A voluptuary surprised by death. Oil painting by Frans Francken II.

  • Francken, Frans, 1581-1642.
Date:
1600-1699
Reference:
45062i
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About this work

Description

The present painting is the only known version of this elaborate composition. Death is showing the young man a letter written by the man to sell his life in exchange for riches. The point of the picture is not that he enjoys pleasure but that his pleasures (tennis, oysters, music) are those of wealth, gained by sacrificing his soul. Now Death has come to redeem the pledge. The curtained painting of the nude in the background is a Titian-type which also appears in Francken's paintings of picture-galleries

Publication/Creation

1600-1699

Physical description

1 painting : oil on wood ; wood 35 x 25 cm

Reference

Wellcome Collection 45062i

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