Frans Francken II (Antwerp 1581-1642)

Frans Francken the Younger painted around eight known versions of The Marriage at Cana, with the present work considered to be the earliest in the group, dating to circa 1605. The long panel allows for an extensive composition, including a bustling kitchen scene to the left from which servants deliver plates to the wedding feast in the background. A very similar composition is seen decorating the walls of Jan Brueghel the Elder’s Allegory of Taste, Hearing and Touch, painted in collaboration with Gerard Seghers and Francken himself in around 1620 (Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado). Though the scene is somewhat reduced, it is likely that Francken based it on the compositional elements he had established in this Marriage at Cana.