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FRANS FRANCKEN III (Antwerp, Belgium, 1607 - 1667). "The Liberation of St. Peter. Oil on copper. With restorations. The frame is missing. Measurements: 27 x 36 cm; 40 x 49 cm (frame). Frans Francken III represents in this copper painting the liberation of Saint Peter from the prison of Agrippa I the Great. As it is narrated in the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Peter was freed by an angel, who woke the saint and broke his chains, escaping while the soldiers slept. The son of Frans Francken II, Frans Francken III was the last member of the important family of painters of this surname. After completing his training he entered the Guild of Saint Luke in Antwerp, his native city, in 1639 and became dean of this institution in 1656, a post he held for a year. Francken III developed an oeuvre that was heir to that of his father and in fact his paintings are often confused due to the fact that they both used the same signature. His oeuvre reveals the influence of Jan Brueghel de Velours and his predecessors in the Francken family, as well as debts to Mannerism and 16th-century painting, evident both in the structure of the compositions and in the rhythm and expression of the figures. Furthermore, as in his father's work, his figures include evident allusions to the work of Italian artists such as Raphael, Veronese and Zuccaro. However, his son's works are characterised by a less emphatic manner and a softer execution than those of Francken II. The reuse of specific motifs from the father's paintings is frequent in the son's work, and he also borrowed from a number of Dutch works. His principal works are based on the incorporation of figures in the paintings of Flemish church interiors by Ludovicus Neefs, of which the two paintings in the Museo del Prado, executed around 1646, are a brilliant example. Frans Francken III was the teacher of Carstian Luyckx and Jan Baptist Segaert. He is now represented in the Museo del Prado, the Royal Belgian Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum voor Schone Kunsten in Doornik (Belgium), the Residenzgalerie in Salzburg and other important museums and collections.