HIERONYMUS FRANCKEN II (1578-1623)

STUDY FOR 'HORATIUS COCLES DEFENDING THE SUBLICIAN BRIDGE' (1620)
Pen & ink with sepia wash on laid paper, with an indistinct watermark
20.7 x 31.9cm
 
PROVENANCE:
With the Folio Society Collectors' Corner, London (as Roman School 16th Century);
Private Collection, U.K.;
Anonymous Sale, Bamfords, Derby, 24.03.2021, Lot 288 (as Italian Old Master School)
 
 
 
 
 
The present work is a rediscovered study for Hieronymus Francken's oil painting of the same subject, now in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp (Museum Cat. 1948, Inv. No. 163, see fig. below) painted in 1620 for the Serment des Escrimeurs of Antwerp. This drawing likely dates to the same time as the oil-painting was executed, when Hieronymus II was active in the studio of his Uncle Frans Francken II, and as such the work may be in part the work of Frans II or an additional hand in the Master's studio. The Royal Museum of Antwerp hold a further work (depicting Eteocles and Polynices) which was also formerly in the possession of the Serment des Escrimeurs d'Anvers, by Frans Francken I (Inv. No. 155).
 
Our drawing shows the artist working out the spatial relationships of the figures for the final work, which shows significantly less space beneath the bridge and an altered arrangement to the upper left and right of the work, accounting for areas where the canvas was cut to be framed.
 
 
 
Francken's works on paper are vanishingly rare, with only a handful fully attributed to the artist, and this work represents an important rediscovery in his corpus. As a result of this paucity, identifying Francken's works is not always a simple task, as he not only worked with his relatives but also collaborated with Joos de Momper and Jan Brueghel I on occasion (1). Francken's signed works are especially rare and therefore of particular importance and the finished painting of the present subject is one such work. Even more scarce are Hieronymus II’s dated works, and the Antwerp painting (dated to 1620 by the artist) is one of only a handful. This places the work four years later in Francken's career than his Parable of the Wise & Foolish Virgins, now in the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. That work, an allegorical interpretation of the Gospel parable, is also of particular importance in decoding the career of Hieronymus the Younger, as it is now accompanied by a preliminary study, similar to the present drawing. (see figs. II & III overleaf for images of the drawing and painting respectively). That work was sold at Sotheby's, New York, Old Master Drawings, 24.01.2014, Lot 13, and was donated to the Hermitage collection shortly after. The Hermitage's 2015 Annual Report notes for 2015 state that, "Hieronymus Francken II's graphic works survive in single examples and are exceptional collectors' rarities" (2). 
 
 
The subject of the present scene is recorded in the historians Livy and Dionysius: Horatius Cocles, a junior officer in the Roman army, is said to have defended the Pons Sublicius from the invading army of the Etruscan King, Lars Porsena. According to Dionysius' account, Cocles defended the bridge single-handedly until his fellow Romans had managed to escape the Etruscans, thus saving Rome.