m THE EARLY FLEMISH PAINTERS: NOTICES OF BY J. A. CROWE and G. B. CAVALCASELLE. SECOND EDITION. LONDON. JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1872. PREFACE. Since the first appearance of "The Early Flemish Painters" in 1857, criticism and enquiry have enlarged our knowledge of the schools of the Netherlands. Artists whose identity was not established are now familiar; records which seemed to have been lost, have been found again; and pictures which were thought to have perished are restored to us. The mass of materials at the historian's command has greatly increased. The mere mention of the names of A. Pin- chart, E. van Even, W. H. J. Weale, A. Wauters, E. de Busscher, and C. H. Ruelens, recalls to specialists the most important contributions made to the history of 15 th century art in our day. To some of these gentlemen, and parti- cularly to M r . Pinchart whose communications are the more valuable because hitherto unpub- lished, we owe more than a mere acknowledg- ment of thanks. It is only just to say that, but A* rv PKEFACE. for them, we should still know much less than we do know of Van Eyck, Van der Weyden, and Memling, whilst we might still be unacquainted with such men as Hubert Stuerboudt, and Greer- hardt David. It would ill become us to affirm that a work which was necessarily imperfect in 1857 has been improved to perfection in 1872; but this much may be said without presumption, that, in writing anew the lives of the Flemish painters, we have spared no pains to combine the results of independent research with the fruits of our own more recent studies. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Page Painting in the Dark Ages 1 CHAPTER II. Hubert and John Van Eyck 30 CHAPTER III. John Van Eyck 79 CHAPTER IV. Petrus Cristus 135 CHAPTER V. Grrard van der Meire 147 CHAPTER VI. Hugo van der Goes 155 CHAPTER VII, Justus or Jodocus of. Ghent 171 CHAPTER VIH. Roger van der Weyden 183 CHAPTER IX. Antonello da Messina 230 CHAPTER X. Contemporaries of the Van Eycks 237 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. Page Hans Memling 251 CHAPTER XII. Gheerardt David 300 CHAPTER XIII. Dierick Bouts 321 CHAPTER XIV. Progress of the A.rt in Flanders. — Its influence abroad . 337 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Page The triumph op the church, Altar-piece by John Van Eyck in the Museum of Madrid. Frontispiece. The Annunciation, the Visitation, the plight into Egypt — Altar-piece by Melchior Broederlam in the Museum of Dijon 24 The Eternal-St. Elizabeth— from the Altar-piece by Broe- derlam in the Museum of Dijon 24 Angel of the Annunciation. Virgin of the Annunciation — from the Altar-piece of Broederlam in the Museum of Dijon 24 The Presentation — from the Altar-piece by Broederlam in the Museum of Dijon 24 The Mystic Lamb. Interior of the Altar-piece of Ghent by Hubert and John Van Eyck 50 Wings of the Altar-piece of Ghent 50 The Virgin from the Altar-piece at Ghent 50 John Van Eyck and Hubert van Eyck — from the altar-piece in the Museum of Madrid 96 The Annunciation by Justus d'Allamagna in Santa Maria di Castello at Genoa 172 The last Judgment. Interior of the altar-piece by Roger Van der Weyden in the Hospital of Beaune 198 Exterior of the Altar-piece by R. Van der Weyden in the Hospital of Beaune 198 The Crucifixion, by Antonello da Messina in the Museum of Antwerp 235 VIII LIST OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS. Page The last Judgment by Memling in the Cathedral of Danzig 258 Altar-piece of the Passion by Hans Memling in the Pina- kothek of Munich 278 Death of St. Ursula by Memling in the Hospital of Bruges 286 The Adoration of the Magi. Altar-piece by Stephen Lcethe- ner in the Cathedral of Cologne 350 CHAPTER I. PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. Eecoeds of primitive art in the Netherlands take us back to a comparatively late period in history;— to a period as late as the 8th century, during which a power- ful impulse was given to painting by the vigour of Charlemagne. At a very early date, no doubt, pen- manship and miniature were a favourite pastime in convents and monasteries, yet we possess little beyond the knowledge of the fact; and the most ancient notices in Belgian annals are those quoted from a Benedictine chronicle of the 9th century at Alt-Eyck on the Mses. In a passage of some length, the writer of this chronicle gives a description of beautiful transcripts from the gospels and psalms made by the abbesses Harlinde and Renhilde, and praises the brilliancy and freshness of their illustrative miniatures. It is not without signi- ficance that the convent of Alt-Eyck should have been within easy distance of Mseseyck, the birthplace of two great Flemish painters, and subsequently the home to which Lievine, the daughter of John Van Eyck, retired. 1 We shall have occasion to observe how the art of mini- ature was carried to a high perfection by men of the Limburg province, who lived as late as 1400, and took their wares to the distant mart of Paris. 1 See postea; See also Recherches sur nos anciens enlu- mineurs et calligraphes par le chanoine J. J. de Smet, in Bulle- tins de l'Academie de Belgique. Vol. XV. No. 7. pp. 86—8. 1 2 PAINTING IN THE DARK AGES. [CHAP. I. It seems to have been within the memory of Wolfram of Eschenbach that lay schools existed in the Nether- lands, and there is a passing allusion in "Parcival" to painters at Maastricht and Koln 1 ; but we labour at present under an absolute dearth of portable pictures executed in 1200 and 1300, and such fragments of wall painting as were rescued from oblivion in our day, are mostly too injured to permit of a correct apprecia- tion. There is no field of inquiry which has received more attention in the last ten years than that of mo- numental remains in Belgium, and it is but fair to state that wall distempers ascribed to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries have been recently disco- vered at Maastricht, Liege, Huy, Namur, Ghent, Gor- cum, and Haarlem. 2 We may hope that these works 1 Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parcival MS. unpaged in Brit. Museum; but see the quotation in Waagen's Handbook based on Kugler 8°. London 1860. pp. 12. 22. 29. 30. 2 As to the existence of painting and painters at Liege in the 10th and 11th centuries, we may consult Fiorillo (Ge- schichte der zeichnenden Kiinste) and the life of Balderic of Liege (Pertz's Monumenta. VI.) ; for lost mural paintings at Gorcum and Nieuport, Schnaase (Kunstblatt 1847 No. 8.) and Kesteloot, (Notice sur une peinture murale decouverte a Nieu- port [1822] in Nouveaux Memoires de l'Academie de Bruxelles t. XVII.) "Christ on the Cross," an old picture dated 1305, once in the church of the Beguinage at Diest, is described by Molanus (Hist. SS. Imaginum et Picturarum Lov. 1570 in Van Even's Thierry Bouts, 8°. Brux 1861. p. 7). Of extant wall paintings and pictures the folloAving are notices taken from various sources. Huy. Couvent des Croisiers. Here is an old shrine with scenes from the legend of the martyr St. Ottilia. Judging from the illustrations of this shrine (assigned to the year 1292) in the Beffroi\4". Bruges 1864. Tom. II. p. 31.) this is a fiat poly- chromic series of very piumitive design. Msestricht. Frescos were discovered here in 1866 in a building attached in old times to a Dominican monastery. According to M. J. H. L. van der Schaaf of Leyden, who de- scribes them (Nederlandsche Spectator in Journal des Beaux Arts, Bruxelles 1867. p. 105), these frequently bear a date, — 1337 — and represent scenes from the legend of the ten thousand CHAP. I.] PAINTING IN THE DARK AGES. 3 of old and nameless craftsmen will in due time be classified according to their real value; but it may be sufficient for the present to characterize the specimens of mural design discovered before 1850 and note that in so far as they can be considered to represent the art of the darker ages, they reveal a very low form indeed of pictorial culture. As such we should point out the coronation of the Virgin and Christ on the shoulders of St. Christopher in the Byloque hospital at Ghent, a rude performance of the first years after martyrs, and episodes from the lives of St. Thomas Aquinas and other saints. Bathmen near Deventer. Frescos in the church of Bathmen were freed from superposed lime and whitewash in 1870. They are described by Mr. Victor de Shiers (Nederlandsche Spectator in Journal des Beaux Arts 1870. p. 116) as representing the last judgment in two different designs, figures of St. Catherine and St. Gertrude and a repetition of the martyrdom of the 10,000 as at Maestricht with portraits of a knight and his dame kneeling in the foreground. The latter composition is fairly preserved, the others are fragments. On one of the walls the ciphers MCCCLXXIX are said (doubtfully) to exist. Floreffe near Namur. Here are frescos in a bad state de- scribed by Mr. Ad. Siret as belonging to the 13th century in the cellars of the abbey, of old the halls of the counts of Na- mur. (Annales de la societe archeologique de Namur. Tom. 3. p. 361). Haarlem. St. Bavon. Distempers with figures of saints, of uncertain date on the pillars of the church (Journal des Beaux Arts, u. s. 1860. p. 160). Liege. Fragments in the churches of St. Jacques, Ste. Croix, and St. Paul. (Journal des Beaux Arts, u. s. 1863. p. 18). Ghent. Here are representations of guildsmen in military dress and thirteen episodes from the legend of St. John the Evan- gelist, distempers "of the 14th century" on the walls of the "Leugemeete" part of a brewing establishment, of old chapel of Sts. John and Paul; fragments in chapels of the Hospitals of St. Jacques, Saint Jean, Saint Christophe, and St. Aubert. We shall note hereafter certain painters of Ghent whose works have not been preserved. — Consult, meanwhile, Edmond de Busscher. Recherches sur les peintres gantois 8°. Gand. 1859. pp. 164 — 5, and Messager des sciences et des arts de la Belgique 8 U . Brux. 18344 p. 200. 1840. p. 224. and Journal des BeauxArts. Bruxelles 1862. p. 15. 1* 4 PAINTING IN THE DARK AGES. [CHAP. I. 1300; 1 and a kneeling figure attributed to an artist of the same epoch in St. Martin of Ypres. 2 Though very little of the original surface remains in either of these examples, we still discern that they were executed by men hardly entitled to the name of painters. With the mediocrity and absence of skill which characterized monumental tempera in 1300 it is pleasant to contrast the cleverness displayed in miniatures of the same time. We have an interesting proof of this cleverness in a calendar of the seasons forming part of a missal in the Bodleian at Oxford, the miniatures of which are inclosed in very pretty indented squares of various sizes. 3 The most striking features in this missal are the symmetrical character of the compositions, the sculptural gravity and dignified mien of the figures, the simple cast of the drapery, the kindly expression of the faces and their careful outline. The heads are broad and square and heavily bearded; the eyes are gazing and the fingers long and slender. With simple effectiveness shadows of small compass are laid in with great transparence, leaving the parchment bare for lights. On one of the small pictures representing 1 Ghent. La Byloque. Life size figures. Christ in pilgrim's garb. St. Christopher wading in water stocked with rude out- lines of fishes. The characteristic features of this work are want of shadow and coarse black outline. Of the draughtsman's skill there is no trace. This work is not older than A. D. 1300. Compare Messager des sciences et des arts u. s. for 1833 — 4. Tom. I— II. pp. 201—3. 2 This figure is altogether repainted and is on a tomb alleged to have been erected (circa 1322) to the memory of Ro- bert of Bethune, but see Kunstblatt 1843. No. 54. 3 Bodleian libr. Oxford. Nr. 313. Douce. In the calendar of seasons forming part of the missal the festival of St. Louis of Toulouse is comprised. The date of this festival is 1317. That of St. Thomas Aquinas 1323 is omitted. This would naturally lead to the inference that the M. S. dates from one of the intermediate years 1317 to 1323. CHAP. I.] PAINTING IN THE DARK AGES. 5 the Virgin and angel annuntiate, with God the Father giving a blessing from above, the sculptured arches and columns which form the details of the distance are notable specimens of the background filling which frequently recurs in productions of a later time. The larger miniatures begin after the 20th page; one contains the Flagellation and Christ before Pilate, another the Crucifixion, with the wailing Virgin, the dicers, the rending of the garment, and the resurrec- tion; all of which are incidents on a common ground. Amongst the principal figures is a trumpeter on horseback blowing a horn, in truthful and energetic action. 1 It is a moot question whether the author of these miniatures was a clerk or a layman. The deep religious feeling, and the intimate knowledge of traditional rules which the work reveals might point to a monk without excluding the lay craftsman ; but what most character- izes the art is its dependence on sculpture; and we i Other specimens of miniature are worthy of attention. A Bible in the Louvre, M.S. of 1363, contains drawings in the same framings as those of the Bodleian. On the 368th page is a portrait of Charles the Vth of Prance, for whom the Bible was illuminated. The style is that above described, and the ornaments are very delicate and tasteful. Later forms of the same art reveal the decline to realism and commonplace ; as, for instaince, in a Latin Bible in the library of Paris (M. S. 6829 fol.) whene the ornament is by one class of hands and the com- position by another, where the compositions again are by one or more draughtsmen. Of this Bible the first page represents St. Jerome extracting the thorn from the lion's paw. He sits with a book before him in a building elaborately decorated with stone carving enlivened with angels playing instruments. This miniature is a monochrome very minutely outlined and remairkable for the simplicity and flow of its drapery. Some of the nniniatures which follow are equal to those of the Louvre Bible of 1363, others are redder and duller in tone and therefore less attractive. After page 34 there is evidence of feebler handlling in surcharged ornament , broken drapery and opaque coloiv.r. 6 PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. [CHAP. I. have to remember that architecture and sculpture in the Netherlands were taught at a very early period by laymen; whilst it is equally clear that men of these crafts, though not unknown in the monastic orders, had potent rivals and, at last, irresistible antagonists in the masons, who supplanted the religious communities by secular organisms equally secret and exclusive. 1 In what sense the painter of the Bodleian missal was affected by the lessons of sculpture is apparent in many ways. The numerous episodes of one legend confined to a single space naturally remind us of the manner in which reliefs are composed. The stiffness of groups and drapery and the hardness or peculiar projection of surfaces betray the study of carved work. The broad and extensive twilight, the grey and neutral tinge of shadow, the flat colouring of vestments, orna- ment, and halos, the careful copying of architectural detail, all point to models of stone as seen in the gloom of aisles and porches. Nor is it unnatural that this should be so when we observe how closely the older painter guilclsmen were connected with their brethren of the chisel. It was customary in the early centuries to give to sculpture the semblance of reality by tinting. It was thought conducive to finish that flesh as well as drapery and ornament should be coloured. There is no reason to doubt that sculptors were not allowed to dye their OAvn statues and reliefs. The painters who were first employed in this kind of duty acquired the general ideas which regulate the economy of bas-relief composition ; its habit of illustrat- ing the numerous incidents of a given subject on various planes, its rigid architectonic arrangement, carved i Consult Vitet. Notre Dame de Noyon. 8 P . Paris. 1845. p. 122. CHAP. I.] PAINTING IN THE DARK AGES. 7 framings, and dusky tone. Art thus acquired an impress which clung to it for centuries, — an impress equally remarkable in the school of Ghent and Bruges, which owes its fame to the Van Eycks, and in that of Tournai and Brussels, which gained a name in connexion with Yan der "Weyden. * Not less important as affecting the technical pro- cesses out of which modern oil painting had its origin was a custom familiar to tinters of moistening their pigments with oil. This custom was first introduced into Europe, as there is reason to believe, either at the close of the 13th or at the beginning of the 14th cen- tury, and subsequently became general throughout the continent. 1 We have rolls of accounts which prove the fact as far as Belgium is concerned. It was part of a contract for the erection of a tomb to John the Hid, Duke of Brabant, in 1341, at Tournai, that the statues on it should be worked "de pointure de boines couleurs a ole." 2 It was agreed by the authorities of Bruges in the same century that a chapel in the town hall should be "illuminated" with gold and silver and all manner of oil colours. 3 Jean Coste, whose sculpture 1 Consult Ch. L. Eastlake. Materials for a History of Oil painting. 8°. London. 1847. pp. 32—3. 2 De Labortle. (Les dues de Bourgogne. Preuves. 8 ft . Paris. Vol. I. Introduction p. LXIV.) cites a- note to this effect extracted by Mr. Dumortier from the communal records of Tournai. 3 Jan van der Ley*, den scildere, van der capelle te stof- feerne (to illuminate) ten Damme, in der steden huus van Brmgge, van Goude, van Zelver en alien manieren van olie vaerwe, dier toebehoorde, en eenen waircman van CXXV. dagen wercken up syn selve costen . . . CII. pont. — De Laborde, u. s., vol. i. Introd. note to page lxiv. See also, on the use of oil in colours, a letter from Baron Vernazza to the Giornale di Pisa of 1794, on the subject of a painting at Pinerolo of 1325, in Easitlake's Materials u. s. p. 46, and in Vasari, Ed. of 1848, Elorence. vol. iv. p. 86. 8 PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. [CHAP. I. adorned various parts of the castle of Vaudreuil, in 1335, bound himself to load them with "fine oil colours." 1 As technical skill increased oil medium was used for flags and pennons on which the device and arms of 1 C'est l'ordenance de ce que je Girart d'Orlians, ai cautie a fere par Jehan Coste, on chastel du Vail de Eueil, sur les ouvrages de peincture qui y sont a parfaire, tant en la sale come allieurs, du comandement M. S. le Due de Normandie, Tan de grace mil. ccc. cinquante et cinq le jour de la Nostre Dame en Mars. Premierement, pour la sale asseuvir en la maniere que elle est commenciee ou mieux; c'est assavoir: parfaire l'ystoire de la vie Cesar et au dessouz, en la derreniere liste, une liste de bestes et d'ymages, einsi comme est commencee. Item, la galerie a l'enti'ee de la sale, en laquelle est la chace, parfaire, einsi comme est commencee. Item, la grant chapelle fere des ystoires de Nostre Dame, de sainte Anne et la Passion en tour l'autel, ce qui en y pourra estre fet. Item, pour le dossier ou table dessus l'autel III. hystoires ; c'est assavoir : ou milieu, la Trinite, et en l'un des costez une histoire de saint Nicolas et en l'autre de Saint Loys ; et atfdessouz des hystoires du tour de la cha- pelle, parfaire de la maniere de marbre einsi comme il est com- mencie. Item l'entreclos, qui est ou milieu de la chapelle, estanceler et noter de plusieurs couleurs estancellees. Item, l'oratoire qui joint a la chapelle, parfaire, c'est assavoir: le couronnement qui est ou pignon avec grant quantite d'anges et 1' Annunciation, qui est a l'autre coste. Et en VII archez qui y sont, Vllymages, c'est assavoir en chascun archet un ymage, et les visages qui sont commenciez parfaire, tant de taille comme de couleurs et les draps diaprez nuer et parfere; et une piece de merrien qui est audessouz des archez armoier de bonne armoierie ou de chose qui le vaille. Et Routes ces choses dessus devisees seront fetes de fines couleurs a huile et les champs de fin or enleve et les vestemens de Nostre Dame de fin azur et hien laialment toutes ces choses vernissiees et assouvies entitle- ment sans aucun deffaute. Et fera le dit Jehan Coste toutes les ceuvres dessus dictes, et trouvera' toutes les choses ne- cessaires a ce excepte buche a ardoir et liz pour hosteler ly et ses gens en la maniere que Ten ly a trouve ou temps passe. Et pour ce faire doit avoir six cens moutons , desquiex il aura les deux cens a present sur le terme de Pasques et deux cens a la Sainct Michel prochainement venant, et les autres deux cens ou terme de Pasques apres ensuivant. Accorde et commende par M. S. le Due de Normandie , au Vail de Eueil le XXV e jour de Mars MCCCLV. — De Laborde, Archives Municipales d' Orleans. in Les Dues de Bourgogne. Vol. iii. pp. 460 — 62. CHAP. I.] PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. 9 knights and corporations were thrown; 1 but mural painting and panels were usually executed in tempera 1 We find the following in the accounts of the Stewards of the Duke of Orleans at Asti: "16th May 1387. Johanni Imperiato, civiAstensi, pictori, pro XII handeriis quarum sex depicte fuerunt ad arma domini ducis Turonie, et alie sex ad dicta arma et domine ducisse, transmittendis et portandis ad loca bacuarum Sancti Albanie et Trinitatis, jurisdictioni do- mini episcopi subjecta, per gentes principis Achaye ab ipso oblata, etc. XXII. Solidos VI. denarios Astenses .... Dicto Jo- hanni Imperiato pro factura et pictura dictarum XII bande- riarum XIX 1. VII s. Astenses." De Laborde, u. s. III. p. 29. Again: "Fevrier 1393. A Cathelain Bonneret, de Milan, paintre, pour la vente et delivrance de XXXIII bannieres, aux armes de Monseigneur le due, par lui baillees et delivrees audit Canteleu du commandement et ordonnance de Monseigneur de Coucy LXXIII 1. XIII s. Ib. ib. p. 75." The records of Lille contain the following: — "Comptes Jaquemon depuis le derrain jour d'Oct. MCCCIIII XX I a Oct. MCCCIIII XX II. "A maistre Jehan Mannin (or Mauvin) paintre, pour le fa- chon des dites banierettes et puignons." Comptes Jehan Viete pour et au nom de la ville de Lille du jour de Toussains l'an de grace MCCCIIII XX et II jusques le derrain jour du mois d'Octobre nuit de Toussaint l'an de grace MCCCIIII XX et III. "Aoust, — A maistre Jehan Mannin (ou Mauvin) paintre, pour auoir painture de couleurs a ole ix cappes de plonc seruans a le porte Saint Sauueur, et les pumiaulx et banierettes, la ossi seruans, payet pour certain marquiet (marche) de ce fait a lui LIII 1. IIII s." — De Lab. u. s., vol. i. Infrod. p. lxvi. The accounts of Anthoine, Duke of Brabant's stewards, for the year 1411 — 12, contain this entry, amongst others, relative to painting: — "Item. Christoffle Besaen, myns voirscreven heeren scilder, om twee bannyei-en, II wimple, VI bannyeren . . . met finen goude ende met olyen op ziden laken." — Comptes de Vhotel d'Ant. de Brabant. De Lab. u. s., vol. ii., p. 292. Anthonio Bellono, civi Astensi , speciario pro IIII VIII peciis auri fini batuti; pro gomma, pro colla, tela nigra, candelis, cere, laurio, pertico, auro pigmento necessario pro factione trium banneriarum factarum ad arma domini ducis XXV 1. I. s. Johanni Alumniaco, mercerio, civi Astiensi pro XL rasis seu brassis cendati, pertiti et jalni, et pro serico seu seyta et certis aliis necessariis pro dictis banneriis XXXVIII 1. X s. Christoforo de Almania , magistro brodure pro factione dictarum trium banneriarum XVII 1. IIII s. Pro eodem per bulletam mandamenti gubernatoris datam III die Aprilis TO PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. [CHAP. I. or distemper as we shall hereafter have occasion to observe. Amongst wall distempers of the 14th century we shall have to notice some that were carried out at Courtrai by order of Louis de Male. They were in- ferior, as we shall see, to portable specimens of con- temporary art; and they hardly deserve to be noticed when compared with such works as the antependium at the Louvre falsely assigned to BeaunepfVeu of Tournai. 1 This antependium is a primitive example, which takes us back to the earliest developments of the schools of the Rhine. The legend attached to it is that it was painted for a duke of Berry and given by Charles the Yth of Valois (1364—80) to the cathedral of Narbonne. It represents the capture, Christ bound to the pillar, Christ carrying his cross, the crucifixion, the deposi- tion , the limbus and Noli me tangere. Between the third and fourth compartments is a portrait of Charles the Yth guarded by five angels, whilst his queen, in prayer, kneels in the crucifixion. Of a size calculated to test to the utmost the powers of an early designer, these pictures are all remarkable for faults peculiar to the Belgian and Germanic schools; and as such we should more particularly note the slender and attenuated build, the coarse extremity and projected bone, of the human frame. Gazing eyes attest the relationship of the artist to the earlier miniaturists ; pallid tones remind us of a technical handling common to the name- less works of Westphalian craftsmen. But the carved Gothic arches in which the subjects are framed point almost surely to a guildsman of Tournai. IIII XX I 1. XV s.— Arch. Nat Fev. 1388—89. De Lab. vol. iii. pp. 37, 38. Belgisch Museum. 8vo. Ghent. Vol. iii. pp. 37—9. 1 We know but one artist of the name of Beaunepfveu. He "was a sculptor at Valenciennes in the 14th century. See postea. CHAP. I.] PAINTING IN THE DAKK AGES. II In this, as in all northern works of an early time, we find the dramatis persona? dressed in local costume. When studying Italian art we observe that the period of the realists is that in which modern dress is intro- duced. Conspicuous in the Tuscan painting of the 15th, this habit was known to the Netherlanders before the 14th century. We may suppose that when the lay asserted its superiority over the monastic, element in the Low Countries, it suppressed the traditions of classic vesture, or we may assume that painters were satisfied with reproducing gospel subjects from religious plays. In the rude ages of which we have been treat- ing, policy required that the working man should be kept quiet by artificial means, and one of these means was no doubt the religious festival and procession; especially that in which scenes from the passion of Christ were dramatically represented. There is reason to believe that the clergy and other promoters of these festivals were not particularly careful as to the cor- rectness of cut and form in the vestments which they used; and it may be that artists derived quaint no- tions of ancient tailoring from the anachronisms of their contemporaries. Late in the 14th century the "arts" of sculpture and painting, which had hitherto been merged in the larger corporate organisms, entered into a life of their own, and it is curious to register the fact that the guilds of St. Luke at Ghent and Bruges are older than that of St. Luke at Florence. — The guild of Ghent was founded by charter in 1338, and, for a time excluded miniaturists and penmen. The guild of Bruges was embodied about the same time as that of Paris. All these guilds were exclusive; they were shaped on a model common in the feudal ages. Apprenticeship, 12 PAINTING IN THE DARK AGES. [CHAP. I. for a period of years, mastery and freedom after examination or production of a masterpiece were the well known features of the system. Strangers were admitted on payment of a fine. By-laws regulated the use and quality of materials for painting; there were penalties for bad "flesh tints, gold, silver, azure and sinople" as well as for knots in panels. A dean presided; a court of sub-deans settled questions of law and fact between painters and their customers. Contracts were minute, verbose, and long; they left the painter little or no right to a will or fancy of his own. 1 It would not be difficult to register a long list of artists whose names are found in the records of the Flemish guilds. We shall have occasion to notice a few of them who were contemporaries of the Van Eycks, but none rose to eminence previous to the 15th cen- tury; and it is characteristic that many of those whose trade it was to tint wood carving, were employed as painters of altar-pieces. Of one important fact there is no reason to doubt. Artists found patrons amongst the nobles and patricians, and they received places and salaries from the highest persons of the land. We are told of Jean van der Asselt, and there can be no doubt of the correctness of this statement, that he was the first painter who had an official connection with the household of the Counts of Flanders. 2 Nume- rous documents drawn up in the French tongue have 1 See for this and other particulars Bulletins de l'Academie de Bruxelles. 1853. Vol. 20. Charles the Vth of France granted to the Academy of St. Luke of Paris , in 1390, immunity from "taille" and subsidies and from all "garde de ports" and "guet." Charles the Vlth con- firmed these privileges in 1391. Lenoir. Mus. des Monumens Francais. Par. 4°. Vol. III. pp. 9—11. 2 We owe most of the facts relative to Jean van der Asselt to Mr. A. Pinchart, keeper of the archives at Brussels, to whom we here tender our thanks for the communication of them. CHAP. I.] PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. been recently discovered in which his name is variously spelt: "delAsselt, d'Asselt, del Hasselt, de le Hasselt." An impression of his seal bears the words, "S. Ioannis de Asselt", from which it would be dangerous to assume that he was a native of Hasselt in the Country of Liege, or of any town of that name in Belgium or Holland. He lived habitually at Ghent where he was employed, in 1364, by Louis de Male. By letters patent of Sept. 9, 1365 he was appointed "painter" to the count of Flanders with a salary of 20 livres de gros per annum; and he held that office till 1381, when he was superseded by Melchior Broederlam. 1 Some time previous to 1373 Louis de Male gave orders for the erection of a chapel in Notre Dame of Courtrai, purposing to make it his own mortuary chapel and thinking to adorn it with a mausoleum, a sarco- phagus, an effigy of himself, and statues of bronze. He directed that the walls should be decorated with full lengths of the Counts of Flanders from the time of Philip of Alsace to that of his own accession; and left spaces for the portraits of his successors. It is on record that the chapel was finished and consecrated to St. Catherine in 1373; it is proved by documentary evi- dence that Jean van der Asselt and Andre Biaunepveu, a sculptor of Valenciennes were consulted as to the design of the mausoleum; and it is known that Van der Asselt went from Ghent to Courtrai in 1374, at the Count's request. "We may suppose that the portraits of the Counts of Flanders, of which fragments are still preserved, were executed by his official paintdr, and we may take them as examples of the art to which an official painter in those days might be expected to attain. 1 This fact has been noted by Gachard. Eapport sur les archives de la chambre des Comptes de Flandre a Lille, p. 64. 14 PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. [CHAP. I. What remains on the walls of the chapel of St. Catherine at Courtrai, after the removal of whitewash and superpositions, is a series of headless figures in the garb of knights and ladies, recognizable as Counts and Countesses of Flanders by the scutcheons at their feet. Amongst Louis de Male's predecessors we observe Philip of Alsace, Baldwin of Hainault, Margaret of Alsace, Baldwin the IXth, Ferdinand of Portugal, and Joan of Constantinople, Gui de Dampierre, and Robert ofBethune. Later and less injured additions to the series are figures of Philip the Good, Charles the Bold, Mary of Burgundy and other princes and princesses up to Charles the lid. There is nothing in the execution of the work suggestive of extraordinary acquirements. The forms are stiff and archaic ; they are unrelieved by shadow and variegated with flat colours only; yet the public of the time was satisfied with the result; and a contract of 1419 shows that Willem van Axpoele and Jan Martens were ordered to copy the portraits of Notre Dame de Courtrai in the Sheriff's Hall at Ghent. 1 In 1480 van der Asselt painted an "image" of the Virgin for Louis de Male in his hostel of le Walle at Ghent. In 1486 he was commissioned to execute an altarpiece for the Cordeliers of Ghent by order of Phi- lip the Hardy. 2 1 The contract is in De Busscher's Eeclierches, u. s. pp. 45—9. 2 Item a maistre Jehan de Hasselt, pointeur, pour plusieurs estoffes qu'il avoit mis hors , du command. M. S. pour taire une ymage de Nostre Dame a la maison M. S. a le Walle ainsi que par lettres M. S. et cedule des maitres d'ostel appartient. LXVI 1. XI s. VIII den.- Comptes de Flandres, de Henry Lippin. Mars 1378 jusqu'a Mars 1380. De Laborde, u. s. Vol. I. Introduction, p. L. "A Jehan de Hasselt paintre par lettres M. S. donnees le XXV d'Aoust IIII XX et VI pour I taveliau d'autel que il avoit fait au commandement M. S. en l'eglise des Cordeliers a Gand CHAP. I.] PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. 15 A great advantage accrued to art from the fact that the old dynasty of the Counts of Flanders, which expired with Louis de Male, was succeeded by that of the Dukes of Burgundy, who were of the Royal blood of France. The household accounts of the Duke of Orleans contain numerous descriptions of carved altar- pieces, such as this of 1396; "ungs grans tableau ar- gentez cloans et ouvrans, a un Mont de Calvaire dedens en un coste et en l'autre une ymage de Nostre Dame tout pourtrait;" "une fleur de liz de bois, doree dehors, cloant et ouvrant la ou il a dedans en hault un cruxifie- ment et Nostre Dame et Sainte Anne;" and "deux tableaux de boys a pignon et a arest, argentez dehors. .. . a une annunciacion dedens et un dieu en croe." 1 Philip the Hardy carried to Bruges the habits of pomp and luxury which he contracted at the Parisian court. He strove to commingle Flemish splendor with French taste, and he was not unsuccessful in the attempt. "Truly says Martial of Auvergne "ons' harna- chait d'orfaverie." Nor was solidity sacrificed to show. Sideboards groaned with plate, and the ducal treasuries were filled with countless figures carved in precious metal, and sparkling with diamonds and rubies. These noble productions of the goldsmith's art were more valuable for the beauty of their form than for the metal in which they were wrought; they served to bribe a lukewarm prince, to conciliate enemies, or, when broken up and melted, to pay knights and archers. The obvious use to which these ornaments might be put suggested the necessity of a continual supply. 2 Goldsmiths, be- LX francs; paye a luy en rabat de la elite Somme XL francs. De Laborde, u. s. Vol. I. p. 6. 1 De Laborde, u. s. III. 126. 2 The following illustration is from Ghiberti. Speaking of Cologne artists, an architect from that city told Ghiberti of 16 PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. [CHAP. I. came artists and wealthy men whose attachment it was politic to gain. "In 1389", says Plancher, "Duke Philip being then in Flanders sent to the king a new year's gift of a purse of gold with a lady in an orchard on it, holding a diamond worth six hundred livres. He sent to the queen a golden picture of the burial of the Lord with our Lady near him, and to the Duke of Berri a St. Catherine of gold." 1 "To the royal family of England he gave sets of costly tapestry," "to the Duke of Lancaster, the History of Clovis;" "to the Duke of Gloucester, the Story of the Virgin;" — presents received with a grateful sense of the honour conferred, but insufficient "to soften or to gain the English mind," or turn it towards a peace. 2 When his pictures and his sculptures failed to make a friend of England, they were used to ransom prisoners of note. John the Fearless, Count of Nevers, having been taken at Mkopoli, on the Danube, the goldsmith Digne Raponde advanced 200,000 ducats for his ransom : and the King of Mitylene, as the bearer of good tidings, had a cup of gold carved with figures of the Virgin. 3 Peace being signed with England, the Duke pre- sented the British king with a splendid book, contain- one who had been at the court of Louis of Anjou (brother of Charles V. of France). "One day he (the Cologne artist) saw one of the works on which he had spent a labour of love melted down to pay the duke's debts. Then his courage failed him, and falling on his knees he lifted his eyes and hands to heaven and cried, "Lord, who governest in heaven and reignest on earth and all that is." Let me follow no other law but thine. Have mercy on me . . . Then he went and shared all he had for the love of God, and he went out into a mountain to a hermit's cell, where he lived the rest of his life in penitence. Ghiberti's Commentary in the last Edition of Vasari. Florence. 1 Plancher. benedictin. Hist, de Bourgogne. fol. Dijon, 1739, vol. iii. p. 117. 2 lb. ib. III. 136. 3 Ib. ib. III. 164. CHAP. I.] PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. 17 ing a picture of St. George; and gave the Duke of Gloucester an- image of St. Anthony. 1 Led by such taste for display as these quotations suggest, Philip the Hardy must have been surrounded by professional artists of every kind; and there is suffi- cient evidence in his household accounts to prove that he usually employed a large number of goldsmiths, carvers, miniaturists, and painters. By birth a prince of the blood royal of France, he patronized at first Jean d' Orleans and Colard de Laon, who were exclusively French guildsmen. 2 When he became connected by marriage with the country of Flanders, he learnt to prize the talents of Belgian craftsmen. As Duke of Burgundy he kept salaried painters whose names were Jean de Beaumez and Jean Malwel; as Count of Flan- ders and Duke of Burgundy his official painter was Melchior Broederlam. We know little of Beaumez except that he prepared tilting harness and pennons, and lived habitually in Burgundy. 3 Jean Malwel or Melluel was appointed painter in ordinary to the Duke of Burgundy in August 1397; 4 but it is stated that, as early as 1392, he tinted some of the first altar-chests 1 lb. ib. III. 159. 2 See, as to Jean d'Orleans, Mr. A. Pinchart's Archives des Arts, des Sciences et des Lettres, tome III. 94, and Messager des Sciences et des Arts, u. s. 1868. p. 308. Philip the Hardy paid him a sum of money for an important picture in 1383. 3 1394. Jean de Baumez ou Biauviez etait peintre du Due, avait par an (?jour)8 gros. (Compte de G-uillaume Chevilly in De Salle's Memoires pour servir a l'histoire de France et de Bourgogne. 4 fl . Paris, 1729. p. 51.) — We learn further (priv. communication of Mr. A. Pinchart) that Jean de Beaumez was painter and valet de chambre to the Duke of Burgundy in 1377. He usually painted pennons and tilting harness. In. 1379 he completed "un drap de painture a plusieurs ymaiges" by order of his master who presented it to a nameless monk. He was still living and busy with art in Burgundy in 1395. 4 Private communication of Mr. A. Pinchart. P i 2 18 PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. [CHAP. I. carved by Jacques de Baerse of Termonde. 1 Philip the Hardy usually told his orisons daily before one of Mahvel's altarpieces — a diptych of wood representing the Virgin Mary between St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, St. Peter and St. Anthony. 2 It was no doubt after his execution of this diptych in 1397 that Malwel was promoted to the office which he subsequently held till his death. 3 His two sons Her- mann and Jacques were apprenticed by the Duke to a goldsmith in Paris, and a casual notice of their return, in 1400 "to their native place in Gueldres" tells us that they were Flemings. 4 From 1402 till 1407 Malwel was engaged in decorating the monastery of the Car- thusians of Dijon; 5 but he was detached to paint tilting 1 Comptes d'Annot Arnaud. Archives de Dijon. Plusieurs memoires tires de la Chambre des Oomptes de Dijon et des Archives de la Chartreuse. 2 vol. 4°. ap. De Laborde. Vol. I. Introduction p. XXIII. Notices des objets d'art exposes au Musee de Dijon 12°. 1850. Paris, p. 135, and Passavantin Kunst- blatt. 1843. No. 54. Mr. De Laborde also says (Dues de Bour- gogne. I. Table alphabetique) that Marvel coloured five altar tables for the Carthusians of Dijon in 1396. 2 Inventory of the pictures of Philip the Hardy at Dijon in Collection de documents inedits concernant l'histoire de Bel- gique par L. P. Gachard, 8°. Brux. 1834. Vol.11, pp. 98—9. "Item un grant tableau de bois en facon de demi-porte auquel a Nostre Dame au milieu, les deux Saints Jehan, St. Pierre et Saint An- tlioine, et le fist Malvel." Mr. Pinchart tells us (private com.) that this diptych Avas placed every day before the Duke's praying stool. 3 "A Jehan Malouel, paintre et varlet de chambre de MS le Due, III. C XL livres qui deuz lui estoient pour ses gaiges de XX livres pour mois. III. 1 XL liv." — Compte de Robert de Bailleux, 1411 — 1412. De Laborde, u. s., vol. i. p. 23-4. Mr. A. Pinchart tells us (Priv. comm.) that Malwel's appointment was made in 1397. 4 Private communication of Mr. A. Pinchart. 5 J. M. fut employe par M. le Due a faire les ouvrages de peinture aux Chartreux de Dijon par lettres donnees a Paris le 26. Octobre 1407 a raison de 8 gros par jour.'' (Compte Jean de Noident de 1408 fol. 67. "De Salles Mem. p. servir. u. s. pp. 137, 161). Mr. Pinchart (private comm.) tells us that J. M. had been employed at the Carthusians from 1402 till 1407. The same accounts of Jean de Noident, adds de Salles (p. 161), state that CHAP. I.] PAINTING IN THE DARK AGES. 19 harness for the tournament of Compiegne in 1406. 1 On the 1st of June 1406 he was reappointed painter in ordinary to Jean Sans Peur, lor whom he executed a portrait sent in 1415 to Portugal. 2 At his death in the same year 3 he was succeeded by Henri Bellechose of Brabant, who finished for the Carthusians of Dijon two pictures representing the death of the Virgin and the Martyrdom of St. Denis. 4 Melchior Broederlam- 5 usually resided at Ypres and executed orders for altarpieces or pennons in- J. M. received 12 escus for stuff to make a picture of his arms — a lion seated holding a scutcheon — to be taken to the council of Pisa by "mandement" of April 13, 1409. (o.s.) See also Courtepee. Desc. Topog. et Hist, du Duche de Bourgogne. Vol. II. p. 246 and De Laborde, Les Dues de Bourgogne. u. s. Int. I. p. 565. 1 "A Jehan Malouel, paintre et varlet de MdS., auquel MdS. en recompensasion de ce qu'il auoit demoure devers lui a ses frais et despens tant a Paris comme a Compiegne par l'espace de cinq mois, commences au mois d'avril MCCCC et six, et fenis con- tinuellement, tant pour aidier a faire plusieui's harnois de joustes pour le dit seigneur et aucuns de ses gens, pour jouster a la feste des nopces de MS le Due de Thouraine, et de MS le Conte d'An- goulesme, nagaires faites audit Compiegne, comme pour plu- sieurs autres choses de son mestier que MdS. lui fist faire, le somme de XL. escus d'or." — Compte de J. Chousat. 1405 — 6. _De Lab. u. s., vol. I. p. 17. Malwel also painted jousting harness in 1404. De Laborde, Les Dues de Bourgogne, u. s. Tab. Alphab. I. p. 565. 2 "Mandement donne a Chastillon sur Seine le 14 Nov. 1415. Jean Maluel rec^ut 22 francs et demi a lui taxez pour la facon et estoffes d'une image par lui contrefaits a la semblance de mon- dit seigneur le Due et par lui envoye au roi de Portugal. Comptes de Jean de Noident in De Salles. Mem. p. serv. u. s. p. 138. 3 Malwel's death is registered in 1415. Grachard Coll. de Documents, u. s. II, 99 and Comptes Jean de Noident for 1415 in De Salles, u. s. pp. 137—8. * Henry Bellechose, peintre de M. le Due, aux gages de huit gros par jour par lettres datees du 5 Aout avant Paques 1419. (o. s.) De Salles. u. s. p. 242. See also Memoriaux, or "chest li livre des memoires de la chambre des Comptes a Dijon" in De Laboi'de. u. s. les Dues de Bourgogne. Vol. I. Introd. p. lxix and Tab. Alphab. Vol. III. p. 542. 5 Brcederlam's seal on records, says Mr. A. Pinchart, is a shield with three lambs quartered with a tower. 2* 20 PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. [CHAP. I. discriniinately. An entry in the Duke's accounts at Lille takes us back to the year 1382, when Broederlam was qualified as "my Lord's painter" charged with furnish- ing the stuff and workmanship of banners and pen- nons. 1 In a record of 1385 he figures as "painter and varlet of the chamber of my Lord of Burgundy", at a yearly salary of two hundred francs. 2 The time had not yet come when the wants of a large and wealthy public required to be met by minute subdivisions of labour. Broederlam, like most artists of his age, was a man of many trades, and, it would seem, skilled in them all. At some court festival in 1386 we find him thrown by the duties of his place into company with Claus the minstrel of "his Highness." 3 In January of the same year he took sixty francs for painting the Duchess' chariot, 4 in February, 82 francs for two stands of satin colours with the Duke's arms and device "in gold and oil colours." 5 Five dozens of small chairs for the coun- i 1 "A Melcior, le peintre MS. pour plusieurs ouvrages de son mestier, et estoffes achatees par li pour MS. pour faire banieres et pignons. LXXII 1. XVs. Hid."— Recette de Fland. Arch, de Lille. — Quart Compte. Henry Luppin duIV e jour deMay deVan MCCCIIII™II jusquau III jour deMay VanMCCCIIII^III. De Labor de u. s., vol. i. p. 1. 2 "A Melchior Broedlain, pointre de MS. de Bourgogne et varlet de chambre, lequel pointre MS. a retenu a 11° francs de pension par an tant comme il lui plaira." — Recette de Fland. meme Compte. 1385. De Lab. u. s., p. 4 and Pincbart. Ms. communi- cation. 3 A Melcbior Broedlain, pointre MS 1386 .... pour plusieurs estoffes a luy commandees — Comptes de Jaque Screyhem, 1385-6. Recette de Flandres. De Lab. u. s., vol. i. p. 6. "A Melcbior Broederlam, paintre, a Claus, le tamburier et menestrier de MS." XLII liv.— Ibid. p. 9. 1386-7. 4 Private communication from Mr. A. Pinchart. 5 "A Melchior Broederlam, varlet de cbambre et paintre de MS. le Due de Bourgogne, conte de Flandres, auquelMdS. a fait paier et delivrer la somme de IIII XX VII francs et IIII sols, pa- risis, monnoie de Prance pour les parties cy apres declairees, lesquelles il avoit par commandement et ordonnance de MdS. faites et delivrees au S. de Dicquemme, pour porter au voiage CHAP. I.] PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. 21 cil chamber of "my Lord" in the castle of Hesdin form an item in his accounts for 1389. He was allowed to charge a considerable sum in 1391 for the manufacture of a "gloriette" adorned with letters and devices, at the same castle of Hesdin ; and he was master of the decorations there in 1392. A thousand pennons embla- zoned with the Duke's motto tell further of his industry at this period. 1 Of more interest than any previous record in the painter's history is that which shows Iioav Jacques de Baerse, a sculptor of Termonde, in 1392, at Broederlam's intercession received forty francs reward for taking two altar-tables of his own make from Termonde to Dijon. 2 It was in company with de Baerse that Broederlam afterwards produced a num- ber of altarpieces two of which are said to be those preserved at the present time in the museum of Dijon. At the period of this first connection with de Baerse Broederlam was in great favour with Philip the Hardy. "In consideration of good and agreeable service" my Lord had given him sixty francs for the repair of his house at Ypres, 3 and, in February of the same year, paid him a visit, and gave largesse to his varlets. 4 de Frize . . . pour faire deux estandarts de satin, de bateure de fin or, a oile de la devise de MdS. de Bourgogne. — Tiers compte Pierre Adorne du 1 Fevrier MCCCIIII**XV au derrain jour Janvier MCCCIIir*XVI. De Lab. u. s., vol. i. p. 1 1 . ' Private communication of Mr. A. Pinchart. 2 Private communication of Mr. A. Pinchart. But see also DeLaborde, LesDucs de Bourgogne, u. s. vol.1. Introd.p.LXXIII. together with Notices des objets d'art exp. au Musee de Dijon, u. s., p. 135. 3 1394. 3 Fevrier n. s. Le Due donne 60 francs d'or a Broe- derlam "en consideration des bons et agreables services qu'il lui a rendus, pour les reparations d'une maison situee a Ypres, qui appartenait a l'artiste". (Private communication of Mr. A. Pinchart.) 4 Broederlam demeurait et travaillait a Ypres. Par man- dement du due date d'Ypres 18 Fevrier 1394, n. s. il lui est payfe 22 PAINTING IN THE DARK AGES. [CHAP. I. Under the date of 1394 we discover Broederlam's contract with the Duke for two "retables" carved by Jacques de Baerse. He was to paint them well and honestly so as they might be valued by workmen skilled in such matters. He was to furnish the gold, the colours and other necessary estoffes, and all for 800 francs, pledging his worldly goods and chattels the while for the performance of the duty. As early as February 18 we find the Duke tipping the varlets of Melchior, "who were working at a table for my Lord that was to be taken to the Carthusians of Dijon". Before the year expired, the painter received 800 francs for his trouble. 1 Considerable obscurity still exists as to whether the two altarpieces assigned to Jacques de Baerse and Broederlam in the Museum of Dijon are those which were taken to the Carthusians in 1392 or those which were finished in 1394. Equal difficulty exists, as to whether altarpieces to which allusion is made in the accounts of 1394 are identical with those mentioned in further accounts of 1398 — 9. An entry of 1398 for instance relates to payments on account to Jacques de Baerse for a certain altar table intended for the Carthu- sians of Dijon, parts of which had been delivered to Melchior Broederlam. A second entry, dated August 8 1399, refers to Broederlam's receipt for expenses of wood and work for cases in which the two altar tables which he painted were taken from Ypres; a third, dated the 13th of August, contains the favorable valua- une somme. "Aux varlez de Melchior paintre et varlet de cham- bre de Monseigneur, qui euvrent en une table d'autel que ledit Melchior point pour mondit seigneur laquelle table sera portee en l'eglise des Chartreux les Dijon." (Private comm. of Mr. A. Pinchart.) 1 Private communication of Mr. A. Pinchart. CHAP. I.] PAINTING IN THE DARK AGES. 23 tion of the two tables by Josse de Halle, 1 Nicolas Sluter, 2 Jean Malwel, Jean de Haacht and Guillaunie de Beaumez; 3 a fourth, of Sept 12, is a patent ordering payment of 200 francs to Broederlam for his skill in executing "the paintings of the two tables upon which he had laboured so long and upon which he had ex- pended so much of his own talent''; a fifth — the latest record of the master's existence — is his receipt for 200 francs given on December 16, 1401. 4 Upon one point there seems to be no doubt. No valid ground appears to exist for rejecting the altar tables or shrines of Dijon as joint works of de Baerse and Broederlam. For centuries an ornament of the Carthusians of Dijon they might have perished at the suppression of the monastery, but that they were transferred to the cathedral. There they were safe from violence though not from neglect. When taken at last to the Museum the paintings of one of them had been entirely removed. 5 On both we still find the arms and initials of Philip the Hardy and his wife Margaret of Flanders. The carvings of the first are the decollation of John; a Martyrdom 1 Josset de Halle valet de ch., argentier, et orfevre de Phi- lippe le Hardy. En 1387 il fait les sceaux. Plancher. Hist, de Bourgogne u. s. Vol. III. p. 108. 2 Nicolas or Claux Sluter is a well known sculptor whose name is in records as early in date as 1384 at Dijon. He was appointed valet de chambre of the Duke of Burgundy in 1393^ and he was employed for man}' years at the Carthusians of Dijon. His contract for Philip the Hardy's tomb, at the rate of 3,612 francs, is dated 1404. See De Laborde. Les Dues de Bourgogne u. s. I. Tab. Alphab. p. 575. 3 This was a son of Jean de Beaumez. See antea. 4 Private communication of Mr. A.Pinchart and De Laborde Les Dues de Bourgogne, u. s. Vol. I. Tab. Alphab. p. 546. The only other record of Broederlam found by Mr. Pinchart rs one dated 1400, in which payments are made for tilting harness for the celebration of the Avedding of Anthoine afterwards Duke of Brabant. 5 Notice des objets d'art exp. au Musee de Dijon u. s. pp. 135 and follg. 