The Abduction of Helen
Artist/Maker
Material / Technique
Dimensionsh x w: Mått 65 x 97 cm h x w x d: Ram 84 x 115 x 7 cm
Inventory numberNM 432
Other titlesTitle (sv): Helenas bortrövande Title (en): The Abduction of Helen Title (en): The Abduction of Helen of Troy
DescriptionCatalogue raisonné: Description in Flemish paintings C. 1600-C. 1800 III, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2010, cat.no. 80: Technical notes: The painting’s support is an oak panel (±0.3–0.7 cm thick) constructed of three horizontal, butt-joined, radial boards with horizontal grain. Dendrochronological examination and analysis has determined a felling date for the tree between c. 1600 and 1616. The wood originates from the region of Western Germany/ the Netherlands. Under the assumption of a median of 17 sapwood rings and a minimum of 2 years for seasoning of the wood, the most plausible date for use of the panel would be 1612 or later. The painting underwent conservation treatment in 1835, 1889, 1935 and 1975. Provenance: A gift by Louis de Cardevaque, Marquis d’Havrincourt, French Ambassador, presented in 1649 to Carl Gustaf Tessin; offered as a Christmas gift by Carl Gustaf Tessin to Adolf Fredrik in 1750 (as “L’Enlevement d’Helene målat af Jules Romain”); Adolf Fredrik, Ulriksdal 1771, no. 268; purchased 1771 by Gustav III from his father’s estate; Gustav III 1792, no. 187; KM 1795, no. 223 (as Hendrick van Balen I). Exhibited: Stockholm 2010, no. 63. Bibliography: NM Cat. 1867, p. 29 (as Frans Francken II); Sander I, p. 135; and II, p. 119; Göthe 1887, p. 87 (as circle of Frans Francken II); Göthe 1893, p. 107; Göthe 1910, p. 121; NM Cat. 1958, p. 75 (as workshop of Frans Francken II); Härting 1983, no. B247 (as Hieronymus Francken III); NM Cat. 1990, p. 136, (as workshop of Frans Francken II). In classical mythology Helen of Troy, the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda, who was married to Meneleus, king of Sparta, was loved by Paris, the son of King Priam of Troy. At Paris’ birth it was prophesied that he would eventually bring about the destruction of Troy. Later, accepting Aphrodite’s bribe of the most beautiful woman in the world, he forcibly carried Helen off by sea to Troy, whereupon the Greeks mounted an expedition to recover her. Thus the Trojan prince brought about the onset of war, fulfilling the prophecy made at his birth. The setting depicted here is a rocky seashore, where the Trojan fleet lies at anchor. Paris is seen carrying the protesting Helen to a rowboat that will take them out to the waiting ship, while, in the background, his companions battle the Greeks. On a height is the temple of Artemis, where Helen and her companions made their offerings just prior to the abduction. Cabinet-sized pictures such as this work with expressively rendered historical, biblical, or mythological stories and allegorical subjects, were a specialty of the large and extremely productive Francken workshop at Antwerp. Some of the finest examples of these complex multi-figure compositions were produced during the 1620s by Frans Francken II as head of the studio. This painting is a later variant of a signed painting by Frans II of 1625 in Tours (Musée des Beaux-Arts),1 inspired by a reproductive engraving attributed to a follower of Italian printmaker Marcantonio Raimondi after a design by Raphael or Giulio Romano that found widespread use in the Netherlands.2 Like the print, and contrary to the Homeric tradition, both paintings represent the figure of Helen in an attitude of active resistance, being physically torn from her protectors. The coastal landscape with the round temple building on a height in the background, and several of the principal figures, including Helen, two of Paris’ companions and the oarsman in the rowboat, are derived from the Tours painting. However, the figure of Paris in the Stockholm picture, who grabs Helen around the waist with his muscular left arm, varies the pose of same figure in an early painting (c. 1600) of the subject by Frans II formerly at Solingen (K. Müllenmeister, 1989).3 The Solingen picture is based on a composition – possibly a lost design of c. 1533/1535 by Francesco Primaticcio for the Chambre du Roi at Fontainebleau – known through partial drawn copies by Niccolò dell’Abbate4 and Peter Paul Rubens.5 Studies of individual figures and groups were probably kept on hand in the studio and used repeatedly over a period of time, though none has survived. Several members of the Francken family are known to have made extended visits, sometimes of several years, to France