FRANS YKENS (1601-1693)

(to be attributed to) The Virgin and Child surrounded by a cartouche of floral garlands with fruit. Canvas, mounted on plywood. Signed apochyphal in the lower right 'Snyders'. Craquelé, minor flaking and retouchings. Frans Ykens was born in Antwerp in 1601. In 1615 he began his training with his uncle Osias Beert I (ca. 1580-1623/24). He was admitted to the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1631. About 1665 he moved to Brussels, where he died at a ripe age around 1692. Sam Segal and Clara Alen note that the flower still lives of Frans Ykens exhibit a strong influence of Daniël Seghers rather than his teacher Osias Beert. This can be seen in the adoption of still lives with flowers and cartouches of which the present painting is a beautiful example. The flowers have been presented in compact clusters and the central stone cartouche is with a Madonna Lactans. Often these cartouches were augmented with female figures or putti for which Ykens collaborated with other painters such as Simon de Vos (1603-1676), Jan van den Hoecke (1611-1651) and Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert (1613/14-1654) amongst others. Thanks to Peter Paul Rubens' estate inventory we know he owned six flower still lives by Frans Ykens.¹ Ykens usually signed in cursive as 'franchois or franchoys ÿkens fecit', or with the Spanish form of his first name, 'Francisco ÿkens fecit', and sometimes on a little trompe l'oeil piece of paper that looks as though it has been stuck to the ledge. The apocryphal signature below could possibly be read as 'Fr Ykens', however, seems rather unlikely as he never signed in such a manner. 1. S. Segal & K. Alen, Dutch and Flemish flower pieces. vol. I, Leiden-Boston, 2020, p. 345-346. 181 x 156 cm (189 x 161 cm)