Franciscus Gijsbrechts

[1] The majority of his works consist of vanitas still lifes and trompe-l'œils similar in style and subject matter to those of his father.

[4] Gijsbrechts followed his father who, as a painter, specialised in the trompe-l'oeils that were extremely popular in the 17th century and brought it to perfection in this genre.

One of the more elaborate compositions in Franciscus' oeuvre is the painting Trompe l'oeil still life of a half-open wall cabinet filled with writing implements, silver gilt dishes, a violin and a hunting horn (c. 1675, Bonhams London 4 December 2019 lot 24).

This meaning is conveyed in these still lifes through the use of stock symbols that refer to the transience of things and, in particular, the futility of earthly wealth and achievements: a skull, soap bubbles, candles, empty glasses, wilting flowers, insects, smoke, clocks, mirrors, books, hourglasses and musical instruments, various expensive or exclusive objects such as jewellery and rare shells.

The worldview behind the vanitas paintings was a Christian understanding of the world as a temporary place of fleeting joys and sorrows from which humanity could only escape through the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ.

[7] In Trompe-l'œil of a vanitas still life with a clock, smoking and painters materials (Sotheby's 30 November 2010 Amsterdam, lot 37), Gijsbrechts presents a virtual inventory of seventeenth-century symbols of transience: the skull, smoking utensils, painters materials, an extinguished candle, a clock and an oar of grain, all painted in a highly illusionistic manner.