Franz Pourbus the Younger

The son of Frans Pourbus the Elder and the grandson of Pieter Pourbus, Frans Pourbus the Younger was accepted as a master in Antwerp in 1591. He undoubtedly received his training here, perhaps in the studio of Adriaen Key. Before 1600, the date of his departure for Mantua, he worked for the court of Brussels for Archduke Albert and his wife Isabella. Until 1609, he was portrait painter to the court of Vincent II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. He received numerous commissions from the ducal family and had to go to Innsbruck in 1603 to paint the main portraits, followed by Turin in 1605-1606, and Paris in 1613, where he painted the young Louis XIII, the then Dauphin, and his mother Marie de’ Medici, the sister of the Duchess of Mantua. After another trip to Italy in 1607, he returned to Paris where he entered the service of Marie de’ Medici then that of Louis XIII in 1616, until his death in 1622. Frans Pourbus was one of the most famous court painters of his time and as such, and as a sign of gratitude, had the honour of staying at the Louvre.

In his early years in Antwerp, until ca. 1590, his style was influenced by his father and Adriaen Key; he then developed a type of court portrait that was similar to the style of Antonio Moro, Alonso Sanchez Coello and Pantoya de la Cruz, where the subjects were often painted full-length and the décor given a new importance. His art, which became more relaxed, did however remain faithful to the Flemish tradition, distancing itself from the baroque movement, thus earning him the appreciation of 17th century France marked by classicism.