24 PAINTING IN THE DARK AGES. [chap. I. and the Temptation of St. Anthony. The carvings of the second are the Epiphany, Calvary and Entombment, and it is on the outer shutters which cover these that we find the pictures assigned to Broederlam of which a feeble outline is annexed to these pages. It may be observed that customs noted as peculiar to the art of the earlier Flemings are prominent in the composition of the paintings of the shrine. The An- nunciation and Visitation are episodes of one landscape; The Presentation and Flight into Egypt are incidents of another; the dresses are those of the 14th century, and God the Father wears the Papal tiara. The architectural filling, though delicate and neat in its multiplicity of spindle columns, towers, domes, and steeples is im- practicable, and set in defiance of the rules of per- spective. The golden ray which falls from the Eternal to the Virgin's person, the gilt sky which cuts upon the steep and rocky landscape, the flat variety of red, white and blue on walls and cupola are all reminiscent of the practice of the miniaturists. Again the roseate shades and changing hues, the transitions of yellow into violet ; the pale unmodulated breadth of flesh light abruptly striped near the outline with a narrow ribbon of pallid shadow betray the habits of the carver tinter and illuminator. We may admire the pretty composition of the group in the Presentation, the affectionate action of the Virgin in the Flight into Egypt; we may detect in the fall and flow of drapery a simplicity which soon ceased to characterize the Flemings; it may be conceded that female forms and faces are given with a certain amount of feeling and grace; but there is a painful contrast between the common or ungainly shape of -males and the comeliness of females ; and there is gross incorrect- ness of drawing in hands and feet, and the wooden nude CHAP. I.] PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. 25 of the infant. We remain fully impressed with the sense of the chasm which separates the flat and shadeless art of the 14th century from the modelled finish of the 15th. One peculiarity marks the distempers of Dijon as it marks the works of the great masters of the early Flemish school. All the heads, however disagreeable they may be, reveal the painter's effort to realize nature in its wrinkles and fleshy irregularities. 1 It would be of the utmost consequence to know with what materials these pictures were painted; we should like to be able to ascertain whether the colours were moistened with oils or with glutinous mixtures excluding oil. It is very possible that oil may have been used in the vestments, the tints of which are saturated and strong, but it is difficult to believe that any thing but tempera was found suitable for fleshtints. It seems beyond doubt that a coloured varnish was laid over the whole of the panels, for in parts of them which have been abraded by time we find the cold and pallid grey peculiar to work prepared for a final general glaze. In considering technical questions such as these much may be determined approximately by a due con- sideration of the time, the place, and the circumstances under which artists had to work. Clime, for instance, had great influence in all countries on the progress of art, and the means employed in warm countries were found unsuitable for the variable atmosphere of colder lati- tudes. The painters of the Netherlands may at an early period have felt the necessity of turning their attention to the means of preserving their paintings from the effects of weather and rendering colours and varnishes durable. They may have found, that they could not with impunity leave pictures exposed to the air. They i Dijon. Museum No. 711. Wood. M. 1. 62 h. by 2. 60. 26 PAINTING IN THE DAKK AGES. [CHAP. I. must have felt that the medium employed by the Italians for the preservation of paintings so exposed was in- sufficient in a damper atmosphere. Van Mander says that "painting with glue and egg was first brought to the Netherlands from Italy", 1 and the Flemings were doubtless aware that in the practice of tempera the Italians themselves differed essentially, according to the degree of warmth of the climate in winch they lived. Glutinous or drying matters, such as glue and egg, were used in greater or smaller quantities as vehicle— they were rendered less drying by the use of honey, or of the milky juice of the fig-tree, 2 diluted to a less viscous consistency by vinegar, beer, and wine, according to necessity. All these materials were known to the tempera painters of every clime, and used as they were required. In colouring miniatures on parchment or paper, those who knew the care with which such productions were treasured, did not expend much time in rendering the tints impervious to the effects of the atmosphere. They covered the water-colour simply with a coat of size — una mano di colla; and miniatures thus treated remained for ages without alteration in central Italy, where a warm temperature allowed of executing, in the open air, the colossal wall designs of churches, and Campo Santi. But these simple means were insufficient in the north of Italy. The masters of the school of Padua, Mantegna, and the Squarcionesques, painted mural pictures in exposed places; "but in many spots where these were executed they speedily perished. The same causes operated in Venice ; and this partly explains how the north Italians made more frequent use of canvas than the southerns. In the use of tempera 1 V. Mander. Schilderboeck, 4to. Haeiiem, 1604, p. 199. 2 Lattificio del fico: Cennini, cap. XC. CHAP. I.] PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. 27 the Northerns employed a mixture of colours more tenacious and more lasting than that of the Tuscans. A careful examination of the works of such men as Mantegna, Cosimo Tura, Marco Zoppo, Crivelli, and some of the Muranese proves that they painted with a tempera of far less body, and on cloths of greater tenacity, than their more southern brethren. Of these facts the Flemings cannot but have been cognizant, and the necessity for increased attention to the durability of their materials must have been impressed upon them with double force. They attempted mural painting, no doubt ; for of these, as we have seen, there are extant specimens, though the practice was so limited that we run through Van Mander's pages without finding an allusion to one of them, but it may be presumed that they preferred the system of portable pictures either on canvas or on panel, because they are numerous. Even for these however, it was necessary to consider what technical handling was most conducive to effectiveness and duration, what receipts it was advantageous to preserve and which to avoid. As far as can now be judged of the habits of Flemish painters in the earliest times, they used a tempera of thin substance as being the least liable to work and to crack ; they practised the habits of drying by fire or in the sun; they guarded the finished surfaces from contact with air by oleo- resinous varnishes tinged with coloured transparents, if necessary, or as nearly colourless as the use of oils purified by rude means allowed. After tinting of sculp- ture became common, boiled oil was, perhaps, mixed with the flatter tints of vestments in tempera pictures, but the nature of the flesh surfaces of altarpieces such as that of Dijon forbids us to entertain the idea that they were executed with any other medium than tempera, 28 PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. [CHAP. I. first of all because their modelling, their pallor, and want of depth are conclusive in that respect; — secondly because colours mixed with boiled oil — the only drier known in those days — were too viscous to take outlines or permit of proper modelling: and — more important still, too highly browned to suit the delicate tints of flesh. We may examine other pictures of early Flemish origin than those of Dijon without coming to any other conclusion. There hangs in the Baptistery in the cathedral of Bruges an old panel of the crucifixion by an unknown hand. The Saviour's head is bent on one side; the death agony seems past, yet blue tinged angels gather the blood that flows from the stigmata. On the ground to the right the Virgin* faints in the arms of St. John and the Maries, and the martyr Barbara stands with her tower in a niche. To the left is the centurion with a priest, a soldier, and a monk ; and in a side niche St. Catherine with her wheel trampling on a prostrate king. The figure of Christ is very lean, lank, and incorrectly drawn, yet realistic truth abounds in the details of his frame. There is more expression, more elegance and simplicity of attitude, a better cast of drapery in the Virgin and Maries than we look for in works of this period in Belgium. The centurion and other males, on the other hand, are short, thickset, and awkward. The whole picture is flat, un- certain in contour, and unrelieved by shadow. No serious difference of technical execution can be dis- cerned between this and the panels of Dijon. The flesh might be more transparent, but scarcely less pallid. The draperies of saturated tone may have been done with colours mixed in oil. Of the same class, and not unlike the altar chest of Dijon, akin to it, indeed, in character as well as in CHAP. I.] PAINTING IN THE DAEK AGES. 29 treatment, is a dead Christ, supported in his tomb by an angel, and adored by kneeling devotees in the Museum of Valencia in Spain. — There are also some small compositions in the library of Berlin, which in spite of their sketchiness, point to the same class of artists as those who now occupy our attention. 1 — It would be quite consistent with truth, were we to accept the form of treatment described in the foregoing lines as oil painting, to say that oil painting existed in the Nether- lands previous to the time of the Van Eycks; but oil painting as understood by the Van Eycks did not mean the mere impregnating of colours with oils and the partial use of such colours in panel pictures. It meant the use of a new medium altogether, a medium which possibly included varnishes and involved a change in technics which it will be necessary hereafter to ex- plain. 2 1 SeeEntwiirfe und Studien eines NiederlandischenMeisters aus dem XV. Jalirhundert, &c. Berlin, 1830. Humblot. Druck ei der Konigl. Acad e . der Wissenschaften. 2 Aubertus Mirseus, in the Chronicon Belgicum (fol. Antv. 1636. pp. 372-3) says: "Many refer the discovery of oil painting to the year 1410, but previous to 1400 this mode was in use, as is proved by old pictures executed in colours mixed with oil, one of which may be seen in the church of the Franciscans of Lou- vain". M.Leclanche (French edition of Vasari. 8°. Paris. 1839-42 art. Antonello da Messina) infers from this passage of Mirseus that the art of oil painting as practised by John Van Eyck was known before 1400. But Aubertus Mirseus really affirms no- thing more than has been stated above, namely, that the custom of mixing colours with oil (not varnish) existed in the 14th cen- tury. It is not even certain from the text that Aubertus Mirseus used the word pictures in reference to paintings on panels ; that word being commonly employed to describe tinted carved works. CHAPTER II. HUBEBT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. The valley of the Mees — home of Hubert and John Van Eyck — is noted as classic ground by the earliest historians of Flemish art; and even the grave Van Mander likens it to the vales of the Arno, the Tiber, and the P6. 1 Mseseyck, where the Van Eycks were born, 2 lies North of Msestricht at the edge of the barren Kempenland, 3 touching the waste on one side, looking on the other into the gardens and orchards of the country of Liege. To the Eastward, by Dinant and Namur, we see the beautiful landscapes of town- crested rock and flowing river which John Van Eyck so lovingly repeated in the backgrounds of his pictures. Due North, towards Venloo and the sluggard Rhine, are the sweeps of flat country endeared to us in their melancholy by the canvases of the later Dutch. We saw the Benedictines settled in the neighbour- hood ofMasseyck; — as early as the 8th century founding monasteries and convents, and following the favorite 1 Van Mander. Het Schilder Boeck. p. 199. 2 Van Vsernewyk. Historie van Belgis. fol. Ghendt 1574. C. 47. p. 119. Nieu tractaet 8°. Ghent. Stanza 102. P. 3 Nieu tractaet, u. s. Here van Vsernewyk speaks of the "ruudt Kempen land" as the birth place of John Van Eyck. Van Mander (u. s. 199) also says of the country about Mseseyck, where the Van Eycks were horn, that it was a "rouwen oft sensaemen hceck Landt" in which "there were few painters". Consult also F. Laet. "Belgica descriptio." 24°. Amst. 1630. p. 337: La Cam- pine du pays de Liege." "Les delices des Pays Bas." 8°. Brux. 1711, tit. Hollandia, in Brit. Mus. CHAP. H.] HUBEET AND JOHN VAN EYCK. 31 pastimes of penmanship and miniature. We noticed the poet who told how Msestricht, in 'the darkest age, had been the seat of a school of painters. We shall now discern that some time before the Van Eycks came fully into notice as men of talent in their craft, the province of Limburg to which they belonged gave birth to artists of skill. Amongst the papers preserved in the archives of France we find an inventory of property left at his death by Jeande Berri, the younger brother of Charles the Vlth of France. Two items registered in this inventory are of interest to us. One refers to a book painted in 1410 "by Pol van Limburg and his bro- thers," another to a missal richly illuminated by the same hands and valued at 500 livres. 1 In searching for examples assignable to persons whose work bore so large a market value, we stumble upon a manu- script of Josephus in the Library of Paris of which it is told that it was illuminated by the "limners" of Jean de Berri and Jean Fouquet of Tours. 2 Of the first three miniatures there is no mistaking the period. The 1 Pol Van Limburg was in the service of Jean de Berry from 1400 to 1416. The inventory of property left at his death by that prince in the latter year is preserved in the Bib. Ste. Genevieve, Paris, it contains the following entry: "Polio 267 verso. Item: un livre contrefait d'une piece de bois paint en semblance d'un livre ou il n'y a nulz feuillez, ne rien escript, couverts de veluzan et blanc a deux fermoers d'argent esmaille aux armes de Mon- seigneur, lequel livre Pol de Limbourc et ses deux freres donne- rent a mondit seigneur aux estraines mil CCCC. etdix. Pris. XL. 1. parisis." "Item, en une layette, plusieui's cayers d'une tres riches heures que faisaitPolet ses freres tres richement historiees et enluminees" prisees V c . Liv. De Laborde. La Renaiss. des Arts. 8". Paris 1850, p. 165. 2 Imperial Library— Paris. MSS. 6891. Title— "Antiquite des Juifs par Josephe — " "Les trois premieres miniatures sont de renlumineur du Due Jehan de Berry, et les 11 autres de la main du bonpaintre du roi Louis XI Jehan Foucquet natif de Tours. Size 8 inch, folio. 32 HUBERT AND JOHN VAN ETCK. [CHAP. JJ. first of them represents Christ, in a rose coloured mantle, supported by angels on pedestals, uniting Adam and Eve under a rainbow. The waters of life well out in front of the group from an octagonal fountain, swarming with fishes, and bathing a bank alive with quadrupeds. Above the rainbow in which angels carry the symbols of the hammer, trowel, level, and set square, the Eternal holds a compass and gives a bene- diction whilst the sky is darkened by flights of birds. Foliated ornament of great delicacy forms a frame- work of blue and gold to the picture. There are so many peculiarities in this miniature that point to the nationality and character of its author that we cannot think it inappropriate to assign it to a Fleming; and as Pol van Limburg was apparently a Fleming and certainly employed by the Duke of Berri to whom the Josephus belonged, we may naturally presume that he painted it. That he was a mason there is some ground for believing; that he was an artist acquainted with models known to the Van Eycks is certain. In the pensive gravity of the Eternal, and in the persons of Adam and Eve, we have the types which subse- quently become familiar to us in the famous altarpiece of the mystic Lamb. The figures are well propor- tioned, but marred, as figures are frequently marred in the Netherland schools, by heavy limb or coarse arti- culations and extremities. We trace the pure realist in close imitations of flesh detail, wrinkles, and muscular projections. What we miss is the powerful tone and modelled finish of the Van Eycks for which clear lights and cold rosy halftints merging into pallid violet shadows are but poor and unpleasant substitutes. Two pictures immediately following represent Joseph's de- parture and sale, and are executed with less care and CHAP. II.] HUBEKT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. 33 taste than the creation. Simplicity of line and energy of expression are frequently united with varied move- ment and a graceful flow of drapery; but the dresses are most in the spirit of those in the altar chest at Dijon. The dominant tones are rosy and ashen ; and the carnations are too markedly modelled into red half tints and greenish shadows to he perfectly satisfactory. 1 To the period in which this beautiful example was produced we are guided by another specimen of the same art, "les Heures du due de Berri," a missal finished in 1409 and now in the Paris library. 2 The miniatures here are nearly as good as those of the Josephus and marked by similar fea- tures; and we may particularly admire the earliest, which are placed in ornament perfect of its kind, and represent the missions of St. Peter and St. Paul. 3 If 1 Not to waste too much space in describing subjects, they may be stated in a few words. Min. p. 25. Joseph and his brethren kneeling at the feet of a female. — Joseph thrust into the well. Joseph sold. — P. 49. Joseph presented to Pharaoh. The remaining miniatures by Fouquet, are inferior to the three first. P. 70. "A combat." Coarse labour; sad colour, red touches in the flesh tints, no energy of design; abuse of gold ornament; bad drawing. Many spaces remain open as if for miniatures that were never to be attempted. 2 Title. " Codex membran. quo continetur liber precum Joh s Ducis Bituriciensis. Occurrunt passim figure non inele- gantes. Is codex an . 1409 exaratus est (Cat. cod. mss. bib. reg. p. 3. Tom. 3. Paris. MDCCXLIV. No. 919.) 3 These miniatures are not without quaintness. Two sub- jects separated by garland work occupy the first sheet. On the upper space the hand of the Eternal appears from a cloud and gives a blessing to St. Paul, who kneels in prayer. Near the saint is a fortalice out of which a female figure leans bearing a cross. The crown on her head denotes sortie exalted personage. At the foot of the fortalice a naked female with a vase pours water on ground, the barrenness of which is denoted by dead and leafless trees. All this, no doubt symbolizes the mission of Paul the fertilizing spirit of Christianity. St. Peter raising the mantle of Jeremiah forms the subject of the lower miniature. Both are dressed in long vestments of easy and simple folds. Other miniatures representing pro- 3 34 HUBEET AND JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAP. II. we inquire where Pol van Limburg learnt the lessons of his craft, we find no response in any historical re- cord, yet it may be presumed that, had the country of Liege at the close of the 14th and during the 15th century been spared the indignities and ravages of the wars of succession, many documents would probably be found in Liege and the towns of the Meuse to tell of artistic activity; and what is equally important, many pictures of the Van Eycks or their predecessors would remain to enlighten us as to the beginnings of their art. We have no authority for the birth of Hubert and John van Eyck, except a passage in Yan Mander to the purport "that so far as one can tell Hubert was born about 1366 and John some years later." 1 Yasari's statement that Hubert in 1410 invented a new method of colouring in oil 2 gives small clue to the painter's age, pliets and apostles fill the subsequent leaves. In all, we meet with square energetic forms of features, and heads like those in the Josephus. The figures are painted in the vague, clear colours of flesh tints, the changing roseate and violet keys of harmony marked as characteristic of the Limburg brothers. It may be that the artists were educated by Pol van Limburg. The work is sufficiently good to have been executed by the younger brothers, but the hand cannot be traced with certainty. It is perfectly evident also that numerous artists were employed in the completion of this missal. After the 6th page the style slightly changes ; the miniatures are larger and fill the page. The first of them represents the Virgin receiving the lamb from St. John, and is filled with figures presented under a pleasing and noble aspect, natural in attitude and habited in vestments of simple folds. One of the most prominent in one group, a mitred dignitary, gives weight to the composition by his colossal stature and square head. This marks a want of the sense of unity in the artist and gives character to the miniature. 1 Van Mander, u. s. 199. 2 Vasari did not mention Hubert Van Eyck in the original edition of his work. This omission was corrected in a second edition in the following words: "Lasciando adunque da parte Martino d'Olanda, Giovanni Eick da Bruggia, ed Huberto, suo fratello, cue nel 1510 (1410) mise in luce l'invenzione et modo CHAP. II.] HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. 35 though, if taken in corroboration of Van Mander, it would show that Hubert was forty-four years old when the modern process of oil medium was carried to perfection. 1 The annals of continental history in the twenty years subsequent to 1400 contain little more than descriptions of war and plunder, the feuds of Burgundy and Armagnac , the massacre of Montereau, the revolt of Liege, the British invasion, and the battle of Azincourt. As Jean Sans Peur succeeded to the throne of Philip the Hardy there was talk of little else than strife; and the treasures of the goldsmiths' and painters' art which had been hoarded by the dukes of Burgundy were pawned or sold to pay their men at arms. During the revolt of Liege in which most of the towns on the Mses took part, there was hardly a place that escaped burning or pillage, Msestricht was sacked and Maeseyck probably shared its fate; 2 Nor is it to be wondered that under such circumstances Van Mander should confess that he knew not from whom Hubert di colorire a olio . . . ." "Mise," Sir C.Eastlake truly said, "strictly refers to Hubert alone." Eastlake. Materials, u. s. p. 191. The older narrative remains unaltered. 1 We may suspect that the Van Eycks have been usually considered older than they were. Accepting the date of 1410 as that of the perfection of oil medium, and taking John Van Eyck to have been 20, and Hubert about 40, the latter would have been born about 1370, the former about 1390, but who vouches for the correctness of the date of 1410. Vaernewyk (Historie, u. s. p. 119), V. Mander, (u. s. p. 199), point out two figures in the altarpiece of St. Bavon, as portraits of Hubert and John Van Eyck. These portraits have been generally con- sidered authentic and J. H. Wierx engraved them. The apparent difference of age in both is twenty years. "John," says Van Mander, "was younger than his brother, who was an older man than he." 2 Maeseyck was subjected to heavy punishment, and, it is said, destroyed in 1468, when Dinant and thirty other towns were captured and pillaged in the wars ending with the subjection of Liege to the Duchy of Burgundy (Vaernewyk Hist. v. Belgie, u. s. 119. Guicciardini. Description de tous les Pays Bas 8°. Amsterdam. 1641. pp. 586—92.) 3* 36 HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAP. II. learnt his craft. 1 Would it not have been strange if the Van Eycks, who were followers of an eminently peaceful profession, had neglected to retire as early and as speedily as possible to the security of the larger Flemish cities. If we consult Opmeer who compiled his "Opus chronographicum" in 1569, and if we literally construe a passage in his work, it will appear that both Hubert and John Van Eyck were resident at Ghent in 1410. 2 But there is no certainty that the date ac- cepted by Opmeer is correct; and it may be safer for many cogent reasons to adopt a later one. According to the rules of the guild of St. Luke at Ghent no stranger could practise the art of painting without being a burgess of the city and a freeman of the guild. 3 The registers of this corporation were destroyed in the 16th century, but copies of it which survived the great 1 Van Mander, u. s. 199. 2 Opmeer (Petrus). Opus chronographicum. 12°. 1611. p. 405. 14 10. "Hac tempestate floruerunt Gandavi Joannes Eickius, cum Huberto, fratre suo majore natu, summi pictores. Quorum ingeniis primum excogitatum fuit colores terere , oleo se- minis lini." 3 Mr. Goetghebuer furnished abbe Carton of Bruges with copies of entries in the register of a brotherhood called "Onser Vrouw ter Radien" at Ghent, one of Avhich is to the effect that "Meester Hubrech van Hyke" was affiliated in 1412, and Mer- griete v. Hyke in 1418. (Carton, in Annales de la Societe d'Emulation de Bruges. Tome 5. Serie 2. 8°. Bruges. 1847. p. 325). According to Mr. Ch. Ruelens (Notes et additions annexed to 0. Delepierre's translation of this work), the register is a forgery. Yet in spite of this we may hold that the Van Eycks lived at Ghent at least before 1418. We must also quote the following record, which tends to prove that Hubert was at Ghent earlier than 1424: "Sente Bamesse, anno XIIII C en XXII was Hubrecht Van Eycke, guide broeder Van Het Onser Vrouwe Gulden, up de rade van den Chore van Sint Jans te Ghend. Register of the Brotherhood 0. V. Ghent communicated by Mr. Goetghebuer. Vid. Carton. Ann. de Bruges, infr. p. 28. But there are unhap- pily serious doubts as to the genuineness of the record from which this quotation was made. (See Pinchart. Annotations, u. s. p. CCXIV.) CHAP. II.] HUBERT AND JOHN VAN ETCK. 37 troubles were searched for the formal matriculation of the Van Eycks in vain. There were certain conditions however under which it was possible for strangers to avoid the penalties enforced on evasion or neglect of the guild laws, and these were service under a member of the ducal family. For some time previous to 1419 Ghent was the habitual residence of Philip of Burgundy then count of Charolois, and his wife Michelle de France; and it is not improbable that Hubert van Eyck was connected in some way with the Count of Charolois and that John Van Eyck enjoyed the privi- lege of exemption as his assistant. We may thus ex- plain the absence of both artists from the registry of the corporation. 1 Facius relates that John Van Eyck learnt the pro- perties of colours from Pliny and others. 2 If this be not a figure of speech, the study of chemistry to which John devoted himself was a natural result of a previous study of the classical languages. Where and under what circumstances this education was acquired has not been handed down to us , but as John was much younger than his brother, it seems natural that he should have been taught by Hubert. A man capable of imparting instruction of this kind would be eminently fitted to hold a high station in the house of a prince like Philip or of a princess like Michelle de France. A dramatic episode of these times incidentally illus- trates the life of the heir apparent to the Burgundian throne at Ghent. It was in the year 1419. There were 1 "We shall find proofs of privileges vested in the ducal painters in the life of Cristus postea. 2 Facius (B.) De viris illustrious. 4°. Florence. 1715. p. 46. Vasari has the same story. He says: (Lemonnier Edition. Vol. IV. p. 75). "Si dilettava dell' archimia," and Van Mander (u. s. p. 199), "Hy was [so eenighe meenen] oock een wijs geleert man.' 1 38 HUBEKT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAP. H. rumours of peace abroad, the more grateful as they seemed to herald the cessation of a long period of strife. It was said that Jean Sans Peur and the Duke of Orleans would meet and he reconciled atMontereau. Events took a turn which seemed to warrant the most sanguine expectations. Unhappily treachery lurked under this semblance of friendship. Jean Sans Peur came honestly , it is thought , to give his hand to his cousin. He was set upon and killed in a brutal and cowardly manner. Philip was at Ghent when the news of the murder arrived ; the victim was his father, the murderer was his wife's brother. We may picture the scene in Charolois' palace. "Si fu," says Chastelain "toute la maison emmeublee de helas." 1 A painful mishap quickly followed upon the perpetration of this crime. Michelle de France pined under the suspicions of Philip and died in 1521. At her death it was considered a grate- ful tribute to her memory "to grant the freedom of the guild to her favorite painters the two Van Eycks." It is true that the entry to this effect in the registers of the guild is found in a copy of the 16th century which is not free from suspicion of interpolation; but there is something so natural and so apparently truthful in the story that it seems convincing; and no valid ground has been given for disbelieving it. 2 As Philip of Charolois heard of the violent death of 1 Chronique de Chastelain, p. 18. in Buchon's Pantheon Litteraire. 8°. Paris. 1837. 2 "In zelve jaer (1519) starf vrouw Michiele, ghesellenede van hertoghe Philips, omme hare doodt was binnen Ghent grooten rouwe, Huhrecht en Jan, die sy zeer lief hadde, schonk den ambachte vrydomme in schilderen. Reg. of the Guild of St. Luke. Bulletins de l'Acad. de Brux, u. s. 1853. Vol. XX. To this quotation it is that Buelens (Notes et additions, u. s.) and Pinchart (Annotations, u. s. p. CXCIH) observe that it is not trust-worthy because it is made from a copy of the registers of the guild of St. Luke not older than 1584. But we have already CHAP. II.] HUBEET AND JOHN VAN EYCK. 39 his father (September 10, 1419), he took horse and rode towards Malines to concert measures of revenge with his friends and adherents. The first person he went to meet was John of Bavaria, then Count of Holland and Luxemburg. It was with this prince that John Van Eyck a few years later was induced to take service. 1 John of Bavaria was elected to the bishopric of Liege in 1390, and clung to that dignity through many vicissitudes till 1417, when, hearing of the death of his brother William the Vth, he started on the well known expedition in which he robbed his niece Jacque- line of her rights and installed himself as Count of Holland at Dordrecht. In 1418 he married the Duchess of Luxemburg, widow of Anthoine de Bourgogne, duke of Brabant and Limburg, whilst Jacqueline, whom he had dispossessed, became the wife of John the IVth, Duke of Brabant. In August 1419 John of Bavaria journeyed into Holland and finally settled at the Hague, where he resided till his death on the 5th of January 1425. 2 In the long list of knights and officers, of chamber- lains, pages, minstrels and servants who figured at the court of the Hague, we find the name of John Van Eyck observed that painters were clearly free from the constraint of the guild when in the service of the Ducal family, as is proved in the case of Pierre Coustain at Bruges in 1471. (Beffroi, u. s. I. 205.) 1 See postea the commission of Philip the Good, in which John Van Eyck is appointed "Varlet" and described as "pointre et varlet de chambre de feu M. S. le Due Jehan de Bayviere." 2 For John of Bavaria consult A. Pinchart, Annotations (appended toO. Delepierres translation of the 1st Edition of the present work.) Complement du Tome II. pp. CXC and follg. Consult also Olivier de la Marche, Memoires I. 24 in Petitot. 8 1 '. Paris. 1825. Vol. IX. Eoullon, Hist. Leod. Leod. fol. 1730; the Chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, fol. Paris. 1595; and Polain's Modern History of Liege. 40 HUBEKT AND JOHN VAN ETCK. [chap. H. qualified as "myns genadichs heeren scilder," our gra- cious Lord's painter; and copious records in the ar- chives of Northern Holland show that he was in receipt of a regular daily salary for nearly two years. The earliest reference to John's stay at the Hague is contained in the accounts of Henri Noothaft, treasurer of Holland, for the quarter beginning September 23, 1422, and ending January 13, 1423. According to an entry in these accounts "John the painter" received for himself and for his "servitor", for nine weeks and three days at the rate of "ten lions" per day, "five litres and ten sous de gros." In subsequent entries, registered by Noothaft and his successors, payments of wages to John Van Eyck occur without interruption till the 11th of September 1424, when they cease altogether. It would thus seem that the connection of our artist with John of Bavaria was temporary : and it may appear that he was called to the Hague to decorate the chapel or halls of the count's palace which underwent altera- tions and received important repairs at this period. 1 1 As we are entirely indebted to the kindness of Mr. Alexandre Pinchart, one of the keepers of the records at Brus- sels, who searched the archives of Holland fully in 1864, for the facts stated in the text, we here copy the whole of this gentle- man's statement, as proof: "In the accounts of the treasurer Gerard van Heemskerck (8th Oct. 1420 to 15th of April 1421) at the Hague, a special section is given to wages and pensions. Amongst the few persons named in this section we find the goldsmith Jacques of the Hague and the poet Barthelemi ; we do not find John Van Eyck. The accounts of April 16 to June 6, 1421, drawn up by Jacques Seigneur de Gaesbeke, do not name John Van Eyck as a member of the Count's household. The accounts for June 7 to Aug. 18 are lost. Those which comprise August 19 to Dec. 25, are silent as to John Van Eyck; those immediately following are missing. On the 4th of April 1422 Henri Noothaft was appointed treasurer of Holland. His first register of accounts runs from the day of his appointment to the 26th of Sept. 1422. In the second, which takes in the time from Sept. 27, 1422 to January 13, 1423 we find the following entry: "Disbursed and paid to master Jean the painter for his CHAP. II.] HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. 41 That John Van Eyck should have spent almost two years of his life at the Hague; and yet that the fact should have remained unknown to historians is characteristic. That the works which he executed there should have been forgotten and lost is greatly to be regretted; a residence of so many months in the capital of Holland must have changed the current of artistic feeling at the Hague; it naturally accounts for the in- fluence which the Yan Eyck school notoriously wielded on Dutch art in the 15th century. It has been related, and was long believed, that John Van Eyck visited Antwerp in 1420 and prepared an agreeable surprise for the painters of that city by show- wages and those of his servitor during nine weeks and three days at the rate of 10 lions per day: 5 livres 10 sous de gros." (That this Jean is Van Eyck, is clear for we find him in other entries called 'Johannes Myns genadichs heeren scilder.' As it is not stated for what time Jean is paid, we can only deter- mine the dates by reference to subsequent accounts. Two of these — one of Noothaft's, extending from March 11 to Oct. 31, 1423, another of Bauduin van Zwieten, his successor, from Nov. 1, 1423, to May 1, 1424, — give us evidence that John received his pay regularly from Dec. 29, 1422, till the 31st of January 1424. Dating back from Dec. 29, 1422, and counting nine weeks and three days from that day, we get at the 24th of October 1422, as the beginning of the painter's receipt of salary. As to the time of Van Eyck's leaving the service of John of Bavaria, we gather the following. The second account of Bauduin van Zwieten extends from May 26, 1424, to Feb. 5, 1425. It comprises payments to the painter for thirty two weeks; therefore from the 1st of February of the Leap year 1424 to the 11th Sept. of the same year we have the exact amount of days for which Van Eyck was paid; and we gather the date of his leaving John of Bavaria's service. John of Bavaria died on the 5th of January 1425, so that Van Eyck left his service a little more than three months before the Prince's death. It is further stated in the accounts, ex. gr. in Dec. 1422, that the "painter Johannes" had two "servitors." We should take these to be his assistants; and there is every reason to believe that the work they were put to was to decorate with paintings the chapel or certain rooms of the palace at the Hague to which John of Bavaria made important changes that re- mained unfinished at his death." 42 HUBEET AND JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAP. II. ing them a head of Christ executed in oil. The baseless- ness of this story has been recently proved to our entire satisfaction. 1 There may be more truth in the state- ment that, about this time, Van Eyck completed the likenesses of Jacqueline of Holland and Jean Sans Peur, of which the mere tradition has been preserved. 2 It is not an improbable conjecture that John Van Eyck's appointment to an independent place in the house of John of Bavaria severed the partnership in which he had lived till then with his brother. Hubert now laboured alone, and successfully, as is proved by entries in the accounts of the city of Ghent. In 1424 he received payments for sketches furnished to the "echevins", and he was visited in state by the magistrates of the city. 3 In autumn 1424 John Van Eyck left the service of Jean de Baviere; on the 19th of May 1425 he was appointed painter and varlet de chambre to Philip the Good. 4 1 See "Notice sur l'Academie d'Anvers publiee par Mr. J. R. L. van Kirchhoff. Anvers. 1824, and Mr. Pincharts refutation of the story in "Annotations, u. s. p. CXCIII. 2 L'Armessin's series of engravings comprises a likeness of Jean Sans Peur from a portrait by John Van Eyck, the original of which is missing. — In the Museum of Copenhagen there hangs a bust portrait (No. 180, wood, 2 f. 4h. by 1 f. 4: 1 /- 2 ) assigned (with?) to John Van Eyck. On the frame Ave read: DAME JACOBA DE BAVIERE, COMTESSE DE HOLLANDE OBYIT 1431. This is a copy assignable to the close of the 16th Century. 3 "Ghegheven meester Luberecht over syn moyte van ij bewerpen van eenre taeffele die hy maecte ter bevelene van scepenen vj. s. gr." From the accounts of 1424 of the city of Ghent in Le Beffroi, fol. Ghent. 1864. Vol. II. p. 208.— See also as to the visit of the Magistrat: Ruelens. notes et additions, u. s. XL VI and M. S. notes by A. Pinchart. 4 "A Jehan de Heick, jadiz pointre et varlet de chambre de feu M. S. le due Jehan de Bayviere, lequel M. d. S., pour l'abi- lete et souffisance que par la relacion de pluseurs de ses gens, il 'auoit oy et meismes sauoit et cognoissoit estre de fait de pointure en la personne dudit Jehan de Heick, icellui Jehan, confians de sa loyaute et preudommie,, a retenu en son pointre et varlet de CHAP. II.] HUBEKT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. 43 To what cause shall we assign the fact, unfor- tunately without dispute, that not a single picture by Hubert or John Van Eyck up to this time has been preserved, to what mishap shall we refer the total neglect with which, during a whole century, the creations of two great painters were treated? We al- ready observed how unfavourably the troubles and mis- chambre, aux honneurs, prerogatives, franchises, libertez, droit, prouffis, et emolumens accoustumez, et qui y appartienent. Et afin qu'il soit tenu de ouvrer pour lui de painture toutes les fois qu'il lui plaira, lui a ordonne prendre et avoir de lui sur sa recepte generale de Flandres, la somme de C liv. parisis monnoie de Flandres, a deux termes par an, moictie au Noel et l'autre moictie a la St. Jehan dont il veult estre le premier paiement au Noel Mil CCCCXXV, et l'autre a la Saint Jean enssuivant, et ainsi d'an en an et de terme en terme, tant qu'il lui plaira, en mandant aux maitres de son hostel et autres ses officiers quelzconques, que d'icelle sa presente retenue ensamble des honneurs, prerogatives, drois, prouffis et emolumens dessusdiz facent et laissent ledit Jehan paisiblement joir, sans empesche- ment ou destourbier, mandant en oultre a sondit receveur general de Flandres present et avenir, que la dicte somme de C liv. parisis par an il paye, bailie, et delivre chascun an audit Jehan son pointre et varlet de chambre aux termes dessus declairez comme de tout ce que dit est puet plus a plain appa- roir par lettres patentes de mon avant dit S. sur ce faictes et donnees en sa ville de Bruges le XIX e jour de Mail Fan Mil CCCCXXV. Pour ce cy par vertu d'icelles dont 'vidimus' est cy a court pour le terme du Noel Mil CCCCXXV par sa quictance qui sert a la partie enssuivante cy rendue a court. A luy pour semblable et les termes de la Saint Jehan et Noel Mil CCCCXXVI par sa quittance cy rendu acourt ... 1. liv. "Quatrieme compte de Gautier Poulain depuis le l er Janvier MCCCCXXIV jusques au dernierjourdeDecembreMCCCCXXV." — De Ldborde, u. s., Les Dues de Bourgogne, Preuves, vol. I. pp. 206, 207. As to the position of Varlets de Chambre the following is instructive. Varlets de Chambre. "M. d. S. aura des varlets de chambre tels qu'il luy plaira lesquels serviront a tour a chacune fois III, avec le premier varlet de chambre et seront contez, chacun d'eux deux chevaux a gages et un varlet a livree." — Ordonnance faitte par M. S. le Due de Bourgongne par l'advis de son conseil sur le reglement de son hostel en MCCCCXXVI a Bruges le 14. Dec. De Laborde, u. s. Les Dues de Bourgogne, Introduc. Vol. I. p. 40. 44 HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. [chap. II. fortunes of the "pays de Liege" affected the preservation of pictures. It is not difficult to find reasons for the dispersal of art productions and the loss of art traditions in the whole of Belgium and the Netherlands. If Italy had been involved in religious persecutions, besides being torn by civil dissensions, it is probable that the works of her greatest artists would still have been preserved, because the genial nature of the climate of Italy was favourable to the existence of frescos executed in buildings of uncommon massiveness and strength. The produce of Italian craftsmen was involved in no greater dangers than those which might menace the stability of the edifices containing them; and it is a fact that the history of Italian painting can be traced on the walls of monuments from the first centuries to the age of Raphael and Michael Angelo. Unfortunately for the Netherlands the climate was the very reverse of that of Italy. The fickleness of the seasons almost daily admonished artists of the uselessness of wall distemper; whilst panel tempesa tried the patience of those who waited for sun and warmth. Hence the frequency in early times of tinted sculpture and miniatures, hence the numerous portable works of a later period, the altarchests, the diptychs and triptychs, the arras, and its rival the painted cloth. After the technical improvements which the VanEycks introduced, were carried to perfection, artists became completely independent of wind and weather; and there was no apparent limit left to production. Canvases, tapestry, and triptychs came into universal demand. There was not a noble who did not order his likeness for some altar; not a religious community which did not seek to obtain similar ornaments for its chapels and refectories ; not a wealthy citizen who did not require a memento CHAP. II.] HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. 45 of pictorial skill in his oratory. The eagerness of all classes was so great that magistrates, when called upon to inflict punishment for crimes, frequently ruled that offenders should pay fines -sufficient to cover the price of a votive picture. 1 The Netherlands soon contained a greater number of "historiated" panels than any country in the world. But the very portability of these treasures became fatal to them. Civil wars broke out. Cities were destroyed by the dukes. Then came the wars of religion. Protestants and catholics were pitted against each other. Princes whose language and manners were not those of the country became its rulers. Mobs of the lower orders, cloaking the worst excesses under the name of religion, forced their way into edifices and burnt or destroyed their contents. 2 The kings of Spain seeing the imminence of destruction removed treasures of art to distant places ; and in the course of time almost every thing of note had dis- appeared. Admirers of the early Flemish school may search almost in vain for works of their favorite masters in Belgium. The critic who has fathomed the causes of the disappointment goes to Italy, to France, to Germany, and to Spain, and there he patiently strives to gather 1 A painter named Van den Clite (Lievin) painted a last judgment (1413) for one of the halls of the Council of Flanders. The sum paid him was 64 livres parisis, 40 livres of which were derived from a fine imposed by the council of Flanders at Ghent on one Josse de Valmerbeke, bailli of Hulst and Axel, for having unjustly sentenced to 10 years exile certain innocent persons. Other examples of the same kind are to he found. See Mr, A. Pincharfs notice on the painter Lievin van den Clite. Bull, de VAcademie Royale des Sc. et lettres et des Beaux Arts de Belgique. Ao. 1854. Vol. XXL. 1st part. pag. 186. 7. 8—9. 2 On the 22 of Aug. 1561, a gang of iconoclasts entered St. Bavon and overturned all the statues. They removed and burnt all the pictures they laid hands on. More than 400 churches in Flanders and Brabant were plundered in the same manner in less than 8 days. Voisin u. s. p. 73 — 5. 46 HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAP. II. the facts which shall enable him to reconstruct the history of art in the Netherlands, but too happy if, by some lucky discovery, he can add a link to the chain which he finds incomplete in so many parts. If he is unable to travel and hopes to find the knowledge he requires in written authorities, his disappointment is extreme. The manners and customs of Flanders and Holland were not made a subject of study by con- temporary authors, in part because the Burgundian court was composed of men disdainful of the Flemings and of Flemish culture, in part because the tendency of men and times was to ponder over problems of politics, trade, and science rather than upon art and poetry. And so the centuries sped on: there was but thought of the enjoyment of the hour, and in the turmoil of commerce, intrigue, and wars, artists were overlooked and forgotten. It would be as interesting as it is probably fruitless to inquire, how Hubert Van Eyck laid the foundation of his fame so as to find permanent employment when he settled at Ghent. After he lost the patronage of Michelle de France, he received from a Ghent patrician a commission of greater importance than any of which we have cognisance in the annals of the Belgian towns ; Jodocus Vydts, the person to whom he owed this com- mission, was a man of old family whose wife Isabella was directly descended from the patrician stock of Burluut. 1 In a chapel at Saint Bavon, which was founded by Jodocus and became famous for its altarpiece of the Lamb, the arms of Vydts and Burluuts emblazoned in the coloured glass of the windows, and the walls adorned with carvings, proved the wealth and the old i Sanderus. Flandria Illust. Fol. Hague. 1735. Yol. II. p. 319. De Gandavis Erud. Claris Lib. 1. p. 50. 8°. Antw. 1625. CHAP. II.] HUBEET AND JOHN VAN EYCK. 47 descent of the family which owned it. 1 But the vast picture which finally adorned the altar and came to be considered a Mecca for pilgrims in the Netherlands was the real proof of its liberality and taste. The period in which Vydts ordered the adoration of the Lamb is uncertain; we only know that Hubert had time to plan and begin, but was prevented by a premature death from finishing, it. It is a matter of history that John Van Eyck carried out what his brother left incomplete; and there is evidence of the joint industry of both in the following inscription, the lines of which are still legible on the framings: "Hubertus e eyck maior quo nemo repertus Incepit pondus qe Johannes arte secundus (Frater perfecit) Judoci Vyd prece fretu. VersV SeXta Mai Vos CoLLoCat aCta tVerl." or when translated : "Hubert of Eyck whom no one surpassed began it. John the second brother, with art, perfected it at the prayer of Jodocus Vyd. This verse invites you to con- template that which was done on the sixth of May 1432."2 1 Voisin, Guide de Gand 12°. 1831. pp. 17. 187. 211. 212. De Bast. TJeber Hub. & Joh. V. Eyck. 8°. Ghent, 1825. Translated from Dr. Waagen. Note. Vydts bore, Or, the fesses chequered azure. Burluut bore, Azure, Three Stags in course Or. 2 This inscription has been recovered from beneath coats of paint. The first line to "repertus" is under the portrait of Jodocus, the second to "secundus" under John the Baptist, the third under the portrait of Isabella Burluut, the fourth under the figure of John the Evangelist. The letters in capitals only differ from the rest by being painted red, whilst the others are black. Two words which fail in the third line have been completed from an old copy of the inscription found by Mr. de Bast (Hubert and Joh. V. Eyck translated, u. s. p. 27), with "frater perfectus," to which it is probable that we should pre- fer "frater perfecit." The inscription would then read as in the text. See the discussion on this inscription in Carton apud 48 HUBEET AND JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAP, n. That John Van Eyck should have take* six years to finish a picture left on the stocks by his brother in 1426, might lead to the belief that Hubert had done very little to bring it forward, were it not that there are proofs of John's constant employment in the duties of his place at the court of Philip the Good. There are a few persons still who think that they would unduly lower John Van Eyck's fame if they assigned to Hubert the place of chief of the school ; and we should be care- ful to weigh this opinion, resting, as it does, on a certain amount of respectable evidence; 1 but it is difficult to understand how to attenuate the importance of the first line of the inscription on the Agnus Dei, which speaks of Hubert as "Maiorquo nemo repertus," corroborated as it is by Vasari, who attributes to him the invention of oil painting, 2 confirmed as it is by an epitaph which describes him as a painter most high in honour." 3 We are inclined to ask whether an artist who is repre- sented by Guicciardini and Van Mander as having laboured at the same compositions with his brother, could occupy the second place when his age and his Buelens. Notes et additions, pp. XLIII. XLIV. Van Mander's statement that the altarpiece of the Lamb was painted for Philip the Good is contradicted by the inscription (Van Mander, u. s. 201.) — That Vydts was Van Eyck's patron was known to Sanderus, who quotes the following punning lines of one Vrients : Quis Deus, ob vitium, paradiso exegit, Apelles Eyckius hos vitii reddidit aere patres. Arte, modoque pari-pariter concurrere visi. JEmulus huic pictor, fictor et inde Deus. Sanderus adds : "Picturse etiam variae .... Triumphus agnus Cselestis est qui Joh. et Hubertus picturse coryphaei, Justo Vitio domino de Pamele patricio Gandavense pretium solvente. Flandria Illustrata. De Brug. Erud. Clar. lib. 1. p. 39. 1 See amongst others Buelens notes et additions, u. s. 2 Vasari XIII. p. 148. 3 See postea. €HAP. II.] HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. 49 7 experience entitled him to the first ? 1 Would a second rate artist, even though his brother were of the household of John of Bavaria, have been visited in state by the chiefs of a great municipality like that of Ghent? Would he have had commissions from a patron such as Vydts ■and for a picture so vast and so important as the Lamb ? When Hubert was dead and his altarpiece was finished, then indeed, but not before, it was John's turn to receive tokens of respect. It was no doubt to see the Agnus Dei in its complete state that Philip the Good honoured the workshop of his painter with a visit in February 1432 ; it was probably for the same pur- pose that the burgomasters and a select company of the magistrates of Bruges went to the workshop of Van Eyck. On both occasions the varlets and apprentices received "largesse." 2 The Chapel of the Vydts at Saint Bavon was con- secrated in 1432, and Van Mander describes the "swarms" which came to admire it. 3 There were festive 1 Van Mander, u. s. 200. 201. Guicciardini. Hist, de tons les Pays Bas, u. s. p. 124. 2 "Aux varlets de Johannes Deyk paintre aussi pour dou par M. S. a eulx fait quant M. d. S. a este en son hostel veoir certain ouuraige fait par ledit Johannes XXV solz. — Compte de Jehan Abonnel, Jan. 1432, a Dec. 1433." — De Laborde, Les Dues de B., u. s. vol. I. p. 266. Mr. Pinchart proves (Annot., u. s. CCVII) that the visit took place before the 19th of February, because the audit of the account containing the item is dated on that day. The visit of the Burgomasters to Van Eyck is proved by Mr. "Weale. (Notes Sur Jean Van Eyck. 8°. London and Bru- xelles, 1861. Note to pp. 8. 9.) Mr. Weale is inclined to think it followed, Mr. Pinchart (annot., u. s. CCVII) believes it preceded the despatch of the Agnus Dei to Ghent; and it is probable that Mr. Pinchart is right. 