and to Fontainebleau. The artist who painted this work must also have had direct knowledge of the Marcantonio school print – the jagged profile of the foreground rocks on the right resembles that in the engraving more closely than it does the Tours painting. In addition, some of the Trojan soldiers on charging steeds and fallen Greek warriors in the background battle scenes of the Tours and Stockholm paintings were apparently copied after a second print source, the engraving Battle with a Shield on a Lance by Giovanni Jacopo Caraglio, again after a design by Raphael or Giulio Romano.6 The powerful muscled figure of a Greek soldier with his back turned to the viewer in the centre foreground of the present picture, a figure that differs substantially from those in other versions of the subject by the Francken studio and their sources, seems modelled after a figure in another famous battle scene, The Battle of the Milvian Bridge (c.1520/1524), a fresco in the Sala di Costantino in the Vatican Palace, Rome, executed by Giulio Romano and assistants after a design by Raphael.7 Härting (1983) attributed the painting on a stylistic basis to the second of Frans II Francken’s three sons, Hieronymus III, who, though a weaker painter, worked in his father’s style producing variants of his compositions after c. 1625/1630.8 She pointed to the characteristic figure types with softly rounded backs and the use of strong primary colours as typical of this artist.9 As also noted by Härting, however, it is still not possible to distinguish between all members of the Francken family reliably, partly because the same Christian names occurred in three generations who used identical signatures. CF 1 Oil on wood, 87 x 120 cm, signed and dated “1625”, Tours, Musée des Beaux-Arts, inv. no. 351/874-5-16; see Härting 1983, pp. 141–142, no. A247, fig. 88; and idem 1989, pp. 32, 58, 335 no. 332, fig. 33. 2 Circle of Marcantonio Raimondi after Raphael or Giulio Romano, The Abduction of Helen, engr., 296 x 424 mm; see The Illustrated Bartsch, vol. 27, no. 209, fig. 170. For Francken, see Härting 1983, p. 141 and n. 329. 3 Oil on copper, 47 x 65.5 cm, signed, Solingen, K. Müllenmeister; see Härting 1989, pp. 32, 36, 38, 58, 129, 335 no. 333, illus. (“c.1600”). 4 Niccolò dell’Abbate, The Rape of Helen, pen and brown ink and wash, white heightening, 477 x 414, Chatsworth, Collections of the Duke of Devonshire, inv. no. 131; see Bologna 1969, pp. 111–113 no. 53, illus. (S. Béguin). The original design partially copied in this drawing was reproduced as an illustrations in Charles de Bourgeville’s Histoire universelle de la guerre des Grecs et des Troyens (Caen 1572), for which see Mc Allister Johnson 1965, pp. 299, 300 n. 16. 5 Peter Paul Rubens, The Abduction of Helen, pen and brown ink, grey wash, green and grey bodycolour, white heightening, 275 x 410 mm, Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des arts graphiques, Cabinet des dessins, inv. no. 20268; see Lugt 1949, II, p. 28 no. 1078, pl.XLVIII; and Paris 1972, p. 195 no. 218. 6 Jacopo Caraglio, The Battle with a Shield on a Lance, engr., 334 x 491 mm; see The Illustrated Bartsch, vol. 28, p. 194 no. 59, illus.; and Geneva 1984, p. 48 no. 57, illus. 7 For Giulio Romano, see Hurst 1958, I, pp. 42–51, figs. 58, 61. The same figure was copied by Maerten van Heemskerck in drawing of a battle scene (ca.1573) in London, The British Museum, Coll. Sloane, inv. no. 5236-161; for which see Amsterdam 1986, pp. 327–328 no. 207, illus. 8 On Hieronymus Francken III, see Härting 1983, pp. 107–110; and idem 1989, pp. 187–188. The records of the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke contain no information about the artist. Although his father, Frans Francken II, employed his sons, sons-in-law and other assistants in his workshop practice, he registered only one apprentice and must have been absolved from registering them. 9 Other characteristics of the style of Hieronymus III noted by Härting, such as the black contour lines of the figures, are noticeably absent from no. 80 (NM 432). The technique of the Stockholm painting – which is quite thinly painted overall and has translucent glazes in some of the draperies (see Technical Notes) – also does not agree with Härting’s description of this artist’s works. He seems to have favoured strong, even clashing, primary colours applied with heavy impasto and minimal use of the glazing technique typically employed by Frans II. See Härting 1983, pp. 107–110.[End]
Motif categoryReligion/Mythology
Collection
TechniquePainting
Object category
Keyword