Frans Geffels | |
|---|---|
 The Relief of Vienna | |
| Born | 1625 |
| Died | 1694 |
| Nationality | Flemish |
| Known for | Painting, architecture, printmaking |
| Movement | Baroque |
| Patron(s) | House of Gonzaga, Mantua |
Frans Geffels, known in Italy as Francesco Geffels (25 August 1624 – 18 February 1694), was a Flemish painter, printmaker, architect, stage designer and designer of ephemeral structures for solemn and festive occasions.[1][2] After training in his native Antwerp, he was mainly active in Mantua, where he was prefetto delle fabbriche to the Duke, a role that gave him the direction of the artistic and construction activities undertaken by the Ducal court.[3] He worked also on projects for the local aristocratic class of Mantua. In addition, he completed projects for the Liechtenstein princes and for the imperial court in Vienna.
He was both a canvas and fresco painter. He created portraits, history subjects, military scenes, architectural scenes and genre art, in particular merry companies.[4] Geffels is mainly remembered as the designer of some of the key examples of Baroque architecture in Mantua.[5]
- ^ Miroslav Kindl, Die niederländischen Künstler der zweiten Hälfte des 17. Jahrhunderts in Diensten der Fürsten von Liechtenstein in Feldsberg (Valtice), in: Liechtensteinisch-Tschechische Historikerkommission (Hrsg.), 'Die Liechtenstein und die Kunst' Band 3, Vaduz, HWFL, 2014, pp. 172-173 (in German)
- ^ M. Pigozzi, Gli apparati effimeri di Geffels e la collaborazione con Andrea Seghizzi, in: Il Seicento nell’arte e nella cultura con riferimenti a Mantova, Mantua 1985, S. 186–195 (in Italian)
- ^ Roberta Piccinelli, The Position of Artists at the Gonzaga Court (1587-1707), in: The Court Artists in Seventeenth-Century Italy, ed. by. E. Fumagalli, R. Morselli, Rome: Viella 2014, pp. 167-198
- ^ Frans Geffels at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (in Dutch)
- ^ Giulio Girondi, Frans Geffels, Rubens and the Palazzi di Genova, pp. 183–199