Hieronymous Francken I
Hieronymus Francken I (ca. 1540, Herentals–1610, Paris) was a Flemish painter of the Antwerp school and an important member of the Francken family of artists.
Biography
According to Karel van Mander, who referred to him three times using three different names, i.e. Ieroon Francken van Herenthals, Ieroon Vrancks, and Ieroon Franck, Francken was a pupil of Frans Floris.[1] It is unclear whether he traveled to Italy after his training in Antwerp. Such a trip is suggested by a work of his hand dated 1565 that depicts a scene from the Carnival of Venice (in the Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum in Aachen).[2]
From 1566 to 1572 he was in France where he was one of the masters employed to decorate the Palace of Fontainebleau.[3] Cornelis Floris, the Antwerp architect, sent his son to Paris in 1568 to train with Hieronymus Francken I.[2] In 1571 he returned to Antwerp to finish the Adoration of the Magi that had been left unfinished by Frans Floris when he died in 1570.[4] In 1574 he is documented in Antwerp.[5]
From 1578 until his death he lived in Paris and Fontainebleau, where he was appointed court painter to the French court in 1594.[5] He was the teacher of Abraham Bloemaert for a short time during Bloemaert's stay in Paris and Fontainebleau from 1581 to 1583.[6]
Work
In addition to religious works, that were idealistic and fully in line with 16th-century taste, he also painted groups of dancers at the court. In these latter works he anticipates the development of this genre in the 17th century, especially in the work of his nephew Frans Francken II.[2] He also painted portraits and a self-portrait has been preserved. His paintings are in an elegant Mannerist style and unite elements of the Antwerp, Italian (especially Venetian) and French styles, although the influence of Fontainebleau is the most pronounced.[4]
Family tree
| Nicolaes Francken 1515–1596 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hieronymous Francken I 1540–1610 | Frans Francken I 1542–1616 | Ambrosius Francken I 1544–1618 | (Cornelius Francken) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Isabella Francken | Thomas Francken 1574–1625 | Hieronymous Francken II 1578–1623 | Frans Francken II 1581–1642 | Ambrosius Francken II 1590–1632 | Hans Francken 1581–after 1610 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Frans Francken III 1607–1667 | Hieronymous Francken III 1611–after 1661 | Ambrosius Francken III 1614–1662 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Constantijn Francken 1661–1717 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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References
- ↑ (Dutch) Ieroon Francken in Karel van Mander's Schilder-boeck, 1604, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hieronymus Francken I bij Oxford Art Online
- ↑ Ieroon Vrancks mentioned by Van Mander in Cornelis Ketel biography
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 (French)Biographical details in the Larousse encyclopedia
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Biographical details at the RKD
- ↑ Ieroon Franck mentioned by Van Mander in Abraham Bloemaert biography