Jacob Franquart or Jacob Franckaert the Younger (1582/83 – 6 January 1651 (buried)) was a Flemish architect, painter, print artist, draftsman, military engineer and poet. He is known for his altarpieces and publications on contemporary Italian architecture. He was employed by the court of the Archdukes Albert and Isabella in Brussels as a painter and architect. He was responsible for the design of ephemeral decorations and structure for important occasions at the court such as funerals. As an architect and decorator, he introduced the Baroque in the buildings of the Habsburg Netherlands. His style is sometimes referred to as the Italo-Flemish style and became very popular in Flanders in the 17th century. Only a few paintings are attributed to him. Life Franquart was born in Antwerp or possibly Brussels as the son of Jacob Franckaert the Elder and Michaela del Tronco. His date of birth is not known with certainty. He was likely born in 1582 or 1583. His father was a painter and draughtsman known for his religious subjects, landscapes and architectural scenes, who became a master in the Antwerp Guild of Saint Luke in 1571. A sister of Jacob the Younger named Suzanna was born around 1584. Jacob the Elder is still mentioned in Antwerp in 1585. His father took his family via Paris to Italy in 1591. In Naples Jacob the Elder started a collaboration with Wenceslas Cobergher, a Flemish painter who had trained in Antwerp with Maerten de Vos. They executed several paintings for the city's churches. Jacob the Elder moved with his family to Rome in 1594. Cobergher joined them and the two artists continued their collaboration. Four months after the death of his first wife, Cobergher married Suzanna Franckaert, the daughter of his collaborator, in Rome on 20 November 1599. At the time the Franquart family was registered in the register of the parish of San Lorenzo in Rome. In March 1601 the family was registered in the marriage register of the parish of San Lorenzo in Rome. It is difficult to discern in these works the contribution of either artist. Jacob started to study painting, likely with his father. In Rome he had the opportunity to study the Antique and Renaissance architecture. He particularly admired the works of Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Carlo Maderno. Both parents of Jacob had died by September 1601 after which he lived with