Frans Floris
Encyclopedia
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. He was a member of a large family trained to the study of art in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
.
Biography
Most of what we know of his youth is handed down from Karel van Mander's biography of him, which was at ten pages long, one of the most detailed biographies in his Schilder-boeck. Frans was the son of the stonecutter Cornelis I de Vriendt (died 1538), whose family name was Floris, but who was so friendly that he took on the name Vriendt, or Friend, and this became the last name of his gifted stone-cutting son, Cornelis Floris de VriendtCornelis Floris de Vriendt
Cornelis Floris de Vriendt was a Flemish Renaissance architect and sculptor. He played an important role in the building of the Antwerp City Hall. His brother was Frans Floris, for whom he designed a house in Antwerp.-External links:...
(1514–1575). Frans had two other brothers who were excellent artists; Jacques Floris, a glass painter, and Jan Floris, a famous porcelain baker who entered the service of Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
. Jan traveled to Spain to conduct his art there and died young, but according to Van Mander, Frans had many examples of his work in his workshop that delighted his disciples. Like his brothers, Frans began as a student of sculpture, but later gave up carving for painting. At the age of twenty he went to Liege
Liege
Liège is a municipality and a city of Belgium. The term Liège or Liege may also refer to:* Liege, a party to the oath of allegiance in feudalism .* Liège Island, in the Antarctic...
and took lessons from Lambert Lombard
Lambert Lombard
Lambert Lombard was a Renaissance painter, architect and theorist for the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. During his career he worked for Jan Gossaert in Middelburg and trained Frans Floris. In 1532 he became court painter and architect in Liège...
, who highly encouraged studying in Italy.
Floris traveled to Rome and quickly became enamored with the painting (particularly Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
) he found in Rome. He made many sketches in red chalk that his disciples eagerly etched. Upon his return home, he opened a workshop on the Italian model and enjoyed such a grand success that it went to his head and he took to drinking. According to Van Mander, Dirk Volkertsz Coornhert sent him a letter in which he claimed Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
felt that Floris had more thought for his art than for his own life. Apparently Coornhert was not the only one concerned, but Floris' wife Clara was also worried about him, and it was at this point in his career that his brother Cornelis built a palace for him in Antwerp with a facade of blue limestone (Orduyn-steen) and with luxurious decorations such as gilded leather wall-coverings in the bedroom. It was hoped that with his own palace with a workshop he would become a better manager and housefather, but according to Van Mander, the contrary happened, and his yearly income slid from an almost incredible 1000 guilders per year (a fortune in those days) to nothing but debts in his old age. It must have been fun for the pupils and other workers in his workshop however, because it was said that he could even drink a Franckfoorder under the table. His pupils loved him, and when his old teacher Lambert Lombard came to visit and claimed he was nothing but an idea thief, Frans's pupils nearly lynched him, and he was saved by Frans himself, who just laughed it off. Van Mander even goes on to state that he nearly always had a large commission in the workshop that he would work on late at night, and the pupils who stayed latest would undress him (taking off his shoes and stockings) and put him to bed before they left. Van Mander claims that according to Frans Menton
Frans Menton
-Biography:Little is known of his early life, but according to Van Mander in 1604, he spoke with him about his training as a pupil of Frans Floris in his workshop in Antwerp. Apparently that is where Menton received much of his training. Van Mander based his list of Frans Floris pupils on Menton's...
, Floris was loved by his pupils for allowing them more freedom than other Antwerp masters, and a list of 120 of his disciples was put together by a small group of them who met for a reunion after his death.
Works
Van Mander includes a list of leading Antwerp church altars as coming from his workshop, but according to his story, these were then not only by Floris himself, but created from a team of changing pupils under his guidance. Floris painted a series of large pictures for the country houses of Spanish nobles and the villas of Antwerp patricians. He is known to have illustrated the fable of HerculesHercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
in ten compositions, and the liberal arts in seven for Nicolaas Jongelinck, a merchant of Antwerp, and adorned the duke of Arschot's palace of Beaumont with fourteen colossal panels.
Comparatively few of his works have descended to us, possibly because many were destroyed in the iconoclastic uprisings in Antwerp of the second half of the sixteenth century, and partly because this era in Flemish painting has fallen out of favor in art circles. The earliest extant canvas by Floris is the Mars and Venus ensnared by Vulcan in the Berlin Museum (1547). There are other works at Aalst
Aalst, Belgium
Aalst is a city and municipality on the Dender River, 19 miles northwest from Brussels. It is located in the Flemish province of East Flanders in the Denderstreek. The municipality comprises the city of Aalst itself and the villages of Baardegem, Erembodegem, Gijzegem, Herdersem, Hofstade,...
, Antwerp, Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Zoutleeuw
Zoutleeuw
Zoutleeuw is a municipality and city in the Hageland, in the extreme east of the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. On 1 January 2006 the municipality had 7,947 inhabitants...
, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, St Petersburg, Châlons-en-Champagne and Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
The boldness and force Floris' works possess reflect the monumental style of their Italian models. Their technical execution reveals a rapid hand, bright coloring, and a mastery of anatomy not always evident in Netherlandish art of the time. Floris owed much of his repute to the cleverness with which his works were transferred to copper by Jerome Cock, Cornelis Cort
Cornelis Cort
Cornelis Cort was a Dutch engraver and draughtsman. He spent the last 12 years of his life in Italy, where he was known as Cornelio Fiammingo.-Biography:...