3 De Bast, (u. s. Note to Waagen's Ueber H. and J. V. E. p. 35.) Van Mander, (u. s. 201—2). It is characteristic of the rapi- dity, with which Hubert was forgotten that an ode, written by Lucas de Heere in the 16th century, was copied on a tablet 4 50 HUBEET AND JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAP. II. days, he adds, on which the people were allowed to enter. In ordinary times it was closed, and " few but the high born and such as could afford to pay the custos saw it." 1 That this wonderful performance, when finished and exhibited, should have been looked at with exceptional interest is not surprising. It was the finest picture of the age in Belgium, remarkable for its perfection of technical handling, and eminently calculated to capti- vate a public full of the fervour of religion. When open it represented the sacrifice of Christ, and the triumph of the Church militant. When closed it dis- played in prominent positions the portraits of the donors. That such a picture should receive minute and special attention is evident. In the centre of the altarpiece, and on a panel which overtops all the others, the noble and dignified figure of Christ sits enthroned in the prime of manhood with a short black beard, a broad forehead, and black eyes. On his head is the white tiara, ornamented with a pro- fusion of diamonds, pearls, and amethysts. Two dark lappets fall on either side of the grave and youthful face. The throne of black clamask is embroidered with gold; the tiara relieved on a golden ground covered with inscriptions in semicircular lines. Christ holds in his left hand a sceptre of splendid workmanship, and with two fingers of his right he gives his blessing to the world. The gorgeous red mantle which completely enshrouds his form is fastened at the breast by a large placed above the altarpiece of the Agnus Dei, and that this ode began as follows : "In praise of the work, which is done in St. JoBn's Chapel by Meester Jan, born at' Mseseyck, the Flemish Apelles," andj yet in the ode itself we read : "Hy (Hubert) hadde t' Werck begonst." But see also Vaernewyk. Hist. v. Belgis, u. s. 109. i Van Mander, u. s. 202. THE VIRGIN, rom the Altar-piece at Ghent, by Hubert Van Eyck. ~ 11 CHAP. II.] HUBERT AXD JOHN VAN EYCK. 51 jewelled brooch. The mantle itself is bordered with a double row of pearls and amethysts. The feet rest on a golden pedestal, carpeted with black, and on the dark ground, which is cut into perspective squares by lines of gold, lies a richly -jewelled open- worked crown, emblematic of martyrdom. This figure of the Redeemer is grandly imposing ; the mantle, though laden with precious stones, in obedience to a somewhat literal interpretation of Scripture, falls from the shoul- ders and over the knees to the feet in ample and simple folds. The colour of the flesh is powerful, brown, glowing, and full of vigour, that of the vestments strong and rich. The hands are well drawn, perhaps a little contracted in the muscles, but still of startling realism. On the right of Christ the Virgin sits in her traditional robe of blue ; her long fair hair, bound to the forehead by a diadem, flowing in waves down her shoulders. With most graceful hands she holds a book, and pensively looks with a placid and untroubled eye into space. On the left of the Eternal St. John the Baptist rests, long haired and bearded, austere in ex- pression, splendid in form, and covered with a broad, flowing, green drapery. On the spectator's right of St. John the Baptist, St. Cecilia, in a black brocade, plays on an oaken organ supported by three or four angels with viols and harps. On the left of the Virgin a simi- lar but less beautiful group of singing choristers stand in front of an oaken desk, the foremost of them dressed in rich and heavy red brocade. 1 All the singing and playing angels have light wavy hair, bound over the head by cinctures of precious stones. Their dresses 1 The angels who sing are so artfully done that we mark the difference of keys, in which their voices are pitched (Van Mander, u. s. 201). 4 * 52 HUBEKT AND JOHN VAN ETCK. [chap. H. are profusely ornamented, somewhat heavy in texture and angular in fold. A prevailing red tone in the shadow of the flesh tints makes it doubtful whether they are executed by the same hand as the Christ, but the comparative want of power and harmony in the colour of these panels may be caused by restoring, and a few outlines which are slightly weakened may owe this blemish to a similar cause. 1 On the spectator's right of St. Cecilia once stood the naked figure of Eve, now removed to the Brussels museum — a figure upon which the painter seems to have concentrated all his knowledge of perspective as applied to the human form and its anatomical development. It would be too much to say that Hubert rises to the conception of an ideal of beauty. The head is over large, the body protrudes, and the legs are spare, but the mechanism of the limbs and the shape of the extremi- ties are rendered with truth and delicacy, and there is much power in the colouring of the flesh. 2 Counterpart to Eve, and once on the left side of the picture, Adam is equally remarkable for correctness of proportion and natural realism. 3 Here again the master's science in optical perspective is conspicuous, and the height of the figure above the eye is fitly con- sidered. 4 1 Not only are the choristers out of harmony with the parts painted by Hubert, but Avith those portions also which are the work of John, such as the central composition and the panels of the knights and pilgrims on the lower portion of the wings. By restoration is here meant the process of cleaning and consequent weakening of the surface and parts of the outline. 2 Above this figure is a miniature group of the death of Abel. 3 "Siet hoe verschrickelyck en levend Adam staat." De Heere's Ode in Van Mander, u. s. 203. 4 Above this figure is a miniature group of the sacrifices of Cain and Abel. CHAP. II.] HUBEKT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. 53 Christ, by his position, presides over the sacrifice of the Lamb as represented in the lower panels of the shrine. The scene of the sacrifice is laid in a landscape formed of green hills receding in varied and pleasing lines from the foreground to the extreme dis- tance. A Flemish city, meant, no doubt, to represent Jerusalem, is visible chiefly in the background to the right ; but churches and monasteries, built in the style of the early edifices of the Netherlands and Rhine coun- try, boldly raise their domes and towers above every part of the horizon, and are sharply defined on a sky of pale grey gradually merging into a deeper hue. The trees, which occupy the middle ground, are not of high growth, nor are they very different in colour from the undulating meadows in which they stand. They are interspersed here and there with cypresses, and on the left is a small date palm. The centre of the picture is. all meadow and green slope, from a foreground strewed with daisies and dandelions to the distant blue hills. In the very centre of the picture a square altar is hung with red damask and covered with a white cloth. Here stands a lamb, from whose breast a stream of blood issues into a crystal glass. Angels kneel round the altar with parti -coloured wings and variegated dresses, many of them praying with joined hands, others holding aloft the emblems of the passion, two in front waving censers. From a slight depression of the ground to the right a little behind the altar a numerous band of female saints is issuing, all in rich and varied cos- tumes, fair hair floating over their shoulders, and palms in their hands ; foremost may be noticed St. Barbara with the tower and St. Agnes. From a simi- lar opening on the left, popes, cardinals, bishops, monks, and minor clergy advance, some holding croziers and HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAP. II. crosses, others palms. This, as it were, forms one phase of the adoration. In the centre near the base of the picture a small octagonal fountain of stone, with an iron jet and tiny spouts, projects a stream into a rill, whose pebbly bottom is seen through the pellucid water. The fountain and the altar, with vanishing points on diffe- rent horizons, prove the Van Eycks to have been unac- quainted with the science of linear perspective. Two distinct groups are in adoration on each side of the fountain. That on the right comprises the twelve apos- tles, in light greyish violet cloaks kneeling bare-footed on the sward, with long hair and beards, expressing in their noble faces the intensity of their faith. On their right stands a gorgeous array of three popes, two car- dinal monks, seven bishops, and a miscellaneous crowd of church- and laymen. The group on the left of the fountain is composed of kings and princes in varied costumes, the foremost of them kneeling, the rest stand- ing, none finer than that of a dark bearded man in a red cloth cap stepping forward in full front towards the spectator, dressed in a dark blue mantle, and hold- ing a sprig of myrtle. The whole of the standing figures command prolonged attention, from the variety of the attitudes and expressions, the stern resolution of some, the eager glances of others, the pious resig- nation and contemplative serenity of the remainder. The faithful who have thus reached the scene of the sacrifice, are surrounded by a perfect wilderness of flowering shrubs, lilies, and other beautiful plants, and remain in quiet contemplation of the Lamb. Nume- rous worshippers besides are represented on the wings of the triptych, moving towards the place of worship. On the left is a band of crusaders, the foremost of whom, on a dapple grey charger, is clad in armour CHAP. II.] HUBEET AND JOHN VAN EYCK. 55 with an undercoat of green slashed stuff, a crown of laurel on his brow, and a lance in his hand. On his left two knights are riding, also in complete armour, one on a white, the other on a brown charger, carrying lances with streamers. Next to the third figure, a noble- man in a fur cap bestrides an ass, whose ears appear above the press ; on his left a crowned monarch on a black horse ; behind them a crowd of kings and princes. In rear of .them, and in the last panel to the left, Hubert Van Eyck with long brown hair, in a dark cap, the fur peak of which is turned up, ambles forward on a spirited white pony. He is dressed in blue velvet lined with grey fur ; his saddle has long green housings. In the same line with him two riders are mounted on sorel nags, and next them again a man in a black turban and dark brown dress trimmed with fur, whom historians agree in calling John Van Eyck. The face is turned towards Hubert, and, therefore, away from the direction taken by the cavalcade ; further in rear are several horse- men. The two groups proceed along a sandy path, which yields under the horses' hoofs, and seems to have been formed by the detritus of a block of stony ground rising perpendicularly behind, on each side of which the view extends to a rich landscape, with towns and churches in the distance on one hand, and a beautiful vista of blue and snow mountains on the other. White fleecy clouds float in the sky. There is not to be found in the whole Flemish school a single panel in which human figures are grouped, designed, or painted with so much perfection as in this of the mystic Lamb. Nor is it possible to find a more complete or better distributed composition, more natural attitudes, or more dignified expression. Nowhere in the pictures of the early part of the 15th century can such airy landscape 56 HUBEET AND JOHN VAN EYCK. [chap. H- be met. Nor is the talent of the master confined to- the appropriate representation of the human form, his skill extends alike to the brute creation. The horses, whose caparisons are of the most precious kind, are admirably drawn and in excellent movement. One charger stretches his neck to lessen the pressure of the bit; another champs the curb with Flemish phlegma; a third throws his head down between his fore legs ; the pony ridden by Hubert Van Eyck betrays a natural fire, and frets under the restraint put upon it. On the right side of the altarpiece we see a noble band of ascetics with tangled hair and beards and deep complexions, dressed in frock and cowl, with staves and rosaries, moving round the base of a rocky bank, the summit of which is wooded and interspersed with palms and orange trees. Two female saints, one of them the Magdalen, bring up the rear of the hermit band, which moves out of a grove of orange trees with glossy leaves, and yellow fruit. In the next panel to the right, and in a similar landscape, St. Christopher, pole in hand, in a long red cloak of inelegant folds, overtops the host of his companions — pilgrims with grim and solemn faces. Here a palm and a cypress are painted with surprising fidelity. The altarpiece, when closed, has not the all ab- sorbing interest of its principal scenes when open. It is subdivided first into two parts, in the upper por- tion of which is the Annunciation, in the lower the por- traits of Jodocus Vydts and his wife, and imitated statues of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evan- gelist. In the semicircular projection of the upper central panel are the Sibyls, whilst half figures of Za- chariah and Micah are placed in the semicircles above the annuntiate angel and Virgin. With the exception CHAP. H.] HUBERT AND JOHN VAN ETCK. 57 of Jodocus and his wife and the Annunciation, the whole of this outer part of the panels may have been executed under supervision by the pupils of the Van Eycks. St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evan- gelist, who fill the two lower central compartments, are not very attractive representations of these saints. They are exact copies of stone images, with the heavy drapery and angular breaks or ill chosen features and inarticulate limbs common to the sculpture of the pe- riod. Besides lacking the charm of colour, which is the peculiar attraction of the master, they are without any prominent qualities of design. On the left, in a stone niche, and kneeling on a pavement of square grey stones, is the living form of Jodocus Vydts, bareheaded and dressed in a red cloth cloak lined with brown fur. This lining is turned over at the neck and sleeves ; the latter being of a peculiar shape fitting loosely at the wrist, and pendent in bags. The stuff of which this cloak is made is thick and substantial, and it is loosely fastened round the body below the hips by a buckled belt supporting a black purse. Jodocus is not an habi- tual ascetic ; on the contrary, he loves good cheer,, which his heavy jaw and portly frame hardly belie. Small grey eyes swim in a troubled medium ; the nose is of a fair size, neither aquiline nor straight ; the mouth is certainly large, with a broad and sensual under lip ; the cheeks wide and overhanging, and their fat sides joined to the well furnished chin concealing a wrinkled and pursy neck. There is a wart on the upper lip, another on the nose, and a third on the fore- head ; the head is closely cropped, and a small ear is left exposed ; the hair has fallen from the brows, but. the beard is of two days' growth. Yydts' attitude and expression are eminently pious ; there can be no doubt 58 HUBERT AND JOHN VAN ETCK. [CHAP. II. that he is praying with his whole soul, his eyes and brows being devoutly raised to heaven. We do not require to see those hands joined in prayer, finger to finger, and so admirably delineated even to the loose and wrinkled flesh, to know that Jodocus is in fervent adoration. He is so intent on begging pardon for his sins that we cannot but conclude that he has not a few to answer for. He has had a good time both to sin and repent, for he cannot be less than sixty years of age ; his forehead is furrowed with lines by the ele- vation of his eyebrows, and his hair is slightly inter- spersed with grey. Isabel Burluut kneels on the right hand in a niche. She is not more than usually comely, but dig- nified and matronly ; she does not look up to heaven with the supplicatory glance of her husband, but ra- ther turns towards the nearest St. John, the mild and hopeful Evangelist. The consciousness of truth is in her face ; the eye is limpid, calm, cold, and grey, the mouth expressive of decision and moral rectitude, the head well proportioned, resting on a somewhat slender neck, overhung by a rather prominent cheek; the nose is large, the eyebrows spare. It is hard to tell the colour of the hair, for that is carefully brushed into a black fillet, of which the dark line may be seen through the transparent muslin lying flat over the fore- head, and forming two folds at each side of her face, from thence hanging in two light lappets on the cheek about the level of the ear. Over this muslin is pinned a white linen cap, which covers the whole head, and hangs in folds over the shoulders. A Avhite collar relieves the neck, and the frame is encased in a vague peach-coloured dress, lined and faced with bright green stuff, turned outwards at the bosom and CHIP. II.] HUBERT AND JOHN VAN ETCK. 59 wrists ; the hands are small, but not remarkable for elegance. There is nothing in these two portraits to show that Jodocus and his wife are more than substantial bur- gesses. They have no ornaments of any kind ; their faces and hands are weather-beaten enough to prove that their time has not been specially given to indo- lence. We should not say that they fed daintily or lived in retirement, nor do they show any symptoms of " blood." Were it not for a certain angularity in the draperies, some abruptness of light and shade, and a general tone of redness which pervades the shadows of the flesh tint in these two wonderful likenesses, they would be perfect. They are as vivid portraits as are to be found in the early school of the Netherlands. They are finely mo- delled, and finished with a minuteness that allows of the closest inspection. That portion of the pictures which represents the annunciation creates a different impression. The angel and the Virgin are in a long room, through the centre windows of which the eye wanders to a distance of sky and houses. 1 The floor is of square stone flags, the ceiling of beams. A ray of light falls through the opening on the wall. The angel kneels on the left at a considerable distance from the Virgin. Sunk on his right knee, and completely clad in white, his only orna- ment is a gold border to the mantle and a circular 1 The view appears to have been taken from nature, and its site and features are said in part to exist at Ghent. On the right is the steeple of the Weaver's church, and behind it a gate, since destroyed, bearing the name of "Walpoorte." On the left is the "St. Martin's Straet," and the "Steen van Papeghem." This view, it is supposed, Van Eyck copied from the Avindow of the house, No. 26, Koey Straat, where, accordingly, medallion portraits of the painters have been placed. 6n HUBEET AND JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAI. U. brooch of gold. The mantle hangs in mazes on the painted squares of the floor, lies in masses on tLe raised left knee, and is held up in confused and angu- lar folds by the left hand, which grasps at once the drapery and a branch of lilies. Great intentness marks the expression of the eyes, but it was, perhaps, unne- cessary to show the teeth through the open lips. A most curious contrast is produced by the light yellow hair, the thin streak of pale eyebrows, and the blick pupils of the eyes, a contrast rendered yet more strange by the whiteness of the flesh tints in light and tleir strong hue in shadow. The Virgin, on the opposite side of the room, hclds her long fingered hands crossed over her bosom. She also has a cincture of pearls keeping back a profusion of pale waving hair. Her mantle of white, adorned with a double border of gold lace of unequal wieth, leaves her neck bare, and is fastened by a brooch of pearls. The folds ,of the mantle are tucked up in stiff and formal plaits under her right arm, whilst theyhaig over her left, and a profusion of angular drapery covers the floor. The Virgin looks up, and casts her eyes to heaven with a mixed expression of wonder and fear, her mouth is partly open, she has a very high round forehead, and the slightest possible eyebrows ; her neck is small and wrinkled, and she wants shoulders. The flesh lights are white, the shadows more cold, and, perhaps, a little more red than those in the face of the announcing angel. On the left of the figure a book lies open on a desk beneath an arched window. In a niche close by are an iron candlestick and pot, on an upper shelf an earthenware vase and two books ; in the nearest window-sill a glass decanter. The white dove flies above the Virgin's head — symbol of the Holy CHIP. H.] HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. 61 Ghost. The composition is of a cold and formal con- ception and execution when contrasted with the rest of the pictures of the Lamb, but there is marvellous at- mospheric perspective in the apartment, which, from its singular construction, seems unfitted to contain the figures. In the half circle above the announcing angel is, as we saw, the prophet Zachariah, his face brown and highly coloured, his eyelids spacious as in the pictures of Cristus and Van der Weyden. In the similar space above the Virgin is the more characteristic half length of the prophet Micah. 1 Looking at this beautiful altarpiece in its totality, we have to consider that it is the work of two artists and their assistants, of Hubert, who, no, doubt, composed, arranged, and partly executed it, of John and his jour- neymen who finished it. The portraits of the two brothers are found on one of the panels ; are they done by the elder or by the younger brother ? What part is Hubert most likely to have finished first ? Surely the upper, which comprises the Saviour, the Virgin, St. John, and our first parents ; yet when looking at the band of hermits in the lower course, the display of power seems as great as in the best portions of the upper, and greater than is to be found in any of the pictures produced by John Van Eyck alone. Hubert incepit, John perfecit; that is the sum total of our knowledge. By nicely comparing the merits of the several pieces, we come to the conclusion that John carried out the panel of the Lamb with some of the groups at its sides, and most of the outer faces ; but it would be too much to say that Hubert was not 1 The whole altarpiece rested on a panel representing the abode of Satan. This panel was a tempera and perished at some remote date. Van Mander, u. s. 201. mi i« 62 HUBEET AND JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAP. II. instrumental in laying out and beginning some even of these. The unity of religious thought which comes to its display in this masterpiece is marred by curious dis- proportions. The idea of divine power conveyed by contrasting the- larger size of Christ, Mary, and John with the smaller stature of the angels or Adam and Eve, is more of earth than of heaven, and hardly con- ducive to a fine general effect. Our feeling for unifor- mity is affected by figures reduced in the lower course to one-third of the height of those in the upper. There is something essentially of this world in the realism which depicts the Saviour in a room with a chequered floor, and the angels of paradise as choristers in an organ loft. It is a mistake into which the Yan Eycks have fallen to suppose that the notion of spiritual might is inseparable from rigidity of attitude and gaze, or that the radiance of God can be fitly and exclusively embodied in gorgeous raiment and costly jev/els ; but, taking realism as the necessary portion of the Fleming, it is a pleasure to admire the regular forms, the grave and solemn face of Christ, the mild serenity of Mary, and the rugged force of the Baptist. There is great if not perfect harmony of lines and of parts in the composition of the adoration of the Lamb, and no picture in the Flemish school of the 15th century more completely and fully combines the laws of appropriate distribution. The human framework is mostly well proportioned, appropriate in movement and immediate in action. Without selection, if tried by the purest standards, the nude as displayed in Adam and Eve would satisfy the canons of a not too critical taste- It is studied as to shape and place, natural, and care- fully wrought in features, articulations, and extremities. CHAP. II.] HUBERT AND JOHN VAN ETCK. 63 Outlines of such clearness and firmness were only pos- sible to men fully cognizant of anatomy ; they are never too strongly emphasized, except where the artists try their utmost to be true to the model. Expression, chastened and serene in some of the more ideal figures, is seldom free from vulgarity in those of a lower clay ; and if plainness of face does not repel us in a St. Chris- topher, it is strikingly out of place in the Virgin or in angels. Drapery is often unequal, — at times ample and telling of the under shapes, as in the Eternal and the hermits ; at times broken, as in the brocades of the choristers ; or angular, piled, and superabundant, as in the Annunciation. As landscapists, the Van Eycks are not only fault- less, they are above all praise. The landscapes give that unity to the composition which it ought to have derived solely from the proper arrangement of the groups. Grand and harmonious lines unite the vari- ous parts together, and the beauty of the distances con- trasts with the figures to the disadvantage of the latter. The feeling for depth which pervades the altarpiece is one of its chief attractions. To a certain extent the Van Eycks possessed the rules of linear perspective, but the want of its abstract scientific principles is but too evident in the Agnus Dei. They corrected this want of science by the most judicious and admirable use of serial perspective. They deceived the eye by subtly melting tints, so as to interpose air between the specta- tor and the receding distances; they thus rivalled nature in her most beautiful gifts, and achieved what we prize in the very best of the later Dutch. They shed light round their figures so as to relieve them upon each other or upon the landscape; they pro- jected their shadows with consummate art, showing 64 HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAP. II. themselves in this respect possessed of a quality un- known to the followers of their school, rare in the 15th century, and attained in the 16th only hy artists of the highest powers. The panel of St. Christopher may be taken as an example of their skill in melting tones to the extreme horizon. That of the hermits — a well ordered composition — represents figures under leafy overhanging trees, yet preserving their due position in the landscape. The interior of the Annunciation — too small for the figures — is kept in focus by the subtle arrangement of tints and the dexterous play of sun through a window, whilst the sense of subdued light in a room is rendered in the whitish tones of the flesh. The true excellence of the Yan Eycks is their excel- lence as colourists. Their picture is in respect of tone perfectly beautiful. Some panels are doubtless finer than others, but the variation in colour is less marked than the variations in drawing. The general intonation is powerful, of a brown reddish tinge, full of light yet in a low key, — technically considered, of a full body copiously used, with a rich vehicle and great blending. The labour of the brush is not visible, but the skin and complexions have the polish of bronze. The brightest lights and the shadows of flesh are high in surface. The whole is treated with great breadth of chiaros- curo, yet at times with minute detail. In some parts indeed the detail is carried out to the detriment of the mass. The draperies are more thickly laid in than the flesh, and the shadows of the folds project from the panel ; the touch is every where decisive and the acces- sories are modelled in relief. 1 Important as a test of 1 Altarpiece of Saint Bavon. This altarpiece in twelve parts has heen dismembered, and is in part only in its original place, the wings being, with the exception of the Adam and Eve in CHAP. II.] HUBEET AND JOHN VAN EYCK. 65 the perfection,' to which the new system of painting had b Naples National Grail. Neapolit. sch. XHIth and XlVth century No. 6. Wood. 4 f. 10 l j 2 long by 4 f. O 1 ^ A date — 1436 — on this picture lias been spoken of but does not exist. Compare Criscuolo and others quoted in Catalani, Discorso- su'Monumenti patrii, 8°. Napoli 1842. pp. 10. 13. Dr. Waagen, in his Essay on Hubert and J. Van Eyck, ascribed this picture to Hubert Van Eyck. Passavant (Kunstblatt, 1843, No. 47) thinks it was painted by "Colantonio in the Van Eyck style." The commentators of Vas., u. s. I. note to 163, assign it to John Van Eyck, and say it is the panel described by Vasari as of old be- longing to Lorenzo de'Medici. 2 Naples, San Lorenzo Maggiore. This panel, at one time framed together with the St. Jerom attributed to Colantonio del Eiore, remained in San Lorenzo, when the St. Jerom was separated from it. (See Catalani, Discorso, u. s. 11.) 76 HUBERT AND JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAP. II. Italianized Fleming, if not by a Germanized Italian, in the latter half of the 15th century; its brown but rich and blended colour, well distributed groups and broken drapery almost suggesting the hand of the author of the St. Jerom, grown older and locally Neapolitan. 1 Belgian again, but most unattractive is a composite altarpiece in the crypt church of San Severino at Naples, in the principal course of which the titular bishop sits enthroned between the Baptist and Evan- gelist, St. Sosius and St. Savinus. In the upper course the Virgin helps the infant Christ to cherries from a basket, and St. Jerom, St. Paul, St. Peter, and St. Gre- gory are placed in half lengths at the sides. There is much gravity of mien in St. Severinus and St. Jerom, but the Evangelist might have been drawn by a Rhenish disciple of Van der Weyden, and the drapery is altogether Flemish in cast. Dim tints, sharp contours, and high surface shadows are characteristic peculiari- ties of treatment. 2 That the St. Jerom should have been ascribed to Hubert and John Van Eyck and Colantonio, the St. Francis to Colantonio and Zingaro, the St. Vincent and St. Severin to Zingaro, 3 is due on the one hand to the inexperience of judges, on the 1 Naples, San Pietro Martire, 3d chapel to the right as you enter. Wood. St. Vincent Ferrerius stands erect with a book, in benediction in a niche. In the framing at the sides and base are eleven panels, the uppermost of which, angel and Virgin annuntiate, are modern additions (17th century). Amongst the subjects are St. Vincent preaching. St. Vincent in prayer be- fore an image of the Madonna. He restores to life a decapitated child. He receives the blessing of Christ. Vow of mariners in a storm. St. Vincent cures a woman possessed of a devil. Death of St. Vincent. The colours are embrowned by age, the com- positions are lively and well put together. 2 Naples, Crypt church of S. Severino, "Wood, figures nearly life size, treatment mixed tempera and oil. The panels are in- jured by neglect and repainting in every part. 3 De Dominicj, u. s. Catalani, Discorso, pp. 11.13, and Chiese di Napoli. It 166?" CHAP. II.] HUBEET AND JOHN VAN EYCK. 77 other hand to a wish on the part of annalists to create a Neapolitan school at the expense of strangers". 1 A curious record of comparatively recent discovery has disclosed the existence of a panel by Hubert Van Eyck. The published accounts of Blaisse Hiitter, first "varlet de chambre" and confidential secretary of the Archduke Ernest, governor general of the Low Coun- tries, contain an inventory of the treasures left by that prince at his death in 1595. In the latter is the follow- ing entry: — "Saint Mary with the Infant; near her is an Angel, and St. Bernard. By Rupert (? Hubert) Van Eyck." 2 Of pictures attributed to Hubert one, a very inferior production, is the "Virgin with the donors" in the Ant- werp Gallery. 3 "St. Catherine", in the Belvedere, at Vienna, is by an imitator of the Van Eycks; 4 the ornaments being coarse, the flesh tints grey, and the modelling rough. A picture by Hubert Van Eyck is described in catalogues as having once belonged to M. vonKronstern, at Nembs, near Ploen, Holstein. A triptych in the Lichtenstein Gallery repre- senting the Adoration of the Magi is interesting as a work of art. The Virgin, in a blue mantle, holds the Infant on her knee, and the donor is at her feet, clothed in a red mantle, near one of the kings. Two shepherds are looking through the window, and to the 1 History of Painting in North Italy. 8°. London 1871. II. pp. 79 and ff. 2 Coremans, ap. De Laborde, u. s., vol. I. Introd. p. CXIII. 3 Antwerp. Mus. No. 517, 0.29 by 0.19 f. ; the Virgin gives the breast to the child, on one side of the diptych; on the other are the donors ;— from the Ertborn coll. now catalogued as "un- known." 4 Vienna, Belv. 2d floor, room 2, Flemish schools, No. 22. "Wood, 7" by 4y 2 ", Austrian measure. See postea. 78 HUBERT AND JOHN VAN ETCK. [CHAP. H. right are an ass and oxen. On the left wing are the young king and the Moor ; on the right, a canon sup- ported by St. Stephen. The work is highly finished and minute; but neither Hubert nor John Van Eyck are the painters of those cold grey shadows. The pic- ture is of the Van Eyck school, executed at the latter end of the fifteenth century 1 . A portrait, said to be that of Rollin, in the Museum of Dijon, is attributed to Hubert, but is clearly of the close of the fifteenth century. 2 An Ecce Homo, or head of the Saviour, once in the Wallerstein collection, at Kensington, though assigned to Hubert Van Eyck, is as distant from the style of that painter as it is from that of John Van Eyck. The type of the countenance is repulsive and devoid of character or expression. It is feeble in de- sign and colour, and has none of the qualities of the great master whose name it bears. 3 It is one of the numerous dry imitations of John Van Eyck's Christ, in the Berlin Museum. 4 1 Mr. Passavant has attributed this picture to John Van ^Eyck. Kunstblatt, 1841, p. 304. 2 No. 284, Dijon. Cat. M. 0.81 h. by 0.62. 3 No. 52, in Catalogue of the late collection of Prince Waller- stein at Kensington Palace. On wood, 1 ft. by 7 3 / 4 in. English. D. Waagen (Kugler. 8". Lond. 1860. p. 108) assigns this picture to Van der Weyden the younger. 4 No. 528, Berlin Museum. CHAPTER III. JOHN VAN EYCK. Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders, one of John Van Eyck's most cherished pa- trons, was married early to Michelle of France, sister, as we saw, of the Duke of Orleans, who murdered Jean Sans Peur. The suspicions of Philip as to his wife's implication in the massacre of Montereau, and the ne- cessity under which he subsequently laboured of visiting the numerous provinces into which his dominions were divided, contributed much to affect his character. In policy he was driven by revenge to a course which tended to increase rather than diminish the misfortunes of France. In his social relations he was led by change of place and roving habits to fleeting amours and licen- tiousness. 1 Continually on horseback, and wandering 1 Chastelain says of liim : "Avait en lui aussi le vice de la chair; estait durement lubrique et fraisle en cet endroit." Esloge de Chastelain ap. Buchon Coll. de Doc ts . Vol. 41. p. 28. It was also said of Philip: "He was like most of the prin- ces of his time a man of pleasure. At this period (1422) the attention which he paid to Lady Salisbury offended her husband, and is mentioned as one of the causes which led to tbe estrange- ment between him and the English chiefs. E. E. Crowe. Hist, of France. 8°. Lond. 1860. Vol. II. p. 147. He had numerous bastards; and some curious entries are preserved as to his treatment of mistresses : "A Jeannette de Pres- les, mere de Anthoine, bastard de MdS. pour don pour elle aidier a soustenir son estat . . . XIX fr." "Pour elle (J. de Presles) a soy diffrayer au partement dicellui S. de la ville de Gand. XV fr." "A Michele de Buisson cousine de Jehanette de Presles mere de Anthoine bastard de MS. aussi pour don a elle fait MdS. pour soy en aller a Paris, dont elle est, apres ce que les nopces de 80 JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAP. IH. from place to place, he contented himself with the so- ciety of his knights and retainers, and varied it with that of numerous mistresses. He drank hard and fre- quently, and had a philosophical indifference to the quality of his boon companions, which gave occasion to Chastelain to relate that he " offended the nobles by keeping company with valets." 1 A rude joviality towards inferiors, which gave rise to the flattering epithet of "Le Bon," and a certain roughness towards men of better station, became early characteristic of his nature. He was not restrained by any feeling, moral or religi- ous, from the commission of very unpardonable acts, and he did his share of deeds which do not bear the light. He was very truculent on occasion, as at Dinant, where the city w T as destroyed and the inhabitants of both sexes were butchered. He sometimes sacrificed truth to expediency, yet he had a rude code of honour, the fruit of his early education in the laws of chivalry, then considerably on the decline. He once said to the Arch- bishop of Narbonne and to Louis the Xlth's Chancellor Morvilliers — " I may have broken my word to women, but to men never." 2 He was ambitious, yet afraid of making his duchy a great state, for he said to Morvil- liers in 1464 — " I wish everyone to know that if I had liked I might have been king." 3 For all his licentious- sadite cousine ont ete faictes a Brouxelles XIX fr". Arch, de Lille Compte Jean Abonnel 1431—2. Apud de Laborde, Les Dues de Bourg., u. s. Vol. I. p. 266. 1 "Avait de condition encore qu'en chambre se tenait clos souvent avec valets, et s'en indignaient nobles bommes." Esloge de Chastelain. Buchon, u. s., Vol. 42. p. 29. The Duke of Bur- gundy, "secretly", says Van Mander, gave Jobn Van Eyck the rank of councillor, the said Duke being fond of bis company, as Alexander of old was of the company of Apelles. This flatters both the Duke and the painter. V. Mander, p. 201. 2 See Petitot,u. s. Notice sur O.de la Marche. Vol. IX. p. 12. 3 Ibid. chap, in.] JOHN VAN EYCK. 81 ness he was not without religion, and he is gently rallied by De la Marche for stopping to say his orisons when news was brought that the storm of Luxemburg had begun. 1 He shared his grandfathers partiality for dis- play, and liked to collect the masterpieces of the nume- rous statuaries, goldsmiths, painters, arrasmakers, and miniaturists who frequented his court. It was natural that, hearing of John Van Eyck's release from his en- gagements with John of Bavaria, he should resolve to attach him to his service. The commission by which the appointment was made bore the date of May 19, 1425, but has not been preserved, and is stated in nume- rous accounts to have been issued at Bruges. It en- titled the artist to a salary of 100 livres per annum, a livery servant, and two horses, 2 and, perhaps, to rent for a lodging. According to Gruicciardini, John Van Eyck resided habitually in the "triumphant city of Bruges;" 3 and it has been assumed that charges for rent made by the Duke's agents in 1426-8 have refer- ence to the hire of his house at Bruges. But some reasons have been adduced for thinking that John Van Eyck, in the first years of his service with Philip of Burgundy, made a stay at Lille. 4 That he now had no fixed connection with Ghent might be inferred from 1 0. de la Marche in Petitot. IX. 392-3. 2 See antea, and an ordonnance of Philip the Good dated Dec. 14, 1426 at Bruges, in De Laborde, Les Dues de Bourgogne, u. s I. XL. 3 Gruicciardini, u. s. p. 123 — 4. 4 (November) "AMiquielBavary pour le louage d'une maison en laquelle Johannes de Eck, varlet de chambre et paintre de MdS. a par l'ordonnance et commandement de icellui S. demoure par deux annees, finissans au jour Saint JehanBaptiste darrenier passe, comme appert par quittance dudit Michiel, et certificacion de MdS. de Croy, sur ce XLVIfr. IIIIs. Compte deGuy Guilbaut, ler Janv. 1427, jusqu'au 31. Dec. 1428." — De Laborde, Les Dues de B., u. s. Vol. I. pp. 255, 256. M. A. Pinchart shows that Ea- vary was a merchant and a citizen at Lille (Annot. u. s. CXCV). 6 82 JOHN VAN EYCK. [chap. HI. this that when Hubert died, his heirs, who can be no other than John and Lambert van Eyck, were charged with a tax only levied upon non-residents. 1 There was more reason for his acquiring a fixed dwelling at Bruges than anywhere else. Bruges of the middle ages was greatly distinguished from Bruges of to-day, by the great- ness of its trade and commerce. It is difficult to realise the fact that the quiet inland town which is now so re- markable for the solitude of its grassgrown streets and the stagnant waters of its canals was once a flourishing port, secured by its walls from attack by land, and safe by its inland position from the guns of cruisers. Through Sluys — now a village far from the sea — it communicated with the channel. The largest caravels and galleys were floated up to its quays, which from year's end to year's end were littered with the costly produce of the Mediterranean and the Levant, or the wools of Great Britain. Bruges was truly "a trium- phant city," worthy of holding a court enriched by the wealth of its patricians and foreign merchants, and essentially fitted for that cause to support a colony of artists. Whether it be true or not that John Van Eyck acquired a residence at Bruges immediately after Hu- bert's death, there is no reason to doubt that he fre- quently left the place of hi* usual abode to follow the restless Philip in his wanderings. Of the Duke's powers of locomotion there is curious evidence in chronicles. "In 1426 he held high council in Flanders as to the 1 The records of the tax paid by strangers to the city of Ghent contain an entry for this year, of VI sous paid by Hubert's heirs. The entry runs thus — "1426, Van den hoire van Lubrecht van Eyke VI s. g." This is a confirmation of the date of the painter's death, and a proof that his family was not native of Ghent. Carton, it. s., p. 269. CHAP. III.] JOHN VAN EYCK. 83 war (in Holland), then rode to Boullongne on a pilgrimage ; returned from thence into Artois, where he levied large aids of money, and finally back to Flan- ders, where he was met by captains summoned from Burgundy, amongst them the prince of Orange. Off again at last to Holland with a few horse, and waged strong war on those who took part for the Duchess" (Jacqueline now married to the Duke of Gloucester). 1 Just at this time, and, in or before the month of July preceding the death of Hubert, John Van Eyck started "on a pilgrimage" and "travelled on a secret journey," the discharge for his expenses being given at Leyden. 2 He then went on a second mission of similar secrecy and greater expense, for which he received payment before the end of October. 3 There is something in 1 Buchon collection des chroniques francaises, VIII. p. 278. Memoires de J. Lefevre Seigneur de St. Remy quoted by A. Pin- chart, in Annotations, u. s. CXCVII. 2 "A Johannes de Eick, varlet de chambre et paintre de mondit seigneur, la somme de quatre vins unze livres, cinq solz, du pris de XL gros, monnoye de Flandres, la livre, laquelle du commandement et ordonnance de MdS. leur a ete paiee, bail- liee et delivree comptant, tant pour faire certain pelerinage que MdS. pour lui, et en son noin, lui a ordonne faire, dont autre declaracion il n'en veult estre faicte, comme sur ce que par icelui seigneur lui povoit estre deu a cause de certain loingtain voiaige secret que semblablement il lui a ordonne faire en certain lieux que aussi ne veult aultrement declairer, sicomme il appert par mandement de descharge de MdS. sur ce fait. — Donne a Leyden leXXVI e jour d'Aoust l'anMCCCCXXI garni de quictance faicte le XIII J de juillet M. IIIJ C . XXV J : IIII XX XI 1. V. s. Compte de Guy Guilbaut du III jour d'Octobre Pan Mil CCCC vint et cinq et finist au III e jour d'Octobre l'an Mil CCCC vint et six. — De Laborde, u. s., Les Dues de Bourgogne. Vol. I. p. 225. Pinchart Annot. u. s. CXCVII. 3 "A Johannes de Eick, varlet de chambre et paintre de MdS. la somme de trois cens soixante liures du pris de XL gros, monnoie de Flandres, la liure, laquelle MS. lui a ordonne estre baillee comptant pour certain compte, traittie et appointement fait auec lui pour la parpaye de tout ce qu'il lui peut estre' deu a cause de certains loingtains voiages secrets que MdS. lui a pieca ordonne faire en certains lieux, dont il ne veut aultre de- 84 JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAP. III. these allusions to secrecy, something in the cost of these journeys suggestive of transactions of a delicate nature; and it is hardly to he doubted that Van Eyck was sent to paint the likeness of some princess who might claim to become the wife of the bald and ugly but desirable husband Philip of Burgundy. If this supposition be correct, it explains why the Duke's painter was favoured beyond other members of his household. The cost of the Dutch war was so great and Philip was placed in such pecuniary straights by its prosecution, that his exchequer ran low. He re- vised his pension list and reduced the salaries of several officers; but he excepted Van Eyck, and after- claration estre faicte si qu'il appert par lettres de mandement de descharge de MdS. sur ce faictes donnees a Bruges le XXVIj jour d'Octobre l'an Mil CCCCXXVI garny de quittance du dit Johannes . . . IIj c LX liv." Compte de Guy Guilbaut p. 3 mois du IIII Oct. 1426 au XXXj Dec. ensuivant. De Laborde, Les Dues deBourgogne, u.s., Vol.1, p. 242 — 3. Pinchart u.s.CXCVII. 1 "A Jehan de Heick, pointre et varlet de chambre de MS. le Due, lequel icellui S. a retenu aux gaiges de C liv. parisis monnoie de Flandres, par an, pour les causes contenues tant en ses lettres sur ce faictes, comme ou compte precedent; et les- quels gaiges MdS. nonobstant que par certaines ses ordonnances faictes le XIIIP jour de decembre CCCCXXVI a entre autres choses revoque les pensions et gaiges d'aucuns ses officiers et serviteurs qu'ilz prenoient a luy, non exprimez es lettres de sa nouuelle ordonnance. commenchant icelle le premier jour de jan- vier Mil CCCC vint et six, toutesvoyes son entencion n'est pas que es dites ordonnances soit comprise la pension que prenoit de lui son dit pointre, mais au regart de ce, veult et ordonne que les paiements de la dicte pension, d'illec en avant tant comme il lui plaira, soit entertenue, en mandant a sondit receveur que icelle pension il paie aux termes accoustumez qui sont moictie a la Saint Jehan, et l'autre moictie au Noel comme il appert par ses lettres patentes sur ce faictes et donnees en sa ville de Brages le III jour de Mars Mil CCCCXXVII servant tant pour le dit pointre comme pour la pension de la damoiselle du Berkin cy apres. Pour ce par vertu dicelles lettres cy rendues avec quic- tance dudit Jehan de Heick, pour sadicte pension et les termes de la Saint Jehan et Noel Mil CCCCXXVII la dicte somme de C liv. Compte de Gautier Poulain Janvier 1426 a Decembre 1427." — De Laborde, Les Dues de B., Vol. I. pp. 246. 247. Pinchart Annot. CXCIX. CHAP. III.] JOHN VAN EYCK. 85 wards gave Mm a special gratification for professional services. 1 It lias not been ascertained, yet it is not unlikely that John Van Eyck, in 1428, accompanied Andre de Thoulongeon in his fruitless attempt to obtain the hand of a Spanish princess. We should think it pro- bable that he did so because a record of that year refers to his being sent away on secret service previous to his despatch to Portugal "in company with Mon- seigneur de Roubaix." 2 Andre de Thoulongeon had scarcely returned from Spain when Roubaix was appointed to lead a romantic expedition to Lisbon, for the purpose of choosing a bride for Duke Philip. An offer was to be made to Isabel of Portugal to marry the richest and most powerful prince in Christendom ; but the prince was to reserve for himself the right of breaking off the negotiation if Isabel's charms should appear to him less attractive than he had fancied them to be. In order to judge of those charms it was necessary to have a picture made by a trustworthy artist who should not overcharge but faithfully reproduce the reality. John Yan Eyck was accordingly attached to the suite of Monseigneur de Roubaix, and the quaint 1 "A Johannes de Heecht peintre de MdS. que icellui seigneur luy a donne pour consideracion des bons et agreables services qu'il luy a faiz de son mestier et autrement comme appert par sa quittance .... XX liv. — Compte de Guy Guilbaut, 1426 — 27." — De Laborcle, Les Dues de B. u. s., vol. II. p. 390. [Aout 1427] "A Jebannes Eyk, Varlet de Chambre et paintre de M.d.S. que icellui S. luy a donne tant par considera- cion des bons et agreables services qu'il luy a faiz tant au fait de sondit office, comme autrement, et pour le aidier et soustenir a avoir ses necessitez afin plus bonnorablement il le puist servir, comme appert par sa quictance. C. 1. Compte Guy Guil- baut 1426 — 27. De Laborde, Les Dues de Bourgogne, u. s. Vol. II. p. 392. 2 See the following note. 86 JOHN VAN EYCK. [CHAP. III. embassy started in two Venetian galleys from Sluys on the 19tli of October 1428. 1 It is characteristic of the slow navigation of those days that this gala squadron took two months to reach the Tagus. On the 13th of November it put into Sandwich; between that date and the 2d of December it touched successively at Plymouth and Falmouth. On the 11th of December it stopped at Bayona in Galicia; on the 16th it anchored at Cascaes in the mouth of the Tagus, and on the 18th it reached Lisbon. After a short stay in the capital the embassy rode to Arrayollos and thence to Aviz where it was received at court, and John Van Eyck painted the likeness of the infanta. 2 Towards the close of the first fortnight in February, the preliminaries of a mar- riage treaty were negotiated and sent "with the like- ness" to the Duke of Burgundy. 3 And now came a period of leisure for the envoys ; they had to wait for Philip's reply, yet not to cause too much expense to their hosts ; they went on a pilgrimage to Santiago di Compostella in Galicia, they visited John the lid king 1 "A Johannes de Eick vaiiet de chambre et paintre de M.d.S. que icellui S. luy a donne tant pour cousideracion des services qu'il lui a faiz, fait journelment et espoire que encores fera ou tarns a venir ou fait de sondit office, comme autrement, comrne en recompensacion de certains voyaiges secrez que, par l'ordonnance et pour les affaires d'icellui S. il a faiz, et du voyaige qu'il fait presentement avec et en la compaignie de M.d.S. de Roubais, dont il ne veult aucune declaracion estre faicte, comme appert par sa quittance sur ce VIII XX liv." Compte Guy Guilbaut, dep. 1 Janvier 1427, jusqu'au 31 Dec. 1428. De Laborde, u. s. Les Dues de B. Vol. I. p. 251. Pinchart. annot. CC. 2 "Avec ce les dits ambaxadeurs, par ung nomme maistre Jehan de Eyck, varlet de chambre de mondit Seigneur de Bourgoigne et excellant maistre en art de painture, firent paindre bien au vif la figure de madite dame l'infante Eliza- beth." See Collection de documents inedits concernant l'histoire de la Belgique par L. P. Gachard. 4". Brux. 1834. Vol. II. p. 68. 3 lb. ib. ib. CHAP. III.] JOHN VAN EYCK. 87 of Castile, the Duke of Arjona, near Jaen; they paid their respects to the Moor, Mahomet, king of Granada. May saw the whole party assembled at Lisbon, June at Cintra. Philip's consent arrived, and the marriage by proxy was celebrated in July. Festivities of various kinds filled up the time till the 8th of October when the Portuguese fleet with its bridal burden left the Tagus. There were fourteen sail in the fleet, but they remained a very short time in company. For forty days the ships were driven on and off the coast of Spain, the weather so affecting de Poubaix that he remained for a fortnight in the harbour of Kibadeo, in Galicia. When the squadron hove anchor, it was scattered by the winds, — the infanta, with but two remaining ships, being driven into Plymouth; from whence she made her way with difficulty to Sluys on Christmas-day. The splendour of the ceremonies attending the landing were some sort of foil to the tediousness and perils of the voyage. The merchants of Bruges outbid each other in loyalty and show. The road through which the procession passed was lined with tapestries of splendid workmanship. Sixty four trumpeters, bear- ing silver instruments, led the way, whilst deputations from the states and trades displayed their gorgeous dresses. 1 The marriage ceremony was solemnized with every kind of brilliancy; the order of the Golden Fleece was founded on the occasion, and the Sires de Roubaix and de Lannoy were made knights of the order. Of John Van Eyck's reward no account has been pre- served. His portrait of Isabel of Portugal disappeared, and all that remains to us in respect of his professional practice is an entry in the catalogue of Margaret of 1 Marchant. Flandria descripta Anv. 1596. p. 284. Sanderus Flandi-ia Illust. p. 76 — 7. 