FRANCHOYS, Lucas the Younger - b. 1616 Mechelen, d. 1681 Mechelen

Flemish painter, son of Lucas Franchoys the Elder, younger brother of Pieter Franchoys, and cousin of Lucas Faydherbe. He had his first training with his father in Mechelen, but the style of his work suggests that he may have had contact with artistic circles in Antwerp. He is first mentioned as a painter in 1649, in connection with work he carried out for churches in Tournai, where he lived for some time. By 1654 at the latest he was back in Mechelen, and for the rest of his life he executed a wealth of religious compositions for the town’s churches and monasteries.

From the start Franchoys was entirely attuned to the emotional style of the later Van Dyck, he had even made several etchings after Van Dyck’s work. With his altarpieces he raised the rather provincial art of painting in Mechelen to a truly Baroque level.