May 06, 2013 <Back to Index> Geologist Grove Karl Gilbert, 1843 Painter Frans Francken the Younger, 1581 Marshal of the Empire André Masséna, 1758 This page is sponsored by: PAGE SPONSOR

Frans Francken the Younger (Antwerp, 1581 – 6 May 1642), was a Flemish Baroque painter and the best known member of the large Francken family of artists. Many of his works are small historical, allegorical and biblical cabinet paintings with the focus on figures. He also invented or popularized several new themes that became popular in Flemish painting, such as genre scenes populated by monkeys (later imitated by David Teniers the Younger) and Kunstkamer paintings displaying a wealth of natural and artistic treasures against a neutral wall. Francken frequently collaborated with other artists, adding figures to works by Tobias Verhaecht and Abraham Govaerts. Later in his life he also painted large altarpieces.