88 JOHN VAN EYCK. [chap. HI. Austria, which refers to one of his pictures called "la belle Portugalaise." 1 From this time forward, it seems certain John Van Eyck settled at Bruges, where he had a house of his own, for though a gap in the chronology of his life occurs in 1430, there is evidence that he was sent for from Bruges in 1431 to visit the castle of Hesdin where Philip of Burgundy was spending money in laying out gardens and water works. 2 John's principal occupa- tion now was, no doubt, the completion of the Agnus Dei of Ghent the panels of which were finished in 1432, but even this important work did not take up his whole time, as we find that he completed in the same year the Madonna of Ince Hall, which bears his name and is dated from Bruges. 3 1 See Le Glay. Inventaire de Marguerite d'Autriclie, and the same by De Laborde. 8". Paris. 1850. p. 26. The "Belle Portugalaise" existed in 1516 at Malines. It represented a lady in a red habit with sable trimmings, attended by St. Nicholas, and was a present to Margaret from Don Diego de Guevara. 2 "A Johanne Deik, paintre, que M. S. a samblablement ordonne luy estre baillie et deliure comptant, pour estre venu, par son commandement et ordonnance, des sa viile de Bruges a Hesdin, deuers lui, auquel lieu il l'auoit mande pour aucunes besoignes esquelles il le vouloit emphryer. Pour ce et pour son retour, comme appert pas sa quictance sur ce rendue . . . XIX francs. Compte de Jehan Abonnel, dep. le 1 Janvier 1430, jusqu'au 31 Dec. 1431. De Laborde, Les Dues de Bourgogne,u.s. Vol. I. p. 257. Pinchart. Annot., u. s. CCIIL— That John Van Eyck bought a house in Bruges was proved by the following- extracts from the books of St. Donatian at Bruges : "Receptum anno 1430 in certis redditibus novi libri infra villain in officii Sancti Nicolai. Johannes Van Eyck XXX sol. par." De Stoop. Moniteur Universel, Dec. 1847. No. 335. — C. Carton. Ann. de la Soci. d'Emulation de Bruges, torn v. sec. 2. No. 34, p. 271. Mr. Weale after looking over these books, proves that John Van Eyck bought the house in 1432. He further shows that the house was situate in the present Rue de la Main d'Or, E 15. No. 7 bis. (See Notes sur Jean Van Eyck, u. s. p. 6—14). 3 Van Mander says : "Nae dat Johannes de tafel te Ghent voldaen hadde heeft hy weder zijn wooninghe ghehouden te chap, in.] JOHN VAN EYCK. If we look back at John Van Eyck's career till this time we find much to prove that he was ready and prolific as a painter, but little to give us an insight into his style. One picture, and one only, has been preserved, which purports to have been executed previous to his connexion with the Duke of Burgundy. It is a "consecration of Thomas a Becket," said to have been presented to Henry the Vth of England by the Duke of Bedford, and now in the Duke of Devonshire's collection at Chatsworth. On the framing of the panel we read the following in- scription : "JOHES. DE 6YCK. FECIT+ANO. MCCCC. Zl 30 OCTOBKIS." Under an oval canopy on the edges of which the cross-keys and a coat of arms are emblazoned, two bishops place the mitre on the head of Thomas a Becket who reads the mass of consecration from a book in the hands of a kneeling priest. A third bishop,, a king, and a numerous suite stand about the principal group observed from a respectful distance by minor dignitaries of the church. The scene is laid in a cathe- dral and seen through an archway forming part of it. Behind the canopy a green cloth acts as foil to the figures, its effect partially weakened by a pendant cord to which a medal and crown are hung. The long lank figures, marshalled in defiance of the laws of per- spective, are as rigid and unpleasant as we might' expect them to have been had they been painted by some of John's own disciples. The surface is all but Brugghe." If this were true, which may he doubted, we should assume that John was at Ghent in 1430, and again between 1431 and 2, but he might also have been at Lille or elsewhere. 90 JOHN VAN EYCK. [chap. m. covered with the dirt of ages or with repaints, and there is not a single portion, except a bit of the red canopy, of which the original condition can be dis- cerned. Most in the character of Van Eyck is the face of a man to the right of Thomas a Becket and that of a priest on the left carrying a cross : with these excep- tions the heads have lost their original impress. The colours in their present state are of a dark and mono- tonous reddish tinge, the draperies muffled, broken, and superabundant. The utter absence of linear per- spective would not exclude the authorship of Van Eyck. That of aerial perspective might possibly do so. Both are absolutely wanting. We might suppose that the subject was drawn and signed by the master as it is in the St. Barbara at Antwerp, and ^that it was subse- quently daubed over by incapable hands. Under no circumstances can we now accept it as a genuine work of Van Eyck in 1421. 1 Far superior to this injured composition and on a much smaller scale, the little Madonna of Ince Hall, finished in 1432, gives a good idea of the master's skill, though a less exalted one than the Agnus Dei. It is signed: "Completuni anno domini MCCCCXXXII per Jo- hannem de Eyck. Brugis," and bears that favourite and modest motto which he always repeats: u Als ikh kan." The Virgin is dressed in a blue tunic and a gorge- ous red mantle, the folds of which cover the ground about her; she holds a book before the Infant Saviour, 1 Chatsworth. Wood. 4 f. h. by 2 f. b. It is a curious proof of the late Dr. Waagen's occasional blindness that he thought this picture well preserved. Compare Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain. 8°." London. 1854. III. 349, and De Laborde. La Renaissance des Arts. Additions au Tome I. Paris, 1855. p. 599. chap, in.] JOHN VAN EYCK. 91 who sits on her knee, and playfully turns the leaves. A rich warm green dais, copiously adorned with arabesques, contrasts with the drapery near it. The scene is in one of those semi-obscure chambers lighted by tiny squares of glass, which Van Eyck was fond of depicting. A crystal vase on a table near the window is partially filled with water, and some oranges lie by its side. On a board to the left of the Virgin are a chandelier and a pot of brass. The Virgin's feet rest on a richly -coloured carpet covering a sombre floor. Were it not for a general crackling of the surface, which mars many parts, but especially the face of the Virgin, this picture might be pronounced in excellent preservation, having all the warmth and vigour of colour given to it by the master; and retaining, in consequence, both harmonious unity and softness of tone; a circlet of pearls holds back the brown hair of the Virgin, and makes it fall in thin wavy tresses over her shoulders ; similar ornaments cover the upper part of the blue dress. The Saviour's head has a laughing expression, and light curly locks play about his forehead, giving an airy and happy cheerfulness to his face; a bold piece of white drapery partially covers his legs. The Divinity is thus represented without the moody gravity which so frequently mars the faces of Van Eyck's infants. The limbs and body are not too thin, and the hands and feet are fairly designed. The head of the Virgin is not free from the defect of length; but the eyes have a pleasing glance, and the hands are of a delicate shape. If the drapery be too copious and angular, and so detracts from the general effect, the colour in its depth and warmth counterbalances that fault, and combined with neat execution, gives the whole its pictorial value. 92 JOHN VAN EYCK. [chap. HI. There is no doubt that John Van Eyck con- centrated all the qualities inherent in his manner on . the production of diminutive panels. He affords in this a bold contrast with the masters of the Italian schools, who exhibit the great qualities of art on sur- faces of considerable extent. So long as his object was merely to elaborate a scene of which all the parts were within the compass of the eye at the distance usual to a painter at his easel, his sense of atmosphere and depth was perfect, and he laboured with all the advantages resulting from determined purpose and clearness of perception. But as the field over which his eye had to wander increased in magnitude by the enlargement of the panel, his judgment and innate sense of colour and aerial perspective, his knowledge of proportion, became less available ; and he failed to produce the deep impression which is created by the Agnus Dei. 1 The Madonna of Ince is but one of a series of pieces in which the chronology of John Van Eyck's practice is traced with positive certainty. We shall conclude from a minute examination of all these works that the master was never at a higher level as regards proficiency than when he finished the altar-piece of the Lamb. In many subsequent pictures he carried the minutiae of technical handling and finish to the greatest perfection; but he never went beyond, though he may have approached, the subtlety of original thought, the power of expression, richness of colour, or boldness of treatment, which are so remarkable in the Agnus Dei. One of the principal grounds for supposing that Hubert was his superior in most of the qualities which go to 1 Ince Hall, near Liverpool, seat of Mr. "Weld Blundell. Wood. 9 inches by 6. chap, m.] JOHN VAN EYCK. 93 make up a first rate painter lies in this that John Van Eyck never after 1432 shows the sternness of power and the deep feeling for the severity of church art con- spicuous in the triptych of St. Bavon. Too frequently he forgot mass and balanced light and shade for po- lish and minute finish. Too often he yielded to the temptation of sacrificing strong and ruddy tone to a delicate and affected pallor. Instead of clinging to the simplicity of drapery and forcible breadths of contour, which are so conspicuous in the large personages of the Agnus Dei, he fell into hardness of outline and angular break of dress folds ; he displayed no progress in the representation of nude ; nor did he ever rise to the conception of types preeminent for dignity or super- natural grandeur. In two points he remained great; he preserved the most delicate faculty for modulations of atmosphere in landscapes. He painted portraits with a realistic power almost unsurpassed in any school of the time. It is a pity that so many of his renderings of representative men and women should have been lost. "Duke Philip before the Virgin Mary," missing since Margaret of Austria's time, "Isabel of Portugal", of which no mention is made in any descriptive books, would be useful to determine how much of flattery there may have been in the art of a realistic Fleming. 1 If we go down in the social scale, and look by turns at the portrait full lengths of Chancellor Rollin at the Louvre, and Arnolfini at the National Gallery; if from these we turn to busts and half lengths of which there are many beautiful specimens extant, no feature will be found more striking or more characteristic of the 1 De Laborde. Inventaire de Marguerite d'Autriche, u. s. p. 24. Le Glay. Same collection. 1516, u. s. 94 JOHN VAN EYCK. [chap. IH. artist than his desire to he true to nature. In the re- production of flesh surfaces, in peculiar stiffnesses of action or movement and expression, which abound in persons who are condemned to sit; he is invariably on the outlook for minute details which he transfers with unwearying patience and consummate skill to panel. He surprises us by the effectiveness of his imitative power, but never exhibits the suggestive striving of one who watches and catches as they go the subtle and momentary passages so often graceful and redeeming even in ill favoured models. Amongst the smaller specimens of portrait that remain to us, that which first claims attention is the bust of a man, in the National Gallery, a man of forty-five, with marked but not hand- some features, who stands in sunlight at a window, and holds in Iris right hand a roll of paper. He wears a green cap with hanging drapery, a red mantle turned over at the neck and lined with brown fur. The back- ground is dark. On the yellowish Avindow sill is the painter's usual signature with the Greek words "Tt[xo)- 6soc," and the motto "Leal Souvenir. 1 ' The drawing is careful, the painting blended to a fault, and the period of execution is 1432. 1 A few months older and more powerfully wrought is another panel at the National Gallery, — a bust of a man with a red shawl bound round his head. This is a panel in which minute finish is combined with delicate modelling and strong relief, and a brown depth of colour. At this period of his career (1433) John Van Eyck is still in the form which marks the Agnus Dei. He follows nature into all its corners and recesses i National Gallery. No. 290. Wood. 1 f. l«/ 4 h. by 7y 2 oil. "Signed : Factus Ano Dm 1432. 10 Die, octobriz a Joh. de Eyck." Purchased from Herr C. Ross at Munich, in 1857. CHAP. III.] JOHN VAN EYCK. 95 without once betraying himself in a pencil stroke. 1 He is in the same form in Mr. Suermondt's larger portrait of the "man with the pinks," a marvel of imitation, a bust of a man of sixty seen at three quarters to the left, looking out of the picture but not at the spectator ; the lips apart, the hands raised and closed and one of them grasping three wild pinks. The head is covered with a fur cap ; and the collar of the grey pelisse with its fur lining is bound in red morocco over which hangs the silver chain and the cross and bell of the brother- hood of St. Anthony. What we see is not the man in pursuit of his daily avocations, but the sitter, whose features are galvanized into stillness, whose lips are kept open to damp the movements incident to breath- ing, whose hands are cramped by being held up too long. The face is beardless, weatherbeaten, and wrinkled; and we look into those wrinkles, and see how they are marked by touch and subtle modulations of tone and light and shade with a delicacy and power quite surpassing. The hands and face are dispropor- tioned in size, the former being too small ; the outlines are clear and correct, the projections marked. Co- lour, tone, transitions, effect, contour, and finish are masterly. 2 Of earlier date perhaps than these, and peculiarly characteristic for the forcible depth of its colours, is "Chancellor Rollin kneeling at a prayer-desk before the 1 London. National Gallery. No. 222. Wood, 10 V4 inch. h. by 7 J / 2 ; formerly in the Arundel and Middleton collections, inscribed : "Als ikh kan." Johes. de Eyck Me fecit. Ano M. CCC(X 33. 2 Octobris. 2 Aix la Chapelle. Suermondt Collection from the Engels Collection at Cologne; Wood a little above half life size. A ring is half way up the 4th finger of the right hand. — The pelisse is lined with fur, which is turned over at the wrists. 96 JOHN VAN EYCK. [chap. m. Yirgin whose head is crowned by two gorgeously winged angels." 1 At a balcony seen through the pillars of an arcade two men look down at a panorama oi houses, steeples, bridges, and distant hills ; and a minute in- spection will be rewarded by the discovery of numerous figures in the background of streets and lanes. Here Van Eyck's art is displayed in all its force and weak- ness; — admirable when we only look at the charac- teristic rendering of the scratch -wigged chancellor, or the adumbrations that cover the wondrous details of architecture, or the crystalline purity of a distance carried to a horizon of snow mountains miles away, disappointing when we look at the plain mask of the .Virgin or the wooden shape of the aged babe naked on her knee; or the piled and broken drapery that rests upon the figures. It is of this picture that Filhol says, "it long adorned the sacristy of the cathedral at Autun, and Courtepee adds: — "An original picture may be seen in the sacristy of Notre Dame d Autun, in which the Chancellor Rollin, in vestments of cere- mony, is represented kneeling at the feet of the Virgin. The background of the picture shows the city of Bruges in perspective, and more than 2,000 ( ! ) figures, of which the variety and attitudes can only be per- ceived with the assistance of a magnifying glass." 2 Of this class, but in point of time perhaps older, is the "Fount of Salvation" in the Museum of the San- tissima Trinidad at Madrid, of which we learn from Ponz that it adorned a chapel in the Spanish Church of Valencia, from whence it was subsequently taken to 1 Paris, Louvre. No. 162. Wood. M. 0,66 by 0,62. On the bordering of the Yirgin's dress : "Exultata in Libano." 2 Courtepee, Descrip. Hist, et Topogr. du Duche de Bour- r. 2 No. 541. Ibid. Wood, 1 f. 2 1/2 h- by f. 11 1/4. 3 Ibid. Wood, 113/ 4 z. by 11. z. No. 553. 168 HUGO VAN DEE GOES. [CHAP. VI. to be found in a bust of the Saviour, in the Zambec- cari gallery at Bologna, assigned to Diirer. The Annunciation, a panel at Berlin, is cold and white in general tone, and yellowish white in the flesh tints ; the draperies are painted with similar body to those of the Virgin of the Uffizi and stand in relief on the picture. 1 A Virgin and child enthroned, in the same collection, betrays a mixture of the manner of Van Eyck and Van der Weyden ; the Virgin has the spacious forehead so frequent inMemling; a landscape distance is seen through a colonnade ; the colour, of full body, is warm and pleasing enough. 2 St. Augustin enthroned with a patron at his feet, given in the Berlin catalogue of 1851 to Van der Goes, retro- grades in that of 1857 to the humbler mediocrity of Goswyn Van der Weyden. 3 The Saviour on the cross, the Virgin, St. John, two holy bishops, St. Agatha and St. Clara in a landscape, are of the decline of the same third rate school. 4 The Annunciation, in a form dif- ferent from the foregoing, is by an artist of the 16th century, inferior to Patenier. 5 The last Judgment, a very small picture of which the upper and lower parts are by different hands, is noticeable because the head of the Saviour resembles that on gold ground, above mentioned. 6 The Annunciation at Munich is almost a repetition of that assigned to Van der Goes in the Berlin Gal- lery. 7 The Pieta in the same collection is an un- 1 Berlin Gal. Wood, 3 f. by 1 f. 11 Vv z. No. 530. 2 Ibid. Wood, 2f. 7z. by 1 f.*9V 4 z. No. 529. Now called Sen. of Memling. 3 Ibid. Wood, 2 f. by 1 f. 5 z. No. 540. 4 Ibid. No. 543. 550. Wood, 2 f. 4 z. by 3 f. 6 z. s Ibid. No. 548. Wood, 6 z. bv 3 7 2 . 6 Ibid. No. 600. Wood, 2 f. 2 z. by 1 f. 2 z. ' Munich Cat. No. 43 Cab. Wood, 3' 8" by 3' 5". CHAP. VI.] HUGO VAN DER GOES. 169 pleasant panel by a pupil of Van der Weyden. 1 The Virgin and Child in a landscape is in the mixed style of Patenier and Mostsert. 2 Another Madonna is simply not by Van der Goes. '* St. John in the Desert, signed "H. v. d. Goes," is evidently by Memling. 4 It is difficult to say on what authority the portrait of a Dominican monk in the National Gallery, which was under Memling's name in the Wallerstein collec- tion, now figures amongst the works of Van der Goes. 5 The Virgin and Child between the kneeling St. Paul and St. Peter in the same Museum is a picture in which the style of Van der Goes is not to be traced ; a picture of paste board flesh and raised ornamenta- tion, after the fashion of a feeble disciple of Memling. 6 The Belvedere Museum contains two panels with Adam and Eve, apparently copied from the Agnus Dei of St. Bavon. They are attributed to Van der Goes, without any regard for the known peculiarities of his style. 7 His name is also given, without sufficient evidence, to a Virgin and Child, adored by a figure holding a viol. s This composition, in the Belvedere is very much in the spirit of Memling's picture representing the same 1 Ibid. No. 66, Cab. Wood, 1' 6" by 1' 2", noAv catalogued as by a Rhenish master. 2 Ibid. No. 53, Cabinets. Wood, 1' 6" by 1' 6", now assigned to a German. 3 Ibid. No. 119, Cab. Wood, 2' 2" by 1' 7", now assigned to a German. 4 Ibid. No. 105, Cab., now properly assigned to Memling. See postea. 5 London National Gallery. No. 710. 6 Ibid. No. 774. Wood, 2 f. 3'/ 2 b. by If. 8 V? , from the Zam- beccari and Eastlake collections. 7 No. 61. Room 2, second floor, Vienna, Belvedere Cat. Wood, 2' 2" by 1' 7", Austrian measure. 8 No. 6, second floor, second room, Belvedere Cat. Wood, 2' 2" by 1' 5i/ 2 "- 170 HUGO VAN DEE GOES. [CHAP. VI. subject in the gallery of the Uffizi, at Florence. The panel has much of the delicacy which we find in Mem- ling, and appears to have issued from that master's workshop ; the wings are separated from the centre composition, and confirm the supposition that these panels are by Memling. 1 St. John the Baptist holding the Lamb, and St. John the Evangelist carrying the chalice, are replicas from the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine at Bruges, or the altar-piece of Memling at Chiswick. Amongst the pictures unnoticed by the authors is 'the Virgin giving the breast to the Infant Christ, in the late Pourtales collection. The donor in armour on the left wing of the triptych, the donatrix on the right, are assigned to Porbus. 2 The greater part of Hugo's works in Belgium were destroyed by the iconoclasts of the 16th century. His pictures in the church of Vasselsere were burnt on the 4th of October, 1575. 3 Two panels with subjects from the legend of St. Catherine, once in the Carmelites of Ghent, are missing. 4 Four episodes from the Seven Sacraments, seen in the palace of Nassau at Brussels by Albert Diirer, and ascribed by him to "Meister Hugo", are also missing. 5 1 No. 10, second floor, second room, Belvedere Cat. Wood, 2' 2", together 4' 5'/ 2 "> Austrian measure. 2 Ex Pourtales Collection in Paris. Wood, m. 0.81 square, sold for 1400 fr. at the sale in 1865. 8 Messager des Sciences Historiques. Gaud. 1845. 8°. pp. 117-45. 4 Vsernewyk, u. s., p. 100. Van Mander, 204. 5 Pinchart, annot., u. s., CCLXTI and following, and Eeli- quien, u. s., p. 90. CHAPTER VII. JUSTUS OR JODOCUS OP GHENT. Apparently early records, which speak of Justus or J odocus of Ghent, might seem to connect him with the teaching of Hubert Van Eyck, but that unhappily these records have no claim to any authenticity. Evidence of a different kind leads us to inquire whether towards the middle of the century Justus was induced by any circumstances to visit the Italian peninsula. 1 In 1451, one Justus d'Allamagna lived and laboured in the Dominican convent of Santa Maria di Castello, at Genoa, and painted on the wall of its cloisters the Annunciation of the Virgin. Was this Justus d'Alla- magna the same artist who produced pictures at Ghent? or was he a man of the same name who settled at Genoa for life ? History is silent on this point, and we cannot gather from the signature of the picture of Santa Maria di Castello whether the 1 "En Jodocus van Gent, discipel van Hubertus van Eyck, een tafereel verbeeldende St. Jans Onthoofdinge." Extract from Mr. Delbecq's manuscript, u. s. — Passavant, Kimstreise, p. 381. De Bast, Mess, des Sci. et des Arts de Belgique, 1824, p. 132. The authenticity of this MS. is, as we have seen, (antea in Van der Meire), contested. "Eurono similmente de' primi . . . maestro Mar- tino e Giusto da Guanto, che fece. la tavola della communione del Duca d'Urbino ed altre pitture." — Vasari, u. s. vol. i. Introd., C. VII. p. 163. — "Jodocus Gandavensis, pict. nobilissimus, Hu- berti Eyck discipulus." — Sanderus, v. s., De Gand. Erud. Clar. lib. II. fol. 79. 172 JUSTUS OE JODOCUS OF GHENT. [CHAP. VII. artist was a German or a Fleming; because the in- scription — "Justus d'AUa- -magna pinx- -it, 1451,"— equally applies to the Netherlands and parts of the Rhine country, being called Alemania by the geo- graphers of the period ; 1 but the information withheld by history is of less moment, if from the examination of the picture itself we can guess at the country in which this Justus was educated. The Annunciation in Santa Maria di Castello is painted on the side of the cloisters in which the Domi- nicans spend their leisure hours, and receives brilliant light from a window looking out on the sea. The sacred incident is divided into three irregular spaces, by two slight colonnets ; it is laid within an apartment seen through a highly ornamented Gothic arch, with a lunette in which the figure of God the Father is placed. The Virgin, standing on the right in a pensive attitude, and seeming to listen, bends her head towards the angel ; she wears a transparent veil, through which her yellow hair appears ; a blue cloth gracefully falling over the ears is fastened at the neck, and opens out to show the hands delicately crossed at the bosom ; then forming full and sweeping folds, it fills the fore- ground, and impinges on the central space. 2 The inner 1 "Les Pays Bas portent encore le nom de Germanie in- ferieure ou Basse Allemagne." Guicciardini, u. s., p. 3. 2 The whole work is about 9 f . 9 in. square, including the lunette which contains the representation of the Eternal. The Annunciation, taken alone, is 9 ft. 9 in. by 7 ft. 6 in. The whole picture is entirely under glass, for its better preservation ; por- tions of it, such as the gold work of the dresses of the two prin- cipal figures, being partially effaced, and the blue of the Virgin's dress darkened by age. The landscapes also have become slightly indistinct. THE ANNUNCIATION. Mural Picture, by Justus d'Allamagiia, in Santa Maria di Castello, at Genoa page 170. CHAP. VII.] JUSTUS OR JODOCUS OF GHENT. 173 dress, seen beneath the mantle fringed with golden embroidered letters, is of rich gold stuff ; a painted receptacle of. stone covered with a red cloth stands at the Virgin's side, and is filled with books ; an arch of stones, alternately coloured black and white, opens behind, and golden rays dart upon the figure from the glory that surrounds the Eternal. The announcing angel, dressed in a golden cope, with broad edges containing figures of the Apostles, occupies the central and left portion of the picture, and, kneeling at some distance back, holds out one hand, and grasps a delicate mace in the other ; the inner dress of white falls in folds on a chequered brown and white floor, leaving bare the naked feet. In a recess a basin lies ; above it hangs an ewer ; a bird dips its beak into the water, and a lily in a vase stands on the window-sill. Three open arches allow us to see the distant hills in which there are faint traces of episodes of sacred history; similar particularities may be noticed in a landsape opening behind a win- dow on the left ; an orange-tree impedes a portion of the view; and on the frame of a high window is a small square card, on which the painter's name is inscribed. The Eternal, looking down from the midst of the carved and fretted work that surrounds him, has the benignant aspect of age — silvery hair and beard ; the colonnets which divide the picture are canopied in stone, and form niches on each side of the Eternal, in which there are small figures of saints. There is much in this painting to lead to the con- viction that Justus d'Allamagna was not taught by Hu- bert or John Van Eyck. The work is in some respects Flemish, but Flemish with an admixture of peculi- 174 JUSTUS OE JODOCUS OF GHENT. [CHAP. VII. arities marking the school of Cologne. The elements of comparison between the great Flemish pictures, exe- cuted in oil, and this in tempera on the wall, are wanting, and preclude the discussion of the question of colour; but looking at the smooth treatment, which hardly differs from that of a tempera on panel, and looking particularly at the form of smoothness which meets us here, we are necessarily led back to the school of Cologne, whose art work is marked as this is marked by nice blending of tints, clearness of lights, paleness of shadows, and want of chiaro-'scuro. The subject of the Annunciation, common to every school of the continent, offers small scope for remark. The general distribution of the composition, and its combination of groups with low arches, rich in carved ornament and detail, are more characteristic of the Rhen'ish school, than of that of Bruges. With respect to the figures; if they are executed with less mastery than those of the Flemings, they are distinguished by a softness peculiar to Rhenish craftsmen. The Madonna is placed in an attitude of considerable grace, and simply draped ; the round outline and form of the head, the hair covered with a cloth, recall the Virgin of Stephen of Cologne. The announcing angel, although more in the Flemish manner than the rest of the picture, has a cast of coun- tenance different from that of the Van Eycks, and in some points resembling that of the Rhine painters, who also had the custom of gilding vestments. But Flemish methods and inspirations may be traced with more certainty than elsewhere in the back- ground of the composition, which, instead of being a golden surface, surrounded by architecture, is made to represent space and depth by depicting the interior of CHAP. VII.] JUSTUS OK JODOCUS OF GHENT. 175 an apartment, with windows looking out upon land- scapes according to the Flemish fashion. The painter's knowledge of linear perspective is, unfortunately, slight. We may conclude that Justus d'Allamagna was a man, partaking of the Flemish and Rhenish man- ners, and exhibiting the religious feeling of the latter, combined with the more material tendency of the former to imitate nature. He cannot have been a pupil of the Van Eycks, with whose pictures and method his mural painting has nothing in common ; nor did he practise the technical methods of the Van Eycks. 1 It is curious, however, that no other trace of this artist should be found at Genoa. There is a Genoese picture in the Louvre, divided into three parts — the centre representing the Annunciation, the wings, St. Benedict and St. Augustin, and St. Stephen and St. Angelo, 2 similar in character, as regards faces and figures, to that of Justus d'Allamagna; but the com- position has not his calm religious feeling. The Vir- gin shrinks tremulously, and supports herself against a column, whilst the angel is represented in the air. The Virgin is dressed in a golden garment, covered with a black drapery ; the types of the faces resemble those of the Annunciation at Genoa, and the back- ground is an Italian landscape ; the flesh tints are chalky grey, and so slightly shaded as to seem un- finished. This is a picture either by Justus d'Allamagna, 1 Another painter, called Johannes Alamannus, painted with Antonio da Murano in 1445, and in 1446. He exhibits some- what of the Rhenish manner in sentiment and in the nice blending of flesh tints, but especially in the architectural parts of his composition. 2 No. 258, Louv. Cat. The central panel, met. 1. 56 by 1.07. The panels of the wings, met. 0. 98 by 0.48. This picture formed part of Louis the Eighteenth's Collection, and had been executed for an oratory at Genoa. 176 JUSTUS OR JODOCUS OP GHENT. [CHAP. VII. or by one of his pupils. The Flemish character is less visible on the wings, which are not by the same hand as the central panel. Many painters of Germany, or of the Low Countries, at Genoa, in the fifteenth century, might be pointed to as authors of the panel of the Louvre. Padre Spotorno, who wrote the literary history of Liguria in 1824, published an interesting narrative of the early school of painting in Genoa. Amongst the men who migrated to Italy in the fifteenth century, was one Corrado d'Alemania, who lived at Taggia in 1477. Spotorno supposes, not improbably, that Corrado came to Italy with Justus d'Allamagna, and held a sub- ordinate position in the workshop of that artist, as Memling did in that of Yan der Weyden. It was in Taggia that Padre Domenico E. Maccari, and Lodovico Brea, of Nice, also lived; and Spotorno thought it not unlikely that these men, who exhibited Flemish tendencies in their works, might be pupils of Corrado d'Alemania. There was, he thought, some re- semblance between the works of these masters. The only picture remaining of Maccari is at Taggia; and of Brea the first known work was painted in 1478. The foreign character of Brea's pictures was noticed by all who saw them; his composition, the attitude of his figures, the hardness of his design, and the angular nature of his draperies, his partiality to ornament, proclaimed a painter influenced by the Flemings. These characteristic features of his style may have been obtained from Corrado at Taggia, and Justus d'Alla- magna at Genoa. Baldinucci and Lanzi, who notice Brea's foreign style, said that he founded the Genoese school; but Spotorno, Avho searched the records of Genoa, discovered the names of twenty -six artists CHAP. VII.] JUSTUS OR JODOCUS OP GHENT. 177 previous to Brea on the chronological register of the old painters of that city; one Oberto, having professed the art as far back as 1368. The influence of the Flemings at Genoa did not last; it ceased after Maccari and Brea; and Semino and Piaggio, pupils of Brea, abandoned his manner after they had seen the pictures of Carlo di Mantegna and Pier Francesco Sacchi. 1 There is less of doubt to contend with in reference to Justus of Ghent whose altar-piece in Sant' Agata, at Urbino, was executed in 1468—70 for the brotherhood of Corpus Christi, and paid for by the subscriptions of Federico di Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino and others. The registers of the convent furnish full details as to the manner in which the subscriptions were raised and the money spent. Giovanni da Luca, or Zaccagna, contributed 33 florins and 22 bolognini ; Gostino San- tucci, three different amounts; the Duke of Urbino, 15 florins of gold. The remaining sums are not speci- fied; but the expenses of the altar-piece are distinctly stated; 300 florins were paid for its production, and 40 florins 33 '/2 bolognini for the gold leaf of the background. 2 1 See Padre Spotorno(G.B.), Storia Letteraria della Liguria, 8vo. Genova, 1824—6. 2 "1465. Marzo 31. Giovanni da Luca, altram. Zaccagna deve dare fiorini 33 e bol. 22. della promessa che fece per la tavola." "1468. Tre partite pagate per l'elemosyna promessa per la tavola a conto di Battista(di Maestro Gostino Santucci Medico)." "1474. Marzo 9. Fiorini 15 d'oro dati dal Conte Federico per aiuto della spesa della tavola a Guido Mengaccio per la f raternita." "1474. Ottobre 25. Fiorini 40 e bologn. 33 1/2 9 spesi in pezzi 4,700 d'oro battuto per la tavola." "Adi d° Fiorini 300 .. A M str0 Giusto da Guanto depintore per fiorini 250 d'oro a lui promessi per sua fatica per depingere la tavola della fraternita." "Adi d° Fiorini 240 d'oro. Li d. sono per tanti che Guido di Mengaccio ha dato contanti a Maestro Giusto da Guanto depin- 12 178 JUSTUS OR JODOCUS OF GHENT. [CHAP. VII. The Duke of Urbino appears to have taken a special interest in the production of this work which was intended to illustrate a curious incident of his reign. Ussum Cassan, Shah of Persia, being desirous of assistance in a war against the Turks, sent to raise funds and troops amongst the people of the Italian States. Caterino Zeno, an agent of Venice in the East, was entrusted with this mission, and came in 1471 to Urbino to solicit the aid of the Duke of Montefeltro. Justus of Ghent was then commissioned to execute the altar-piece of the Corpus Domini ; and Federico did honour to the ambassador by introducing him as a spectator in the Last Supper of Justus. 1 In 1474 the panel was completed, after which there is but one further record of the stay of Justus at Urbino; and that is an entry in the registers of the brotherhood of Corpus Christi, respecting a piece of canvas purchased for the making of a banner. 2 The Last Supper of Sant' Agatha, having been re- moved from its original position, and suspended high up above a large picture on the great altar of the church, is not in such a satisfactory state of preser- vation, as to afford a perfect judgment of its merits. 3 tore per la promessa gli fu fatta per dejiingere la tavola. Ave- mone el queto per mano di Ser Francesco di Pietro da Spelle, et anche e accesa la scripta tra noi e Mtro Giusto, et e in mano di Giohanni di Luca perche non fece el dovere, e da noi fuintiera- mente pagato a conto di Guido in questo a carte 73, Lire 600." — Pungileoni (L.),Elogio Storico di Giovanni Santi,Svo. Urbino, 1822, pp. 64-6. 1 Don Andrea Lazari, arciprete, "Compendio Storico Delle Chiese e delle pitture esistenti in esse," Urbino, 1801. Pungileoni, u. s., p. 46. 2 "1475. Giugno . . . . E piu tela a M tro Giusto depentore clie diceva voler fare un insegna bella per la fraternitaj'— Pungi- leoni, u. s., p. 65. s Wood 10 feet square. CHAP. VII.] JUSTUS OR JODOCUS OF GHENT. 179 The Saviour, in long vestments, advances from the right to the centre of the foreground, and stoops to present the wafer of the host to the first of a line of apostles in prayer at the side of a long table ; be- hind him, to the right those who have communicated kneel with grave and composed features. At the furthest end of the boaml, to the left, St. John Evan- gelist places a flask on the table ; an apostle on his right holds a long taper, whilst Judas with the bag of gold retires through a door; an angel hovers above this portion of the picture. The communion table is separated from the rest of the church by a railing, behind which, to the right, the Duke Federico with two attendants, 1 seems to converse with the turbaned figure of Zeno, enforcing his words by placing a hand on the ambassador's shoulders. Zeno contemplates the scene with astonishment; a woman and child behind the Duke watch the incident from an opening ; and an angel flies above the group ; behind the apostles is the retreating pilastered wall of the church and a hanging lamp. Justus of Ghent appears from this example of his manner to have been an industrious painter, of the Flemish school, without any claims to superiority over the numerous pupils of the Van Bycks. His com- position is arranged with a certain method, but marred by the total absence of linear perspective ; the figures of the Duke and ambassador being more distant, yet larger than those of the Saviour and apostles. The high centre of vision of the foreground gives an awkward look to the figures ; but a certain depth of atmosphere in the background partially corrects this 1 One of these attendants is supposed to be a portrait of Justus of Ghent. 12* 180 JUSTUS OR JODOCUS OF GHENT. [CHAP. VII. defect. The type of the Saviour Avith his long straggling hair and bony form, and the features of the apostles are vulgar. The figures indeed are of fair proportions and varied in attitudes; hut the contours are angular and hard; the feet and hands are ill drawn and the draperies, though free from excessive angularity, are meaningless, and rather conceal than develop the form. There are neither embroideries nor ornaments, but the naturalistic tendency of the painter is shown by the wine flask in a corner, and the jug and basin in which the apostles have washed themselves. The greater part of the altar-piece, and especially the fore- ground, is rubbed down ; where the colour is best pre- served a warm yellowish tint of a low key and thin sur- face prevails. We are told by Vespasian that Frederick ofMonte- feltro "sent to Flanders for an artist especially skilled in the handling of oil colours, to whom he gave im- portant commissions, causing his Duchess to sit for her likeness, and ordering him to decorate a library with pictures of philosophers, poets, and doctors of the church." The name of this artist is not mentioned; but the panels with which he filled the walls of the library of Urbino are preserved in the Barberini palace at Rome, and in the Campana gallery at the Louvre; and it seems natural that we should inquire whether Justus of Ghent who produced the last supper is identical with the Fleming who adorned the library. The last supper produces no other impression than that it was executed by a Netherlander free from con- tact with Italian guildsmen. The series "of poets, philosophers, and doctors" is not without transalpine feeling; it combines Flemish peculiarities of type and treatment with a flavour of Italian spirit. "We may CHAP. VII.] JUSTUS OR JODOCUS OF GHENT. 181 concede that it was painted by Justus; but, if so, it must be supposed that Justus materially altered his manner by studying the works of such men as Giovanni Santi and Melozzo da Forli. We know that Raphael copied the library series; and we thus trace Flemish influences at work in forming the style of the greatest of Italian craftsmen. Jealousy or disdain prompted the local annalists of Urbino to neglect the claims of Justus to historical recognition; and Giovanni Santi who wrote of Van Eyck and Van cler Weyden, omitted to name the only Fleming who laboured at Urbino. It is only fair that modern criticism should expose the prejudices of< earlier ages. 1 The pictures finished by Justus for the church of St. Jacques at Ghent — the Crucifixion of St. Peter, and the Beheading of St. Paul — were still preserved in 1763, when Menssert wrote his "Peintre amateur;" 2 they have since disappeared. Justus is not the author of the "Discovery of the Cross," in the collection of the late Mr. Huyvetter of Ghent ; nor is he the painter of the panels assigned to him in the Antwerp Gallery. 3 1 See Vespasiano de Bisticci's life of Frederick of Monte- feltro in Mai's "Lives" published at Rome in 1839. The Louvre series of 15 panels is in that portion of the collection called Musee Napoleon III., Nos. 263 to 276; the panels varying in size frornm. 1.16, to 0.90 in height and from 0.55 to 0.76 in breadth. Consult the History of Painting in Italy, by the authors. Vol. II. 563, and Reiset in Notice des tableaux du Musee Napoleon III. 8». Paris, 1866. 2 Menssert. Le peintre amateur et curieux. 8°. Bruxelles, 1763. II. p. 37. 3 Antwerp Mus. No. 223. The Nativity. No. 224. The Bene- diction. CHAPTER VIII. BOGEE VAN DEE WEYDEN. Of the two schools into which Flemish art was divided in the first half of the 15th century, that which claimed and held preeminence was founded by the Van Eycks, hut that which exercised paramount in- fluence on the later painters of Germany and the Netherlands was headed by Roger Van der Weyden. 1 Whilst every sign guides us to the Eastern border of Belgium as the cradle of the Van Eycks, there is evidence that Van der Weyden took the first lessons of his craft in the West of Flanders; and we thus have to acknowledge the existence of two currents of picto- rial teaching, one of which took its rise in the valley of the Maes, the other in the valley of the Schelde. Roger, the son of Henri Van der Weyden, was born in 1400 at Tournai, a city venerable for its antiquity and traditions, respected as one of the larger municipalities of Belgium, and rich in monuments of architecture. 2 Tournai was one of the places in which tinted sculpture was commonly produced in the 14th 1 Soger van der Weyden is not to be confounded with Eoegere van Bruesele who was free of the Guild of Ghent in 1414, and whose name appears in records of 1410 — 15. This Eoger is probably Eoger van der "Woestine, a painter of Ghent whose works are missing. See de Busscher, Becherches, pp. 51 — 55. 132. 141, and Kuelens, Notes et Additions u. s. CXXVII. 2 Mr. Pinchart has found dated records in which the pain- ter's name, age, and family are given. See the reference in the CHAP. VIII.] ROGER VAN DER WEYDEN. 183 century; 1 and we have seen how stone carving formed part of the decorative portion of canvases assigned to craftsmen of that city. The same peculiarity meets us in Van der Weyden, and affords one of the most remarkable instances of the power with which sculp- ture under certain aspects may react on painting. It was observed long since that the form of Van der Weyden's art, and the clearness of bloom in his pigments, pointed to a school different from that of Van Eyck; 2 but historical testimony was so strong in favour of assuming that Roger Van der Weyden was John Van Eyck's disciple that new evidence was re- quired to enable us to demur to the old. That evidence we now possess, and it allows us to state that Roger Van der Weyden was not only born but bred at Tournai ; that he was apprenticed to a local and other- wise unknown master, called Robert Campin, in 1426, and made free of his guild in 1432. That he very speedily rose in public consideration after this is proved by the fact that, in 1436, he was painter in ordinary to the city of Brussels. 3 catalogue of the Brussels Museum by E. Fetis, p. 164, and the Journal des Beaux Arts for 1863, p. 63. We have seen neither the records nor a copy of them. 1 Notes from the archives of Tournai, already quoted in chap. I, from De Laborde, Les Dues de Bourgogne, I. LXIV. 2 See the first edition of this work, p. 174. 3 As early as 1449, Cyriacus (in Colucci : Antichita Picene. Tom XV., p. 143) noticed Roger of Brussels as second in rank to John Van Eyck. A few years later Pacio (De viris, u. s. pp. 48-9} spoke of the same master as Van Eyck's pupil. After Eacio's error had been copied by Vasari, (I. 163 and IV. 76) Gruicciardini, (u. s. 123-4)visited the Low Countries, and was enabled to state that. Roger van der "Weiden of Brussels succeeded to the reputation "of the Van Eicks." Upon this Vasari transferx-ed the same statement without comment to the last volume of the second edition of his Lives, (XIII. 148), and thus had the misfortune to- mislead Van Mander (pp.203 and 207), who copied him through- out and registered two persons under the names of Roger of Bruges 184 BOGKEE VAN DEE WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. We shall observe, after scanning the whole of the works of Van der "Weyden, that they realize an order of religious thought differing somewhat from that of the Van Eycks. The Van Eycks illustrate the splen- dour of the church militant-, or they fondly depict the placid joys of the Virgin, the smiles of the Infant Christ, and the serene pensiveness of saints ; Van der Weyden likes to dwell on the gloomy aspects of sacred history ; he prefers the pages in which we read of the agony and pains of the Saviour and the Martyrs. In Van der Weyden's mind gorgeous beauties of colour have no charm. He may have felt the vibra- tions of true harmonies; he may have known the technical value of contrasts, but he had no feeling for and Soger Van der Weyden of Brussels. The doubts and diffi- culties created by this accident received unwelcome complication when it appeared that Molanus, an author of the 16th century (History of Louvain cit. in Kuelens, Notes et Additions), had de- scribed pictures at Louvain as being executed by Master Roger "civis et pictorLovaniensis". They were stiil further increased by the discovery that the freedom of the guild of Ghent had been taken in 1414 by "Rogier of Brusele;" (Guild of Ghent in de Busscher, Recherches, u. s., p. 200); the}' culminated when it was found that Bogelet de le Pasture or Van der Weyden had been articled and had risen to the freedom of his trade in 1426 and 1432 at Tournai. (A. Wauters, "Roger Van der Wej'den,'' in Revue Universelle des Arts. 8°. Paris and Bruxelles. 1855. Tome II. p. 12). It was the good fortune of Mr. A.Pinchart to take us out of the dilemma of contradictory statements by proving with authority that the celebrated painter, called by some Roger of Bruges, by others Roger of Brussels, is no other than Roger de le Pasture or Van der Weyden of Tournai, who was apprenticed to Robei't Campin of Tournai in 1426, who matriculated in the guild of St. Luke at Tournai in 1432, was city painter at Brussels in 1436, and was honoured with masses at Tournai when he died at Brussels in 1464 ; and it is only necessary as an interesting part of the evidence to give the following (Annotations, u. s., CCVI— VII) : "Archives com- munales de Tournai. Comptes annuels du metier des peintres et verriers, anno 1463 — 4. "Item payet pour les chandelles qui furent mises devant St. Luc, a cauze du service maistre Rogier de le Pasture, natyf de cheste ville de Tournay, lequel demoroit ,;i Brouselles, pour ce: iiij gros , /2-" CHAP. VIII.] EOGER VAN DEE WEYDEN. 185 the richness of tints or the glow of warmly lighted scenes ; he must have seen the brilliant pictures of the Van Eycks, yet looked upon them as exotics worthy of admiration rather than imitation. The sun for him seems never to have shone, hut in early hours ; for the clear morning light under which he presents all objects is the twilight before sunrise; alight which, with impartial kindness, illumines the innermost re- cesses of an apartment, the still current of a river, the crags on its banks, the towers on its slopes, or the distant snow mountains on its horizon ; he had a solid aversion to broad contrasts of chiaroscuro. Whilst he eschewed effect as a means of producing pictorial illusion, he carried minuteness and finish to such a point that his pictures bear the closest inspection ; he sacrificed almost every thing to perfection of detail; he may at times have given life and expression to a face exceptionally noble in type and features, he may occasionally have caught an attitude or gesture ; habitually he fell into the convenient faults of gaze, rigidity and moroseness. It may be doubted whether he ever appreciated the value of a smile, for he never gave to his Yirgins or saints any thing more than soft and solemn gravity; large eyes are emblematic of deep thought; broad protuberances of forehead, and an extraordinary development of head, are typical of intellect and superhuman power ; convulsed features represent grief; attenuated frames, long suffering ; and a portly person, the fit enjoyment of the good things of this world. At rare intervals Van der Weyden succeeded in designing draperies free from excessive angularity, but in general he fell into the common failing of all Flemish painters and delighted in mazes of broken folds, the 186 EOGEE VAN DEE WEYDEN. [chap. vni. formality of which generally added to the disagreeable effect of figures already marked by a certain fixity of attitude. In the rendering of nude he was careful, but not invariably perfect ; it is not rare to find parts of the same figure well and ably wrought, others the reverse ; or to be repelled by clumsy and ill drawn feet and hands. Van derWeyden had a fair knowledge of anatomy and a correct appreciation of form, without the taste to idealize it ; those who have seen the graceful Infants of Italian painters will hardly bear with the coarse stiff doll which generally satisfied their Flemish contemporary. The uniform lightness which marks Van der Wey- den's panels suggests a long habit of painting in tem- pera. The pains which he took to model flesh with deli- cacy are highly commendable ; his colours though pale, are invariably blended to a nicety, which is the more remarkable as they are of substantial impast. Nothing is more curious than the contrast between the soft fused flesh tones and the patience with which hair and beard are worked out ; conscientiousness of detail is carried so far that the most distant and the nearest portions of a landscape are finished with equal minute- ness, producing a total absence of atmosphere. A strange peculiarity marks the foregrounds ; the figures are made to rest on a barren rocky surface, in the interstices of which a hardy plant at times crops out, the leaves and stems of which are painted with exag- gerated care. In his early days, perhaps, a tinter of stone, Van der Weyden was partial to architectural ornaments, on which he lavished time and trouble without imparting to them that warmth of glow and perfection of relief which are so conspicuous in John Yan Eyck. In CHAP. VIII.] ROGER VAN DER WEYDEN. 187 the art of linear perspective he was almost totally deficient. Chary of ornament, he never overlaid draperies with embroidery and precious stones, but faithful to the system of reproducing what he saw, he accurately copied the monstrosities of costume which prevailed in his time. It was during his life that singularity of dress was carried to its most extravagant height. Fops wore shoes so pointed that the extremities were tied to the legs for fear they should trip up the wearer ; sumptuary laws regulated the dress of people in different classes, and the noble was habitually distinguished by silk and gold apparel ; men could not walk in the streets without wooden pattens. It was one of the objects of the puritan party at Brussels, in Van der Weyden's time, to reform the absurdities of costume so common in the 15th century; but the failure of its efforts might be deduced from the fact that, when Van der Weyden depicted the Kings of the East making offerings to the Saviour, he found no dress more characteristic than that of the noblemen of his day. It is a fair subject of inquiry how it happened that Van der Weyden rose to the high position which he undoubtedly occupied in the esteem of his contempo- raries and successors. The answer will be that it was because he appealed to a feeling in the human breast which generally breeds sympathy, and that he delighted to depict subjects in which the sentiment of the masses was naturally enlisted. He was more indebted for the honour he received to the peculiar religious subjects which he chose, than to the perfection of his painting ; and it is matter for serious thought that an artist who did not approach to the excellence of the Van Eycks should have been more extensively known and have 188 ROGER VAN DER WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. exercised a greater influence than any other master of the Netherlands, that Germany should owe to him some of the elements which comhined to produce the talents of Schon and Diirer, 1 that Bruges should owe to him its Memling and Louvain its Dierick Bouts, that the school of Cologne should have derived from him a new character ; and that the mixture of the three should have found its incarnation in Quintin Massys, the only original artist of Antwerp in the 16th century. If we give credit to a passage in a Chronicle of the Carthusians of Enghien, Roger Van der Weyden was a married man before he was an apprentice ; and we may suppose that he gave up some earlier profession for that in which he finally became famous. 