This sketch, executed in oil on paper, shows the body of Christ, partially swathed in a white winding sheet, immediately after He was taken down from the cross. He is supported by the Virgin, attired in a blue cloak, a small angel, and Saint John, who is wearing a red robe with a dark blue cloak draped over it.

 

Although this modello was described in the 2002 auction catalogue of the Duke of Talleyrand collection as a work by Jan Boeckhorst, Dr. Bert Schepers, scientific researcher at the Rubenianum in Antwerp, has firmly attributed it to Lucas II Franchoys (1616-1681). Like the present work, Franchoys’ oil sketches are characterized by a loose handling of the brush, painted in warm colours, of which the contours are marked in dark brown. A very similar Christ figure can be found in Franchoys’ De Nood Gods, now in Mechelen. Dr. Schepers also points out the strong stylistic similarities with an oil sketch representing The Adoration of the Shepherds painted by Franchoys ca. 1649-1650. Moreover, the composition of Christ supported by two loved ones and an angel is reminiscent of a painting depicting Saint Sebastian Accompanied by Angels, which is also by the hand of Lucas Franchoys. Both that work and the oil sketch discussed here are stylistically indebted to the oeuvre of Anthony van Dyck. In addition, the present sheet also shows the influence of the work of Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert. Evidence of this is his composition of The Dead Christ, Supported by Two Angels, several different versions of which are known to have been painted in the workshop of Bosschaert.

 

Lucas II Franchoys was born in 1616 in Mechelen, where he was initially trained by his father. According to Cornelis de Bie, he briefly worked under Rubens; after the latter’s death he moved to Paris, where he worked for the Prince de Conté. By 1649 he had returned to Mechelen, where he briefly lived with his brother-in-law, the engraver Jan van Paelschen. That same year he moved to Tournai, where he worked until 1654, when he finally returned to his hometown. In 1655 he became a member of the local guild of St Luke. In 1668 Franchoys married Anna Theresia van Wolschaeten. The couple had eight children, one of whom, Lucas Elias, also became a painter. Lucas Franchoys died in Mechelen in 1681.