A garland of flowers surrounding a medallion of the Virgin and Child

We are grateful to Mr. Fred Meijer of the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorisches Documentatie for confirming the attribution to Francken, on the basis of a transparency. He notes that although the garlands of flowers in paintings of this genre are often attributed to Andries Daniels and occasionally to Philips de Marlier, Francken employed several artists in his workshop who worked from Brueghel-related compositions, and it is therefore difficult to identify the collaborator with any certainty. Dr. Ursula Härting, on the basis of a transparency, suggests that the medallion may also be by a studio hand.