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Frans Francken III (Anversa , 1607 - 1667)Attributed to
The crossing of the Red Sea, 17th century
h 77.5X112.5 cm in frame h 90X125 cm
The Crossing of the Red Sea is a biblical theme that has been depicted repeatedly by important painters throughout the history of art. In Italy, for example, we find it in Raphael's Loggia, in the middle register of the Sistine Chapel fresco cycle, and in Bronzino's Eleanor Chapel frescoed inside the Palazzo Vecchio. Across the Alps, however, particularly in Antwerp, it was repeatedly tackled by the renowned Francken dynasty of painters. This family of Flemish painters was active for over a century, working tirelessly between the mid-16th century and the end of the 16th century, counting among its ranks painters such as Frans Francken I, Frans Francken II, and Hieronymus II, as well as Ambrosius and Thomas Francken, or, for the younger generation, the brothers Hieronymus Francken III and Frans Francken III. Our painting should be attributed to the latter; if in fact the iconographic scheme had already been used several times by the previous generation, the much clearer and more calligraphic style orients its autography towards this last exponent of the, at this chronological height (mid-17th century), almost century-old workshop.
It's no surprise that the compositional scheme was repeatedly reworked or repeated; the success of the composition was likely due to its evidently baroque nature: the crowd of Jews recently escaped from danger depicted here is nothing more than a virtuosic pictorial pretext for depicting the multitude of costumes, poses, and expressions that crowd the painting, combining the narrative of the episode with a taste for rich ornamental pleasure (in this regard, see the collection of shells depicted in The Israelites Crossing the Red Sea, attributed to Hieronymus Francken III). Pharaoh's army, however, relegated to the background, defenseless and about to be completely swallowed up by the colossal waves of the Red Sea, provides an element of contrast to the renewed life of the Chosen People; this, of course, is no coincidence: the Crossing is above all a hymn to Divine Liberation and Salvation, a hymn that, here, is perfectly expressed in a composition capable of balancing visual pleasure and doctrinal message.
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