2 In 1436 the municipality of Brussels came to a public decision which materially helps to settle the chrono- logy of his life ; it was recorded in a public ordinance of the 2d of May "that after the death of Master Roger the office of town painter should be suppressed." 3 This leads us to the necessary conclusion that after Yan der "Weyden took the freedom of his guild at Tournai in 1 See Lambert Lombard to Vasari, April 27, 1565, in Gaye, Carteggio. Vol. III. pp. 176—7. 2 "Anno eodem(1473) obiit in Octobri . . . dominus Cornelius de Pascuis de Bruxella, films magistri Eogerii de Pascuis egregii illius pictoris. Iste fuit hie monaclms professus circiter viginti quatuor annis. . . . Hie juvenis obiit circiter quadraginta octo annorum et ex parte ejus domus bsec a patri et matre ipsius ha- buit plusquam quadringeuta coronas." Chronicon domus capellaj ordinis Cartbusiensis juxta Angiam fo. 41. ap. A. Wauters. BogerVan derweyden; u. s. Eevue Univ. des Arts. Tom. II. 1855. p. 11. Yet thewoi-d circiter should make us cautious; but it is cer- tain, at all events, that Corneille van der Weyden was born before 1435; Mr. A. Pinchart having found several records of that date at Tournai in which mention is made of Roger, his wife Eli- zabeth Goffaerts and his children Corneille and Marguerite. Two more children, Pierre and Jean, were born in the next following- three years. See Journal des Beaux Arts, 1863, p. 63. 3 A. Wauters, in Eevue Universelle, u. s. 1855. II. p. 14. CHAP. VIII.] ROGER VAN DER WEYDEN. 189 1432, he wandered to Brussels where, previous to .1436 he was made a citizen, and appointed painter to the city. Certain sumptuary privileges, we are now aware, were connected with this office. As town painter Van der Weyden was furnished with cloth of a certain fineness, and allowed to hang his cloak on the right shoulder; his dignity was below that of a surgeon; his perquisites were higher than those of an architect. 1 At some period not exactly to be traced Van der Weyden was called upon to paint for the town hall of Brussels four canvases celebrated in the pages of the oldest stories of travel; described by Sweert in the Monumenta, by Calvete de Estrella in the "Happy Journey of King Philip," noticed by Diirer in his visit to the Netherlands, lost in the bombardment of Brus- sels in 1695, 2 but fortunately reproduced in the arras which still adorns the cathedral of Berne. 3 On one canvas Trajan was depicted delivering one of his captains to the executioner at the prayer of a widow who charged the captain with killing her only son; a second showed Gregory the Great on his knees be- fore the altar of St. Peter, it also represented him receiving the head of Trajan with its tongue in perfect preservation ; a third displayed the Judge Herkenbald decapitating his -nephew who had ravished a maiden's honour; a fourth the miraculous descent of the holy 1 Roger, besides, to have a "derdendeel" of cloth. Ordin- ance of about 1440, in A. Wauters, Messager des sciences- historiques, u. s., anno 1846. p. 131. 2 Sweertius. Monumenta, u. s., pp. 309 — 11, Calvete de Estrella. El felicissimo viage, del Bei Felipe, fol. p. 92. Diirer, Beliquien. ed. Campe, u. s., p. 88. A. Pinchart, Bulletins de l'Acad. de Brux. Ser. 2. Tom XVII, no. 1. Anno 1864. Article called B. v. d. W. et les Tapisseries de Berne. 3 See on this Pinchart's B. v. d. Weyden et les tapisseries de Berne, u. s., Kinkel's Die Briisseler Bathhausbilder und deren Copien in den Burgundischen Tapeten. 8°. Zurich, 1867. 190 KOGKEK VAN DEE WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. wafer into Herkenbald's mouth after a bishop had refused hini the sacraments. 1 During the years immediately preceding the ap- pointment of Van der Weyden, great changes had taken place in the administration of the municipality of Brussels. A party of puritans had come into office; and it was apparently desirable to symbolize some of the virtues for which the leaders strove by pictorial representation. Enactments in this sense had previously been made. Justice was no longer to be contaminated by the sale of verdicts. Religious communities were to be reformed; and to this end numerous edicts were issued against gambling and adultery. Singing was forbidden in houses and streets, and married men liv- ing in concubinage were rendered liable to lose what offices they might then hold, and be for ever ex- cluded from employment and the prerogatives of the city. 2 That Van der Weyden, before he came to Brussels, should have painted altar-pieces and panels is natural to suppose ; that his leisure time at Brussels was devoted to similar occupations is more than probable. The first pictures of which we have cause to know the approximate date, are those which make up a triptych in the Museum of Berlin representing the nativity, the dead Saviour, and Christ appearing to Mary after the Resurrection. They were given to the Carthusians of Miraflores by John the lid king of 1 Consult the authors cited in the previous note hut one. It was long the fashion to reproduce these subjects in arras. Besides the cloths at Berne, there is one representing the legend of Herkenbald in St. Pierre at Louvain ; it was made from a cartoon by Philip van Orley in 1513. See van Even's Louvain Monumental, fol. Louv. 1860, p. 180—1. 2 "Wauters. Eevue Universelle des Arts, also Henne et Wau- ters. Histoire cle Bruxelles. Vol. 1, p. 227. CHAP. VIII.] ROGER VAN DER WEYDEN. 191 Spain in 1445, and are described in the books of the monastery as painted "by the great and famous Flem- ing Magistro Rogel." 1 The chief panel of this remark- able triptych displays one of those scenes of mournful interest in the composition of which Van der "Weyden seems to have followed the bent of a natural inclination. The stiff attitude of the figures, the rigid character of the outlines, and the angular appearance of the draperies reveal undeveloped power; the laborious minuteness of architectural ornaments in the Gothic arches which surround each scene proves that the earliest quality of Van der Weyden was conscientious detail, whilst tint- ing given to the ornaments themselves, and the pre- sence of angels dyed in pink and blue might betray his early occupation as a colourist of stone, and almost suggest that in his youth he painted miniatures. The central panel is what Yan der Weyden's contemporaries called "ung Dieu de pitie ;" it is a melancholy repre- sentation of the Saviour removed in a lifeless and emaciated state from the cross, and lying at full length in the arms of the Virgin, who leans over him in tears and overwhelmed with grief. Joseph of Arimathea and i Berlin Mus. No. 534 a . Wood. Eacli panel 2 f. 3.1/2 h. 03- 1 f. 472- This altar-piece is said, we know not on what authority, to have heen presented by Martin the Vth to king Juan the lid of Spain. Ponz, Viage d'Espana. 8°. Madrid, 1783. Vol. 12. p. 58. quotes the folloAving respecting it ; being an extract from the books of the monastery of Miraflores near Burgos : "Anno MCCCCXLV donavit prsedictus rex (D. Juan II) pretiosissimum et devotum oratorium tres historias habens : nativitatem scilicet Jesu Christi, descensionem ipsius de cruce quae alias quinta an- gustia nuncupatur, et apparitionem ejusdem ad matrem post surrectionem. Hoc oratorium a magistro Bogel magno et famoso flandresco fuit depinctum [De libro del Becerro del monasterio]." The triptych, No. 17, called Memling, in the collection of William the lid of Holland, was taken from Miraflores by general d'Ar- magnac. It was sold to the Berlin Museum for 6000 florins ; it has been injured by restoring. 192 EOGEE VAN DEE WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. St. John Evangelist stand by in attitudes, and with expressions, of mournful sympathy; a violet coloured angel floats in air amongst the confused mazes of parti-coloured ornament with which the Gothic arch above the scene is overladen ; a landscape is seen in the distance, as sunless and melancholy as the principal figures. The body of the Saviour is livid 1 and stiff; on the face may be traced all the agonies inflicted successively by pain, exposure, and starvation. It is the semblance of a dead man, and in no sense divine, yet we can to a certain extent conceive how such a represen- tation might excite the pity of the uneducated. The hori- zon of the figures and that of the landscape are different, the latter being represented on a level with the plane, on which the painter stands, and the landscape seen from an eminence ; nor is there atmosphere to supply the place of linear perspective. In the side panel to the left, Joseph is represented asleep on a seat, whilst the Virgin sits in front of a dais of gold brocade, and holds in her lap a large- headed Infant Saviour ; the Virgin wears a very light blue dress ; through the Gothic arch above her, a blue angel hovers in air. The side panel to the right shows us the Saviour appearing to Mary, and the Resurrection ; through the archivolt a blue angel flies. The character of the scenes depicted in the two side panels is similar to that of the central one ; the niches of the arches are filled with statues of saints and incidents from the life of the Vir- gin Mary. 1 Artists seem to have had no choice in this matter. It is distinctly stipulated in a contract of Saladin de Scoenere (1334) that the Saviour at the cross shall he painted with good flesh colour and like a dead man — "Comme un mort." De Busscher gives the contract, in Kecherches, u. s., p. 28. CHAP. VIII.] KOGEB, VAN DEE WEYDEN. 193 Early as the date of this triptych seems to be when compared with others executed during a long course of years by Van der Weyden, it is by no means a solitary example of its kind ; and we must attribute to the same period and probably to the same year the two replicas of an oratory representing scenes from the life of the Baptist in the Museums of Berlin and Frankfort. In both we observe a melancholy calm, and a serene clearness of atmosphere very like those which mark the altar-pie oe of Miraflores. In both, form and perspective are faulty; and the subjects are set in pointed arches adorned with statuettes. 1 Van der Weyden at this time kept a regular atelier for painters' work of all kinds at Brussels. In 1439, Philip the Good ordered a piece of carved work for the church of the Becollets, at Brussels, representing the Virgin and two princesses of Brabant, Mary, wife of John III., and her daughter, Mary, Duchess of Guelders. Roger Van der Weyden was ordered to colour these sculptures, and charged for doing so the sum of forty ridders of fifty gros of Flanders. For the additional sum of six livres, he painted the arms of the Duke Philip and the Duchess on the wooden doors, or wings, which protected the sculptures. 2 On the walls of the Chapel of St. Agatha in St. Pierre of Louvain there hangs a triptych representing 1 No. 534B. Berlin Mas. Wood. Each panel 2 f. 53/ 4 h. by 1 f. 6 V2 • This is a series of three panels in one frame. In the centre is the Baptism of Christ, to the 1. the birth of John and his presentation to Zachariah ; to the r. the Decollation. The replica at Frankfort, No. 67, is smaller, each panel being wood, 1 f. 33/4 h. by f. 93/4. The Birth and Baptism at Berlin were bought as Mendings at the sale of the collection of king William lid of Holland ; the Decollation was purchased in London. The Frankfort altar-piece was found in Lombardy. 2 A. Wauters, in Revue Universelle des Arts. Tom. II. p. 23. 13 194 EOGER VAN DEE WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. a descent from the cross on gold ground. Simon of Cyrene stands on a ladder leaning on the cross, and, with the help of Joseph of Arimathea, who grasps the frame under the armpits and Nicodemus who supports the legs, lowers the body of Christ to the ground. To the left St. Mary Magdalen wrings her hands, to the right, the Virgin faints into the arms of the Marys ; two or three other figures complete the composition. The left wing contains the portraits of the donor, and his two sons recommended by St. James, the right, portraits of the patroness with two daughters and St. Elizabeth; the coats of arms in the upper part of the wings are those of the family of Edelheer, and tell us that the patrons are Jacques and Elizabeth Edelheer and their children. 1 On the outer sides of the wings are the Trinity and the Virgin supported by St. John; and beneath the second of these subjects is the following inscription recently recovered from superposed paint: "Dese tafel heeft veree[r]t hen Wille Edelhee en Alyt Syn Werdinne int jaer ons hen MCCCC? en xLin." Which means: "This picture was presented by Willem Edelheer and Alyt his wife in 1443." 2 On the testimony of this inscription it has been assumed that the altar-piece was painted in or before the year 1443, and the name of the painter has been sought in the following passages from Molanus's Ms. History of Louvain. "Wilhelm Edelheer, Aleida his wife, and Wilhelmus their son, founded in 1443, at the altar of the Holy Spirit, the chapel of St. James the elder ... Wilhelmus 1 Divaeus. Ker. Lov. in E. van Even's Monographic de St. Pierre de Louvain, folio. Louvain, 1858, p. 40. 2 Ch. Piot in Beffroi. I. p. 103. CHAP. VIII.] EOGER VAN DER WEYDEN. 195 Edelheer, first rector of the chapel, by will dated 1473, founded a second chapel. Master Roger, citizen, and painter of Louvain, painted the Edelheer altar at St. Pierre of Louvain/' 1 In other words: The Edelheer chapel was founded by Willem Edel- heer in 1443 ; Roger Van der Weyden painted in the Edelheer chapel; a picture exists in St. Pierre of Louvain; ergo the altar-piece now in St. Pierre is by Roger Van der Weyden. 2 Nothing can be more fal- lacious. There is little in this triptych to carry us back to the middle of the 15th century, much on the contrary to betray the hand of a feeble artist of the close of that century, whose want of skill and feeling is shown in dull immobility of masks, in the gaze of staring eyes, in hard and wiry contour, in harsh and dusky colour, and shadeless modelling. The altar-piece purports to have been presented by Willem and Alyt Edelheer in 1443, yet it contains the likenesses of James and Elizabeth Edelheer, the first of whom died in 1479, and the second in 1487. 3 We cannot doubt for a moment that the inscription has been misread or tampered with; and it is equally certain that the picture is a comparatively modern adaptation of one by Roger Van der Weyden, which was frequently re- peated. 4 J Piot in Le Beffroi. I. 111. 2 The Edelheer Chapel is now "Chapelle de St. Aubert." Van Even. Monographie, u. s., 43. 3 E. van Even. Monographie, u. s., p. 40. 4 See postea. A writer in the Beffroi (? Weale) holds the authorship of Van der Weyden, on the grounds above given to be proved (I. 111). Mr. Michiels in the Gazette des Beaux Arts. Vol. XXI. falls into the same mistake ; and the late Dr. Waagen (Jahrbucher fur Kunstwissenschaft. 8". Leipzig, 1868. H. I. p. 44,) does the same. It is to be observed that the pic- ture is not one originally painted for St. Pierre of Louvain. It is a recent purchase (AVauters, Bevue Universelle, u. s., II. 167) 13* 196 ROGER VAN DER WE Y DEN. [CHAP. VIII. We are informed by almost contemporary chroni- clers that at some period of his life Yan der Weyden thought it worth while to purchase the freedom of the city of Louvain, and paint pictures there. 1 Two altar- pieces are specially mentioned; one adorning the Eclel- heer altar in the church of St. Pierre, which if it be the same that is now shown is, not original, another in Notre Dame hors les murs, which was bought and sent to Spain by Mary of Hungary. 2 It is related of the second of these pieces which represented the Descent from the Cross that, after it had been copied by Coxie, it was stowed on board of a ship which foundered at sea, and was saved after it had floated ashore. This des- cent of the Cross was, of all Van der Weyden's com- positions that which met with most favour, and was most frequently imitated ; it may indeed have been repeated more than once in the master's own atelier. Of all the replicas which are known at present to exist one is strongly impressed with the stamp of origi- nality and hangs in the Museum of Madrid. 3 The body of the Saviour is being let down from the cross by Simon of Cyrene, into the arms of Nicodemus and and may turn out to be a copy by Coxie of the altar-piece exe- cuted by Van der Weyden for Notre Dame bors les Murs at Louvain. 1 Molanus, (in Hist.Lov.MS. u. s., lib. 10, f. 167), says: "Ma- gister Rogerius, civis et pictor Lovaniensis, depinxit Lovanii, ad S. Petrum altare Edeleer et in capella beatse Marise, summum altare, quod opus Maria Regina a sagittariis impetravit, et in Hispania vehi curavit, quamquam in mari periisse dicatur, et ejus loco dedit capellse quingentorum florenorum organa et no- vum altare ad exemplar Roggerii expressum, opera Michaelis Coxenii Mecbliniensis, sui pictoris." 2 Van Mander, u. s., 207, and Opmeer, u. s. The chapel of Notre Dame hors les Murs in the Rue de Tirlemont at Louvain was built in 1364 and demolished in 1798. See Louvain Monu- mental 4°. Louvain 1860, by E. van Even, p. 237. 3 No. 1046, Madrid Mus. Cat. 1858. 7f. 2in. high by 9f. 5in. "Wood, gilt ground. CHAP. VIII.] EOGER VAN DEE WEYDEN. 197 Joseph of Arimathea ; Mary Magdalen looks on and wrings her hands with the wildest signs of grief; Van der Weyden here exhibiting his peculiarity of exag- gerating pain and joy by unnatural action ; near her is St. Peter, the Virgin swooning at his feet, and the third Mary, with other saints, close by. The figures of nature's size, exhibit in a proportionate degree Van der Weyden's tendency to hard outline, lean form, and lack of dignified feeling ; the Saviour's head is fine, but the group of Mary swooning and the figures round her are the chief attraction,— the blooming flesh tints and harmonious colour contrasting with the livid hues of the crucified body. One of the replicas is in the Escurial, 1 under the name of Albert Diirer, but painted by one of Roger's pupils, grey in tone and harder of line than the original. Another in the Santa Trinita Museum of Madrid, by a stranger to the Flemish school, lacks all grace or charm of colour, and is heavy, dark, and red. A fourth in the Berlin Museum has suffered much from cleaning and restoring, but is an old copy. 2 A triptych, the central portion of which exhibits features not dissimilar from those of the Des- cent from the Cross of Berlin — such as the composi- tion, grouping, and attitude of the figures — is in the Liverpool Gallery. 3 A sixth, diminutive in size, is still, as we have seen, in the cathedral of Louvain. For half a century the subject was repeated in all the schools 1 No. 3. Hist, y clescr. del Escorial. D. Jos. Quevedo. Madrid, 1849, p. 288. Of this picture Florent Le Comte relates that it was taken to the Escurial by Philip the lid (II. p. 202). 2 No. 534, Berlin Cat. given to "Eoger v. d. Weyden der jiingere, 1529." Dated 1488. Wood, 4 f . 83/ 4 'z. high by 8 f. 5'/., z. broad. 3 No. 39, Liverpool Gall. Cat. Wood, 2 f. 2. and each wing 9 inches wide. On the wings St. Julian and St. John the Baptist. Ascribed to Eoger v. der Weyden the younger. 198 ROGER VAN DER WEYDEN. [CHAP. VHI. of Germany and Holland; and taste, as usual, becom- ing slave to fashion, the groups were reproduced and changed ad infinitum. A curious instance of exag- gerated imitation is the triptych in the Cologne Museum, dated 1480, attributed by some to Israel van Meckenen, and by others to Albert van Ouwater, but really by an artist of the Rhenish school who shows that he had the trick of Flemish colour, but not the skill of Van der Weyden. 1 The largest and most important commission which Van der "Weyden executed before 1450, is that en- trusted to him by Rollin, Chancellor of the Duchy of Burgundy, whose likeness we saw so beautifully painted by John Van Eyck for a church at Autun. Rollin had obtained a bull from Eugenius the IVth to build a hospital at Beaune. The first stone of this edifice was laid in 1443; and it is probable on several grounds that the picture was finished in 1447. Gandelot's history of Beaune relates that the bull of Eugenius which authorized the erection of the building under the in- vocation of St. Anthony was quashed by a bull of Nicholas the Vth (1447 — 55), who ordered it to be consecrated under the invocation of the Baptist. The presence of Eugenius the IVth and St. Anthony in the picture may be accepted as proving that it was finished before the accession of Nicholas the Vth. 2 As at Saint Bavon so at Beaune the subject is spread over nine panels, six of which cover the three central ones. 3 In the centre of the highest panel Christ sits 1 Cologne. Wallraf-Bichartz Mus. No. 127. Now assigned to the master of the Lyversberg Passion. 2 Gandelot. (L'Abbe) Histoire de la ville de Beaune. 4°. Dijon, 1772. p. 111. 3 Beaune Hospital. Wood, in its totality about 18 feet broad and seven to eight feet high. Much injured by abrasion and by CHAP. VIII.] ROGER VAN DER WEYDEN. 199 on a rainbow, with his feet on the orb and angels beneath him sounding the last trump ; in two small compartments on a level with his seat are four angels carrying the emblems of the passion; lower down to the right and left, the apostles, headed by the Virgin and Baptist with Philip the Good, Eugenius the IVth, JeanRollin, bishop of Autun, and Isabella of Portugal, and beneath them the figures of the accursed and blest rising from their graves, parted from each other by St. Michael, who weighs their souls in a balance ; in the extremes are the gates of Paradise and the abode of Satan. The composition of the central panel is the most faulty portion of the picture, the glory and the fore- ground being crowded together, instead of being properly parted; but the distribution of the saints in glory is extremely good; the lines are agreeable and in perspective, the figures well grouped together, and animated in motion. The choice of expression in the various faces of the saints shows a good perception and command of character. St. Peter is grand and ener- getic, the Madonna full of affectionate and motherly feeling; and St. John, with those accompanying him, is amongst the finest of the school, the attitudes being far more bold than are usually found in Flemish creations. The harmony of the colours of the vestments is vigorous and true; and the folds are not so angular as in other pictures of the master. Although the form of Christ is not excellent, it recalls most forcibly to attempts made to conceal the nudities of some figures with super- posed colour. Some writers, ex. gr., Michiels in Gazette des Beaux Arts. Tom. XXI. p. 209, assign this altar-piece to John Van Eyck ! 200 EOGEE VAN DEE WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. mind the representations of the same subject by John Van Eyck. On the outer wings are represented the donors and the guardian saints of the building in monochrome; St. Sebastian, long and thin, exaggerated in motion, as usual with Van der Weyden, but executed with the utmost care and diligence; St. Anthony, with his bell and pig, one of the noblest creations of the Flemish school. The portraits of Rollin and his wife are splendid studies of reality, without flattery or idealism. But, in comparing Rollin at Beaune with Rollin in the Louvre, the energetic financier of John Yan Eyck's picture seems much older, and less grand in attitude. The comparison also serves to show the difference which existed between the modes of colouring used by the two painters. At the period when this picture was completed we may presume that Van der Weyden also finished for a member of the Flemish family of Bracque a triptych with half lengths now belonging to the Marquis of Westminster. Surrounded by an old oaken frame, and covered with ancient scriptural inscriptions, it seems to have been a votive picture destined to adorn a se- pulchral monument. 1 The outer surface of the triptych contains a wooden cross, with the words, "0 mors quam amara est memoria tua horn, injusto et pace habenti in substaciis suis, viro quieto et cujus vitse directa) sunt in omibus et adhuc valenti accipere cibu. Eccl.xli." Above the cross is a scutcheon and the motto, "Bracque et Brabant." A large skull is also repre- sented, with the epitaph of the person commemorated. 1 A votive picture of this sort is described in the Life of F.an der Goes. Vide sup., p. 139. 201 This epitaph, to the following effect, reminds us of that of Hubert Van Eyck. It is written in French: — "Mirez vous ci orgueilleux et avers Mon corps fu beaux ore est viande a . . ." The rest of the words, probably "aux vers," are obliterated by time. The funereal and solemn tenor of these inscriptions is reflected in the picture itself. In the centre of the triptych, surrounded by a halo, merging from red into yellow, the Saviour holds a brazen ball and cross, emblematic of universal rule; the Virgin, with hands joined in prayer, looks towards him on the left, and the Evangelist, holding the chalice, contemplates him on the right. On the wing, near the Evangelist, is Mary Magdalen; on that near the Virgin is St. John the Baptist. The Saviour, in a dark-brown habit, holds up his right hand, and extends his two fingers in the act of blessing. Long hair, parted in the centre, falls upon his shoulders, encircling, with a small and double- pointed beard, a dark-toned face, full of heavy muscular developments, broad overhanging cheeks, eyes so im- movable as to impart an air of ferocity to the counte- nance, and a heavy underlip with drooping corners ; the shadows of this unpleasant type of divine solemnity are oppressively dark and sad. The -Virgin, on the other hand, is full of soft and benign expression ; a drapery of white surrounds her face, which is modelled with copious colour, nicely blended, of a pale-white tone. St. John the Evangelist contrasts with the Virgin by vigorous colour and transparence ; the face is soft, and beams with a calm sentiment of resignation. St. John the Baptist is less ably depicted, austere, not noble; through the half-closed lips the teeth appear, and 202 KOGEK VAN DEE WEYDEN. [CHAP. VUI. this trivial detail helps to mar the face. The Magdalen in tears is the most graceful figure in the whole com- position; the head is covered with a white turban, from which a delicate veil depends, passing under the chin and leaving the neck exposed ; a low, grey dress, tightly laced in front, exhibits all the forms, and is scantily covered by a blue drapery. In the Magdalen's hand is the cup of ointment. Great harmony and modelling may be noticed in the flesh tints, which are delicately outlined ; the hand holding the ointment is well proportioned, and contrasts favourably with those of all the other figures, which are thin, ill -jointed, and ill-designed. It is characteristic, indeed, that in parts, such as the extremities, a feeble knowledge of anatomy is shown; whilst in others, as in the neck and bosom of the Magdalen and the throat of the Evangelist, con- siderable attainment in the same study is remarkable. The general aspect of the draperies is broader and less angular than that of Van der Weyden generally ; they are painted with a breadth and profusion of colour which mark them as a late production of the master's hand ; nor can we fail to notice that, in the execution of a varied landscape background, Van der Weyden has been more than usually successful. Behind the Baptist, Jerusalem forms a landscape marked by some aerial perspective, enhanced and strengthened in effect by the lines of the meandering Jordan. The light upon these landscapes is that of early morning, the twilight casting its white colour on distant snow mountains, not unlike those inVanEyck's picture at the Louvre. This votive altar-piece is like that of Beaune in its style and mode of execution, the Saviour in both having much the same character. St. J ohn the Baptist CHAP. VIII.] EO GEE, VAN DEE WEYDEN. 203 also possesses similar features of resemblance. The figure of the Magdalen is the original of more than one of Memling's sentimental female saints, the feature of the altar-piece being particularly this, that the female figures surpass the male in a marked manner. Nothing, indeed, is more striking than the execution and preservation of the Magdalen; in some of the male faces and hands the shadows of the flesh tints have partially suffered from over-painting ; but, with these exceptions, the panel is in excellent preservation. In the catalogue of the Grosvenor Gallery this altar-piece is attributed to Memling ; but characteristic points show that it was painted by Van der Weyden, who had less feeling and grace, and less parsimony of colour than his pupil. 1 One of Yan der Wey den's lost pieces — a gift, in 1446, to the Carmelites of Brussels, represented the Donor and his family kneeling before the Virgin and the Infant Saviour, above whom two angels soared, supporting a crown of stars ; on the wings at one side were monks ; on the wings at the other side a knight of the order of the Golden Fleece with his family. This triptych was damaged by Calvinists in!581, and restored in 1593 ; it has since perished. 2 1 Grosvenor Collect. Wood, centre, 21 inches by 15, each wing 10 V2 inches by 15. On the sky above the Saviour these words: "Ego sum panis vivus qui de ccelo descendi. Joh. VI. 51. Above the Virgin, "Magnificat anima mea Dominum et exul- tavit sps meus in Deo salv." Luc. I. 46. 47. Above the Evan- gelist, "Et verbu caro factu est et habitavit in nobis." Joh. 1. 14. Above the Magdalen, "Maria ergo accepit libram ungueti nardi pistici, pretiosi et uxit pedes Jsu. Joh. XII. 3. Above the Baptist, "Ecce Agnus Dei qui tollit peccata mundi. Joh. I. 29. In the collection of the Brit. Mus. 7 by 5V 4 inch, is the drawing for the Magdalen without the hand and cup. It is catalogued as by "John of Bruges". A photograph of it is in the Beffroi, u. s. 2 Sanderics. Chron. Sacrce Brabantice, 1593. Vol. II. p. 293. 204 EOGEE VAN DEE WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. Another picture of Mary embracing the Saviour was probably painted at this time, 1 as well as the "Martyrdom of the Philosophers converted by St. Catherine," executed for the convent of Groenendael. 2 Van der Weyden had long been married to Eli- zabeth Goffaerts, a lady of his own station. He was independent in means, having money at interest in the "domaine de Brabant" and in Tournai; 3 Cornelius, one of his sons, was studying at the College of Pore in Louvain ; his daughter Margaret, born at Tournai in 1432, was marriageable ; Peter, his second boy, born at Brussels in 1437, had elected to learn the paternal trade; Jean, the third, born at Brussels in 1438, was apprenticed to a goldsmith. 4 A dwelling in the Rue de l'Empereur, with part of a tenement at a corner of the Montagne de la Cour at Brussels, was the place of usual residence for the whole family. 5 Every re- 1 A. Wauters. Revue Universelle cles Arts, u. s. Vol. II. p. 168. 2 Ibid. II. p. 171. 3 Michiels, Gaz. des Beaux Arts. u. s. XXI. 203. 4 "Wauters, Revue Universelle. II. p. 11. Michiels, Gazette des Beaux Arts, u. s, XXI. pp. 203. 225. Margaret died in 1450, Jean, in 1468. 5 Twenty 3-ears previous to his death (according to "Wauters, u. s., Eevue Universelle des Arts), Roger Van der Weyden owned the house and the tenement at the corner of the Montagne de la Cour. The latter property was rated to the poor of the parish of Ste. Gudule for a sum of forty-eight livres, half of which was paid off between the 3 r ears 1444 and 1465 in the name of Roger the painter (Meester Rogier, scildere). The account-books from which these details are drawn, sometimes contain the wovdaldair after the painter's name, which signifies that Roger lived in the house ; at other times the painter's name as Meester Roger Van der Weyden without the "aldair". In the year 1443, the wife of William de Heersele paid this rate ; after the death of Roger Van der "Weyden, viz. from 1466 to 1491, and from 1494 to 1498, the payment was made by the sons of William de Heersele's wife, who are called Meesters Rogiers oor Van der "Weyden ; in 1492 — 93, however, it was made by Peter Van der Weyden, and from 1499 to 1539, by a person of the same name, qualified as CHAP. VIII.] EOGER VAN DEE WEYDEN. 205 cord and every historical fact seems to point to a constant residence at Brussels; and yet there is ground for assuming that at some period between 1440 and 1450, Yan der Weyden occasionally lived at Bruges. Cyriacus of Ancona calls him Roger of Bruges. 1 Van Mander and Vsernewyk tell how Roger of Bruges painted cloths ; they speak of numerous works in churches and houses. 2 Diirer alludes to "Riidiger's painted Chapel" in the Kaisershaus, and his "costly" pictures in Sanct Jacob of Bruges, 3 and when the agents of the Duke of Ferrara pay Van der "Weyden for work that he has done, he is called "M°. Ruziero depintore in Bruza." 4 It may be that the cloths of which these accounts are given, or a triptych which Diirer called "a chapel," were portable works taken from Brussels to Bruges, that Bruges being better known than Brussels, was the place upon which the Ferrarese agents were ordered to negotiate their pay- ments ; it may have been from Bruges that Van cler Weyden started on the journey which he made, in 1449, to Ferrara and Rome. The constant communications between Italy and Flanders by Lombard and Belgian traders had made the Italians well acquainted with the advance of art "master." Peter Van der Weyden, who paid the rate of 1492-93, is no douht the son of Eoger Van der Weyden, as other documents are in existence to prove that he lived and was married, as far back as 1484. The second Peter Van der Weyden is supposed to be a grandson of Eoger, and son of the first Peter. There is no doubt that he was a painter, because he is mentioned in the accounts of 1511, as proprietor of Roger's house and described as "portrateur," and remembered in the list of anniversaries of Ste. Gudule as "Magister Petrus Van der Weyden, pictor." No traces are left of productions from the hand of this Peter. 1 Cyriacus in Colucci, u. s. XV. 143. . 2 Van Mander, u. s. 203. Vsernewyk, Hist. v. Belg. 133. 3 Beliquien, u. s. 121. 4 See records postea. 206 ROGER VAN DER WEYDEN. [CHAP. Vin. in Belgium. Pictures by John Van Eyck had been sent to Sicily. An altar-piece by Van der Goes had been taken to Florence; and the names of Flemish painters were mentioned with respect at least by Neapolitans ; but this acquaintance was not at first mutual ; for few Italian paintings had found their way into Belgium. A few years, however, after the death of John Van Eyck a circumstance occurred which might well contribute to make the painters of the two coun- tries curious of each other. Antonello da Messina came to Flanders, learned the uses of oil medium, and carried back to Italy the practical results of his ex- perience. The new improvements were calculated to excite, they actually did, as we have seen, excite inquiry in Italy, and Van der Weyden very probably thought that there was at least experience to be gained by visiting the Peninsula. Ferrara, to which we first trace him, was the seat of a court in which literature and art were cultivated with much assiduity; — a city of artificial growth fa- voured by a constant immigration of foreigners, Italian and Transalpine. From the earliest years of the century to a period subsequent to Van der Weyden's visit, it was the habit of the Marquises of Este to employ artists of distant schools. Side by side there might be seen in the same edifices, Henry of Brabant and Baroncelli of Florence, sculptors whose carved work was illuminated by Michael the Hungarian. The fashionable goldsmith was Simone de "la Magna;" and Zanin "de Franza" designed embroidery for ec- clesiastical dresses. 1 — Vittor Pisano took to Ferrara the complex style of an Umbrian modified by contact 1 Citadella (Luigi Napoleone) Notizie relative a Ferrara. 8°. Ferrara, 1864. pp. 62. 74. 79. 80—82. 419. CHAP. VIII.] ROGER VAN DER WEYDEN. 207 with the Veronese, and Piero della Francesca was preparing to introduce the choicer elements of Umbro- Tuscan art, Angelo di Pietro of Sienna, who, strangely enough, earned the name of "Parrasio," doubtless carried thither the antiquated manner of his coun- trymen; 1 and Bono Ferrarese imported that which he had learnt at Padua. 2 Conspicuous amongst local craftsmen, Galasso Galassi scarcely rose above the rugged and repulsive grimness of the 14th century; whilst Tura and Cossa were striving to perpetuate the stern but unpleasant realism of the Mantegnesques. It is easy to conceive that Van der Weyden, when transplanted to such a soil, would be received with favour. The tendency of Ferrarese artists such as Bono, Galasso, Tura and Cossa was to favour pictorial forms essentially related to those which were accepted as perfect beyond the Alps. The Squarcionesque type was more coarsely realistic, the Squarcionesque mask was plainer than that of the Flemish naturalists. As Van der Weyden, early in 1449, finished a triptych representing the Descent from the Cross, the Expulsion, and a portrait of Lionel d'Este, Bono and Angelo of 1 We have no pictures to point to. Angelo di Pietro d'Angelo, or Angelo del Macagnino was a Siennese painter, whom we find charged with murder at Nocera in 1439. The governors of Sienna vainly asked for his enlargement, which was refused by the Cardinal of Florence, Giovanni Vitelleschi. His Avill in the archives of Sienna is dated from Ferrara on the 5th of August 1458. (See Milanesi [Gsetano], Documenti per la storia dell'arte Senese. Tom. II. 187 — 8 and 295). He was in the service of Lionel and Borso d'Este from 1444 to 1456, and painted several panels in the so-called Studio at Belfiore. (Private communi- cation from Marchese Campori of Modena). 2 See History of painting in North Italy by the authors of this work. I. 375, and Citadella (L. N.) Documenti &c. risguar- danti la storia artistica Ferrarese. 8°. Ferrara 1868, pp. 112. and 364, from which it appears that Bono was employed at Sienna in 1441 — 2 and 1461 and at Ferrara in the ducal service in 1450. 208 EOGEE VAN DEE WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. Sienna were engaged in the country seats of Migliaro and Belfiore, Gralasso was about to decorate the palace of Belriguardo, and Tura was on the eve of entering, if he had not actually entered, the service of the Mar- quis. 1 It is said by Cyriacus, that Angelo of Sienna became an imitator of Van der Weyden, 2 but we observe the same tendency in all the Ferrarese of the time, who might have done better than adopt the dry- ness of the chief of the Tournaisian school. That Van der Weyden, in the spring of 1449, made personal ac- quaintance with the Ferrarese artists whom we have mentioned, hardly admits of a doubt when we observe that the payments made to him in the name of Lionel at Ferrara, and later in that of Borso at Bruges, pas- sed through the hands of Filippo "cle li Ambruoxi," who was Tura's assistant. 3 "What became of the triptych at Ferrara was never discovered; but we may perhaps consider as part of it the beautiful panel at the Uffizi 1 Cyriacus in Colucci. Antichita Picene, u.s.XV. 143. Facius (B.). De viris, p. 45. History of Italian Painting, u. s. I. 414. 516 and the preceding note. 2 Cyriacus, u. s. 3 A di XXXI de decembre due 1 venti d'oro per lei a Filippo de li Ambruoxi et compagni per nome di Paolo de Porio de bruza per altri tanti die el deto paulo pago a M° Buziero depintore in bruza per parte de certe depinture de lo Illu m0 olim nostro S r [Lionel] eke lui faceva fare al deto M° Boziero come per Man- dato de sua olim Signoria registrato al registro de la camera de l'anno presente." Memoriale of 1450 in the archives of Ferrara favoured by Marquis Campori. — The Marquis also found the following in a Memoriale of 1451 : "Due. 20 d'oro a Filippo delli Ambrosi per tanti che fece pagare ad un depintore in Abruza per le mane de paulo poro de laura per due figure chel deto paulo fece fare in Abruza per uxo et servicio predicto come per Man- date de lo illu. Nos. S. che appose registrato nel registro della camera &c. — Cyriacus states that Lionel d'Este showed him the Deposition and Expulsion at Ferrara on the 8th of July 1449 (VII Iduum Quintilium die N. [Nicolai] V [quinti] P. [Papse] A [anno] III [tertio]. For the fact that Filippi degli Ambrosi was Tura's assistant see Citadella, Documenti, u. s., p. 108. CHAP. VIII.] ROGER VAN DER WEYDEN. 209 which so completely answers to Cyriaco's description. 1 It is a small piece, in which we see the body of the Saviour supported by Joseph of Arimathea, the Virgin to the left holding his right, St. John to the right grasping his left arm; Mary Magdalen kneeling in front and grieving. The scene is laid in an open meadow, with Calvary in the distance, and a landscape full of figures. The composition is well ordered, and the Saviour is one of the most successful that the master ever painted; the colour of full body, clear, and well preserved, and some of the heads admirable in their realism. Was it Van der Weyden's fortune to visit Milan before he came to Ferrara, or did his fame reach the Sforzas through the Estes ? There is a picture in the Zambeccari collection at Bologna, which points to some connection between Van der Weyden and the Milanese court at a period subsequent to the painter's travels in Italy. It represents the Saviour crucified and bewailed by the Virgin and St. John Evangelist. Two kneeling figures face each other in the foreground. The first, a man in armour, supposed, from the shield and helm near him; and from a certain likeness between this and other portraits, to be Francesco Maria Sforza Duke of Milan, the second a female believed to be Bianca Visconti. A page to the left of the latter, is taken to be the son of Francesco and Bianca Gale- azzo Maria Sforza ; the page seems 15, Francesco 58, years of age. 2 The style and execution of the panel 1 Florence Uffizi. No. 795. Wood, small and admirably preserved. 2 Francesco Maria Sforza was born in 1401, Galeazzo in 1444. 14 210 ROGER VAN DER WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. are those of Roger Van der Weyden ; the head of Sforza has been rubbed down and retouched. The wings of the altar-piece represent landscapes (with, to the left), St. Francis and another saint, and above them the adoration of the Saviour; — (to the right), St. Catherine and St. Barbara, and above them St. John the Baptist ; the upper scenes of the wings are in the manner of Mending. On the outer sid,e of the wings, in dead colour, is St, Michael on horseback, to the right, killing the dragon ; St. Jerom to the left ex- tracting the thorn from the lion's paw ; in the distance an altar with the Saviour on the Cross. These two panels are very fine, well "relieved, and in the style of Memling. 1 Of what effect was Van der Weyden' s visit on the technical treatment of panel pictures in this part of Italy? The existence of a new medium in Flanders must have been made known to an increasing number of craftsmen ; and it is not beyond the range of prob- ability that Van der Weyden's receipts may subse- quently have become familiar to Piero della Francesca as they must have become familiar to Galasso, Tura, and Cossa ; but the Flemish style, as displayed in the masterpieces of the Netherlands, was certainly treated by Italians with general coldness, and this for reasons stated at a later period by Michael Angelo, who thought too much attention was expended on tints, green fields, trees, rivers, bridges, and landscapes filled with many scattered figures, and who considered that Flemish painting had no art, no symmetry, no pro- portions, no selection, and no grandeur. 2 1 Wood, oil, 1 f. 9'/ 2 by 1 f. 11 Eng. measure. 2 Raczynski. Les Arts en Portugal. 8". Paris, 1846. Michael Angelo gave this opinion of Flemish art, in conversation with the Marchioness of Pescara, Vittoria Colomia. CHAP. VIII.] KOGEE, VAN DEE WEYDEN. 211 From Ferrara Yan der Weyden proceeded to Rome, hardly, we should think, avoiding Florence which lay temptingly in his way. There we may conceive the staid and puritanical Fleming gravely admiring the masterpieces of Florentine art, from the time of Giotto to that of Beato Angelico, wandering into the Chapel of the Brancacci, scanning with eagerness the classic figures of Masaccio, and unconsciously following the footsteps which Raphael, Michael Angelo, and Leo- nardo were afterwards known so frequently to tread. The Garden of the Medici was not then in its splendour, but Cosmo had long been known for his magnificence and generosity, chiefly to the Dominicans and their favoured painter Beato Angelico. The same feeling which induced him to build a room in the convent of San Marco, for the purpose of enjoying the works of the best artist of the religious and mystic school, might lead him to appreciate and to welcome a stranger imbued like Van der Weyden, with an unusual share of religious zeal. Roger was commis- sioned to paint a Madonna; and under the attributes of St. Cosmo and St. Damian he is said to have trans- ferred to the picture the features of Cosmo's dearest children, Piero and Giovanni. After some vicissitudes the panel was carried away from Italy, and finally came to rest in the Staedel collection at Frankfort, but the arms of Florence in a scutcheon beneath the fore- ground, and the presence of Cosmo's patron saints Cosmo and Damian, conclusively prove for whom it was ordered. 1 The Virgin stands under a dais with the Saviour affectionately clasped to her bosom, between St. Peter and St. John and St. Cosmo and St. Damian. There is no religious piece in the complex of the master's 1 Frankfort, Staedel. No. 66. Wood, 1 f. 8 h. by 1 f. 2. 14* 212 ROGER VAN DER WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. works which displays more tender feeling. The heads are natural and expressive without loss of austerity or dignity ; the colours are laid on with stiff impast and pleasant clearness; and the draperies are cast with unusual simplicity and breadth. Amongst the great men in art at Florence in the middle of the century were Lippi and Ghiberti. Whether these representatives of the highest Italian genius met or associated with Van der Weyden is unknown. Angelico, to whom some sympathies seemed likely to bind him, had left Tuscany some years before for Rome ; but even there it would appear the two masters did not meet, and Van der Weyden was in- clined to neglect rather than praise the compositions of the inspired Dominican. Taking advantage, no doubt, of the pilgrim caravans which from all parts of Italy made their way to the Jubilee, Van der Weyden reached Rome in 1450, with the purpose of visiting and admiring the treasures of art already numerous there. He found the city restored to some sort of splendour by the efforts of Martin the Vth, Eugenius the IVth and Nicholas the Vth. He visited amongst other churches, San Giovanni Laterano, and seeing there the wall distempers of Gentile da Fabriano declared that they were the work of the best painter in Italy. It was the softness and blending of a manner akin to his own in its serenity that, we should think, attracted and pleased him. 1 We know not how, or at what time exactly, Van der Weyden went back to the Netherlands. His pictures found their way to the furthest ends of the Peninsula; — to Naples, where Alphonzo of Arragon owned a Madonna meeting Christ on the road to Golgotha, to Genoa, where Facio saw 1 Facius. De viris, u. s., pp. 48-9. CHAP. VIII.] EOGEE VAN DEE WEYDEN. 213 the only genre composition of the Brussels painter, — "women in a bath." 1 It is characteristic that Van der Weyden came home to his native place unchanged and immoveable in the peculiar practice which makes his productions so easy of recognition. Foremost amongst the influential men from whom Van der Weyden had commissions on his return from Italy we should notice Pierre Bladelin, treasurer of the Golden Fleece, and Jean Robert, abbot of St. Aubert of Cambrai, both of whom were connected in different ways with the court of the Dukes of Bur- gundy. Of the first it is related that he rose by perseverance and honesty from the position of a simple citizen at Furnes to that of an officer of the ducal household. His marriage with Margaret van de Vage- viere, a rich heiress of Bruges, gave him an intro- duction to Court; and he soon passed through sub- ordinate offices to that of director of finance and keeper of the privy purse. 2 Disliked by the courtiers because he was economical, he preserved a stainless reputation for integrity; and so, won the favour of Philip the Good and his son Charles the Bash. With an annual income of six thousand gold pieces, which Philip doubled yearly as a reward for his services, Bladelin founded the little town of Middelburg in Flanders, where he subsequently contrived to settle the burnt-out coppersmiths of Dinant. 3 The castellated mansion and the church, which were the most pro- 1 Facius. De viris, u. s., pp. 48-9. 2 "Sub eo (Lodovicus Malanus) commemoratur virum nobi- lem, Nicolaum Bladelinum, ob Gravelingam contra Anglos for- titer sed infauste defensam." — Marchardius, u. s., p. 290. See also Comp. Chron. Episc. Brug. p. 170-183. Messager des Sciences et des Arts de Belgique, 1835. pp. 333-348. 3 Chronique de Chastelain in Buchon, Coll. de Doc, u. s., Vol. XL VII, Chapt. 164, p. 47. 214 KOGEE, VAN DEE WEYDEN. [CHAP. VHI. minent buildings of the place, were finished as early as 1450, 1 and the high altar of the latter was decorated with an altar-piece by Van der Weyden. Jean Robert was both an abbot and a man of the world. He was on terms of intimate friendship with his bishop Jean de Bourgogne, who sometimes paid him a visit accompanied by Philip the Good. On these occasions the convent walls reechoed sounds which were not those of penitent prayer. The bishop and the Duke dined luxuriously at the abbot's board, and Philip boasted that he drank the abbot under the table. 2 For the high altar of St. Aubert of Cambrai, and at the special request of Jean Robert, Van der Weyden painted an altar-piece which, it is very probably conjectured, now lies in the Museum of Madrid. The Middelburg altar-piece was removed in com- paratively recent times from its original resting place, and came at last into the Berlin Museum ; a brighter or more attractive one it had not been the painter's fortune to complete. The patron of the altar, the treasurer Bladelin, is conspicuous in the foreground of the central panel, praying with great devotion before the Infant Christ. The subject is the Adoration of the new born Saviour, a subject conceived in the feeling of the Nativity by Van der Goes at Santa Maria Nuova of Florence. The light which radiates from the Infant illumines the figures of Mary and Joseph, who kneel about the litter; whilst in the gloom of the distance the shepherds adore the Presence. Subordinate 1 They were only commenced, according to Guicciardini (u. s., p. 472) in 1446. 2 De Laborde (Les Dues de Bourgogne. Vol. I. Introduction p. 58) cites the records of Cambrai for these facts. CIIAP. VIII.] EOGEE VAN DEB WEYDEN. 215 to this incident the kings of the East prostrate before a vision of the Infant in heaven, and Mary with the Child appearing to Augustus, are painted on the side panels. It would be difficult to name a picture of the time in which portrait character is more cleverly marked. We see the living form of Bladelin in the dress of his time ; nothing more quaint than his black fur pelisse, black tights and pattens, except perhaps the quaint apparition of Augustus in the garb and semblance of Philip the Good. There is a wondrous disregard of proportion in the several parts of the composition ; the heads are prominent and overweighted when contrasted with frame and limb. The three angels which adore the Majesty of the Babe at the Virgin's knees are diminutive as those of Nelli at Gubbio, they are mere children by the side of Bladelin; but the finish of the parts, the delicacy of the touch, and the gloss of the colours are very attractive, and a melan- choly serenity dwells in the features of all the dramatis personse. 