The Way to Calvary

Details

Frans Francken II (Antwerp 1581-1642)
The Way to Calvary
indistinctly signed 'D·ov. ff.c...k' (lower left)
oil on panel, the reverse gessoed
17 5/8 x 25 in. (44.7 x 63.5 cm.)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, 2 June 1965, lot 25, as 'Jerome Francken', where acquired by the late owner.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

The subject provided a favourite theme for Francken and can be found in at least a dozen of his existing works. Many of these, as here, concentrate on the moment that Veronica came forward and took her veil to wipe the sweat from the face of Christ as He bore His cross to Calvary. This unpublished treatment corresponds with an unsigned version, cut at the top, last sold in Berlin in 1930 (see U. Härting, Frans Francken der Jüngere, Freren, 1989, pp. 286-7, no. 205, illustrated).

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