The Departure of the Israelites from Egypt – The Exodus, c. 1610 – 1620 

Biography: Frans Francken the Younger, born in Antwerp in 1581 and passing away on May 6, 1642, also in Antwerp, was a distinguished Flemish painter. He is recognized as the most prominent and productive member of the renowned Francken family of artists. Francken explored a wide range of subjects, creating large altarpieces for churches and producing smaller works depicting historical, mythological, and allegorical scenes. Notably, his depictions of collectors’ cabinets established a popular new genre of art during his era. He was known for collaborating with other artists, enriching their works with his skilled renderings of figures and narrative elements, complementing specialists in landscape, architectural scenes, and floral still-life painting.
Francken was born to Frans Francken the Elder and Elisabeth Mertens. His father was a pupil of Antwerp’s leading history painter, Frans Floris, and a significant creator of altarpieces in Flanders during his time. Francken received his artistic training under the guidance of his father. Additionally, it is possible that Frans and his brother, Hieronymus Francken II, received further instruction in the workshop of their uncle, Hieronymus Francken I, in Paris.

A versatile artist, Francken made significant contributions to various genres within Flemish art, introducing new themes and subjects. Many of his works comprised small-scale historical, allegorical, and biblical cabinet paintings, often emphasizing figures. He is credited with either inventing or popularizing several novel themes that gained popularity in Flemish painting, including genre scenes featuring monkeys (also known as singeries) and Kunstkammer or gallery paintings, presenting a plethora of natural and artistic treasures against a neutral wall. Francken introduced various other unconventional themes that later gained traction, such as the ‘Triumphal Procession of Amphitrite’ and ‘Croesus and Solon.’ He also produced a series of paintings depicting witches and witchcraft, including portrayals of witches’ sabbats.

His remarkable paintings are held in the collections of numerous major museums throughout Europe. Francken specialized in rendering the human figure, as evidenced by etched and engraved portraits of the artist by Anthony van Dyck (after Peter Paul Rubens), identifying him with the Latin inscription: ‘ANTVERIÆ PICTOR HVMANARVM FIGVRARVM’ (Figure painter of Antwerp). He was frequently invited to contribute figures to compositions by other esteemed artists, including landscape artists such as Tobias Verhaecht, Abraham Govaerts, and Joos de Momper; architectural painters like Pieter Neeffs the Elder, Pieter Neeffs the Younger, Hendrik van Steenwijk I, Paul Vredeman de Vries, and Bartholomeus van Bassen; as well as flower painters such as Jan Brueghel the Elder and Andries Daniels.

Expertise: This beautiful drawing is the study for a well-known painting, “The Departure of the Israelites from Egypt,” also known as “The Exodus.” The painting, which depicts a moment in the famous story of the Israelites and Moses, was completed towards the end of Francken’s lifetime (around 1640), although the drawing indicates a date between ca. 1610-1620. It is now part of the Alte Pinakothek Museum collection in Munich (Inv. No. 6253) and is referenced in Dr. Ursula Härting’s catalog, ‘Frans Francken der jüngere (1581-1642) die Gemälde mit kritischem Oeuvrekatalog,’ Luca Verlag Freren, 1989, p. 236 no. 35 (with ill.).

The Departure of the Israelites from Egypt: The story of the Exodus, central to the Jewish tradition, recounts the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, their reception of the law at Mount Sinai, and their wanderings in the wilderness up to the borders of Canaan. It emphasizes the Israelites’ deliverance from slavery by Yahweh, who claimed them by covenant. The narrative begins in the Book of Exodus with the death of Joseph and the rise of a new pharaoh who enslaves the Israelites. Moses, rescued and adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, later becomes the leader who, after a series of divine interventions, leads the Israelites out of Egypt and towards the promised land, culminating in the dramatic parting of the Red Sea.