Frans Ykens

Frans Ykens

Antwerp, 1601 – Antwerp, 1692/93

A Cartouche Still Life with an Allegory of the Vanity of Human Life

Oil on canvas
H. 107 cm. W. 87,8 cm.

PROVENANCE
Private collection, The Netherlandish

CATALOGUE NOTE
Frans Ykens is mainly known for his flower pieces and fruit still lifes and also painted banquet pieces, so-called ‘pronkstillevens’, garland paintings and larger game pieces. Garland paintings are a special type of still life originated in Antwerp by Jan Brueghel the Elder at the beginning of the seventeenth century, typically showing a flower garland around a devotional image, portrait or other religious symbol. By the second half of the seventeenth century secular themes such as portraits and mythological subjects also decorated the central part of the many paintings made in this fashion.  

Overview