The power of women (formerly 'Woman as the maker and breaker of Kings')
Maker
(artist)
1544-1618
Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1573-1647
1544-1618
Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1573-1647
Title
The power of women (formerly 'Woman as the maker and breaker of Kings')
Date of Production
1575
Medium
traces of black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, on laid paper, incised for transfer, a few lines added or gone over later in grey ink
Dimensions
Height: 21.3 cm
Width: 28.8 cm
Width: 28.8 cm
Accession Number
D.1952.RW.930
Mode of Acquisition
Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Copyright
Work in the public domain
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
Related Works
Label Text
The apocryphal biblical book of Esdras recounts how three bodyguards of the Persian king Darius discussed who or what had the strongest force in the world. Wine, Kings or Women were given as options, but eventually Truth was declared to be the most powerful.
Francken’s representation of The Power of Women was the third design to be engraved by the printmaker Johannes Wierix for a related print series depicting the Four Powers. Although the drawing is fully incised, it was not directly transferred onto the printing plate as both compositions appear in the same direction. Instead, an intermediate drawing, by either the draughtsman or the printmaker, would have been used.
Francken’s representation of The Power of Women was the third design to be engraved by the printmaker Johannes Wierix for a related print series depicting the Four Powers. Although the drawing is fully incised, it was not directly transferred onto the printing plate as both compositions appear in the same direction. Instead, an intermediate drawing, by either the draughtsman or the printmaker, would have been used.
Provenance
Jan Pietersz. Zomer, Amsterdam (1641-1724) [his handwriting on recto]; Charles Fairfax Murray, London (1849-1919); possibly his estate sale, Christie's (London), 30 January 1920, lot 160 (if there identified as 'The Israelites' journey into Egypt' by Vrancx, with 11 others); if correctly identified, purchased there by E. Parsons & Sons (London) (£12.6 for all 12); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), n.d. (£3.5, as 'Allegorical figure of Vanity and other figures' by Vrancx); Witt Bequest 1952
Exhibition History
Drawings Gallery Display - Traces: Renaissance Drawings for Flemish Prints, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/06/2022-25/09/2022
Trésor de l’art flamand du moyen âge au XVIIIme Siècle [Afdeeling van de Oud-Vlaamische Kunst], Antwerp, 1930
Exhibition of Belgian and Flemish Art 1300-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1927
Trésor de l’art flamand du moyen âge au XVIIIme Siècle [Afdeeling van de Oud-Vlaamische Kunst], Antwerp, 1930
Exhibition of Belgian and Flemish Art 1300-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1927
Literature
d'Haene, Virginie (ed.), European Old Master drawings from the Bruges Print Room, Lannoo 2019
p. 72 under no. 14
Fig. 14b on p. 73
entry author Ellen Bakker
Veldman, Ilja M., ‘Who is the strongest? The riddle of Esdras in Netherlandish Art’, in 'Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art', 1987 - pp. 223-39; 17, 4
pp. 228-31
Mielke, Hans, ‘Antwerpener Graphik in der 2. Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts: Der Thesaurus veteris et novi Testamenti des Gerard de Jode (1585) und seine Künstler’ in 'Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte', 1975 - pp. 29-83; 38, 1
pp. 43-52
Fig. 21 on p. 45 ...More
Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 133
Exhibition of Belgian and Flemish Art 1300-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London 1927, 1927
cat. no. 549
as Allegorical figure of Vanity, and other figures ...Less
p. 72 under no. 14
Fig. 14b on p. 73
entry author Ellen Bakker
Veldman, Ilja M., ‘Who is the strongest? The riddle of Esdras in Netherlandish Art’, in 'Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art', 1987 - pp. 223-39; 17, 4
pp. 228-31
Mielke, Hans, ‘Antwerpener Graphik in der 2. Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts: Der Thesaurus veteris et novi Testamenti des Gerard de Jode (1585) und seine Künstler’ in 'Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte', 1975 - pp. 29-83; 38, 1
pp. 43-52
Fig. 21 on p. 45 ...More
Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 133
Exhibition of Belgian and Flemish Art 1300-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London 1927, 1927
cat. no. 549
as Allegorical figure of Vanity, and other figures ...Less
Inscriptions
Watermark: Recto: right centre: small quatrefoil above a small shield containing a horizontal dagger and a horn or wave, all above a banderole containing name of papermaker CLAUDE DENISE (Claude Denise was a late sixteenth-century papermaker in Troyes. Troyes mills were the main suppliers of paper to Northern Europe, though this ceased with the fall of Antwerp in 1585 (see Laurentius and Laurentius, Watermarks 1450-1850: A Concise History of Paper in Western Europe, 2023, p. 7). Francken also could have been working on this French paper while in France, as he was in Paris from at least 1570-1573 and executed other print designs on French paper (see Peeters, 'Den quaden tyt?', 2008, pp. 101-02).
Inscription: Recto: lower left edge, brown ink, Zomer's hand: "2 Stúkx Sinnebeelden van Sebastiaen Frankx." [the sheet now in Bruges may be the other sheet referred to here]. Verso: lower left, brown ink: "s / No: 111 X"; lower left, brown ink: small triangle containing a vertical line; lower centre, graphite: "Vrancx"; lower right, graphite, Witt number: "930"; lower right edge, brown ink: "XV".
Collector's mark: none.
Inscription: Recto: lower left edge, brown ink, Zomer's hand: "2 Stúkx Sinnebeelden van Sebastiaen Frankx." [the sheet now in Bruges may be the other sheet referred to here]. Verso: lower left, brown ink: "s / No: 111 X"; lower left, brown ink: small triangle containing a vertical line; lower centre, graphite: "Vrancx"; lower right, graphite, Witt number: "930"; lower right edge, brown ink: "XV".
Collector's mark: none.
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