Frans Pourbus the Younger

Frans Pourbus the Younger
Detail from Charles d'Arenberg and Anne de Croy with family, possibly a self-portrait of the painter
Bornc. September to November 1569
Antwerp
Diedburied on 19 February 1622(1622-02-19) (aged 53)
Paris
NationalityFlemish
Known forPortrait painting
Patron(s)Archduke Albert and the Infanta Isabella; Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua; Marie de' Medici, Queen of France

Frans Pourbus the Younger or Frans Pourbus (II) (Antwerp, 1569 – Paris, 1622)[1] was a Flemish painter, specialised in portrait painting. He was the third generation of a prominent family of religious and portrait painters.[2]

Pourbus was a successful court painter for, successively, the Archdukes in Brussels, the Gonzaga Duke of Mantua (1600–1609), and then the French court. The majority of his work was royal portraits, many full-length, but he also painted some altarpieces. He painted the Brussels-based Spanish Regents of the Netherlands, the Duke of Mantua and Marie de' Medici, Queen of France.

Pourbus produced portraits that were pleasing to his patrons, but somewhat static with no dramatic situations, or landscape backgrounds.[3] He is noted for his depiction of costume, jewellery and draperies, as in his portrait of Henry IV of France (below).[4][5]

  1. ^ Frans Pourbus (II) at the Netherlands Institute for Art History
  2. ^ Raffaella Morselli, Frans Pourbus in Mantua (1600-1608), London 2015, Catalogue of the Weiss Gallery, Maastricht 2015: essay on Pourbus in Mantua and a new portrait of Margherita Gonzaga of Lorena (1606), p. 10
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Oppenheimer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Berger was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Your-Paintings was invoked but never defined (see the help page).