1 The altar-piece of Cambrai was ordered at Brus- sels by Jean Robert in person, who entered the date .and conditions of his contract in a journal kept by himself: "On the 16th of June of the year -55, he says, I, John, abbot, bargained with Master Roger de la Pas- ture, the master-workman in painting at Brussels, to make a picture, five feet square, having eleven stories of such device as the work will show. These were made at various dates; and the said picture was six and a i Berlin Museum. No. 535. Centre panel 2 f. 11 >/ 2 h. by 2 f. 11. Wings 2 f. HVj h. by 1 f. 33/ 4 . We still read tbe false signa- ture: "JOH.. MEMLYjSCK fee." The triptych was bought of Mr. Nieuwenhuijs: — A copy of it still exists in the church of Middelburg. Canvas m. 1.02 h. by 1.85. 216 EOGER VAN DEE WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. half feet liigh and five feet broad; which picture was finished on the day of Trinity, in the year -59, and cost in principal 80 golden pieces, of 43 sols 4 den. each, money of Cambrai, all of which was paid at divers times. And was likewise paid to his wife and workmen, when the picture was brought, two pieces of gold of 4 livres 20 den.; and it was taken by the carman, Gillot cle Gonguelieu du Roquier, in the first week of June, in the year -59, on a cart with three horses." 1 Amongst the pictures transferred within the last few years from the interior of Spanish monasteries to the Museum of Madrid one was observed by the late Dr. Waagen to answer the description given by the abbot of St. Aubert. In this triptych, which measures about the same size as that entered in the journal at Cambrai, we find the three great episodes of gospel history embodied: in the centre, the crucifixion with the seven sacraments in the background of a Gothic church; — to the right, Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise; to the left, the Last Judgment; and in the carving of the pointed arches in which these subjects are set, six scenes from the Passion, seven days of the Creation, and seven works of charity. Dr. Waagen, who describes this altar-piece minutely, seems to have been of opinion that Van der Weyden never produced an example more remarkable than this for fitness of distribution, liveliness of incident, or truthful expression in heads. 2 1 Archives de Cambrai in De Laborde, u. s., Les Dues de Bourgogne. Vol. I. Introduction, p. LIX. 2 Madrid Museum. Wood (not seen). On the outer side of the triptych there are large figures of Christ giving the tribute money, and Christ with one of the apostles. The three panels together measure M. 1.96 h. by 2.43. The triptych came directly into the Museum from the Monastery de los Angelos at Madrid. See Gr. F. Waagen's "Ueber in Spanien vorhandene Bilder" in CHAP. VIII.] EOGEB VAN DEE WEYDEN. 217 Van der Weyden never signed nor dated any of his pictures ; and it is only by their style that we distinguish his works.. We are thus in doubt as to the time when the Epiphany and the Virgin sitting to St. Luke — two fine compositions in the Gallery of Munich — were executed; but these altar-pieces display much the same treatment as the Nativity of Middelburg, which is the finest production of the master, and we may assign them to the same period. The picture of St. Luke was bought by the brothers Boisseree at Brussels, and was described as having belonged to a chapel in which the mass of the painter's guild was annually read. 1 It was held in great venera- tion and frequently copied, and is probably that referred to in the following passage of Dtirer's diary: "Mehr 2 Stiiber geben vor Sanct Lucas Tafel auf- zusperren." 2 In course of years the name of the artist who painted it was forgotten, and the catalogue of the Munich Pinakothek registered it till quite recently as by John Van Eyck. St. Luke, attended by the ox, kneels on the right with a drawing board and style in hts hand, and looks musingly at the Virgin, who sits enthroned under a rich dais, giving the breast to the Infant Christ. The scene is laid in an open hall through the pillars of which we see a terrace and battlements, down which a man and woman look at a garden, a city Heft 1. p. 40 of A. von Zaun's Jahrbucher fur Kunstwissenschaft for the year 1868. Compare also Kinkel's "Briisseler Bathhaus- bilder und deren Kopien." 8°. Zurich, 1867. 1 There is no certainty as to the name of the church in which the painter's guild at Brussels originally had its chapel. "We only know that it had a chapel in the 17th century in Notre Dame de Bon Secours. Consult Pinchart, Annotations, u. s., CCLXIX. 2 Reliquien, u. s., p. 90. 218 BO GEE, VAN DEE WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. wall, a river lined on both sides with houses and turrets, and a landscape of blue hills. The wonderful minuteness of this distance, and its close resemblance to that in John Van Eyck's votive panel at the Louvre, (Rollin) are an excuse for the nomenclature so long retained by the brothers Boisseree. It is only when we turn to the study of form and treatment that we per- ceive the hand of Van der Weyden. We note the stiffness and strain which peculiarly distinguish the Brussels master, his oblong shape of heads, his'lean and lanky frame of infants, his habitual surcharge of small and broken folds in superabundant drapery, and his hard and inflexible contour; and yet with all these faults, and injured though it be by rubbing, repainting, and modern coloured glazings — the picture is a fine one and well worthy of Van der Weyden. 1 The triptych of which the Epiphany forms the centre, was bought from the Church of St. Columba at Cologne, for which it is said to have been painted; yet in the figures of the kings who adore Christ, that which kneels and kisses the Infant's hand is a likeness of Philip of Burgundy, and 1 that which stands to the right is Charles the Bold, whilst a patron behind St. Joseph remains unknown. On the right wing of the altar- piece, the Annunciation; on the left, the Presentation to Simeon are depicted. No picture of the master i Munich Pinakothek. Cabinets. No. 42. Wood, 4 f. 4 h. by 3 f. 5!/2- An old copy of this piece, formerly belonging to the Infante Sebastian, is in the Santa Trinita Mus. at Madrid. Another copy, belonging(1860) to the sculptor Hans Gasser at Vienna (Waagen Ermitage, p. 117), is perhaps the same described by Passavant (Kunstblatt 1841. No. 5) as in possession of Professor Hauber of Munich. A copy of the St. Luke alone is No. 445 in the Her- mitage of St. Petersburg ; it was bought at the sale of the col- lection of King William I. at the Hague, and came originally from Spain. Wood, 2 f. ll3/ 4 h. by 1 f. 7. CHAP. VIII.] EOGER VAN DEE WEYDEN. 219 is more imbued with religious feeling; none is more happily arranged and carried out. The Epiphany be- came a model composition in the Flemish schools ; it was copied by numerous followers of Van der Weyden; conspicuous amongst whom we should cite Hans Memling. 1 Van der Weyden was not celebrated for artistic skill only. He was of good repute as a citizen, and known for his benevolence, so that Lampsonius could write of him : Non tibi sit laucli, quod multa, et pulchra, Rogere, Pinxisti ut poterant tempora ferre tua. Digna tamen, nostro quicunque est tempore Pictor Ad quae, si sapiat, respicere usque valit: Testes picturse, quae Bruxellense tribunal De recto Themidis cedere calle vetant: Quam, tua de partis pingendo extrema voluntas Perpetua est inopum quod medicina fami, Ilia reliquisti terris jam proxima morti. Hsec monumenta polo non moritura micant. His portrait, which has been preserved, represents him as a beardless man of 50 with short shock hair, and a look of serious melancholy. In the background hangs a bit of his favorite composition, the "Dieu de Pitie. 2 When he sent his son Cornelius to take the cowl at Herinnes he endowed the monastery with a sum of 400 crowns ; he was equally liberal to the Carthusians of Scheut; 3 his affiliation to the religious brotherhood of the Holy Cross in the Church of 1 Munich Pinakothek. Cabinets. No. 35, the Annunciation ; No. 36, the Epiphany ; No. 37, the Presentation. Wood, the centre piece 4 f . 4 h. by 4 f . 10; the sides 4 f. 4 h. by 2 f. 3. The surfaces are injured by abrasion and altered by coloured glazes. A replica or copy of the Presentation is in the private collection of the Emperor of Germany, another in the Czernin collection at Vienna. See also postea in Memling. 2 See Lampsonius. Pictorum aliquot celeb., u. s. 3 De Vaddere. Historia monast. n. d. de G. ord. Carthus. (Scheut), ap. Warders Revue Univ. des Arts, u. s., II. Oct. 1855, p. 35. 220 EOGER VAN DER WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. Caudenberg by Brussels is noted in a record of 1462. 1 In 1461 we find him valuing as referee some stone tinting, executed by Pierre Coustain for Philip the Good in the palace of Brussels. 2 Amongst the pictures of his later time we may notice the Crucifixion, a trip- tych in the Belvedere at Vienna, where the Virgin is represented fainting at the foot of the cross and sup- ported by St. John; two donors, a male and a female, kneel in the foreground; and St. Veronica and the Magdalen are introduced into the side wings. Though assigned to Martin Schongauer, it is a good school piece from Van der Weyden's workshop, and exhibits the practised hand of an artist familiar with ana- tomical design. It is marked by an affected air in the heads, wan forms, large eyes with their eyelids thinly coloured, and pallid landscapes with foregrounds inter- sected by crevices and covered with spare vegetation. 3 We are less sure of Van der Weyden's authorship in the large panel of the Seven Sacraments, which hangs in the Antwerp Museum, though the scutcheons on it prove that it was painted for Jean Chevrot, bishop of Tournai. 4 1 Ruelens, Notes et Additions, u. s., CXXXIII. 2 "A Pierre Coustain, paintre et varlet de eliambre de MdS. la somme de VIII XX livres de XL gros, monnoie de Flandres, la livre, qui deue lui estoit : assavoir, qui lui a ete tauxe et ordonne par maistre Bogier, aussi paintre, es presence de Messire Mi- chault de Chargy, chevalier, maistre d'hostle de MdS. et de feu MS. Le Gruyer de Brabant, pour auoir paint et ouvre deux ymaiges de pierre, l'un de la representation de Saint Philippe, et l'autre de Saincte Elizabeth, lesquels MdS. a faict mectre et asseoir en son hostel au dit liexi deBruxelles aupres de lachambre devant la porte par ou l'on va au pare . . . De Laborde. Les Dues de Bourgogne, u. s., I. p. 479. 3 Vienna, Belvedere. Second floor, room I. "Wood, centre 3 f. 2 h. by 2 f. 2, wings 3 f. 2 h. by 1 f. 1. In the sky there are four grieving angels. 4 Antwerp, Mus. Nos. 393, 394 and 395. Wood, m. 2.0 h. by 0.97. A Magdalen at the foot of the cross is the figure most in the spirit of Van der Weyden's art. CHAP. VIII.] EOGER VAN DER WEYDEN. 221 Yan der Weyden died at Brussels on the 16th of June, 1464, and was buried under "a blue stone" in the nave of the church of Sainte Gudule, 1 where the body of his wife, who survived him many years, was also placed ; on this blue stone were the lines : "Exanimis saxo recubas, ROGERE, sub isto, Qui rerum formas pingere doctus eras ; Morte tua Bruxella dolet, quod in arte peritum, Avtificem similem non reperire timet. Ars etiam moeret tanto viduata magistro Cui par pingendi, nullus in arte fuit." 2 In quaint Latin and Flemish the joint resting-place of Roger and his wife is registered in the book of burials at Sainte Grudule: "Magister Eogerus Van der Weyden, excellens pictor, cum uxore, liggen voor Ste. Catelynen autaer on der eenen blauwen steen" 3 Yearly masses for the soul of Yan der Weyden were founded by his wife. Part of a pension paid to her by the corporation of Brussels, as the widow of their "portraiteur" (20 gold peeters), she gave in 1477 to her relative Henrich GofFaert, Canon of Caudenberg, to spend in masses for the repose of her self and her husband. 4 There is reason for not accepting as genuine two panels which bear Yan der Weyden's name, in the Belvedere at Yienna. Of these the first represents the Eternal in heaven, the Yirgin and Child, and St. Anne 1 Sweertius, u. s., p. 284. 2 Ibid. 3 A. Wauters, Registre des sepultures. Messag. des Sc. hist., 1845, p. 145. 4 A. Wauters, Cartulaire des Archives de l'abbaye de Cau- denberg. Messag. des Sc. hist., 1845, p. 144. Elizabeth Gof- faert's family owned a house near that of Roger and opposite the palace of Nassau at Brussels (now the Museum). "Wauters, Revue Universelle des Arts, u. s., II. p. 11. 222 EOGER VAN DEE WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. kneeling, two little dogs in the foreground, and a hedge of roses, behind which is a landscape and a city. 1 The second is an Adoration of the Magi ; both are poor productions of a later date. 2 Of another picture at Berlin, ascribed to Van der Weyden and signed "Sumus Rugerii manus," it is well to note the following: 3 Zanetti, in his "Pittura Yeneziana," 4 mentions a panel suspended, at the time he wrote, in a passage leading from San Gregorio, at Yenice, to a neighbour- ing convent. He thought, at first, that it must be by Roger, yet doubted when he found that the panel was of Venetian fir, and not of the oak in use amongst the Flemings. At a later period Lanzi saw this piece in the Nani Palace at Yenice, and repeated Zanetti's statement. 5 Some persons who think that Yan der "Weyden visited Yenice when he came to Italy, might suggest that he would then paint with the materials of the country; and they might think this the more natural as the Anonimo (ed. Morelli) describes a por- trait of Yan der Weyden in the house of Marco Zuanne Ram at Yenice, in 1531, finished in oils by Roger himself, and dated 1462. This, however, would not prove that Roger was in Yenice. 6 The Anonimo 1 Vienna, Belvedere. Second floor, Room II, No. 7. Wood, 1 f. h. by O.81/2. 2 Belvedere. Second floor, Boom 1, No. 105.kneepiece. "Wood, 2 f. 2 h. by 1 f. 8. 3 No. 1163, Berlin Cat. Centre, 4 f. 8i/ 4 z. high by 1 f. 5 V 4 z. broad, wood; wings, each 4 f. 8'/ 4 z. high by 1 f. 472 z. broad. From the Solly collection. 4 Zanetti, Pittura Veneziana, 1771, lib. I. p. 31. 5 Lanzi, Vol. III. Scuola Venez., Epoca prima, p. 37. 6 There is a curious coincidence of date between the por- trait mentioned by the Anonimo and that of the late Mr. Bogers' Collection, said to be a portrait of Memliug. This portrait was in the Aders Collection. "In casa de M. Zuanne Bam a. S. Stefano CHAP. VIII.] ROGER VAN DER WE YD EN. 223 merely says that the portrait was "from the hand of Rugerio da Burselles; 1 ' 1 and it is certain that, the family of Ram was one of wealthy merchants estab- lished at Venice for purposes of trade, 2 and likely to have had this portrait from Flanders. But all such speculations fall to the ground as we look at the picture. The subject is Saint Jerom on a throne, to the right, Mary Magdalen, and to the left, St. Catherine; the style, Italian of the sixteenth century, and the wood on which it is executed peculiar to the Venetians. From the attitude and motion of the saints, and the character of the heads, which not only differ from those of Van der Weyden, but of the Flemish schools in general, it is certain that the picture was done by a painter of the school of Padua. The figures have the slenderness, the features the aquiline contour uncommon in Flemish productions ; the outlines and drapery, are hard ; the colour has the thinness which marked the school of Mantegna. Supposing, therefore, even that Van der Weyden came to Venice, and that he, and not Antonello, carried thither the secret of oil-painting, it still re- mains a certainty that this is not a picture produced by him, but the work of some unknown artist of the Italian school. The Gallery of Munich contains but one picture to which the name of Van der Weyden is attached: 3 (in Venice) -1531. El ritratto de Rugerio da Burselles, pittor antico celebre in un quadretto de tavola a oglio, fin al petto, fii de mano del' istesso Rugerio, fatto al specchio nel 1462, u. s., p. 78. 1 Anonimo, ed. Morelli, u. s., p. 78. 2 Ibid. p. 140. 3 No. 65, Pinak. Cat. Cab. IV. Wood, 1 f . 9 high by 1 f. 2>/ 2 broad ; from Ambras Castle in Tyrol. 224 KOGEE, VAN DEE, WEYDEN. [CHAP. VIII. "Christ crowned with thorns;" it is not unlike the weak production of a pupil of Quintin Massys. The type of the school is more visible in the "An- nunciation" of the Antwerp Gallery, 1 — a diminutive panel, painted with great care and finish, and not dis- similar in execution from one in the Louvre, attributed to Lucas Van Leyden, and of old supposed to be the work of Memling. 2 It is not quite certain that the portrait said to be that of Philip the Good, in the same collection, 3 is a likeness of that prince, though Louys engraved it for the Collection of the Dukes and Princes of the House of Burgundy, by Jonas Suyderhof. It was purchased atBesangon, in 1827, and once belonged to the minister Colbert. In style it is hard and dry, like a neighbouring bust of a monk, attributed to Memling. In the Academy of Bruges there are also two pieces falsely assigned to Van der Weyden. The first is the Adoration of the Magi, the second the Adoration of the Shepherds, a night scene; both executed half a century after Van der Weyden's death. 4 Three panels from the abbey of Flemalle are cata- logued as by Roger in the Stsedel collection at Frank- fort. They represent the Trinity, St. Veronica, and the Virgin and child, and are painted in the style of Van der Weyden's school. 5 ' No. 396, Antw. Gal. Cat. Wood, 0.20,m. high by 0.12 m. broad. 2 No. 595, Louvre Cat. Now classed in the school of Memling. 3 No. 397, Antw. Cat. 0.38 m. high, 0.22 m. broad. Wood. 4 Bruges Acad. Nos. 35, 36, forming part of one altar-piece and now classed "unknown." On the outer side of those panels (37 and 38) are scenes from some obscure legend. 5 Frankfort, Stsedel. Nos. 72, 73, 74. Wood, arched, each panel 4 f . 6 3 / 4 h. by 1 f. 7 l fo. See Messager des Sciences hist. 1846. p. 149. CHAP. VIII.] ROGER VAN DER WEYDEN. 225 A panel in the late "Wallerstein collection (Ken- sington Palace) represents Joseph of Arimathea sup- porting the body of Christ, which is embraced by the Virgin with deep affliction. This is the work of an imitator of Van der Weyden's compositions. 1 A Descent from the Cross in the gallery of the Hague assigned by Waagen to Van cler Weyden, but catalogued as Memling, has much of the master's character but less finish, and a darker flush of tone than is usual when he works in person. It may be a school piece. 2 The Deposition in the Tomb ascribed to Yan der Weyden, at the National Gallery, is a dry grey tempera which betrays the hand of a German imitator. 3 Unsatisfactory in other ways, and surely but a school piece, is the small crucified Saviour between the Virgin and Evangelist with the Magdalen at the foot of the Cross in the Gallery of Dresden. 4 School pictures likewise, and of a very inferior class, are the eleven panels under Van der Weyden's name in the Museum of Brussels. 5 The Virgin and Child in half length with a damask hanging for a background, and the same subject full 1 Wallerstein Collection. Wood, 2 f. 6>/ 2 h. by 1 f. 8. 2 Hague Museum. No. 55. Wood. See Waagen's Handbook. 1860. p. 89. 3 London National Gallery, No. 664, tempera on linen. 2 f. 10 h. by 2 f. 4, bought in Milan. 4 Dresden Mus. No. 1718. Wood, 1 f. h. by 6 inches. 5 Brussels Museum, No. 33, head of a woman in tears, Wood, m. 0.48 h. by 0.32. No. 38. Wood, m. 1.44 h. by 0.57. Christ car- rying his cross; No. 39. Christ crucified, both parts of one altar- piece. No. 34. The Annunciation and the Infant Virgin received by an Angel; 37, Christ and the Doctors; 35, Nativity and Epi- phany ; 36, Circumcision; 40, Christ at the Tomb ; 41, the Disciples and Maries at the Sepulchre. Two panels of this series, the Adoration of the Shepherds and the Presentation in the Temple are missing. All the panels are of the size of No. 38. 226 ROGER VAN DEE WEYDEN. [CHAP. Tin. length in a landscape, are ascribed to Vander Weyden in the collection of Prince von Hohenzollern-Sigma- ringen, without having airy claim to be accepted as genuine. 1 A head of Christ seen to the shoulders, bought by Mr. J. M. Parsons from the Abel Collection at Stutt- gardt, is amongst the works assigned to Roger Van der "Weyden. 2 The Brussels Royal Library contains a manuscript of the Chronicles of Hainaut in which there is a miniature falsely assigned to Roger Van der Weyden. Mr. Wauters ascribes to Roger Van der Weyden a series of tapestries called the "Seven Sins," of which many are in Spain. He also speaks of a newly discovered picture in two compartments, one of which represents the Marriage of the Virgin, the other an unknown subject in which an old man is led before a bishop, whilst in the fore- ground two figures lie in prostrate supplication. The costumes are of the 15th century, and the style of the pictures similar to that of the "Seven Sacraments" at Antwerp. In 1613, after the death of the Duke of Aerschot, an inventory was made of his property amongst which was the following : "Six paintings, of a round form on wood, with painted mouldings, and having in golden letters a history of the life of Joseph ; — the whole painted in oil properly and artificially, and as was judged ■ 1 Prince von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. No. 50 in the Munich Exhibition of 1869. Wood, m. 0.29 h. by 0.21. No. 54. Wood, m. 0.28 h. by 0.20. 2 London, Mr. Parsons. Wood, 0,39 h. by 0.28. Not seen by the authors. CHAP. VIII.] ROGER VAN DER WEYDEN. 227 by the painter Novilliers, by the hand of Master Roger." 1 The catalogue which has now been given of the works, real or fictitious, by Van der Weyden, shows that many of his celebrated pictures are no longer extant. The canvasses of the town-hall at Brussels perished in the bombardment of 1695. Almost all the pictures in Italy are missing: — the Women Bathing, at Genoa; the Adam and Eve and donor, at Ferrara; and the pictures of Alphonzo of Naples. The portrait in the Gallery of Zuanne Ram, at Venice, may, as has been remarked, be that which goes under the name of Memling in the late Mr. Rogers's Gallery ; if it be so, it is not a genuine Van der Weyden. A Virgin and Child, full length, in a temple, the property of Gabriel Vendramin, at Venice, 2 has also perished. The pictures of the Gallery of Margaret of Austria — the Trinity, a small piece; the portrait of Charles the Rash; and a diptych of the Crucifixion and the mass of St. Gregory — are no longer to be found. 3 The altar-piece of the Carmelites of Brussels has disappeared, together with numerous canvasses which adorned the convent of Groenendael in the forest of Soigne, 4 and the picture in the collection of Archduke Ernest, in 1593. 5 1 Pinchart, note to Wauters' Revue Univ. des Arts. No. 8. Nov. 1855. p. 89, extracted from the Archives judiciaires de Mons. 2 Anonimo ed. Morelli, u. s., p. 81. 3 "Ung autre double tableau. En l'ung est Nostre Seigneur pendant en croix et Nostre Dame embrassant le pied de la croix, et en l'autre l'histoire de la Messe M. S. Saint Gregoire." The inventory of 1516 adds, "fait de la main de Rogier." — Inventaire de Marg. d? Autriche, De Laborde, u. s., p. 27. * Sanderus, Flandria Illust. Vol. II. p. 39. 5 "Marie embrassant son fils de Rogier de Bruxelles." — In- ventaire ; ap. De Lab., Les Dues de Bourg. u. s., Vol. I. Introd. p. 113. 228 EOGER VAN DEE WEYDEN. [CHAP. VHI. The name of "Roger Van der Weyden the younger" has been freely given in our time to pictures in which we trace little more than the style of Van der Weyden's school a§ handed down by pupils and assistants in his workshop. It would be tedious to notice the numerous works which fall into this class ; but it may be said of the majority of them that they are unworthy of any serious attention. There is some trace of a painter called Roger Van der Weyden in the register of the Antwerp guild for 1528, 1 but we know nothing of pictures that he may have executed; and it is on mere presumption that school pieces are assigned to him because they are reminiscent of the shop of old Roger Van der Weyden. Goswyn Van der Weyden, born at Brussels in 1465, and free of the guild of St. Luke at Antwerp in 1503, is described as the master of numerous apprentices between 1504 and 1513. In 1504 and 1530, he was "elder" of the corporation. This painter is known to have composed a triptych, historically traced to an altar in the Church' of Tongerloo, representing the Death, Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin. Goswyn represented himself on the wings with his grandfather; and above these two figures was a tablet with the following inscription: — "Opera R. P. D. "Arnoldi Streyterii hujus ecclesise abbatis hanc depinxit posteritatis monumentum tabulam Goswinus Van der Weyden, septuagenarius sua canitie, quam infra ad vivum exprimit imaginem, artem sui avi Rogerii, nomen Apellis suo sevo sortiti, imitatus re- dempti orbis, anno 1535." Or, in English: — 1 Antwerp Catalogue, u. s. p. 38. CHAP. Vni.] EOGEE VAN DEE WEYDEN. 229 "For Arnold Streyter, abbot of this church, Goswyn Van der Weyden, a septuagenarian, painted this picture — a monument for posterity, in his old age, which expresses within it, to the life, his image, imitat- ing the art of his grandfather, Roger, called the Apelles of his age, in the year of the Redemption of the World, 1535." i It has been usual to accept a diptych of the Assumption, in the Brussels Museum, as a part of the altar-piece of Tongerloo, but the error upon which this assumption was founded has been completely ex- posed of late years, and we have no records to prove that Roger Van der Weyden had a grandson of the name of Goswyn. 2 1 See A. Heylen in Wauters, Kevue Universelle des Arts. II. 330. 2 See Ruelens in Notes et additions, u.s., CXXXVI. The pic- ture is No. 631 in the Brussels Mus. catalogue. CHAPTER IX. ANTONELLO DA MESSINA. Teaditions current in Vasari's time attributed to Antonello da Messina, a Sicilian painter of the 15th century, an important if not an absolutely decisive part in transmitting the secrets of oil medium from the Netherlands to Italy. It is the duty of a historian of Flemish art to inquire whether these traditions are true, and then to determine to what portion of Italy they apply. It is obvious that Vasari on the whole inclined to believe that the technical treatment of the Van Eycks was first taken to Venice, and thence to central Italy; his statement being positive to this effect that the art of "colouring in oil" was invented by the Van Eycks, communicated by John Van Eyck to Antonello da Messina, taken by Antonello to Venice, imparted by him to Domenico Veneziano, and through Domenico to all the painters of Tuscany. We shall find it expedient to modify this statement in many im- portant particulars, firstly because oil painting was practised in Tuscany sooner than at Venice, secondly because serious doubts may be entertained as to whether John Van Eyck ever lived to see the counte- nance of Antonello, and thirdly because the systems of painting in oil practised in Venice and Florence differed as much technically as they did in respect of the time in which they were introduced. There seems to be little doubt that the first serious attempts made in Tuscany to substitute a new process CHAP. IX.] ANTONELLO DA MESSINA. 231 for that of tempera dates from a period more than thirty years later than that alleged for Van Eyck's discoveries; but it is peculiarly characteristic of Tuscan efforts that they were not confined to effecting changes in panel painting alone; they also embodied modifi- cations in vehicles adapted to wall painting; and it is not unlikely that the antipathy of the Florentines for oil medium on its first introduction was due to the con- spicuous failure of those who tried it on mural surfaces. About the time usually assigned to the finding of oil medium in the Netherlands Cennino Cennini, at Padua, wrote a celebrated treatise in which the re- ceipts for mixing boiled linseed oil with pigments were transcribed from those familiar to painters of the time of Giotto. Fifty years later (1460—64), Filarete still spoke of oil painting as a "pretty method when you know it," affirming that it was practised by Van Eyck and Van der Weyden, but not by himself, and as far as one can judge from the tone of his remarks, repulsive to many Italians. Yet if we believe Vasari most of the decisive steps which led to the introduction of the new method into Italy had already been taken, and Anto- nello had visited Venice on his return from the Netherlands and communicated to Domenico Vene- ziano the secret which he imparted to the Florentines. The truth is that about the first half of the 15th century the Italians were cognizant by report of the improvements of the Van Eycks, and made experi- ments of their own to discover what those improvements were. Francesco Peselli,Baldovinetti, and the Pollaiuoli made the first trials at Florence, and they were followed in Umbria by Domenico's pupil Piero della Francesca. Historical records have disposed of the legend in which Andrea del Castagno is described as 232 ANTONELLO DA MESSINA. [CHAP. IX. having murdered Domenico Veneziano in order to monopolize the secrets wormed out of Antonello. Ac- curate research has proved that if Domenico or Castagno painted in oil, they did so without possessing the technical methods of the Van Eycks or Antonello. Francesco Peselli, who died young in 1457, is one of the few Florentine craftsmen in whom we trace the striving to substitute a new medium for that of tempera. He was a realist partial to the reproduction of natural minutise, who felt that his object would better be compassed with slow dryers than with the quick sicca- tives of tempera. There is evidence in the pictures which he left to us, that his oil and varnish mediums were of that glossy transparence and yielding tough- ness which preclude accuracy and crispness of touch ; and there is proof that they were neither easy to work nor easy to blend. Baldovinetti, who was born in 1427, and who lived till 1499, was also a realist whose habits panel painter were those of Francesco Peselli, whilst as a designer of wall pictures he made innova- tions by moistening pigments with the pernicious mixture of liquid varnish and yolk of egg. Antonio and Piero Pollaiuolo, whose birthdays are registered in 1429 and 1441, also used oils and improved upon their predecessors by introducing the practice of co- loured glazing; but at the outset of their career they also had to suffer from the viscous nature of the vehicles in use. Piero della Francesca — a more suc- cessful practitioner amongst the moderns — exhibited skill as an oil painter and came nearer to the clearness and purity of the Flemings than any of his predecessors or contemporaries in Central Italy, but we cannot trace his use of oils further back than 1460 — 66, and it must remain a moot question, as we have seen, CHAP. IX.] ANTONELLO DA MESSINA. 233 whether he did not learn some of the Flemish technica from those who frequented Roger Van der Weyden's company in Ferrara. Antonello da Messinas' career has been recently shown to possess more importance in connection with the history of Venetian art than in connection with Fle- mish painting ; hut a sketch of his life will be required here, in order to show how deeply Venice was indebted to him, and through him to the Netherlands, for the creation of its school of colourists. We saw that Flemish pictures had become an important article of commerce at Naples in the first half of the 15th century. As the panels of Van Eyck and his followers found their way out of the hands of dealers into the palaces of princes, the curiosity of artists Avas aroused, and Antonello da Messina was induced to wander to the Netherlands to study at the fountain head. Whether Antonello visited Bruges or Ghent or Brussels, whether he personally knew John Van Eyck, improbable as that circumstance appears to be, or whether he only made acquaintance with disciples of Van Eyck, is immaterial, if we accept as a fact, which there is no doubt we may, that the visit took place. In favour of his journey to the Nether- lands we have not only the authority of Vasari and Van M ander but the evidence of pictures which prove a close acquaintance with the technical processes of the older Flemings, and it is not without interest to students of art in England to know that the earliest production of Antonello, after his return to Naples, is the bust of Christ in benediction at the National Gallery, a panel executed in 1465, with all the care of a man working in a new method, but without the mastery of one who has acquired all its subtleties. Antonello, it 234 ANTONELLO DA MESSINA. [CHAP. IX. is clear, preserved the character of an Italian craftsman unimpaired, whilst he took home the technical system of the Belgians ; yet his Christ of 1465, though original in mask and contour, is not without solemn gravity and stillness, and so not unmarked by characteristics common to Flemish creations. In later productions such as an Ecce Homo in the Zir collection at Naples, (1470) or the Annunciation and Madonna between St. Benedict and St. Gregory (1473), at San Gregorio of Messina, we see the influence of Flemish example in distortion and mouthing, in certain casts of face, and in the angular character of brocades and drapery; whilst technically the system of execution is that of the school of Bruges. At this period of his artistic development Antonello wandered to Venice, where he entered into active com- petition with men who had never heard any thing of oil painting except the name, and produced with his works such a sensation that the course of Yenetian art was changed, the Vivarini and Bellini giving up not merely the habits of tempera painters but the spirit of classic design inherited from the Florentines and Paduans. Up to 1473, all the works of Bartolommeo and Luigi Vivarini, Gentile and Giovanni Bellini, and their numerous disciples had been executed in tempera; within less than ten years it was impossible to find a single Venetian willing to paint otherwise than in oil. Time necessarily elapsed before the change was thoroughly worked out. Antonello himself in numerous portraits and solitary figures, progressed to mediums pellucid in clearness, and to a technical treatment perfect in its blending and finish. The Venetians, Giovanni Bellini in particular, made untiring efforts to acquire subtleties which Antonello CHAP. IX.] ANTONELLO DA MESSINA. 235 was not willing to teach, and went through all the phases which are distinguishable on pictures of the time between viscous and highly coloured mediums, and the clear free-running ones of the moderns. Then occurred that memorable and curious change of parts which has been noticed in the lives of these painters, when the genius of Bellini carried him beyond the rival whom at one time he might have despaired of reaching, and then imposed on him his own more genial and coloured manner. Amongst the works which gave Antonello fame on his arrival in the North, the most important was that which attracted the attention of several generations at San Cassiano' of Venice and subsequently disappeared. We possess perfect specimens of portrait in his best manner, a bust of a youth (1474), in the collection of the Duke of Hamilton, a portrait of a man with a scarred upper lip called in recent times "the con- dottiere" (1475), at the Louvre; a male in a black cap and red dress, under Bellini's name, in the Borghese palace at Rome, a bust said to represent Antonello himself in possession of Signor Molfino at Genoa; a man of 60 in the Trivulzi Palace at Milan (1476), and a Venetian patrician in the house of the Giovanelli at Venice. We may take as the pearl of creations of this class the clear and beautifully modelled likeness of a young man (1478) at Berlin. Of pictures with sacred subjects those chiefly to be noticed are the crucified Saviour between the crucified thieves, a small panel executed in 1475, 1 not without reminiscences of the Flemings, Christ at the pillar in the Venice Aca- demy, where pain and suffering are expressed after the fashion of the Belgians and Paduans; the same sub- i Antwerp Mus. No. 4. Wood, m. 0.58 h. by 0.42. 236 ANTONELLO DA MESSINA. L CHAP. IX. ject, once in possession of Mr. Robinson in London, and Christ in his tomb with three angels in the Belve- dere of Vienna. Illustrative of the change which oc- curred when Antonello found it expedient to follow the more genial manner of Bellini the most noticeable works are the Virgin and Child in half length in the Museum of Berlin, and a series of busts and half lengths of St. Sebastian, which may have been executed during the painter's stay at Milan, of which the chroniclers have left us a vague and unsatisfactory tradition. When Antonello died about 1493, the grateful public of his time honoured his memory with the following epitaph, in which the fulsome flattery of the age described him as a benefactor to art, not only at Venice but throughout Italy : "D. O.M. "Antonius pictor, prsecipuum Messanse suae et Sici- lise totius ornamentum, hac humo contegitur. Non solum suis picturis, in quibus singulare artificiuin et venustas fuit, sed et quod coloribus oleo misctndis splendorem et perpetuitatem primus Italicse picturse contulit, summo semper artificum studio celebratus." 1 1 Vas. IV. 81. For a full catalogue of Antonello's works this is no longer the place, and the reader must be referred to histories of Italian painting. CHAPTER X. CONTEMPOKAEIES OP THE VAN EYCKS. When John Van Eyck was appointed "varlet de chambre" to Philip of Burgundy, a change was made in the functions of the ducal painters; the arts were honoured in his person by increased respect and pay, and the common labour of the ducal court, — such as painting standards, pennons, and banners, — was en- trusted to a lower class of men. When Jehan Malouel died, in 1415, his place was filled, as we have seen, by Bellechose of Brabant. In Flanders, Jehan le Voleur, the colleague of Jehan Malouel was "paintre" and "varlet de chambre,'' and filled a post of honour in the castle of He s din. Jehan le Voleur s skill consisted only in manufacturing standards, banners, and pennons. At his death, in 1417, he was succeeded as governor of Hesclin by Hue de Boulogne. The castle, or chastel d'Hesdin, was a favourite resort of Philip of Burgundy, *and a place of rest to which he retired for amusement. It contrasted strangely with the pleasure palace of Louis the Eleventh near Tours, where the grounds were known to bristle with deadly instruments intended to maim trespassers. Hesdin was as full of pitfalls and trap-doors as a mo- dern theatre; but they only served to perpetrate the coarse though harmless jokes in which the fun of the 238 CONTEMPOKAKIES OF THE VAN EYCKS. [CHAP. X. Middle Ages consisted, and seem to have suited the robust and healthy constitutions of the people of those days. A stranger issuing, for instance, from a gallery into a neighbouring passage, was liable to be startled by the sudden apparition of a wooden figure spouting water. A wetting and a fright were the necessary con- sequences ; but when the joke was carried furthest, a set of brushes was put in motion, and the patient emerged with a white or a black face, as the case might be. Another still more powerful engine was one which seized a man and thrashed him soundly. In the centre of the great gallery there was a trap, and near it the figure of a fortune-teller ; ladies were his most frequent victims. They no sooner felt an interest in the telling of their fortune than the ceiling opened and poured forth rain; thunder-claps followed in quick succession, preceded by appropriate lightning; and, as the air grew colder, snow fell ; taking refuge from the storm, the patient entered a dangerous shelter above a pitfall leading into a sack of feathers, from which a ludicrous escape was at last permitted. . The castle of Hesdin was full of tricks of this description. Besides the pitfalls just described, there was a bridge in the great gallery which dropped saunterers into the water. In various places there were engines which spouted water when they were touched ; six figures stood in the hall spouting water, and wetting people in various ways ; at the entrance of a gallery there were eight water -jets to drench people as they passed, and three small pipes were so fixed close by as to cover them with flour. If the panic- stricken victims rushed to a window and opened it, up came a figure wetting them, and closing the frame ; a splendid missal on a desk caught a curious eye, but CHAP. X.] CONTEMPORAKIES OP THE VAN EYCKS. 239 the person who went up to it was either covered with soot or dirt. A mirror close at hand betrayed the trick; but whilst the victim wondered at the blackness of his face, a flour-dredger made him white. The most elaborate of all these tricks was ne com- bining almost every species of deception. A figure of a man was made to start in the great gallery, frighten- ing people by talking or crying ; at the noise, the loungers in other rooms rushed in, upon which a number of figures, armedovith sticks, came forth, driv- ing every one pellmell to a bridge, where they fell, of course, into the water. Colart le Yoleur was the author of all these mecha- nical tricks, for which the Duke requited him with a sum of a thousand livres. Colart and Hue de Boulogne, however, were generally employed in painting banners and pennons. The name of the former disappears from the ducal records in 1443. Hue died in 1449; when his son, Jehan de Boulogne, succeeded him as "paintre" and "varlet de chauibre." But the post of governor of Hesdin was given to Pierre Coustain, who took the title of "paintre des princes," and is known to have lived till 1471. 1 Pierre Coustain and Jacques Hennecart were "pain- tres de M. D. S.," and managers of the "entremetz" at Bruges, when Charles the Rash was married, in 1468. 2 Olivier de la Marche has given a glowing account of these "entremetz." His enthusiastic pen describes the famous lions which roared so well and harmlessly at the company, and the beauteous shepherdess who 1 See antea in Cristus, and see also le Beffroi, u. s., I. 205, and Journal des Beaux Arts I860, p. 192. 2 See, for all these court painters, De Laborde, Les Dues de Bourgogne, u. s., Vols. I. and II. 240 CONTEMPORARIES OF THE VAN EYCKS. [CHAP. X. turned her compliment so elegantly to the new prin- cess ; but he forgets the arts. He recollected upwards of ten "histories" in the streets that led to Charles's palace; but only described two of them representing Eve and Adam in Paradise, and the Marriage of (!) Alexander and Cleopatra. He tells of St. Andrew and St. George painted as supporters to the arms of Bur- gundy, but mentions no pictorial work produced by any of the painters present at that time as being worthy of record or admiration. 1 Yan der Goes, whose well- known talents might have elicited praise or blame is not known to de la Marche. It seems that Tournai, Gand, Ypres, Cambrai, xlrras, Douai, Valenciennes, Louvain, Antwerp, Brussels, Bois le Due, Dordrecht, Gorcum, each furnished painters, sculptors, or work- men for the occasion. Amand Regnault was paid 10 sols per diem for running to Ghent, to Audenarde, and other "good towns," in search of the best workmen in the country — "painters as well as others." Jacques Daret master -painter of Tournai, was engaged with others for sixteen days, at 27 sols per diem. The pay of others varied from 6 to 24 sols, and more ; the wages being paid according to a tariff made out" for the oc- casion by the elders of the corporation of painters in Bruges. 2 Out of a list of upwards of three hundred thus employed and paid, but a few are remembered at this day except Van der Goes. "What contemporary writers forgot has fortunately not escaped modern research. The painters of the entremetz are men who remained in comparative obscu- rity, but whose existence is still worthy of attention 1 Olivier de la Mavclie, Memoires, 8 n , Gand. 1566, p. 524. 2 Reiffenberg, u. s., Appendix. De Laborde, Les Dues de Bourgogne, u. s. CHAP. X.J CONTEMPOEAEIES OF THE VAN EYCKS. 241 men who were ready at any moment to do an odd piece of work in the way of their trade, who would contract "to paint and varnish a culverin," emblazon a coat of arms, colour a dogvane, or compose a last judgment, men who entered into time bargains, who were bound by rigid stipulations, and who, not being known for extraordinary genius, were made to promise that their work should be no better and no worse than that in any church or town hall known to both the con- tracting parties. It would be uninteresting to register the names of many of these second rates whose memory has been preserved in the records of the municipa- lities, and whose pictures have either perished or become confounded in the mass of productions cata- logued in galleries as "unknown," but a "few sentences devoted to Jan and Nabor Martin, may be sufficient to illustrate the class. Ghent never employed an artist ex officio, like Van der Weyden at Brussels or Dierick Bouts at Louvain. It had a town •architect (stedemets), a town smith (stede smet), but no town painter (stede scildere). The guild of St. Luke was about the smallest of the 59 corporations of the city. To this guild be- longed, early in the 15th century, Willem Axpoele, John Martin and Nabor (Nabuchodonosor) Martin. Willem Axpoele was the son of Daniel Axpoele, who, as early as 1379, matriculated in the guild of St. Luke. Willem took the freedom in 1387, and became dean or elder in 1399. Jan Martin and Willem Axpoele painted in partnership for several years of the 15th century. Martin took the freedom of the guild in 1420, was appointed sworn arbitrator (geswoorne) in 1430, and dean or elder in 1448—9. In 1419 — 20 Martin and Axpoele entered into a contract to repaint the en- trance hall of the Sc&perihuus at Ghent, then disfigured 16 242 CONTEMPORARIES OF THE VAN EYCKS. [CHAP. X. by faded temperas representing the Counts of Flan- ders from Baldwin of the Iron arm to Jean Sans Peur. It was stipulated in this document that the portraits (fall length, size of nature, and about 30 in number) should be repainted in oil ; each of the counts being distinguished by a coat of arms, the date of his birth, and the number of years he had reigned "exactly as had been done for the portraits of the same Counts at Courtrai." The whole of the work was to be completed in four months for the sum of six livres and six sols de gros (about 72 livres parisis). It is only from the tenor of this contract that we know of the existence of these paintings. They have long since disappeared, but the coarse nature of the work may be inferred from the shortness of the time allowed for its completion and the smallness of the remunera- tion. "Willem Axpoele now ceased to be Martin's coadjutor, and the latter followed his vocation alone or in partnership with one Willem de Bitsere. In 1422 Martin cleaned and varnished, for 20 escalins (12 livres parisis), 16 iron culverins delivered to the city of Ghent by Colard Ghryse of Maubeuge. In 1431 — 2 he was again employed in the entrance hall of the Scepenhuus at Ghent, later still as a painter of stand- ards, pennons, and escutcheons. He seems after this to have assigned commissions to his son Nabor Martin (b. 1404), who became free of the guild of St. Luke in 1437. Nabor's name is registered in the communal accounts of Ghent for 1440 — 43, 45, 46, 48 and 49, in connection with payments for decorative wall painting, and an altar-piece in the chapel of the Sc&perihuus. He received 15 liv. 3 escal. and 4 den. de gros (183 liv. par.) for decorative work in the chapel of the Parchons, 21 livr. de gros (252 liv. parisis) for a cruci- CHAP. X.] CONTEMPORARIES OF THE VAN ETCKS. 243 fixion and other artistic labour in the chapel of the Keure (1433 — 39). In 1448 he furnished designs for the carved work and balustrades of the Ghent beffroi. He also painted on various occasions banners and shields, and amongst others 12 escutcheons fur- nished to Ghent envoys sent to Paris on a mission — "the said escutcheons to hang before the doors and mark the rank of the envoys." Nabor did not disdain even to charge for painting the dogvane on the top of the gate leading into the Hospital of St. Bavon, and for colouring the trelliswork enclosure of the Scepen- huus ; he was in fact for years the painter in office of the communal authorities without the title of stede scildere. As he advanced in years he undertook more important works. In January 1442( — 43) he contracted to paint for the Church of St. Walburge at Audenarde a folding altar-piece to be delivered on the 24th of June, and failing in the performance of this part of his agreement he was summoned before the sheriff of Ghent, who ordered him to proceed to Audenarde and finish the picture on the spot, under a penalty of 1 1. de gr. (12 1. par.), for every absence he might make. In 1443( — 44) he again contracted for an altar-piece for the church of Lede, a village between Ghent and Alost the subject being the Assumption of the Virgin, the price 20 livr. de gros, and a penalty for non- completion of the contract of six 1. de gr., and the suspension of the freedom of his guild. It was further stipulated that the work, when finished, should be sub- mitted to the sworn arbitrators (geswoorne werclieden) of the guild, who were to decide whether the picture was equal to the sum named in the contract, or worth more or less ; in the one case, the authorities of the church of Lede to pay the surplus, in the other, Nabor 16* 244 CONTEMPOKAEIES OF THE VAN EYCKS. [CHAP. X. to be content with a less sum. In 1443 Martin made a third contract with Lievin Sneevout a master baker at Ghent, for a picture of the Last Judgment at the price of 24 esc. de gr., to be completed within a given time under penalty of a fine not exceeding four fiths of the sum named in the contract. The most curious feature in these contracts is the stipulation in the case of the picture of the Assumption at Lede, "that the altar-piece shall be equal to that which stands in the Church of our Lady of St. Pierre," and in the case of the picture of the Last Judgment that it "shall be as well executed, and of as many and as good figures as the picture of the Last Judgment which hangs in the meeting hall of the Bakers' House." It is supposed, and not without reason, that Nabor Martin is likewise the painter of a Nativity discovered in 1855, in the Butchery (vleeschhuus) at Ghent, and inscribed, .... "heeft doen maken Jacob de Ketelbo en schreef MCCCC ende XL VIII," or as restored by Mr. de Busscher: "Dit heeft doen maken Jacob de Ketelboetere int yaer ons Heeren alsmen schreef MCCCC ende XL VIII," which being literally trans- lated means, "This (picture) has been ordered by (has caused to be done) Jacob de Ketelboetere in the year of our Lord when mankind counted 1448." Of the painter not a word is mentioned in the inscription. In 1843 Mr. Theodore Schellynk, employed to classify the records of St. Martin d'Eckerghem near Ghent, found a document dated 1445, containing accounts of the church expenses for that year. Most of these accounts were illegible, and the record was accordingly destroyed. Mr. Schellynk, however, had been able to decipher a few of the notes of payments made, one of which he has since transcribed from memory. It runs as follows: CHAP. X.] C N TEMP B ABIE S OF THE VAN EYCKS. 245 "To the painter Nabor Martin for a painting which he executed in the Chapel of our Lady, after the fashion of the work which he made in the Chapel of the great Vleeschhuus." It is particularly unfortunate that this quotation should only be made from memory; as it stands it bears a close resemblance to the tenor of the contracts into which Nabor Martin is known to have entered. There is corroborative evidence as to Nabor's authorship in this, that Jacob de Ketelbo is identical with Jacob de Ketelboetere, a butcher, who, in 1443, was elected honorary member of the guild of St. Luke, at the prayer of Nabor Martins to whom he had been surety in a matter of debt some years before. It would be more important to have clear proof of Nabor's authorship as regards the frescos of the Grande Boucherie at Ghent, if these were preserved, than it is now that they have lost their original character under the hands of restorers. — The subject represented is the Adoration of the Infant Christ ; the babe lying on a bed of rays in the midst of a circle of figures, including the Virgin, Jacob de Ketelboetere, two angels, and, as the story goes, the patron's father and mother ; — God the Father looking down from heaven, the Dove sending its light to the Saviour, and a shepherd tending his flock in a landscape. In gala dress on the foreground are portraits of Philip of Burgundy and his son, and the Duchess of Burgundy with Adolf de Ravenstein her page ; — all of them distinguished by their coats of arms. The individuality and style of the artist is lost under the skilful retouches of a modern. If from Ghent we turn to other cities for reminis- cences of old artists, we shall find it hard to do more than repeat what we find in the pages of the annalists. 