Brief Biography-Frans Francken II was one of a large family of painters. They were, by date, Nicolaes born circa 1520, Hieronymus, Frans I, Ambrosius I, Hieronymus II, Frans II, Ambrosius II, Frans III, Hieronymus III and Constantijn, who died in 1717.
Like his father, Frans II painted in the Romanist style inherited from Frans Floris’s teachings through his father. He painted religious and mythological subjects, including landscapes and genre scenes. He went to Venice for three years, where he improved his skills copying masters, but surprised some back in Antwerp by painting genre scenes when he had such talent capable of painting historical works of a higher rank. In Flanders, he was still a success, and his works were considered superior to his predecessors. In 1605, the Guild of Saint Luke admitted him, and he became Dean in 1614. Such was his skill; his contemporaries engaged him to insert staffage into their paintings, Peeter Neefs the Elder being just one of many. His title was Frans the Younger; however, he changed it to Frans the Older when his father died to differentiate himself from his son Franss III.