(Antwerp 1581-1642)’ and not as stated online and in the catalogue.
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Lot Essay

This painting, which Dr. Ursula Härting has dated to circa 1615 on the basis of its careful craftsmanship and colorful appearance (loc. cit.), bears the panel maker's mark of Lambrecht Steens on the reverse. It is the finest known version of a composition that survives in at least three further examples. Francken may have derived the composition in which Christ stretches across the picture plane, his lifeless body supported by Joseph of Arimathaea, from an engraving by Enea Vico or, perhaps likelier, a painting of circa 1597 variously given to Sir Peter Paul Rubens and his master Otto van Veen (Musée du Louvre, Paris). Particularly noteworthy is Francken's use of metallic gold that has been ground into a powder and combined with oil for the four halos, Nicodemus's collar and Joseph of Arimathaea's turban and cloak.

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