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Frans Francken II - 1600–1700

((Antwerp, 1581–1642))

Born 1581 in Antwerp, died there in 1642. Frans Francken (or Franck) was a member of a painting family which was active in Antwerp for almost two centuries. His father, Frans I, taught him the technical skills of the profession, which he then followed together with, or at least jointly with his three brothers, all of whom were painters. Frans II is the best-known representative of this painting dynasty and examples of his prolific production, in which he was often helped by assistants and other Antwerp painters, can be found in many European museums. Etchings were made after his paintings and we know many of them in several replicas. His compositions were based on his father’s and show the influence of late northern and “international” Mannerism: later he also adopted various motifs of contemporary Flemish artists.

Lit.: Ursula Alice Harting: Studien zur Kabinettbildermalerei des Frans Francken II, 1518-1642, Hildesheim-Zürich-New York 1983; De Maere & Wabbes: Ilustrated Dictionary, Vol. I and II, 1994.

Od manierizma k baroku

Čeprav v tem obdobju prevladujejo zgodnjebaročna uvožena dela in dela potujočih umetnikov, je 17. stoletje postavljalo temelje za prihodnost. Politične razmere so se nekoliko umirile, čeprav se je razdivjala tridesetletna vojna, in naročništvo se je začelo postopoma prebujati. Ključni dogodki so bili prihod jezuitov v Ljubljano, dejavnost polihistorja Janeza Vajkarda Valvasorja, predvsem njegove bakrorezne delavnice na gradu Bogenšperk, ob koncu stoletja pa je bila ustanovljena ljubljanska Academia operosorum. V 17. stoletju so kiparstvo na Slovenskem zaznamovali tako imenovani zlati oltarji. To so bili praviloma iz lesa izrezljani, bogato okrašeni polihromirani in pozlačeni oltarni nastavki s prav značilno hrustančevinasto ornamentiko, ki se je spremenila v vinsko trto z grozdi in prekrila arhitekturne člene in na koncu prerastla v akantovo listje, pod katerim so arhitekturne oblike povsem izginile. V nastanek zlatih oltarjev so bile vpletene različne likovne zvrsti: grafika, rezbarstvo, pozlatarstvo, slikarstvo. Nabožno slikarstvo prve polovice stoletja vsebuje še manieristične prvine, v drugi polovici se množijo tudi svetni motivi, zlasti žanr in plemiški portreti. Dela odsevajo predvsem severnjaške zgodnjebaročne vplive. Med vidnejše prišleke, ki so se s svojimi delavnicami udomačili na Kranjskem, sta se zapisala slikar in pozlatar Hans Georg Geiger von Geigerfeld v sredini stoletja, priseljen na Kranjsko iz osrednjealpskega prostora, in Flamec Almanach v tretji četrtini 17. stoletja, znan samo po vzdevku in gostujoč v naših krajih samo nekaj let. O Almanachovi izjemni produktivnosti in sposobnostih pričajo redka ohranjena dela, Valvasorjevi zapisi in plemiški zapuščinski inventarji.
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