246 CONTEMPOKAKIES OF THE VAN EYCKS. [CHAP. X. Franz Mostsert, who lived in Haarlem in 1550, was ignorant of the names of any painters who had practised there in early times, 1 and the search made by Mr. Van der Willigen with such success as regards the 16th and 17th centuries was fruitless as regards the 15th. 2 We are indebted to Van Mander alone for notices of Albert van Ouwater and Geertgen van St. Jans. He ascribes to the former an altar-piece in the Cathedral of Haarlem representing St. Peter and St. Paul of life size, and (on a predella) pilgrims on the way to Rome, pilgrims going, resting, eating, and drinking — in a land- scape of the admirable kind distinguishing all the pic- tures of the older craftsmen of the city. He tells us that one of Ouwater's greatest admirers was Heemskerk, and adds that he himself had been struck with the clever- ness of certain nudes, and the skilful rendering of ex- tremities and drapery in Ouwater's "Raising of Laza- rus." 3 In confirmation of Ouwater's existence we might quote the Anonimo, edited by Morelli, who speaks of landscapes executed by "Alberto d'Olanda" in the col- lection of Cardinal Grimani at Venice. 4 The pictures of Van Ouwater have disappeared, and Van Mander neglects or is unable to give the dates of his birth or death ; on this account it is impossible to speak of any of Ins productions. Attempts have been made to attribute 1 Van Mander, u. s., 206. 2 A. Van der Willigen. Les artistes de Haarlem. 8°. Haarlem and La Haye, 1870. 3 Van Mander, u. s., 206. "Lazarus, in the picture described, is near a temple with, colonnades ; the Jews and the people on one side, and the apostles on the other. Van Mander had seen but a copy; Heemskerk saw the original. 4 Anon, ed Morelli, pp. 75. 220-1. The only record in which the name of Ouwater occurs at Haarlem is given as follows by Van der Willigen from the registers of Saint Bavon of Haarlem, (p. 49). "1467. Item, ouvert un tombeau pour la fille d'Ouwater. Sonne la cloche Salvator." CHAP. X.] CONTEMPOEAKEES OF THE VAN EYCKS. 247 panels to him ; but, in most instances, without sufficient grounds. The "Descent from the Cross" of the Co- logne Museum, bearing a mutilated inscription, is assigned to him, and has some faint analogy of style with the works of the mixed schools of Brussels, Co- logne, and Nuremberg. The "Dead Christ," by its meagre forms, and long attenuated frame, painfully exhibits in a magnified form the more disagreeable pe- culiarities of Van der Weyden, whilst the figure of the man who holds the Saviour's shoulders is remarkable for the ill-shapen leg and foot of the followers of Stephen of Cologne ; other parts of the picture remind us of Wohlgemuth. This panel bears the date of 1480 ; 1 and if it were by Van Ouwater, would stamp that painter as one of the numerous imitators who thronged the Netherlands and the Rhine country at the begin- ning of the sixteenth century. But it is hard to conceive how Van Mander could call such a man clever in landscape and anatomy. Another point to be noticed is, that had Van Ouwater lived as late as the year 1480, he could scarcely have been forgotten so soon as he was at Haarlem. Van Ouwater must have been an earlier painter than the author of the "Descent from the Cross" of Cologne ; and, assuming this, he can no longer be admitted as the author of other pictures which various writers have assigned to him. It is remarkable, indeed, that none of the compositions ascribed to Van Ouwater are like each other in style and manner. The "Crucifixion" of Berlin, once given to him by Hotho, is unlike the "Christ" of Cologne, and superior to it, and maybe classed amongst the creations i Cologne. Wallraff-Richartz Museum, Nos. 127—31. The wings of this picture bear the dates 1499. 1508. See postea, "In- fluence of Flemish Art abroad." 248 CONTEMPOEAEIES OP THE VAN EYCKS. [CHAP. X. of an artist who imitated Memling, 1 whilst the Descent from the Cross of the Belvedere Gallery, at Vienna, is of the school founded by Lucas of Leyden. 2 "Geerrit Van Haarlem or of St. Jans" is stated by Van Mander to have been placed as a youth under the tuition of Ouwater, and to have died at the age of 28 ; he lived according to the same authority with the knights of St. John at Haarlem, and was known by their name, though he was not of their order. For the high altar of the knights' church he executed a large piece representing the "crucifix," with wings of a similar size painted on both sides, two thirds of which perished during the storming of Haarlem. A wing that was saved remained in possession of the com- mander of the knights in two handsome pieces, got by sawing the panel into two parts. One of the sides represented a miracle, the other a Descent from the Cross, in which Christ was represented outstretched in a very natural attitude, mourned by the Marys and apostles. There were likewise once in the "Regulars" of Haarlem some works which perished in the siege, and there still existed (in Van Mander's time), in the Cathedral of Haarlem, a view of the church itself which was very cleverly handled. That Albert Diirer, on visiting Haarlem, should have declared, as Van Mander says he did, that Geerrit must have been a painter in his mother's womb, is in so far a fable as Diirer never was at Haarlem. 3 In the Gallery of the Belvedere we shall observe two pictures described in Christian von Mechel's cata- 1 No. 573, Berlin Cat. See infra, "Imitators of Memling and Van Eyck." 2 No. 12. Second floor, room second, Belvedere Gal. See antea in Van Eyck. 3 VanMander, u. s.,p.206, but compare Diirer inCampe's Bel. CHAP. X.] CONTEMPOKAKIES OF THE VAN EYCKS. 249 logue of 1781, as works of "Geertge or Gerhard van Haarlem." 1 They are of one size, as if they were parts of a panel sawn in half. One of them represents Christ lying in the lap of the Virgin, and mourned hy seven saints, the other, three scenes from the legend of John the Baptist; — his burial in the presence of Christ, the burning of his remains i by order of Julian the Apostate, and the transfer of his ashes to St. John d'Acre. The mere description of these pieces reminds us of the story told by Van Mander ; and the subjects from the legend of St. John are such as would suit the Templars, whose convent Geerrit is said to have in- habited, but the small size of the panels is in contra- diction to the account of Van Mander, and the burial of St. John can scarcely be described as "a miracle." If these pieces were really assignable to the painter under whose name they are catalogued, we should take them to be by an artist of the 16th century under the influence of Quintin Massys ; whose dusky tones, vulgar masks, and prominent noses are distinctly imitated. An inscription on the back of the "burial" proves that it once belonged to Charles the 1st, and was returned to Charles the lid by the States of Holland at the Restoration : "This is the second piece, being one of the five pic- tures which were presented to the king at St. James's by the State their ambassadors." 2 Three pictures, forming one triptych, are exhibited in the Munich Pinakothek under Gerard's name. They 1 See Verzeichniss der Gemalde der Bildergallei'ie in Wien von Christian von Mechel. 8°. Wien 1781. p. 153. 2 Vienna Belvedere. Second floor, room second. Nos.58 and 60. Wood, 5 f . 6 h. by 4 f. 5. 250 CONTEMPOKAEIES OF THE VAN ETCKS. [CHAP. X. are of the same late date as. the foregoing, but feeble in execution. 1 A Crucifixion of the Saviour between the two thieves, with the usual numerous episodes that accompany that episode, may be seen in the Gallery of Modena under the name of Gerard of Haarlem. The figure of the Saviour is common enough, but better than the long wooden and stiff ones of the thieves ; the composition is ill distributed and confused ; atmosphere is totally absent, the figures are generally lean and thin, the draperies straight, angular, and broken; — the whole executed in a hard, mechanical, yet highly careful, manner. The draperies are touched up with gold and profusely ornamented with embroidery ; the flesh tints are remarkable for a sad yellowish general tone. 2 There are no references to paintings by any of the Gerards except in the Anonimo, edited by Morelli, where "works of Gerardo de Olanda" are described as forming part of the collection of Cardinal Grimani at Venice in 1521. 3 1 Nos. 84, 85, 86, Munich Pin. Saal. Wood.— "Christ leaving his Mother," the "Descent from the Cross," and "The Resurrec- tion." In this collection too we find under the name of Gerard, Nos. 87 and 90. Saal. Christ on the Mount and Mary with the dead body of Christ on her knees. 2 Modena gall. No. 33. Wood, 8 f. 9i/ 2 h. by 5 f. 4% pur- chased at the Mirandola. 3 Anonimo, u. s., p. 77. CHAPTER XI. HANS MEMLING. Close by Notre Dame of Bruges is a lane paved with pebbles. Along this lane the wandering stranger strolls without hearing any footsteps but his own; he treads on moss and sickly grasses growing round the smooth worn stones ; he stops at a wide arched door, raises the latch of a wicket and enters a court yard. Opening on this yard is a, small enclosure planted with linden trees, under whose shade a feeble invalid is lounging ; his grey jacket enwraps a form wasted by sickness; and a cotton nightcap all but covers his sunken eyes. Turning out of the yard into a doorway the stranger enters a wide stone edifice — a church it might be called — with nave and aisles, and quaint old pillars supporting arches ; under these arches — on the floors of nave and aisle — are rows of beds, most of them occupied ; between the rows, with noiseless step, glide the nuns who nurse the sick; a grate of mediaeval size at either end glows with a genial fire. This is the Hospital of St. John, for centuries a refuge for the sick. In one of the rooms attached to this charitable asylum, there hangs, amongst a host of valuable pic- tures, one which from time immemorial exercised an extraordinary power of attraction; it displays with serene but melancholy grace the mystic marriage of St. Catherine. The Virgin sits on a throne in a rich 252 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. church-porch; angels hold a crown above her; the infant on her lap bends to give a ring to the bride kneeling in regal raiment at his feet ; to the right and left, the Baptist, Evangelist, and St. Barbara stand gravely in attendance ; an angel plays on an organ ; another holds a missal. Close behind St. Catherine, a monk of the order of St. Augustin contemplates the scene ; further back, outside the pillars of the porch, another monk handles a gauge for wine and spirits; and in a landscape watered by a river, the Baptist prays to God, preaches to a crowd, wends his way to the place of execution, and burns — a headless trunk — at $he stake; elsewhere, St., John Evangelist seethes in boiling oil, and rows in a boat to Patmos. On the right wing of the triptych the daughter of Herodias receives the Baptist's head, and dances before Herod. On the left wing St. John Evangelist is seated and looks towards heaven, preparing to note the vision be- fore him. He sees the king of kings, the elders, the lamps of the Apocalypse, the lamb, the symbols of the Evangelist, and Death on the pale horse, bursting with his three companions on the men who flee ; on the placid surface of the sea, the vision is reflected and forms a grand and imposing picture. On the outer face of the wings, Jacques de Keuninck, treasurer, Antoine Seghers, director, Agnes Cazembrood, superior, and Claire van Hultem, a nun of the hospital, are depicted under the protection of their patron saints. On the capitals of the pillars of the central porch are episodes of charity ; a senseless man lies prostrate in a street attended by busy people ; his body is carried on a stretcher to the hospital. The painter of this surprising picture is Hans Memling, whose life, in course of years, became ex- CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 253 clusively identified with the monastery of St. John. 1 It was related that he had led a wandering life, that he had followed Charles the Rash, and received a wound in 1477 at Nancy; that he spent a weary time in returning to his native city, and finally fell senseless near the hospital gate. To repay the kindness of the nuns and hospitallers who received him, Memling spent some days of convalescence, and more of recovered health, to paint the Marriage of St. Catherine ; he com- pleted a shrine celebrated as containing the relics of St. Ursula, and he finished many a picture besides for which he took no pay. 2 Years may pass before this legend ceases to find believers. The statements upon which it is based are fictions; yet there is something so dramatic and touching in the tale that most persons are willing to believe it; and no one likes to hear that it is apo- cryphal. There are reasons why Memling's sudden appear- ance at Bruges, and the story of his sickness and recovery should have been thought credible by a certain class of enquirers. He was, we should think, the pupil of Roger Van der "Weyden, whose habitual place of residence was Brussels ; he came late in the century to Bruges, where he settled and painted the most beautiful of his works ; his name had been probably overshadowed by that of his master ; it came into startling light in anew place, where it dazzled the public 1 The controversy as to the true name of Memling is set at rest by original records to which we shall refer. The name is spelled variously, "Memelyncx, Memelinc, Memlinc, Memmelinc, Memlijnc and Menelinc." See postea. 2 See the story in Descamps' "Voyage pittoresque." 8". Paris 1753, and an amplification of it in the "Notice des tableaux qui composent le Musee de l'Hopital S. Jean a Bruges." 3d ed- Bruges, 1850, pp. 1 — 12. 254 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. of the time ; it was forgotten for centuries like that of Hubert and John Van Eyck, and revived in legend at last, at the suggestion perhaps of persons who thought that the sick man depicted in the carved capitals of the Marriage of St. Catherine must necessarily he the painter himself. There was the more reason for giving currency to legends in respect of Memling's career, because historians had almost entirely forgotten to re- cord his existence. Though second only to the Van Eycks, he was almost unknown to Van Mander, 1 and a stranger to Lampsonius, who praised all other artists of the Netherlands in Latin rhymes. Vasari turned his Christian name of Hans into Hausse, and Descamps that of Memling into Hemling. 2 No one knows even now when or where he was born; and it is only pre- sumed that he was of Bruges because Van Mander says so. 3 German historians are inclined to think that he was one of their countrymen, 4 a theory in which they are supported by some Belgian writers; 5 whilst one Frenchman at least conceives that he was the son of an architect of Liege, who wandered early in the 15th century to the court of the Dukes of Savoy. 6 1 "Concerning some of our Netherlander whose works and lives are better known to me through their pictures than by reason of my acquaintance with their lives, I should say that there was first of Bruges a celebrated master in early times named Hans Memmelinck." — Van Mander, u. s., p. 205. 2 Descamps, Voyage, u. s. Vasari. I. 163. IV. 76. XIII. 148. 3 Van Mander. 205. Jean Lemaire, in his Couronne Mar- garitique, says: "II 3^ survint de Bruges maistre Hans." See postea, Chap. XIII. 4 Passavant. Kunstblatt, for 1843. No. 62, who cites the following passage from Marc Van Vsernewyk's Historie van Belgie, Ch. 60, p. 133 : "Item die Stadt Brugghe is verciert in des Deutschen Hans Schilderien." We might also cite Schnaase's NiederlRndische Briefe, Boisseree (S.) and Fortoul. 5 For instance, Mr. W. H. Weale in Le Beffroi. II. 213. c Mr. Theodore Fivel, the architect of Chambery, has found numerous documents in the archives of the House of Savoy CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 255 Without pretending to decide which of these theories is correct, we may observe that a strong ground for believing that Hans Memling is a native of Flanders lies in the fact that his pictorial education, and the form of art which he cultivated, are purely Flemish. It is stated in the Zen manuscript, edited by Morelli, that there was a portrait of Memling by himself, aged 65, in the collection of Cardinal Grimani in 1521. 1 If this statement is correct, we have to remember that Memling died in 1495 ; and we might calculate that he was born before 1430. Wherever born, Memling was educated in Flanders ; and it is consistent with fact as well as circumstantially probable that he learnt the first rudiments of his art at Brussels. Vasari asserts that his master was Roger Van der Weyden, 2 and pictures were extant in the 16th century which could only have been executed by the joint labour of both; 3 and though we have no evidence but that which style and handling afford, we should say that there which prove the existence of a painter named Johannes, son of Jehan de Liege, appointed architect of the "Conte" of Savoy hy Bonne de Bourbon in 1383. This Johannes is recorded to have painted for the court of the counts of Savoy from 1429 till 1431, and to have held the office of "pictor domini " Mr. Fivel believes that this Johannes is identical with Hans Memling ; but he has the chronology of Memling's life against him, and Johannes of Chambery is not proved by the documents to have painted any- thing but banners and the like. We are bound to express to Mr. Fivel our thanks for kindly communicating the documents in question. 1 Morelli's Anonimo, u. s., 75. 2 Vasari. XHI. 148. 3 Item. "Ung Dieu de pitie estant es bras de nostre Dame ayant 2 feulletz dans chascuns desquels il y a ung ange, et des- sus les dits feulletz il y a une Annunciade de blanc et de noir. — Fait le tableau de la main de Bogier et les dits feulletz de celle de maitre Hans." Extract from the inventory of pictures of Margaret of Austria (1524) in de Laborde, Bevue archeologique. 1850. p. 56. See also Le Grlay. Maximilien I. et Marguerite d'Autriche. II. 480. 256 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. are pictures now in existence which prove this cooperation. 1 At what time Memling may have entered Van der Wey den's atelier; how long he may have remained there as an apprentice or a journeyman, are questions to which we can find no satisfactory reply. It has been handed down to us on authority still requiring con- firmation that Memling, in 1450, painted a likeness of Isabel Duchess of Burgundy. 2 A portrait with the date of 1462 is still preserved in which critics have declared that they detected the hand of Memling; 3 but there is quite as much reason to doubt the correctness of the first statement as there is to reject the opinions of the critics ; and it is unfortunately true to say that no picture earlier than 1470 can, at present, be con- nected with the name of Memling. No Flemish painter of note produced pictures more attractive to the Italians than Memling. Cardinal 1 See antea in Van der Weyden. 2 Anonimo. ed. Morelli, u. s., p. 75. 3 This is probably the portrait in the collection of Zuanne Ram described by the Anonimo as Van der Weyden's portrait by himself. (Anon. 78.) It was lately in Mr. Roger's Gallery, and once the property of Mr. Aders, and is neither by Van der Wey- den nor Memling. Yet Mr. Passavant said of it, "It should be the portrait of Memling himself as he appeared in the hospital. No one in Bruges knew of it; nor does Descamps mention it. It is painted quite in the style of Memling, and I doubt not from his hand. If it be admitted that it represents himself, the wounded arm (?) and the date, 1462, determine when Memling was in the hospital." — Kunstreise, p. 94. It is necessary to observe that all authorities, from Descamps upwards, have fixed the date of Mending's illness as 1477. The dress of the portrait is not so much a costume peculiar to the Hospital of St. John as one com- mon to the period. In the Adoration of the Magi, by Memling, a spectator is depicted with a long beard and an orange cap. This is said to be the portrait of Memling in the hospital dress — a different one from that of the portrait of 1462. Vide notice des tableaux de l'hopital de Bruges, u. s., p. 37. See also postea in Dierick Bouts. CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 257 Grimani at Venice collected no less than four of his portraits, and a larger number still of his triptychs. 1 Cardinal Benibo possessed one of his diptychs dated 1470, representing the Madonna and St. John the Baptist; 2 and it is curious that a fragment of it in the Munich Gallery should be the earliest extant specimen of the master. It would be difficult to find a panel more delicately wrought or one more carefully finished in Memling's manner. The Baptist in a red mantle and camel's hair jerkin is seated on a rock, pointing to the lamb on the grass, and on the skirts of a distant wood, a deer has stopped to drink. This is the work of a man with settled habits of execution, familiar with all the tricks* of his art and capable of holding a high rank amongst the craftsmen of his age ; 3 it prepares us for the mastery which we discern in one of the greatest productions of that time— the Last Judgment of Dantzig. The Last Judgment of Dantzig is one of the numerous creations of Flemish art commissioned in Belgium on Italian account. It was painted before 1473, and shipped at Bruges with other goods con- signed to houses for which the Portinari were agents. The causes which led to its transfer to Dantzig are as curious as they are interesting to Englishmen. For reasons which it is needless to explain, Edward the 1 Anonimo, u. s. This writer quotes in addition to the two portraits above named, "Two portraits of a man and his wife," and many pictures of Saints "with wings" all by "Memelino." (p. 76.) 2 Anonimo, u, s., p. 17. 3 Munich Pinakothek. Cabinets, No. 105. Wood, m. 0.30 h. by 0.24. A forged inscription in gold letters runs : "H. V. D. Goes, 1472.' ? There is no better ground for assuming that this picture is identical with that in the Bembo collection (Ano- nimo. 17) than the description of the Anonimo, which here exactly fits, and the obvious authorship of Mending. 17 258 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XL IVth, in 1468, imprisoned all the German merchants of the Stahlhof in London, and confiscated their pro- perty. 1 The people of Liibeck replied to this affront in 1469, by prohibiting the import of English broad-cloth ; the people of Dantzig accepted it as a declaration of war and issued letters of marque against all British traders. Fleets of privateers and men of war were equipped on both sides, and several engagements were fought in which the fortune of war alternately favoured both parties. A French derelict used by the Dantzigers as a war galley in the first period of hostilities was sold in the winter of 1472 to a company of merchants, who fitted her as a privateer and hoisted the Dantzig flag under the command of a noted captain named Benecke. 2 On the 10th of April 1473, Paul Benecke received intelligence which induced him to weigh for a beat off the Swin. There lay at the time in the harbour of Sluys an armed galley of considerable tonnage, the St. Thomas, a British built ship, purchased, it was said, by English merchants as a French prize, and chartered by Thomas Portinari and other Florentines of Bruges for a voyage to London. She was laden with cloths, linen, alum, peltry, spices, and arras to the value of 60,000 Flemish pounds, 3 partly consigned to London, partly to Florence and Pisa; 4 and amongst the pack- ages on board was a triptych of considerable value. 5 To insure the freight against capture, the ship was 1 Caspar Weinreich's Danziger Chronik, herausgegeben und erlautert von Theodor Hirsch und F. A. Vossberg. 4°. Berlin, 1855. p. 5. 2 Ibid. Beilage I. pp. 93-5. 3 Weinreicb's Chronik, p. 13. 4 Declaration of Portinari's agent Spinelli, dated 1473, in Beilage I to Weinreich's Chronik, p. 101. 5 Weinreich's Chronik, pp. 13, 14, and extracts in notes to the same from Meimann's Chronik and the small Melmann's Chronik. CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING-. 259 registered in the name of Thomas Portinari, com- missioned by a French captain, and navigated under the Burgundian flag. 1 A consort of smaller tonnage but likewise laden with rich produce accompanied the St. Thomas. As the two vessels left the port of Sluys they were sighted and followed by Paul Benecke who attacked the St. Thomas near Southampton, forcing her to strike after killing and wounding a hundred and fifteen of the crew. 2 There is every reason to believe that doubts arose in the minds of the captors whether they would not be charged with piracy on the high seas. They were careful not to take their prize into Dantzig ; they were refused a berth in the waters of Hamburg; and it was almost a mere chance that they were enabled to bear up for Stade, which belonged to the Archbishop of Bremen. 3 There the cargo of the St. Thomas was unloaded and disposed of to the great anger of Charles the Rash, and to the great discom- fiture of the Florentines. The Duke of Burgundy made strenuous efforts to obtain redress; Julian and Lorenzo de Medici, for whose benefit some of the goods and possibly the altar-piece had been shipped, moved Sixtus the IYth, to issue a bull threatening his "be- loved son the pirate Benecke" with all the penalties of excommunication; 4 correspondence was exchanged for years between the Hanse Towns and Bruges, but 1 Letter of the Deputies of the 4 Leden of Flanders, dated Utrecht, March 5, 1474, in Notes to Beilage I, of Weinreich's Chronik, p. 96. 2 lb. ib., and bull of Sixtus IV, notes to p. 102. 3 The councillors of Dantzig to the council of Dantzig, dated Hamburg, June 22, 1473, in Beilage II. to Weinreich's Chronik. p. 118. 4 The bull is in exti-act, in notes to Beilage I. of Weinreich's Chronik, p. 102. Sixtus the IVth calls Benecke "Dilectus Alius Polus Behenk perrata maritimus." 17* 260 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. without avail. The three merchants who fitted the caravel under Benecke's command were patricians of Dantzig and members of the brotherhood of St. George, whose chapel was in the principal church of their native city. No doubt through their agency the triptych of the Last Judgment came to adorn the altar of St. George in the Cathedral of Dantzig. 1 On the outer face of this triptych there are two portraits of a surprising realism, one, a bareheaded man whose form is completely shrouded in a black pelisse with sable lining, the other, a female in a red gown with white silk slashes and ermine trimming. It is difficult to judge of the character of the man's head, which is in part concealed by repaints. The lady is handsome and youthful, with a high forehead, a small but regular nose, light eyebrows, and eyeballs like sloes. A delicate white head-dress fringed with gold and sprinkled with pearls falls on the bosom and shoulders ; a pearl necklace adorns her snowy throat. Both male and female kneel in prayer, in dress of angular and scanty fold, — the first, at the foot of a plinth supporting a statue of the Virgin and Child, — the second, in front of a statue of St. Michael contending with the dragon. A shield affixed to the plinth near the shoulders of the man is emblazoned with a lion sable on a field or, with a bar sinister azure ; a similar shield on the plinth near the lady bears a lion or, on a field gules, with a bar sinister azure sown with three pincers, and a scroll round a compass in the upper left hand corner inscribed with the words: "Pour non falir." It has been suggested that the arms of the man are those of the Counts of Flanders, whilst those of the lady point 1 Weinreich's Chronik, pp. 13, 14, and Beilage I. to the same, p. 100. CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 261 to the families of the Counts van Voerne in Holland, or Branda-Castiglione in Italy; but these are mere conjectures. The name of the master who painted the likenesses is undoubtedly Memling, and the date of his work is necessarily antecedent to April 1473. 1 The subject which Memling has depicted is that which Van der Weyclen used in the altar-piece of Beaune; it is also composed on Van der "Wey den's lines. In a golden sky spanned by a rainbow the Saviour sits in judgment, resting his feet on a brazen orb ; long fair locks and a thin pointed beard inclose a face of oblong shape, heavy bone, and moody glance ; the two-edged sword and the lily on the gold ground symbolize the word and the purity of faith. Four angels with the emblems of the Passion tell of Christ's sufferings and agony on earth; clouds of sable hue and silver edge circling round the rainbow, support the heavenly Judgment-seat. As Christ with one hand blesses the happy, and with the other curses the wicked, he bares the livid flesh of a lean and haggard frame scantily draped in a crimson cloak, the cornered 1 Weinreich's Chronik, pp. 13 — 14, contains the following passage : "Auff dieser galeide ist die taffel gewesen, welche auff S. jorgens junkern altar gesetzet ist, ein schfln, aides, Kunst- reiches Molwerk vom jiingsten tage. Do sol unden bei des engels rechtem fliigel geschrieben sein des meister's namen: jacob und : ANNO DONI CCCLXVII." There are traces now of the five last ciphers of this inscription. But the picture is too clearly of the 15th century and too clearly Mending's to allow us to give weight to the hear-say of Weinreich. Pity that though he began his Chronicle in 1489 he should not have examined the picture himself. We may observe that in the course of the present cen- tury the altar-piece of Dantzig has been ascribed to John Van Eyck, Van der Goes, and Albert van Ouwater. Hinz (Das jiingste Oericht in der St. Marienkirche zu Danzig. 8°. Danzig, 1863) quotes amongst the authorities against the authorship of Mem- ling one of the writers of these pages (p. 42.), but he labours under a complete misapprehension, both, when they saw the picture, having assigned it to Memling. 262 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. breaks of which are hanging in simple realism on the rigid arc of the rainbow. To the left the Virgin, aged and pale, gazes into space, her forehead and neck concealed in the numerous puckers of a white veil covering her neck and hair; in varied attitudes and shades of melancholy thought, six apostles headed by St. Peter kneel serenely on the clouds. To the right in like array, St. John the Baptist heads the rest of Christ's disciples, gazing or communing with each other, as the Seraphs beneath the mist summon the dead to Judgment. At the sound of the last trump, the happy and the wicked rise from their graves; and as St. Michael with peacock wings and bright gilt armour weighs the souls on the foreground, the con- demned are divided from the blest. The disks of St. Michael's balance are loaded with two human beings symbolizing the poles of good and evil; and as the blissful one crouches in prayer, and tilts the plate on which the sinner writhes, the dart of the Archangel pricks the evil one, who struggles with downcast head to join his companions as they flee pursued by imps into eternal fire. To the left the souls awaiting judg- ment express their doubts and fears in changing ex- pression; others have past the ordeal, and transfigured by joy, they move with prayerful thankfulness towards the abode of bliss to which a sinner has only wandered that he may be repelled by the staff of an angel and grasped by the claws of a demon. The gates of Para- dise on the left wing are figured by a splendid Gothic portal, to which there is a noble ascent by steps, in the pinnacles of which Cherubs sing their pseans. St. Peter guards the steps up which the crowd ascends attended by angels who distribute celestial raiment. The depths of Satan's kingdom are mouths of furnaces opening CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 263 out of rocky precipices into which the evil ones are hurled, or drawn by imps. Despair is in the faces, agony in the frames of the sinners, and the varied forms of suffering are as cleverly suggested by action and expression, as those of bliss and joy by a winning calmness of contentment in the faces and movements of the happy. In this grand altar-piece, which has suffered to a painful extent from the effects of time and injudicious restoring, Memling shows himself a true disciple of the school of Brussels, and a pure follower of Flemish tradition. The stern melancholy which characterized Van der Weyden falls like a bequest of the past on the gentler soul of his pupil, and becomes tempered by a milder serenity. Without altering much in the grand lines of a composition modelled for subsequent genera- tions by the great master of Tournai, Memling displays a novel skill in grouping and drawing. He is unequal ; he stumbles over some difficulties of proportion; but he often displays an advanced acquaintance with the anatomy of form. Like many Flemings he confounds moodiness with gravity; his figures of Christ and apostles are never transfigured to superhuman beauty; his Virgins and saints are no more ideals of form than ideals of expressiveness; there is overweight of head and undersize of shoulders and torso; but some faces, — a Baptist or Evangelist, — attract by pleasing gentleness, and a dignified air; and the melancholy quiet or passionless regularity of feature in St. Michael is unsurpassed in any Belgian picture of the time. Amongst the nudes of sinners there are many which repel us by their violent contortions. Amidst the nudes of the elect there are a few which tell of close adherence to the faulty reality of the model; but there 264 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. are many of the first that are well foreshortened and designed, and many of the second distinguished by elegance of shape and grace of contour. Peculiarly characteristic of the master's idiosyncracy is the wide and open forehead, scanty eyebrow, and broad droop- ing eyelid in women. — More than any other artist of his age Memling in the altar-piece of Dantzig produces effect by atmosphere and vivid contrasts in large divi- sions of light and shade. Chiaroscuro as applied to the relief of solitary figures is more developed than we find it in the works of Yan der Weyden ; but the habit of Belgian artists was to veil the sun, and so in Memling there are no projections of shadow, and no concentrated floods of rays on any part of any one personage. In a picture with so little drapery as this it may be difficult to find Memling's true conception of cast and fold in dress; yet there is enough to show that he loved a scanty simplicity of stuff, and the absence of innume- rable breaks and angles in mantles and tunics is an advantage not to be lightly undervalued. The colours in the upper part of the triptych are laid on so spa- ringly that they never conceal entirely the run of the contours nor the lines of the inner forms ; the result is a little hardness and want of air. This thinness of surface tone is tempered in the foreground figures by greater delicacy of touch; and there is a charming though somewhat pallid transparency in flesh which tells not merely of a very fine feeling but of very con- siderable technical skill. No doubt there was a time when the whole piece was more attractive than it is now. There was a time when probably no trace was to be found of the ruthless hand which first rubbed off the surfaces, and then covered them with retouches; but that is a distant time ; and it is apparent that on CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 265 several occasions it' was thought advisable by the patrons of St. George's altar to proceed to measures of restoration. 1 A curious proof of the level to which the taste for pictures was developed at Dantzig in the 15th century is afforded by the general assumption that the altar- piece of the Last Judgment was executed in a pre- vious age. 2 Such an assumption might and probably did prevent inquiries from being made as to the author of so fine a work. The protracted effort made by Porti- nari to wring indemnity from the Dantzigers would tend to show that he and his Florentine colleagues were better cognizant of the value of the treasures they had lost; and if this effort was due in any way to the desire for recovering the price of an 1 Dantzig Cathedral. Wood, centre m. 1.74 h. by 1.24, wings, 1.74 h. by 0.62. This picture has frequently been an object of desire to wealthy lovers of art. The Emperor Rudolpb, says Mr. Hinz, offered 40,000 gulden for it, the elector of Saxony 20,000 Thaler, and Peter the Great of Russia endeavoured in vain to purchase it of the city of Dantzig. Lenoir, Napoleon's director of art affairs, caused it to be removed to Paris in 1807. It was given up again at the peace, and since then efforts were made by the Prussian government to place it in the Museum at Berlin. It Avas proposed that in addition to a sum of 20,000 Thalers a copy of Raphael's Sistine Madonna should be given in exchange for it, but this offer was rejected. The picture was first restored at Dantzig in 1718 by the painter Julius Christoph Krey, and in 1815 by Professor Bock at Berlin. In 1851 it- was again restored by Prof. Xeller, whose principal object was to remove what his predecessors had added to the painting. The head of the elect in the balance was found to have been completely removed and repainted, and under it was a silver-plate let into the wood. It will be recollected that the guilds carefully provided that no knots should be left in panels. It seems as if the silver-plate in question had been let in to cover the place of a knot. More particular^ - injured are the following parts : The face of the Archangel Michael, by removal of glazes and retracing of lines to deepen the shadows. St. Peter on the left wing, whose red mantle is almost rubbed doAvn to the preparation. The angels blowing trumps by repaints. The rest of the picture is all more or less affected by flaying and retouching. 2 See note, antea, p. 261. 266 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. altar-piece of great attractiveness, we should have evidence of a considerable nimbus encircling the name and talents of Memling. That Memling, in 1470—3, was a man of acknowledged fame at Bruges might be inferred with as much plausibility as that he was a favourite with Italian patrons. To argue on the other hand from the despatch of some pictures to Italy or the presence of others in Italian galleries that the painter was personally acquainted with Italy is ha- zardous; and if we bear in mind that certain pictures adorned with so-called reminiscences of Rome and Venice are erroneously attributed to Memling, 1 we shall find the argument more illogical still. It might have happened that when Van der Weyden wandered to Ferrara and Rome, he took Memling with him as varlet or apprentice, but there are many reasons to be adduced against the probability of such a thing. An old master might spend a year, as Van der Weyden did, in Italy without altering his style. It would be natural to find a trace of Italian influence in the works of a younger man; and the absence of any influence of this kind in Mending's works is conclusive against his visit to Italy. 2 Amongst original documents of various dates which illustrate Mending's life, some, as old as 1480, prove that he was possessed of land and houses in the city of Bruges ; others show that he was a married man, and father of several children. 3 It is not beyond the 1 See postea as to Mending's views of Eome in the Shrine of St. Ursula, and compare Michiels (u. s. II, 293) as to the "Venetian horses" in the Martyrdom of St. Hippolytus, which is by Bouts. See also postea in Bouts. 2 Compare Notice des tableaux de l'hopital de St. Jean a Bruges, u.s., p. 9. Michiels (A.) Histoire de lapeinture Flamande et Hollandaise. 8°. Brux. II. 293, and others. 3 See postea. CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 267 range of probability that an artist impoverished by- sickness in 1477, should have married and risen within three years to a position of comparative opu- lence, but the earnings of a painter would scarcely have helped him to this position; and we know enough of the prices paid to artists to enable us to affirm that such a piece of fortune could hardly have befallen Memling. There are, however, more positive grounds than these, even if we exclude the evidence afforded by the history of the Dantzig altar - piece, for supposing that our artist lived at Bruges before 1477. In 1477, Willem Yrelandt or Wyelandt, a neighbour of Memling at Bruges, and an artist not unknown as a miniaturist, 1 held a position of trust in the booksellers' guild at Bruges, and contributed his share to a fund for the purchase of an altar-piece ordered of Memling for the booksellers' chapel. There are records extant telling of specific charges made for the framing and woodwork of the picture, and a final payment for the whole of it in 1478. 2 We have a description of this work in an inventory of 1499, which speaks of the "altar-table with four wings by Master Hans, including 1 A. Pinchart, Annotations, u. s., p. CCXLIII, and Weale in Journal des Beaux Arts. 1861. p. 53. 2 1477. "Item, gegefie den sciunewerke te wet II s. voor tcas- syn van onse taefle, en III s. g. vande duerkins dien ic Meest. Hans hebbe gheleed vande ghild« vveghe. V. s. g." "Ite va ij letzins daer de duere mede ghehange zyn bet." "It., verleet tot Wille Vrelat als de duerkins van ose taefle ware Meest Hans besteit te makene. XHg." "Ite, noch. bet. de scrinewerke van 2 and. duerkins. IIIIs. g." "Ite, bet. Meest Hans op de 2 duerkins die hy heft va ons te makene 1 1. gr." 1478. "Ite. gegheven Meestre Hans al samen in een III lib. II sch." — C, Carton, Annales de la Soc. d'Emulat. de Bruges. Tom. V, 2 e Ser. p. 331, and Weale, u. s., 1861. p. 53. 268 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. the portraits of Willem Yreland and his wife;" 1 and though it has been thought that this masterpiece was lost, we may find a clue to its existence in an inventory of the booksellers' guild, which registers a picture of "the seven griefs of Mary" in 1619, and notes its sale in 16 24. 2 There is no statement here, it is true, as to the painter of "the seven griefs of Mary;" but the fact that Memling produced a panel with portraits of a male and female donor, for a chapel in which we sub- sequently find the "seven griefs," and the fact in addition, that there is a picture of the "Seven Griefs" by Memling in the Gallery of Turin, on the foreground of which a donor and his wife are kneeling, all lead to the conclusion that the panel of Turin is that which Memling painted for Willem Vrelandt. What became of the wings is a mystery, but not quite an impenetrable one. There are numerous altar-pieces by Memling in existence of which the centres alone are preserved; and some of the most beautiful of his panels are wings of altar-pieces the centres of which have dis- appeared. Independently of all such considerations the "Seven griefs" of Turin is one of Mending's productions which has prominent interest for the historian of Flemish art ; 3 it is one of the curious examples of the way in 1 1499. Noch bovendien huerlieder autaer tafle metten vier dueren daer aen zynde daer Willem Vreland ende zyn wyf za- liglier gedachte in ghecontrofeit zyn, ghemaect by der hand van wylen Meestre Hans." — C. Carton, Annates de la Soc. cl'Emulat. de Bruges, Tom. V. 2 e Ser. Nos. 3, 4, p. 331. 2 A. Pinchart, Annotations, u. s., p. CCXLIV. 3 Turin Mus. Wood, 0.55 h. by 0.90. This panel was saved from the plunder of the Dominican convent of Bosco near Alles- sandria in Piedmont at the time of the French revolution, and subsequently presented to the king. (See J. M. Callery's "La G-alerie Royale de peinture de Turin." 8°. Havre, 1854. p. 146). It has been considered by Dr. Waagen to be the picture of the CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 269 which the system of compressing numerous gospel in- cidents into one landscape was transmitted to the 15th century; and no more curious instance can be cited of the preservation of a tradition traceable through Van der Weyden to the carver guildsmen of Tournai. The story of the Passion begins in the furthest dis- tance of the landscape with the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem; we then see -the Saviour in the house of the Pharisee, and partaking of the last supper with his disciples. Outside the walls of Jerusalem, and nearer the spectator, Jesus is tracked by Judas and his band, betrayed and brought before Pilate; then comes the flagellation, the march to Golgotha, the crucifixion, the descent from the cross, the resurrec- tion, the descent into limbus, the appearance to the Magdalen, and the supper at Emniaus. — There are hundreds of figures in this wonderful miniature — all of them delicately finished and brilliantly coloured ; and our surprise increases in a natural proportion as we take in successively the beauties of detail in each episode. But as a whole, and though the portraits are miracles of realism, we cannot fail to discover that art in this path is falling away from great principles, sacrificing unity, composition, and massive effect to the comparatively small aim of telling a consecutive story. —We shall presently see that the Flemings showed a decided prepossession for this form of art r and so learn to attribute to the public the taste which might otherwise be supposed to be Memling's. It was about the time of the completion of the altar-piece of the booksellers that Memling produced Passion belonging to the Portinari and Duke Cosimo, noted by Vasari (I. 163, and XIII. 148.), by Passavant (Kunstblatt. No. 62. 1843) to be Memling's picture once at Careggi. (Vasari, I. 163.) 270 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. the wonderful marriage of St. Catherine, which is described in the opening of the present chapter. It was doubtless commissioned by the hospitallers, when Memling was a prosperous craftsman at Bruges, and there are some though not quite conclusive, grounds for thinking that it was finished in 1479. As a work of art it may be considered quite as characteristic as the Last Judgment of Dantzig, and being more thoroughly authenticated we should take it as a representative piece from which to judge of the peculiarities of the master's style. Here again the main incident of Cathe- rine's espousals is but one of a series of episodes form- ing the whole context of the picture.— The landscape is filfed with small scenes illustrating the lives of the Baptist and Evangelist; some of which— like the dance of the daughter of Herodias — are finished composi- tions of the most elaborate kind. Placed where they are they divert the eye, and throw the principal sub- ject out of focus; and yet there is no subject more worthy in itself of concentrated examination than that of the Espousals. Symmetry, which marks every form of arrangement in Memling's pictures, verges so com- pletely on constraint, as to suggest a partial paralysis of will and motion in the attitudes or movements of the dramatis persona?, but some of the groups, and essentially the group of Mary holding the Child with charming grace towards the kneeling Catherine, are admirable. The same constraint in the episode of the decollation inevitably results in affectation and stiff- ness; and were it not that a great number of the figures in the Vision of Patmos are reduced by per- spective to the smallest size, we might have to notice a similar defect in that portion of the picture also. Be this as it may, there is no doubt much more free- CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 271 dom and movement in horse and man in the right wing, than there is in any other part of the altar-piece. The Virgin, St. Catherine, and St. Barbara are models of that slender form of womanhood which Memling in- herited from Van der Weyden ; the faces are long, the necks swan-like, the shapes divested of redundant flesh; but chaste and maidenly elegance of carriage, and serene modesty in features chiselled to a beauty of simple openness, reveal a fund of delicacy in Memling which is not to be found in any other painter of the time in Flanders. To charms of this character the master sometimes superadds a winning expression and select cast of features; and this is peculiarly visible in the head of an angel playing the harp near the Virgin's shoulders. When we turn to such im- personations as those of the Baptist and Evangelist, we observe how much less suited Mending's genius was to embodiments of masculine force than it was to embodiments of feminine grace. The kindly melancholy and resigned air of the Baptist and Evangelist almost strike us as exaggerated in men; and scanty flesh in shapes of bony make gives but too much prominence to rigidity and unelastic motion. In male delineation, Memling, requiring to exert the most solid qualities of the draughtsman, shows lack of the highest skill in the representation of play in muscles and articulations or action in arms and legs. His drawing of hands and feet is not quite equal to his drawing of heads. At a distance we are struck with the absence of broad masses of light and shade; there is more colour but little more concentration of light than in Van der Weyden's masterpieces. It would almost seem as if Memling purposely shrank from reproducing nature in sunlight. His shadows are not 272 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. nearly so dusky, his lights not nearly so narrow as those of John Van Eyck. — Nor does he work the two into one by breaking gray or blue or red into the transitions ; he gets roundness by sheer polish and untiring labour. On close inspection we admire an almost superhuman power of detail; there are wrinkles, folds of flesh, and hairs picked out and realized, with astounding patience; but this realism unaccompanied by strong contrast of chiaroscuro contributes but little to effect, and is almost labour lost. It is probably within the truth to say that Mending's conception of the Infant Christ in the marriage of St. Catherine was the most successful that he ever carried out. The type of Christ's face to which he usually clings is finer than that of Van der Weyden, — gravely expressive, cheerful, and frequently ennobled by sweet intelligence, •a broad and open forehead, and a good eye, but the mask often exceeds the natural length, and this defect transferred to the frame and limbs and feet, and being accompanied by protruding articulations, or curved bones, produces a most unfavourable impression. A fair average of proportion, and a most intelligent ex- pression, impart to the Infant in the picture before us its most important charm. — We may study and admire the skill with which the softest and truest chords of harmony are produced by juxtapositions of tints; it is to Memling's natural gift as a chromatic painter that we look to counterbalance his deficiencies in relief and atmosphere ; his landscapes of autumnal tone are clear and always bright. 1 1 Bruges, Hospital. No. 1, centre. Wood, m. 1.74 h. by 1.74. Wings 0.74 h. by 0.80. On tbe loAver framing we read the newly painted inscription which follows: "OPVS IOHANIS HEM- LING. ANNO MCCCCLXXIX", and it is a question whether the picture was not finished earlier than 1479, as the Epiphany of CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 273 There are ..two altar-pieces in the spirit of this great work which claim distinct attention ; one is the Madonna in the collection of Count Duchatel in Paris, the other is the Madonna of Sir John Donne in the Duke of Devonshire's residence at Chiswick. The first to some extent recalls "the Marriage" of Bruges in the figure of the Virgin, and is characterized by the peculiar fitness and mastery of its architectural ac- cessories, as well as by a truthful impress of nature in numerous portraits. To the left St. James, with his head bared in honour of the Virgin, commends to her a donor with six ' sons, whilst St. Dominick on the right attends a kneeling dame and her thirteen daughters. 1 The Chiswick Madonna is better preserved, and, if possible, more refined in feeling. It represents the Virgin enthroned in a porch receiving homage from the kneeling Sir John Donne, his lady (in a peaked cap), and their numerous children protected by St. Agnes and St. Barbara. In the landscape outside the porch are a water mill, a miller, a cow, and swans, the favourite distance which adorns Madonnas at the Uffizi and Worlitz, and a portrait in the Gallery of Antwerp catalogued under the name of Antonello. With his usual grace in depicting slender and highborn womanhood Memling excels in this picture as a painter of dress and accessories ; and none of his creations are more conspicuous than this for the finish and trans- that year shows a greater advance in technical execution than the Marriage. The figure of the angel playing the harp has been seriously disfigured by retouches. The vision of Patmos is still more damaged by abrasion of the foreground, water, and part of the sky. The outer figures of the donors are extensively cleaned off and retouched. 