FINSON, Louis - b. ~1580 Brugge, d. 1617 Amsterdam

Louis Finson (also Ludovicus Finsonius), Flemish painter. He was the son of the painter Jacques Fynson (d before 1609) and trained in his father’s studio in Bruges; the influence of Netherlandish Mannerism is strong in his work. At some time early in the 17th century he travelled to Italy; he was certainly in Naples by 1608 and may also have previously spent some time in Rome. It is not certain whether he was a pupil of Caravaggio, but he is known to have copied many of Caravaggio’s works and to have owned at least two of his paintings, one of which was the Madonna of the Rosary (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum), which Finson bought with Abraham Vinck (1580-1621), perhaps as early as 1607.

After 1612 Finson visited Spain and then France, arriving in Marseille early in 1613. He was already a painter of considerable repute and continued to enjoy much success in Provence and to command large sums for his paintings. From Marseille he was called to Aix-en-Provence by Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, who commissioned from him a series of portraits and altarpieces. For the cathedral of St Sauveur in Aix, Finson executed the Incredulity of St Thomas (in situ). He was later commissioned to paint an altarpiece for the main altar of St Trophime in Arles. In 1614 Finson travelled to Montpellier and then to Paris; arriving there early in 1615, he painted a Circumcision (version, Paris, St Nicolas-des-Champs). In 1616 he is recorded back in the Low Countries, and he executed his last will on 19th September 1617 in Amsterdam.

Allegory of the Four Elements

Personifications of the Four Elements were conventionally depicted as four females distinguished only by their attributes. Louis Finson, however, used a different type of presentation; the elements as male and female, entangled in a fierce struggle. Fire (upper right) is depicted as a strong, young man surrounded by flames. He is in a firm grip with Water (lower left) and holding Air (upper left) down. Air, an almost floating woman, is literary pushed up in the air by water. She grabs fire by his hair and at the same time holding him back with her right leg. Water, a bearded, older but very strong man is seated with his knees up and surrounded by small waves. He tries to push the element of Earth away with his feet. Earth (lower right) is depicted as an older lady lying on her back and grabbing the chest of water. She is surrounded by brown earth and tries to grip Fire by his left leg, who carefully steps over her.

The present painting, made in April 1611, dates from Finson’s Neapolitan period and clearly shows the dominant influence of Caravaggio, although he has not entirely abandoned the etiolated figural style of Giuseppe Cesari, called Cavaliere d’Arpino, whose work was also to be found in quantity in Naples, and whose influence can be noted in other works from his Neapolitan period.

The painting is signed and dated lower right: “LVDOVICVS. FINSONIVS. FECIT. NAPOLI A[nno] 1611”.

This painting is part of the permanent exhibition of the collection of Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 28 minutes):

George Frideric Handel: Water Music, Suite No. 1