Jacob Franquart

Jacob Franquart (1582/83 – 6 January 1651 (buried)) was a Flemish painter, court architect, and an outstanding copper plate engraver. His name has also been spelled Francquart, Franckaert, Francquaert, Jacques Franquart, Francuart.

Franquart was born in Antwerp or Brussels. In 1620 he designed the Temple des Augustins which stood on Place de Broukere in Brussels from its completion in 1642 to its demolition in 1893. The facade of the building now forms part of the Church of the Holy Trinity on Parvis de la Trinite in Brussels.

Franquart was also famous for his outstanding illustrations that show the 1621 funeral procession of Albrecht Habsburg (table no. 61). The work was published in Brussels but being seen more as one of the eminent works of the golden age of the Antwerp copperplate engraving. The majority of the text was written by the Belgian writer and historian Erycius Puteanus (Venlo, 1574 – Leuven 1646), published earlier in a book titled Phoenix Principum... (Louvain, 1622). The engraving contains a hatching table of heraldic tinctures which is the earliest hatching system in heraldry after Zangrius. According to some authors it also gave inspiration for the later hatching system of de la Colombière.

His tiny hatching table is presented on the copperplate engraving No. 47 of his work titled Pompa funebris Alberti Pii Austriaci. The outstanding engravings of the book present the 1621 funeral procession by means of 64 tables. There are to be seen more than 700 different persons with the banner of their countries. The engraving of the funeral procession is almost 1 m long.

Franquart taught his niece Anna Francisca de Bruyns to paint. He died and was buried in Brussels.