, and Theodor Galle.
Legacy
Van Mander lists more than 20 disciples, but also claimed that according to Frans Menton, Frans Floris was loved by his pupils for allowing them more freedom than other Antwerp masters, and a list of 120 disciples were counted in total by a small group of them who got together for a reunion after he died. Whilst Floris was engaged on a Crucifixion of 9.7 m, and a ResurrectionResurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
of equal size, for the grand prior of Spain, he was seized with illness, and died on 1 October 1570 at Antwerp. His paintings for the grand prior were finished by Frans Pourbus the Elder
Frans Pourbus the Elder
Frans Pourbus the elder was a Flemish Renaissance painter.He was known primarily for his religious and portrait painting and worked mainly in Antwerp. His father was painter Pieter Pourbus and his son was painter Frans Pourbus the younger.-External links:*...
and Crispin van den Broeck
Crispin van den Broeck
Crispin van den Broeck was a Flemish painter. He was born in Mechelen. He came from a family of artists, was probably trained by his father, and was the brother of Willem van den Broeck and Hendrick van den Broeck. He worked as a painter, draftsman and engraver. He was enlisted as a master in the...
He had a motto; Als ick werck, dan leef ick: als ick spelen gae, dan sterf ick. This means "When I work, I live: when I play, I die." Poems were written about him by Dominicus Lampsonius
Dominicus Lampsonius
Dominicus Lampsonius , of Bruges and Liège, was a Flemish humanist, poet, and artist. Through his writings, a great deal is known about engravers and printers of the era...
and the poet-painter Lucas de Heere
Lucas de Heere
Lucas de Heere was a Flemish portrait painter, poet and writer.De Heere was a Protestant and became a refugee from the Dutch Revolt against Philip II of Spain, who tried to suppress Protestantism...
, who according to Van Mander, was his disciple.
According to the RKD, his pupils were Joos de Beer
Joos de Beer
Joos de Beer was an Early Netherlandish painter from Utrecht.-Biography:According to Karel van Mander, he was a pupil of Frans Floris in Antwerp, who later returned to his native Utrecht and became the teacher of Abraham Bloemaert and Joachim Wtewael.Together with Anthonie Blocklandt van...
(later teacher of Abraham Bloemaert
Abraham Bloemaert
Abraham Bloemaert was a Dutch painter and printmaker in etching and engraving. He was one of the "Haarlem Mannerists" from about 1585, but in the new century altered his style to fit new Baroque trends...
), George Boba
George Boba
George Boba, a painter and engraver of the 16th century, known by the name of Maître Georges, was a native of Rheims, and is said by Karel van Mander to have been a disciple of Frans Floris, and by others of Titian...
, Hendrick van den Broeck
Hendrick van den Broeck
Hendrick van den Broeck, or Arrigo Fiammingo , was a Flemish painter of the late-Renaissance or Mannerist period, active mainly in Italy.-Biography:...
, Marten van Cleve, Ambrosius Francken, Frans Francken I
Frans Francken I
Frans Francken , was a Flemish Baroque painter and an important member of the Francken family of artists.-Biography:...
, Frans Menton
Frans Menton
-Biography:Little is known of his early life, but according to Van Mander in 1604, he spoke with him about his training as a pupil of Frans Floris in his workshop in Antwerp. Apparently that is where Menton received much of his training. Van Mander based his list of Frans Floris pupils on Menton's...
(known for schutterstukken in Alkmaar), and Isaac Claesz van Swanenburg. Van Mander's list was Crispin van den Broeck, Joris van Ghent (who served Philip II of Spain), Marten (and his brother Hendrick
Hendrick Van Cleve
Hendrick Van Cleve, the brother of Martin Van Cleve, the elder, and of Willem Van Cleve, the younger, was a native of Antwerp. It is not known under whom he studied; but he went to Italy when young, and returned to his native country a good painter of landscapes. His pictures are distinguished by...
) van Cleve, Lucas de Heere
Lucas de Heere
Lucas de Heere was a Flemish portrait painter, poet and writer.De Heere was a Protestant and became a refugee from the Dutch Revolt against Philip II of Spain, who tried to suppress Protestantism...
, Anthonie Blocklandt van Montfoort, Thomas van Zirickzee, Simon van Amsterdam, Isaac Claesz van Swanenburg (spelled Isaack Claessen Cloeck), Frans Menton, George Boba, the 3 Francken brothers Jeroen, Frans and Ambrosius, Joos de Beer, Hans de Maier van Herentals
Herentals
Herentals is a city and municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the city of Herentals proper and the towns of Morkhoven and Noorderwijk. On January 1, 2006 Herentals had a total population of 26,071...
, Apert Francen van Delft, Lois van Brussel, Thomas van Coelen, Hans Daelmans van Antwerpen, Evert van Amersfoort, Herman van der Mast, Damiaen van der Goude, Jeroen van Vissenaken, Steven Croonenborgh uyt den Hage, and Dirck Verlaen van Haerlem.