Belshazzar's Feast

Details

Circle of Frans Francken II (Antwerp 1581-1642)
Belshazzar's Feast
oil on panel
75.2 x 110.3 cm.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

The present composition follows Jan Muller's engraving of circa 1598 (see J.P. Filedt Kok, The Muller Dynasty, part II -The New Hollstein series-, Rotterdam, 1999, p. 43, no. 1) for which the preparatory drawing is in the Rijksprentenkabinet, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. For the impact of this engraving and an explanation of its composition see J.P. Filedt Kok, 'Jan Harmensz. Muller as Printmaker I', Print Quarterly, 1994, XI, p. 244, fig. 123/4.

The subject has often been used by Frans Francken II (see U. Härting, Frans Francken der Jüngere (1581-1642), Freren, 1989, II, p. 257, nos. 86-7).

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