"Attributed to Frans Francken" looks like the real deal

Horta, from Belgium,  sells on 17 October 2016 a "17th c. Flemish School, attributed to Frans Franck (sic)" Victory of Alexander, estimated at 10,000 to 12,000 Euro.

For once, an "attributed to" doesn't look like a "good but not good enough" or simply "copy after", but may well be really by the artist, in this case Frans Francken II.

A work very close to it, of about the same dimensions, is listed in the RKD database as being in a Swiss private collection and by Frans Francken II. It also gives us the correct scene, not a victory of Alexander the Great but the Biblical meeting between David and Abigail. The main (tiny) differences between the two version are the top of the mountain at the right (a kind of forest at Horta, some undefined humps at RKD) and the tree on the right border. Looking at the figues in detail, the RKD ones are less precise, more schematic and caricatural. Perhaps this is due to a restoration and a better picture, but I think the Horta version is simply a better version (it is not unusual with the Franckens to find very, very close copies).

 

(All the images can be rightclicked to see more detail, and both Horta and RKD allow for viewing these in greater resolution on their sites as well). 

The quality of the work for sale, the detail and finesse in the drawing and colouring, are way better than the usual School of Francken works we get at auction (and they have produced a massive amount of works over the decades!). I would estimate it way above the auction house, at 60,000 to 80,000 Euro.

UPDATE: sold for 48,000 Euro! I wasn't alone in seeing quality here.