thumb|Self-portrait of Frans Floris (copy)

Frans Floris, Frans Floris the Elder or Frans Floris de Vriendt (17 April 15191 October 1570) was a Flemish painter, draughtsman, print artist and tapestry designer. He is mainly known for his history paintings, allegorical scenes and portraits. He played an important role in the movement in Northern Renaissance painting referred to as Romanism. The Romanists had typically travelled to Italy to study the works of leading Italian High Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo, Raphael and their followers. Their art assimilated these Italian influences into the Northern painting tradition.

After returning from travels in Italy in 1545, he became a leading painter in his native Antwerp, then at the height of its prosperity. Large numbers of his works for churches were destroyed in the Beeldenstorm of 1566.

Life

thumb|The Awakening of the Arts

Frans Floris was born in Antwerp. He was the scion of a prominent artist family, which originally went with the name ‘de Vriendt’. The earliest known ancestors of the Floris de Vriendt family, then still called only ‘de Vriendt’, were residents of Brussels, where they practised the craft of stonemason and stonecutter, which was passed on from father to son. One of Frans' ancestors became in 1406 a master of the Brussels stonemasons guild. A family member, Jan Florisz. De Vriendt left his native Brussels and settled in Antwerp in the mid-15th century. His patronymic name ‘Floris’ became the common family name in subsequent generations. The original form ‘de Vriendt’ can, however, still be found in official documents until the late 16th century.

Frans' brothers were prominent artists. The most famous one is Cornelis, who was an architect and sculptor and was one of the designers of the Antwerp City Hall. Jacob Floris was a painter of stained-glass windows, and Jan Floris was a potter. He also moved in the circle of the leading humanists such as Abraham Ortelius, Christophe Plantin, Lucas de Heere, Lambert Lombard, Dominicus Lampsonius and Hieronymus Cock. This group of intellectuals and artists was the first to develop theories on art and the role of artists in the Low Countries. In 1549, Floris was commissioned by the Antwerp city authorities to design the decorations for the Joyous entry into Antwerp of Charles V of Spain and the Infante Philip. The façade itself was designed by Frans. His design program for the façade was intended to illustrate the high status of artists in society. He painted the façade with seven personifications symbolizing the qualities and skills of an artist: Accuracy (Diligentia), Practice (Usus), Labor (Labor), Diligence (Industria), Experience (Experientia), Praise (Lauda) and Architecture (Architectura). Above the doorway of the house, a relief depicted the sciences (the seven liberal arts together with painting and architecture) as the principal components of human society. The unknown monogrammist TG portrayed the façade in 1576 in a print. Jozef Linnig made a drawing of the palace in the 19th century, but by that time, most of the decoration of the façade had disappeared. Floris expressed similar ideas in his composition The awakening of the Arts (Museo de Arte de Ponce).

In 1547, Floris married Clara Boudewijns, and the couple had one daughter and two sons. The sons Frans and Baptist were later trained as artists by their father. Baptist died young, while Frans moved to Italy, where he had a successful career.

Van Mander recounts that at the end of his life, Floris became heavily indebted and started drinking.

Van Mander recounts that while working on a large commission for the grand prior of Spain, Floris became ill and died on 1 October 1570 in Antwerp. His paintings for the grand prior were finished by his studio assistants Frans Pourbus the Elder and Chrispijn van den Broeck. Poems were written about him by Dominicus Lampsonius and the poet-painter Lucas de Heere, who, according to van Mander, was his pupil.

Floris’s early work of around 1545 shows most clearly the influence of his Italian sojourn. It shows similarities with the work of other Romanists such as Lambert Lombard and Pieter Coecke van Aelst. Later, his style became increasingly monumental. His compositional skills improved in that he showed more skill in the arrangement of the figures. After 1560, his work became more Mannerist and the sculptural handling of the figures gave way to a more painterly approach. His palette evolved towards the monochrome. Later, he may have been influenced by the school of Fontainebleau as his figures became more elegant and the works more refined. Hieronymus Cock, Philip Galle and Cornelis Cort were the principal engravers involved in this effort, but others such as Johannes Wierix, Balthazar van den Bos, Pieter van der Heyden, Frans Huys, and Dirck Volckertsz. Coornhert and Jan Sadeler I also made engravings after the works of Frans Floris. Floris also made original designs for a series of prints engraved in Antwerp.thumb|left|Family portrait, 1561

Frans Floris made a self-portrait, the original of which has been lost and which is known through a copy in the Kunsthistorisches Museum. He included self-portraits in some of his religious works such as the composition Rijckart Aertsz as Saint Luke in which he included himself as the pigment grinder and in the composition Allegory of the Trinity (Louvre) where beneath Christ's outstretched right arm he painted his self-portrait, which appears out of scale with the other heads around him. The inclusion of his portrait in the latter composition suggests that the painting held a highly personal meaning for the artist. It has been observed that after the iconoclasm of the Beeldenstorm Flemish artists started including their portraits in religious compositions in order to show their personal commitment to the particular message that the compositions were trying to convey.

Floris painted some family portraits. An example is the Family portrait in the Museum Wuyts-Van Campen en Baron Caroly, Lier, which is dated 1561. It was traditionally believed to depict the Berchem family, a prominent family. However, this is no longer accepted unanimously. The painting has two inscriptions, one in the painting itself, the other on its original frame. The first inscription appears on a portrait hanging on the wall behind the figures. It states that the man depicted in the portrait died on 10 January 1559, aged 58 years. The second is the Latin text written at the top and bottom of the frame of the painting. It translates as follows: "As in life there can be nothing happier than a marriage in unison and a bed without discord, there is nothing more pleasant than to see one's offspring in unison enjoy peace with an immaculate mind, 1561". The painting thus simultaneously served as a memento of the deceased father and an expression of the feelings of togetherness of his descendants. Floris depicts all the members of the family performing and attending a concert of music, which emphasized this notion of 'concordia', i.e. the harmony within the family.

References

Sources

  • Jeroen Vandommele, 'Als in een spiegel, Vrede, kennis en gemeenschap op het Antwerpse Landjuweel van 1561', Hilversum
  • Edward H. Wouk, Frans Floris’s Allegory of the Trinity (1562) and the Limits of Tolerance, Art History 10/2014; 38(1), p. 39-76