Attributed to FRANS FRANCKEN III.

Attributed to FRANS FRANCKEN III, (Antwerp, Belgium, 1607 - 1667).
"The Martyrdom of Saint Justine of Padua".
Oil on copper.
It presents cradled.
Measurements: 80 x 93 cm; 100 x 114 cm (frame).

The Flemish painters of the Baroque period treated the biblical subjects with great freedom. Naturalism is sought in the characters, in their cloths and in the silver illumination that bursts from the sky covered with clouds. This work can be related to the painting also attributed to Frans Francken III.

Frans Francken III, son of Frans Francken II, was the last member of the important family of painters of this surname. After completing his training, he joined the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp, his native city, in 1639, and became dean of this institution in 1656, a position he held for a year. Francken III developed an oeuvre heir to that of his father, and in fact his paintings are often confused, because both used the same signature. Thus, we see in his production the influence of Jan Brueghel de Velours and his predecessors of the Francken family, as well as debts with Mannerism and painting of the sixteenth century, noticeable both in the structure of the compositions and in the rhythm and expression of the figures. Moreover, as in the work of his father, his characters include obvious allusions to the work of Italian artists such as Raphael, Veronese and Zuccaro. However, the son's works are characterized by a less emphatic manner and a softer execution than those of Francken II. The reuse of specific motifs from the father's paintings is frequent in the painting of the son, who also shows pictorial borrowings from some Dutch works. His main works are based on the incorporation of figures in the paintings of interiors of Flemish churches of Ludovicus Neefs, of which the two preserved in the Museo del Prado, made around 1646, are a brilliant example. Frans Francken III was master of Carstian Luyckx and Jan Baptist Segaert. He is currently represented in the Prado Museum, the Royal Fine Arts Museum of Belgium, the Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Doornik (Belgium), the Residenzgalerie in Salzburg and other important museums and collections.

This painting portrays the martyrdom of Saint Justine of Padua. However, it is in this work where he displays a greater sumptuousness and scenographic complexity. The martyrdom of the saint, who is almost hidden among the number of characters that populate the scene, several earthly and heavenly courtships swirl around the protagonist. Numerous engravings were made of this work that spread the mastery of the composition. An example of this is the engraving belonging to the Valparaiso collection, which was made by Agostino Carracci.

Baroque painting was a transforming force to much of the rest of the European schools, masters such as Rubens, Velázquez or Van Dyck succumbed to the works produced by this school during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The vibrant coloring, the fluidity and strength of the brushstroke and a passionate movement full of gestures and theatricality made it a landmark often imitated. The great painters such as Titian, Tintoretto, Bassano or Veronese, championed this vision. Frans Franken III, like his contemporaries, maintains elaborate compositions in which the scenes seem to move by themselves. The loose brushstroke, almost pure brushstrokes gives the feeling of immediacy and leads us to an energetic vision in the color unfolds shining with flashes of red in contrast to a blue that is lost to black and suddenly shines to lead white.