1 Paris, Count Duchatel. Wood. The figures are about one third of the life size. 18 274 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. parency of clotlis, veils, and ornament. On the side panels of the altar-piece are Ml lengths of an austere and grave St. John the Baptist and a young and se- renely kind St. John Evangelist. 1 Of more finished execution than the Marriage of St. Catherine, yet apparently of the same date, the Epiphany in the Hospital of Bruges is technically the most perfect production of Mending's early period. It represents the adoration of the Magi, and the presenta- tion in the temple on the same lines as the adoration and presentation of Van der Weyden at Munich, but substitutes the Nativity for Yan der Weyden's An- nunciation. We may commend this beautiful triptych for its comparative freedom from constraint, for in- creased vividness of tints and stronger chiaroscuro than is to be found in any of its forerunners. It was composed at the special request of Jan Floreins Van der Bijst,who held the office of gauger in the monastery of St. John, and whom we may still see kneeling in a corner of the Epiphany. 2 Mending's position in the annals of pictorial history has been hitherto that of a man whose personal cha- racter and daily life were concealed in the haze of time. In 1480, we strike the very track of his footsteps, and see him in flesh and blood, a resident at Bruges. 1 Cliiswick. Altai'-piece in three parts with figures three quarters the size of life on wood. The arms of the Donnes, not the Cliffords, as once supposed, hang on the capitals of the pillars of the porch. An angel on the left offers a fruit to the in- fant ; another on the right plays the pipes. Near the Baptist a servant looks from hehind a door. Some portions of the surface are scaled. 2 Bruges Hospital. No. 3. Wood; centre 0.58 by 0.47. Wings, 0.25 by 0.47. Signed, "Opus . Johannis . Hemling. Dit. werck. dede. maken . broeder . Jan . Floreins . alias Van . der . Biist . broeder . profes . van . de . hospitale .van . Sint . Jans . in . Brugghe . anno. MCCCCLXXIX." €HAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 275 During the war waged in 1479 — 82, between Louis the Xlth of France and Maximilian of Austria, the cities of Flanders were taxed to the amount of 500,000 livres for the purpose of prosecuting hostilities. Bruges raised her share of the contribution partly by taxation, and partly by loans. Of the ten or twenty score of persons who subscribed to the loan, one is registered as Hans Memling the painter. Almost simultaneously we find Memling paying ground rents to the Church of St. Donatian, for two large tenements which he owned in the Vlamincdam, or, as it is now called, the rue St. Georges at Bruges. An ingenious topographer has had no difficulty in finding the site of the painter's house now built over with modern dwellings. 1 Of further significance as illustrating Memling's life in 1480, is the statement that he was engaged by the Hospitallers of St. John of Bruges to furnish the plan for a new shrine into which the relics of St. Ursula in charge of the hospital were to be translated. 2 1480 is also the date of the completion of an altar-piece which Memling executed for the curriers of Bruges, a beautiful panel in the feeling of that of Turin, which is preserved at Munich; it is also the date of several pictures, prominent amongst which are the portraits of the Brussels Museum, the so-called Sibyl, and the Entombment in the Hospital of Bruges. Though not without characteristic features sug- gestive of Memling's authorship, the Entombment is so much below the master's usual level that we presume to think it may have been executed in a great measure 1 See Mr. "Weale's contributions to the Journal des Beaux Arts for 1861, pp. 22. 35. 36. See also an interesting sketch of the life of Memling in La Plume, a journal published at Bruges. No. 54, of the year 1871. 2 Passavant (Kunstblatt No. 62 of the year 1843.) • 18* 276 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. by assistants; but it contains the likeness of Adrian Reims, a young hospitaller at whose request, it is said , Memling afterwards undertook a journey to the Rhine. 1 The Sibyl Zambetha — a pallid bust of a Flemish damsel, in the high peaked cap of the close of the 15th century, has no personal charms to recommend her; nor has the painter striven to give interest to her plainness by special beauties of colour and relief. A counterpart in size, of the portraits at Brussels, winch are known to represent a patrician of Bruges and his wife, a counterpart of these likewise in technical treat- ment, it bears the date of 1480, and was originally painted for the Hospital of Saint Julien of Bruges. For this hospital it was that the Brussels portraits representing Willem Moreel and Barbara Van Vlaen- derberch were executed; and these are reasons of weight, especially if we accept the ciphers on the fram- ing as genuine, for assuming that Memling portrayed three members of the same family at the same period; and yet when we look at each of the three panels in turn, we are struck by a sense of their comparative feebleness, and long to assign them to an earlier period of Memling's practice. The sibyl especially, though handled with extreme delicacy of pencil, and in 1 Bruges Hospital. No 6. "Wood, centre 0.44 h. by 0.36; wings, 0.44 h. by 0.14. The Virgin, Magdalen, and Joseph of Arimathea are wailing at the Saviour's feet, on the right wing is Adrian Reims kneeling ; on the left, St. Barbara. On the outer sides are the discovery of the cross and St. Mary of Eygpt crossing Jordan. It may be doubted whether the ciphers 1480 on the framing are genuine. The letters A. B. on the edge of the central panel are initials of Adrian Reims' name. This is a theatrical composition with little of the feeling usual in Memling's produc- tions — the Magdalen exhibiting her grief in the contorsive ges- tures peculiar to Van der Weyden's representations. A red tone prevails throughout ; and the landscape is arid, and devoid of the fine qualities of the master. Still, it must be borne in mind that the whole is much damaged by cleaning and restoring. CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 277 the thinnest of clear tones, is drawn with such timid accuracy as to suggest a still youthful hand. 1 Willem Moreel, a patrician of Bruges, descended from a Savoyard family whose letters of citizenship dated from the 14th century, was elected echevin of his native city in 1472, and held the office of Burgo- master at Bruges in 1478 and 1483. He subsequently rose to still higher civic dignities, in spite of the marked enmity of Maximilian of Austria. His wife Barbara bore him five sons and thirteen daughters, one of whom is supposed to be the Sibyl of the Bruges Hospital. 2 The portraits of this pair are models of plain burgess simplicity, that of Moreel in a close black dress with copious hair, cut straight along the forehead, that of his spouse in a conical cap, and a dark gown with a collar of pearls. 3 It is the more necessary to hesitate in assigning the date of 1480 to the Moreel portraits because a larger and more important picture of that year, — "the seven Joys of Mary" at Munich, — exhibits Memling's art in a later and better form, and shows him to have been at that time more spirited and lively, as well as more careful and minute, and more fully conscious of the pleasure to be derived from vivid colour and crispness of touch. 1 Bruges Hospital. No. 5. Wood, 0.37 h. by 0.27, from the Hospital of St. Julien. On a cartellino in the upper corner of the picture: "Sibylla Sambetha quae et persica. an: ante Christ : nat: 2040; below on a scroll: "Ecce bestia conculcaberis. Gigne- tur Diis in orbem ten-arum, et gremiu virginis erit salus gentium invisibilis verbu palpabitur." Compare Mr. Weale's genealogy of the Moreel family in Le Beffroi, u. s. II. 190. 191. 2 Beffroi u. s. II. 182—5. 3 Brussels Museum. No. 21 and 22. Wood, m. 0.37 h. by 0.27, originally in Saint Julien of Bruges, subsequently in the Van der Schrieck collection at Louvain at the sale of which they were bought in 1861 for £ 200. Both are seen at an opening through which landscapes are seen; both are in prayer. Their arms are on the backs of the panels. See Le Beffroi, u. s. II. 189. 278 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. Here, as in the "Seven Griefs," the donors — a man with his son and wife in the dress of burgesses of Bruges — kneel in the foreground of a landscape re- presenting the country round Jerusalem. On various planes the bloodless incidents of the history of Christ, are depicted; foremost, the Nativity, Epiphany, and Resurrection; further back; the angel appearing to the shepherds, the procession of the kings of the East, the visit to Herod, the massacre of the Innocents, and the flight into Egypt; the Maries at the Sepulchre, Christ appearing to the Maries, and parting from his mother, the Ascension, and the Assumption. We feel at once on looking at this picture, the absence of linear per- spective and atmosphere; yet the episodes are so complete in themselves, and so cleverly arranged and executed that they produce a deep impression; and the colours are so bright, so clear, and so admirably contrasted that we necessarily yield to a grateful sense of rest. The donors of tins beautiful altar-piece are Catherine Van Ryebecke, her son Adrian Bultynck, and her husband Pierrre Bultynck, the latter known as a substantial citizen and currier, who served as echevin of Bruges in 1477, 1478 and 1480. 1 It was observed by a local chronicler of the last century, who saw the altar-piece in a chapel of the Church of Notre Dame at Bruges, that an inscription on the framing told how the picture was presented by Pierre Bultynck in 1480, to the guild of curriers with the proviso that a miserere and deprofimdis should be recited before it after each mass. 2 1 Le Beffroi, u. s. II. 267. 2 Munich Pinakothek. Cabinets, No. 63. "Wood, 0.76 h. by 1.82. This picture is not quite correctly called the "Seven Joys." It was given to the eorporation "1479 before Easter" (1480, n. s.) by Pierre Bultynck. (See the inventory of the property of the Back of Foldout Not Imaged CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 279 In 1482 Memling finished the Annunciation in the collection of Prince Radzivil at Berlin, a picture de- scribed by Dr. Waagen, as of very original conception and marvellous delicacy; 1 but he also designed the beautiful portrait of the same date at the Uffizi ; and it is not improbable that the two years subsequent to 1480 were spent on works commissioned for Italian patrons. The portrait of the Uffizi is a very solemn and dignified representation of a man in prayer with his hands joined on a desk, the head full of life, the hands of select shape and colour. It once belonged to the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, and was perhaps part of a diptych or triptych, in which the half length of St. Benedict at the Uffizi was framed. 2 But the best of Mending's pieces at Florence is the Madonna of the curriers of Bruges in Le Beffroi, u. s. II. 268. In 1780 it was sold for 20 livres to an Antwerp dealer named Van Cock (lb. ib. 265), and by him sold "without the wings" to Mr. A. L. van den Boga^rde, treasurer and burgomaster of the Franc de Bruges. It was sold again to Mr. Goddyn of Bruges in 1799 ; then to Mr.Imbert, inl804,on commission for the Empress Josephine, at whose death it came into the Beauharnais collection. Bought by Mr. Nieuwenhuys, who sold it to the Boisserees, the picture came into the gallery of Munich. (See the authorities in Le Beffroi, u. s. 265-6). In Ledoulx's Lives of Bruges Painters, MS. of 1795, in the Academy of Bruges (cit. by Weale in Journal des Beaux Arts. 1860. p. 154) is a description of the altar-piece as it stood in Notre Dame. On the frame, says Le Doulx, was the following inscription : "Int jaer m.cccc.lxxx zo was dit were ghegheven de ambochte van de hueidevetters van dheer Pieter Bultync f s Joos hueidevetter ende coopman ende jonevrouwe Katelyne syn wyf Godevaert van Biebekes dochtere dies moest de priestere van desen ambochte achter elcke misse lesen eenen miserere ende profundis voor aller zielen." 1 Waagen's Kugler's Handbook. 8°. London, 1860. p. 100. 2 Uffizi. No. 769. Wood, bust, life size. No. 778. Wood, life size . . both from S. Maria Nuova of Florence. Otto Mundleiy (Beitrage zu J. Burckhardt's Cicerone) u. s. p. 28, assigns these two pictures to Hugo Van der Goes; but he gives no reasons for- doing so. 280 HANS MEMLINGr. [CHAP. XI. Uffizi, in which the Virgin is represented sitting on a throne with the crown poised over her head by two seraphs. A beautiful angel with a viol presents a quince to the infant, whilst his comrade on the other side kneels with a harp in his hand. 1 In a clear land- scape like that of the Marriage of St. Catherine at Bruges, or the votive Madonna at Chiswick, the roads and hollows are enlivened by figures of a man and his ass ; a mill and bridge span a stream ; and swans float on a lake. Chastened arrangement, tasteful shape, jewel -like finish and glow of tone are qualities in this picture which Memling acknowledged to himself by frequent replication. A charming repetition on a small scale of the Uffizi Madonna is in the Duke of Anhalt's country seat of Woiiitz near Dessau. 2 Of less skill as regards arrangement, but of more expressive force, the dead Saviour in the arms of Mary — a small panel in the Doria Palace at Rome — shows with what exuberance of feeling nature had graced the talent of Memling. It is the passion of Van der Weyden tempered with a current of more sensitive anguish, that we see in the fondness with which the Virgin clams her cheek to that of the Redeemer, whose corpse she strives with the help of the Evan- gelist to raise from the ground. To the right the Magdalen dries her tears, and a grave personage in prayer kneels — a noble portrait — on the foreground. To great strength and enamel of tone a very delicate 1 Uffizi. No. 703. "Wood, figures ^d of life size. 2 Worlitz. Wood, 0.56 h. by 0.49. Here there are two men in a boat on a lake, and a rider on a bridge. The heads are relieved by halos of rays. An angel and a saint are in the spandrels of the arch through which the landscape is seen. Pity that the surface should be injured by extensive rubbing. CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 281 touch is united, and all the parts are blended to a nicety. 1 The registers of the guild of St. Luke at Bruges were searched in vain for the name of HansMeniling; 2 and it is no doubt curious that a man of his importance should not have been numbered amongst the craftsmen of the city; but the slightest connection with the court of the Duke of Burgundy would have made him in- dependent of the guilds, and it may be that such a connection existed, though it was not handed down to us even by tradition. But the registers of the guild are not absolutely silent as to Memling ; they do not tell of his matriculation, but they tell of that of his pupils ; and this in itself is a welcome addition to our know- ledge of Mending's life and practice. 3 In 1484 Willeni Moreel, whose portrait had been painted by Memling some years before, engaged the painter to produce an altar-piece for a chapel in Saint Jacques of Bruges. For nearly a century after its completion the triptych, which Memling then com- pleted, was preserved on its original altar ; but when the plundering iconoclasts of 1575 began their devasta- tions in the churches of the city, the pictures were 1 Home. Palazzo Doria. This little masterpiece is in the same room as Sebastian del Piombo's Doria. It is on "Wood, m. 0.67 h. by 0.52. In the distance Golgotha and the thieves on their crosses. The figixre of Christ is excessively lean and stiff. The picture is well preserved. 2 This is correct, unless we accept as beyond cavil the notice of Mr. J. Gaillard in his book, "De ambachten en Neringen van Brugge," in which he cites as member of the corporation of St. Luke : "Joannes Memlinc inkom." 1479. See the passage quoted in Weale, Journal des Beaux Arts. 1861. p. 54. 3 Memling's pupils Annekin Verhunnemann and Paschier VaD der Meersch matriculated in the guild of Bruges in 1480 and 1483 respectively. Compare Wautei's (A.) Revue des Arts, u. s. II. 251, andD. van de Casteele, livre d'admission de la gilde de Saint Luc de Bruges. 282 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. removed; and in this way came at last to hang in the civic Museum of the Academy. In the course of their numerous wanderings the panels suffered more injury than others of the same period, but they are still im- portant creations of the master. In the centre piece, St. Christopher carries the Infant Christ across the stream; St. Maur and St. Giles are at his sides; on the wings, Moreel kneels in a landscape with his five sons under the protection of St. William, whilst his wife prays with eleven daughters under the guardian- ship of St. Barbara. Memling never painted a picture with figures of life-size in which there is less con- straint or a cleverer rendering of natural movement ; he lavished upon every part the most delicate finesses of his pencil, and the purest enamels of his pallet ; and we regret, though in vain that so many of these charms should lie concealed under massive repaints. 1 The triptych of the Academy is the nearest that we possess in the order of chronology to the diptych of the Hospital of Bruges, painted for Martin van Newenhoven in 1487. Martin van Newenhoven was a young patrician whose fortune it was, late in life, to hold high office in the municipality of Bruges. His marriage and first election to a shrievalty are historically recorded. 2 He gave the diptych — a masterpiece — to the Hospital of Saint Julien of Bruges; where it remained till the close of the last century. There is no more interesting 1 Bruges Academy Nos. 4. 5. 6. 7 and 8. Centre. Wood, m. 1.21 h. by 1.54 ; wings, 1.21 h. by 0.69. On tbe back of the wings are monochromes of St. George and St. John the Baptist. On the lower edge of the framing are the modern words: "ANNO DNI 1484." Much injured by repainting are the heads of the female children on the left wing. The outlines of the figure of St. John are run over and one of the hands altered altogether. 2 Notice des tableaux de l'hopital de St. Jean, u. s. p. 39. CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 283 specimen of portrait by Memling extant than this, none more characteristic for the large fair oval of the Ma- donna's face, or for that peculiar clearness which is so surely produced by scant shadow and spacious, even light. In September of the year in which this beautiful piece was finished, Memling lost his wife Anna, who left him a widower with three young children. We should rejoice to know with equal exactness when he com- pleted his most captivating masterpiece, the lovely shrine of St. Ursula, which for three centuries has been the pride of the Hospitallers of St. John of Bruges. 1 The shrine of St. Ursula is said to have been ordered at the suggestion of the Hospitaller Van der Rijst during the period of Memling's stay in the sick wards of the monastery. 2 The truth may be that Mem- ling received a commission for it when practising as a painter at Bruges, and had allowances made to him to visit Cologne and other cities on the Rhine. It is said that the sixteen panels of which the shrine is composed were finished in I486; 3 but there is no record of any other fact than that the relics of St. Ursula were trans- lated to their new receptacle in 1489 ; 4 and strange to say not once in the numerous records preserved in the 1 Bruges Hospital, No. 4. Wood. Each of the two sides m. 0.45 h. by 0.34. The Virgin presents the apple to Christ. Through the windows a landscape is seen, in which a man is riding, another walking. Between the two windows a mirror reflects the Virgin and Martin van Newenhoven Avho, on the second panel, is seen kneeling with a book before him. On the glasses of a window is St. Martin, sharing his cloak. Below, we read : "Hoc opus fieri fecit Martinus D. Newenhoven. Anno D. M. 1487 anno vero setatis 23." 2 Passavant, Kunstblatt, No. 62 of 1843. 3 lb. ib. ib. 4 See the proofs of this as well as of the disappearance of all the accounts of the hospital in La Plume, u. s. No. 59 of 1871. 284 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. monastery is there a single allusion to Memling. We should have thought that a fact of such importance as the adornment of a reliquary, most precious in the eyes of a religious community, would have heen chro- nicled in the journals of the monks; we should have expected to find some allusions in the private papers of the Hospital to the journey which the painter made to the Rhine. In want of these we turn to the panels of the shrine itself, and there we observe that, unless Memling was furnished with views of Cologne by local German draughtsmen, he must have been allowed to make sketches in person. We perceive too that the types of some of his women, and especially the type of a Virgin on one of the shrine gables, or St. Ursula in the shrine cover, are reminiscent of the simple but lovely impersonations which were embodied a century before in the pictures of Meister Wilhelm. Nor is there anything in the state of the Rhenish provinces, between 1480 and 1489, to suggest a cause or impedi- ment why Memling should not have performed with ease the journey which was undertaken about the same time by Hugo Van der Goes. The legend which Memling now depicted is con- nected with the revolt of Maximus in Britain, — (A. D. 383) — and the subsequent migration of a part of the British nation to Gaul; yet we must despair to reconcile even this much of chronology with the ver- sion of the legend which is usually described as embodied in the shrine of St. Ursula. In some of its broadest features the legend as told by Memling is that which Carpaccio consulted for the series of can- vases with which he adorned the school of St. Ursula at Venice; and it may be considered a remarkable coincidence that both painters should have illustrated CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 285 the same tale almost at the same time. Carpaccio draws upon his imagination for views of Cologne and the Rhine ; he is more accurate in representing Rome. Memling is more true to nature at Cologne and Bale. His ideal of Rome is a Northern city. The same con- trast may he found in the treatment of the two masters — Memling is elegant and tender, Carpaccio forcible and rugged; but Carpaccio composes and paints on a large and imposing scale, whilst Memling reduces the sub- jects to the smallest compass. The shrine of St. Ursula is a Gothic chapel in miniature, its long sides being divided into archings containing six episodes, its cover adorned with six medallions ; one incident fills each of the gables. In the medallions are the coronation of the Virgin, the glory of St. Ursula, and four angels, on the gables, St. Ursula shelters the band of maidens under her cloak, and the Virgin in a porch is worshipped by two hospital nuns. Of the six designs on the long sides, one represents the fleet arriving at Cologne, where Ursula prepares to land with her companions. We recognize the shape of the old cathedral, the steeples of several churches, and one of the city towers, most of them true to nature but not in their proper places ; in one of the distant houses Ursula sees the vision of the Pope bidding her to visit Rome. Another scene is laid on the quays of Bale, where St. Ursula has taken to the shore, whilst a part of her suite awaits its turn to disembark. A third shows the Pope surrounded by his court in the porch of a church awaiting St. Ursula who kneels on the steps leading up to the portal. In a gallery close by, the British neophytes are baptised and confessed, or partake of the Holy communion. The pope, in the fourth picture, accompanies the 286 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. maidens on their return to Bale ; he sits with his cardinals in the vessel which carries St. Ursula, whilst the suite of both still winds through the passes leading from the Alps. On the fifth panel, the back ground is a camp on the Rhine shore, where boats have landed some of their living freight, and others approach with crowded loads ; the knights and virgins are set upon by soldiers and are vainly defended by their steelclad champions. The sixth picture is that in which St. Ursula is seen in passive attitude of prayer, awaiting the arrow of an executioner ; the men about her armed in proof, or shrouded in mantles, are spectators or actors in the massacre of the saint's companions; and the distance is filled with tents behind which the Kolner Dom rears its solid walls. The freedom and grace with which these scenes are composed are partly due to the facility with which Memling treated groups and figures of small pro- portions, but they tell of progress in the art of distribu- tion and arrangement. It would be difficult to select any picture of the Flemish school in which the dra- matis personam are more naturally put together than they are in the shrine of St. Ursula, nor is there a single panel in the reliquary that has not the charm of rich and well contrasted colour. Great delicacy of feeling is shown in suggesting the martyrdom of St. Ursula by its penultimate phase. Excess of northern phlegma or sobriety of action may strike us as a fault ; but the absence of exaggerated violence in movement or incident must be acknowledged as an important quality. We might almost fancy that Memling studied the varying types of dwellers on the Rhine, so cha- racteristically diverse are the masks, or so clever and ever changing the features and expression; yet we DEATH OF ST. URSULA. From the Shrine by Memling, in the Hospital of Bruges. CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 287 remember that Bruges, at the close of the 15th century was still a mart which people of every clime were wont to visit, and a clever student of physical peculi- arities might find variety enough in its quays and streets without leaving the circuit of its walls. A rich fund of life and grace is revealed in shapes of sym- metrical proportions or slender make and attitudes of becoming elegance. Nothing is more striking than the minuteness of the painter's touch, or the perfect mastery of his finish, except the patience and accuracy with which he renders reflections or projections of shadow in burnished armour. The tone is bright and for a Fleming even luscious. The sweet harmony and pleasing serenity of female faces are as grateful to the eye as the dignified character of their carriage and mien. "More precious than a shrine of silver, says Van Mander, is Memling's shrine of St. Ursula;" 1 and the taste of our day impels us to say yea to the old histo- rian's sentence. 2 Before the completion of the shrine, and previous to his death, Memling no doubt executed a consider- able number of important works. Numerous collec- tions are graced with masterpieces to which no dates are assigned, yet of such interest and beauty as to 1 Van Mander, u. s., 205. 2 Bruges Hospital No. 2. Shrine of St. Ursula. Long face. Wood, m. 0.51 h. by 0.91. Gable ends: m. 0.51 h. by 0.33. Van Mander tells of Pieter Porbus that he was a passionate admirer of this little jewel (u. s. 205). In 1794 a French commission appeared at the gate of the hospital and ordered the shrine to be given up. The nuns ingeniously pretending not to know the meaning of the French word "La Chasse," declared that they did not know what they were asked to produce and possessed no such thing as a chasse. The French commission upon this withdrew, and the shrine of St. Ursula is one of the few works of Flemish artists that were not taken away to Paris. Still it has been injured by cleaning and restoring. 288 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. repay the most studious attention. The most con- spicuous amongst these are the Marriage of St. Cathe- rine of Mr. Gatteau, and the Flight into Egypt of Mr. Rothschild, in Paris, the Virgin and Child with Saints in the Belvedere of Vienna ; the Virgin and Child with a kneeling patrician and patron Saint in the National Gallery, the Christ of Pity, and donors with saints in the Vernon Smith and Heath collections, and single figures of Saints in the Galleries of Paris and the Hague. Mr. Gatteau's altar-piece is a reminiscence, on a small scale, of that in the Hospital of Bruges. It is very charming in the expression of the heads, and executed with great clearness and minute precision. St. Agnes, St. Cecilia, St. Margaret, St. Barbara and St. Lucy — all models of slender shape and graceful carriage — are prettily grouped round the throne and enlivened by a most delicious landscape. 1 The Flight into Egypt is a smaller but not less attractive specimen of the master's skill, though made up of but three figures. 2 Dismembered and scattered in the rooms of the Belvedere, the Madonna of Vienna is still cata- logued under the name of Van der Goes. The Virgin in the centre, piece sits on a magnificent throne, the counterpart of that in the Madonna of the Uffizi. An angel with a viol presents the apple to the Infant Christ, whilst the donor, in black and violet, kneels to the right. Inside the wings St. John the Baptist and St. John Evangelist are set in attitudes like- those of 1 Paris. Collection of Mr. Gatteau. Wood, 0.15 h. by 0.26. A small replica of this picture by Mostsert is in the Academy of St. Luke at Rome under the name of Memling. 2 Paris. Rothschild collection. The Virgin rests with the Infant Christ, whilst St. Joseph picks nuts from a distant hush. "Wood, m. 0.47 h. by 0.25, from the Aders collection. CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLIKG. 289 similar saints in the "Marriage." at Bruges; outside the wings are monochromes of Adam and Eve. Though injured by abrasion and repainting this is one of Memling's capital productions. 1 Almost equally injured by rubbing is the Virgin and Child of the National Gallery, though time and ill treatment have not as yet obliterated the fine shade of character which dwells in the portrait of the donor and his patron saint St. George. 2 A very touching expression of grief is realized in the worn frame of the Saviour bewailed by the Virgin, St. John, and the Magdalen, belonging to the Reverend Mr. Heath at Enfield; and there is much power in the figures in the wings representing St. James the elder and St. Christopher; 3 but this altar-piece has less of Memling's delicate charm than the fragment in the same collection, in which a nobleman is seen praying under the protection of St. John the Baptist, who kneels behind him in a meadow, with the lamb, symbolizing the mission of the saint near him. 4 The donor's hands are joined in prayer, his head bare; his 1 Vienna, Belvedere, second Floor. Room II. No. 6. Virgin and child 0.66 h. by 0.45. No. 10. Wings, 0.66. h. by 0.27. No. 61 outside of wings. Wood 0.66 by 0.20. The head of the donor is injured by old retouching. The same triptych with one exception (St. Barbara being substituted for one of the St. Johns) was once in the gallery of Margaret of Austria (1524). De Laborde, Inven- taire, u. s., in Bevue Archeologique, 1850, p. 81. 2 National Gallery. No. 686. Wood, 0.54 h. by 0.37, from the Weyer collection at Cologne. In rear of the throne is a view of the sea with shipping, and on the middleground to the left an angel kneeling and playing a guitar. 3 Enfield, Bevd. Mr. Heath. Small altar-piece. 4 Enfield, Bevd. Mr. Heath. Wood, m. 0.25 h. by 0.15, once in possession of Mr. Herz in London. The arms of the donor are at the base of the picture. The surface of the panel is somewhat flayed, but there is no sign of over-painting. The most injured parts are the sky and landscape, and the head and hands of the patron. 19 290 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. dress is a purple brown mantle, lined with fur. St. John appears in the never-failing skin which leaves his legs bare, and a violet tunic tied in a knot to his shoulder; his left hand rests on the kneeling figure, whilst his right points to the lamb. The meadow in which the group stands is covered with vegetation of the most varied kind; in the midst of which the cha- racteristic leaves of the dandelion and daisy are easily distinguished. The breadth of brush, and boldness of touch, remarkable in this foreground, contrast with the thin and transparent tones of the draperies and flesh- tints ; the masterly execution of the whole reveals the painter's best time — the period in which the panels of the Louvre were completed. A broad screen of trees, in front of which a small stream runs, separates the foreground from the usual episodic scenes of the middle and extreme distance; in the depths of the grove are a hare and a couple of deer. At the foot of a rock, surrounded by trees of thin foliage, St. George is killing the dragon, whilst a female figure looks on from a sheltered spot; in the distance, a lake surrounds an island, on which St. John Evangelist sits con- templating the vision ; in the heavens, the Virgin, holding the Infant, is comforted by an angel, a dragon with many heads lying at her feet. The thin colour which marks the flesh-tints as well as the draperies of the principal figures is observable also in the exe- cution of the episodes ; the head of the Baptist is noble and austere, — a quality in which Memling shows his superiority over his master, Van der Weyden. The figure of St. George on horseback displays cer- tain evidence of a perfect study of nature — the leg being well down in the stirrup, and the action ener- getic. The episode is so full of life that it has been CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 291 frequently copied ; it may be found in a miniature once in possession of Mr. Farrer, in London, and it may, doubtless, be discovered elsewhere. Mr. Vernon Smith's panels belonged at one time to the Rogers collection. They represent an old lady kneeling under the guard of a female saint, and a man protected by St. George ; — the portraits are admirable for dignity and expression, the female saint of mild and slender aspect, the armed saint a little less pleas- ing. The landscapes in both pieces are minute and clear. 1 Two panels at the Louvre — St. John the Baptist and the Magdalen, are jewels of delicate finish. There is a purity unsurpassed in any work of Memling in the face and shape of the Magdalen ; and St. John is less austere than usual. The Baptism of and decapitation are episodes in the landscape of one panel, the meeting at Emmaus is an incident in the distance of the other. St. Stephen and St. Christopher, once in the Royal col- lection at the Hague, were parts of the same dismem- bered altar-piece. 2 Not one of these small and characteristic pieces but shows superior attractions to the larger but less purely original altar-piece of 1491, which adorns a chapel in the Cathedral of Liibeck. In size the most important of all Flemish produc- tions of the close of the 15th century, tins double- 1 London. Mr. Vernon Smith. Wood, each panel 0.81 h. by by 0.30. The skies and some parts of the figures are spoiled by restoring. 2 Nos. 288, 289, Louvre. Wood, 0.48 h. by 0.12. The first of these panels formed part of Lucien Bonaparte's Gallery, and was engraved as Van Eyck. It subsequently belonged to William the Second of Holland, having been purchased, with its companion, by Baron de Fagel for 11,728 fr. in 1815. 19* 292 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. winged triptych suggests more reminiscences of Van der Weyden than any other that Memling ever com- posed; and it has this marked peculiarity that whereas some parts are executed on the thin surface principle common to the best of his works, the centre is painted in with a solidity of impast foreign to his general habits. On the outer face of the wings there are two slender figures of the Angel and Virgin Annuntiate in mono- chrome ; opening these, we observe four saints, large as life, St. Blaise in episcopals, the Baptist, St. Jerom in cardinal's dress drawing the thorn from the lion's paw, and St. Egidius with the deer, all bright of tint, of energetic mien and grave aspect, but disfigured by bad drawing in limb and extremities. Opening these again we come upon the central composition of the crucifixion, flanked to the left by the procession of Christ on the road to Golgotha, to the right by the Entombment and Resurrection. It is here that we miss many of the usual attractions of Mending's pencil; and the workmanship is of such marked inferiority that we wonder whether a touch of Mending's was added to those of his assistants. Our surprise at the solidity and want of transparency of the colouring is only equal to our surprise at the harshness of contrasts in dress tones, the changing hues in folds of stuff, and the broken character of drapery. There is an uncommon fund of vulgarity in the dicers at the right hand corner of the picture, an unpleasant awkwardness in the strain with which two soldiers on foot and horseback guide the lance that pricks the Saviour's side ; untrue are the cuts on the legs of the crucified thieves. A curious realism for which we are unprepared strikes us in the figure of a monkey eying a nut, as he sits on the back of a horse and avoids the teazing hand of a grinning CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 293 boy. Strange above all is the partial if not complete disappearance of the master's grace and distinguished womanhood in the group of the fainting Virgin. 1 For four years after the completion of this vast altar-piece Memling's practice was carried on. What he produced in this last period of his existence is hard to tell ; but we may say of him at the conclusion of his life that he was the last painter of the Netherlands who preserved the pure traditions of the 14th century. He was the only great artist who really withstood the pernicious influence of those who wandered to Italy to ape but not to assimilate the styles of the masters of the Italian revival ; and though he was followed by numerous craftsmen such as David, Bouts, and Massys, who clung to some extent to the principles which they had learnt by his example to respect, he alone pre- served what there was of poetry in the quiet and grammatic rather than sublime schools of Flanders. Without the stern power of Hubert, without the grave and measured force of John Van Eyck; with less, depth of passionate expression than Van der Weyden; he won applause by creations embodying sensitive grace and purity of feeling, at a time when public morality had sunk to a point of degradation which it had not known in more barbarous and remote periods of histoiy. On the 10th of December 1495, the trustees of Memling's children appeared before the court for ad- ministering the property of wards at Bruges to register 1 Liibeck Cathedral. Greveraden chapel. The altar-piece is about 8 feet high and proportionately broad. Sketches or small copies of the procession to Golgotha, and the Besurrection and Entombment by pupils of Memling, are numbered 82 in the second floor, room I. of the Belvedere at Vienna, and there; assigned to Memling. 294 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. the money and lands left to them "at the death" of Hans Memling. 1 To complete the history of the works of Memling a short statement may be given of the works unnoticed in the fore- going pages ; and this may be followed by lists of pieces either not seen by the authors, or falsely assigned to Memling, or missing. We naturally exclude all pictures of a later date than 1495 ; even though they should be attributed to painters known in countries distant from Flanders such as Jan or Johannes ; and in this way we eliminate from the catalogue of Memling's works 1°. Scenes from the Life of John the Baptist once in the Spanish convent of Miraflores, described by Ponz as having been executed in 1496 — 9 by "Juan Flamenco." 2 2 n . Eleven paintings by "Juan de Flandes" once in the cathedral of Pa- lencia in Spain; 3 3°. a diptych with the date of 1499 in the Antwerp Museum. 4 4°. A "portrait of Agnes Adornes" dated 1499.5 Among the genuine works of Memling hitherto unnoticed the following deserve to be cited : London, national gallery. No. 747. St. John the Baptist and St. Lawrence (Wood 0.57 h. by 0.17) very minute and deli- cately worked, but not free from injury by rubbing. Berlin museum. No. 528 . The Virgin and Child, at an opening with a landscape distance, a picture of soft execution with an Infant Christ of Avooden shape and stiff action, a bust in half length about one third of the life size. Hague. Late Royal collection. Portrait of a Lady in black with a yellow waistband and a linen cap, inscribed: OBYT AN DM. 1479 ; sold at the sale of the King of Holland's collec- tion, in 1850, for 450 florins to Mr. Brondgeest. Frankfort, st^edel collection. No. 68, from the Aders and Hague collections. Bust of a man in a purple peaked cap, whose 1 See the record in full in Weale, Journal des Beaux Arts, u. s. 1861. p. 23. 2 Ponz, Viage de Espana. Vol. XII. p. 50. 3 Passavant, Kunstblatt. 1843. No. 61. * Antwerp Museum. Nos. 255. 256. s E. de la Coste's life of Anselme. 8°. Brux. 1855. p. 312. cit. in Mr. A. Pinchart's Archives des Arts, sciences et lettres, u. s., I. 266. CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLINGr. 295 hands are crossed on a parapet, dressed in a black pelisse lined with fur ; distance a landscape. (Wood, 0.40 h. by 0.30.) This picture is softly coloured in Memling's manner. Madrid museum: Triptych (Wood, about 4- l / 2 f. by 4.), re- presenting the Adoration of the Magi, between the Presentation in the Temple and the Nativity. The compositions are those of Yan der Weyden's altar-piece at Munich. This altar-piece be- longed to Charles the Fifth, and is almost a copy of Memling's in the hospital of Bruges. In the central panel some figures are introduced as followers of the Magi, — the donor of the Bi - uges altar-piece being thus displaced ; there is also some variety in the architecture. The greater part exhibits Mem- ling's style and colour, but the figm-es introduced behind the Magi are treated in a different taste as regards drapery and tone. The angels in the Nativity are much inferior to those of Memling ; and it would seem as if the panels were commenced by him, and finished by a pupil. Amongst other things is the head of a spectator at a window — the counterpart of that in the Adoration of the Magi at Bruges, said to be the portrait of the painter. Much of the picture is injured by cleaning. Vienna academy. In this collection is a series of subjects much in Memling's manner. The pictures were bequeathed by the late Count de Lamberg Springenstein, in 1835. One of them (Wood, 2 f. 9 h. square) is the Coronation of the Virgin in cor- rect drawing and of clear colour. — The following are to be classed as doubtful or as works that are not genuine : Hampton court. No. 299, long catalogued as b} T Sir Anthony More, now classed in the school of Memling : a portrait of a man seen to the throat, pallid, careful, and very highly finished. London national gallery. No. 709. Wood, 0.40 h. by 0.28. — The subject is the Virgin and Child, and the picture was .assigned when in the Wallerstein collection at Kensington to Van Eyck. The painting is much damaged, especially in the figure of the Saviour, which has lost much of its freshness, and is in part retouched, but the manner is that of Memling's school. Same gallery. No. 710. Now assigned to Van der Goes, but when in the Wallerstein collection attributed to Memling. (Wood, 0.34 h. by 0.27). This is a vivid and truthful portrait, mot, however, in the delicate manner so often noticed in other 296 HANS MEMLING. [chap. XI. pictures of Memling. The character of the hands is coarse, which is also strange for Memling. The portrait has suffered a little from cleaning ; and the face is less coloured, in con- sequence, than the landscape and vestments. Hague and baucousin collections. Altar-piece of St. Ber- tin. This altar-piece, once divided between the two above men- tioned collections, was composed of a number of panels forming two wings of a gilt shrine. These wings were of irregular shapes, the upper part being of less dimensions than the lower. The former once belonging to Mr. Baucousin (Wood, 0.52 h. by 1.32) represent figures of singing angels and angels carrying St. Bertin to heaven. The latter represent ten subjects from the life of St. Bertin, in arched framings, ex. gr. : in the first two ecclesiastics in prayer ; in the second the birth of St. Ber- tin ; in the third, the saint taking the vows inside a church; in the fourth, on a pilgrimage ; in tbe fifth, on his knees with companions in a mountainous country before a nobleman and his suite. In the sixth, St. Bertin works the miracle of the con- version of water into wine ; in the seventh, he preaches; in the eighth, he converses with a bishop ; in the ninth and tenth, he dies and receives the last succours of religion. The portions in the possession of Mr. Baucousin were painted on both sides, but they were so much injured that of the subjects on one face there was but a trace left, and that bad been entirely removed ; the remainder having also lost a part of its freshness and finish. These pictures are inferior to the authentic works of the master — particularly in colour and accuracy of design. Mem- ling may have been assisted by his pupils, or even have com- mitted to them the entire execution of the work, which exhibits the variety so easily traced between paintings done by the hand of the master and those of a pupil. M. de Laborde says that, about the year 1500, a certain Dyrick painted for the abbey of St. Omer ; and Dyrick may have had a share in the panels under consideration. 1 1 En 1528, on allouait encore X s. a Dyrick le peintre, qui avait recolle et repainct de noire une ronde tablette, estant en la sallette hault pres de la chambre de M. S. En 1530 ce memo artiste faisait payer V livres ung grant tableau, en platte pain- ture a ung Dieu de pitie, Notre Dame, Sainct Jehan, et deman- dait IV s. pour les deux feuillets faicts depuis audit tableau, CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 297 Dresden museum. No. 1719. Wood, 0.49 h. by 0.39. This portrait of the bastard Anthoine de Bourgogne is a replica of that in Stafford house (see antea in John Van Eyck), including the motto "Nul nesi frote." The outline is too hard, the impast too heavy for a genuine Memling. The pallid lights are fused into faint shadows by transitions of a greyish red, and the execution generally reveals the same hand as the portrait at Hampton Court; i. e. the hand of a student of the manner of Van Eyck and Memling. Berlin museum. No. 549 A. The Virgin bares Her breast to the Infant Christ. This half length, about one third of the size of life, is very much in the style of Memling, but exe- cuted with much less of skill and fusion than we expect from him ; it must therefore be classed amongst school-pieces. London. Baring collection. St. Jerom at his desk, ascribed by the Anonimo (p. 74) dubiously to Memling, is not by that master (see antea in John Van Eyck). London. Dudley House. Half length of a man in a black cap. This is a panel of Mending's school falsely assigned to Holbein, remarkable for stiff motion, pallid flesh and ill drawn hands. The hair hangs heavily to the shoulders. London. Ex Kogers collection. Virgin and Child (see postea). Munich. Professor Sepp. No. 14 of the Munich International Exhibition of 1869. Marriage of the Virgin (Wood, m. 0.79 h. by 0.41) by a painter of the school of Louvain after the time of Dierick Bouts. Frankfort. Mr. Gontard. No. 53 of the Munich Inter- national Exhibition. Half length of the Virgin giving the breast to the Infant, from the Pourtales collection (Wood, m» 0.31 h. by 0.22) by the same hand as Professor Sepp's Marriage of the Virgin. Munich. Mr. Bauter. No. 23 of the Munich International Exhibition. Philip the 1st of Spain (Wood, ni. 0.44 h. by 0.33). auquel a painct en toille les armes de l'eglise et de M. S. — De Laborde, u. s., Introd. p. 45. This is doubtless the same painter of whom we learn (private communication from Mr. Weale) that he was called Dyrick de Berle and painted (1525) the Coronation of the Virgin above the portal of the abbey church of St, Bertin. 298 HANS MEMLING. [CHAP. XI. This panel is retouched and modernized by a painter of the 16th .century. Stuttgart museum No. 398. Bathsheba in the Bath. This picture was assigned by Dr. "Waagen to Mending (Handbook, I. 99), but is apparently by a later hand and perhaps of the .school of Massys. Antwerp museum. No. 253. "Wood, 0.39 h. by 0.23. Portrait -of a canon of St. Norbert. This portrait, acknowledged by "Waagen (Handbook, p. 100) as a Memling, cannot be accepted as anytMng more than a work of one of "Van der "Weyden's pupils. Antwerp museum. No. 254. Portrait of a member of the family of Croy. "Wood, 0.49 h. by 0.31. Here again we have according to "Waagen (Handbook, p. 101) a Memling. The panel is by a later hand and by a follower of the school of Van der Weyden. Paris. Palais de Justice. The crucifixion. For this piece acknowledged by "Waagen (Handbook, p. 96) 'as a Memling, .see antea in Van der Goes. Bruges academy. Nos. 27 — 31. The Baptism of Christ. (See postea in Gheerardt David). Greenhithe. The Reverend J. Fuller Russell. Diptych with the crucifixion on one side, and on the other a kneeling figure of Jeanne de France in prayer, under the protection of John the Baptist. In the sky is a vision of the Virgin and Child, and on the meadow in front of Jeanne an angel holding her scutcheon. This picture is assigned to Memling ; and there are many heads in the crucifixion which might confirm the correctness of this view ; but the treatment generally is more like that of a pupil of Memling than that of Memling himself. The diptych is small, and the figures are highly finished. Munich, Pinakothek, Cabinets No. 51. A head of Christ. This copy of Van Eyck's Christ of 1438, at Berlin, is now pro- perly catalogued as such. Same collection Cabinets No. 52. Ecce Homo, once catalogued as Memling, is now suitably de- scribed as a picture of the school of Massys. London. Mr. J. "W. Brett. At the sale of this collection in 1864, the Adoration of the Magi from the Northwick gallery was sold for £ 447. It is called a Memling by "Waagen (Treasures III. 206), but is a picture of the 16th century. CHAP. XI.] HANS MEMLING. 299 Wiesbaden museum. No. 9. The Salutation, has no claim Avhatever to the name of Memling. St. Petersburg. Hermitage. No. 445. Wood, 0.92 h. by 0.56. St. Luke painting the likeness of the Virgin, from the Hague collection, is an old copy of Van der We3'den's picture in the Pinakothek of Munich. Amongst the pictures not seen by the authors are the fol- lowing. Paris, louvre (not catalogued). Virgin giving the breast to the Infant Christ, bought at the sale of the Germeau collec- tion in 1868 for 12,100 francs. (See Chronique des Arts for 1871. Nos. 3 and 10). Paris, louvre. The Resurrection, Mary, the apostles, and St. Sebastian ; bought at the Vallardi sale in 1860 for 13,500 fcs. as a Memling, now classed in the Flemish school of the 15th century, and "in petto" assigned to Bouts. (See O. Miindler in Zeitschrift fiir bild. Kunst. II. 223, and Journal des Beaux Arts for 1861. p. 11.) Florence, San Donato coll. In this collection there was a St. Veronica ascribed to Memling. It was sold in 1870 for 7,100 francs. Holker hall. Lancashire. St. Christopher, assigned by Waagen (Handbook, p. 100) to Memling, but catalogued under the name of Diirer. Amongst lost and missing works we note the following : Strasburg museum. The Marriage of St. Cathei-ine, half the size of life and very like the same subject in the Hospital at Bruges. This picture perished during the siege of Strasburg in 1870. It was catalogued amongst the works of Lucas of Leyden. Brussels. At a sale in 1785 the following pictures ascribed to Memling were sold. A holy family by Memling (3 f. 7 h. by . . . ? f . 2), and a Madonna surrounded by saints with painted wings (3 f. 8 h. by 6 f. 7). See Journal des Beaux Arts 1860. p. 162. Scheut (near Brussels). Mr. A. Pinchart (in Archives des Arts, u. s. I. p. 288) notes the existence in 1607 of a Holy Family in the church of the Carthusians of Scheut, who had settled at Brussels after the destruction of their monastery in 1580. CHAPTER XII. GHEERARDT DAVID AND OTHER IMITATORS OE VAN EYCK AND MEMLING. It is a coincidence worthy of being studied that whilst we look in vain for traces of Geerrit van S. Jans, at Haarlem, an artist of similar name is to be found in the guild of Bruges. Geerrit of S. Jans, the pupil of Albert van Ouwater, is surprisingly like "Gheerardt Jans fs [filius] Davidt" of Oudewater 1 who came in 1483, to Bruges and paid the dues of his guild as a stranger, on the 14th of January 1484. 2 But whereas nothing is known of the works of Geerrit of Haarlem, we have a perfect acquaintance with those of Gheerardt of Bruges, whose pictures indeed were classified and arranged long before the name of David was rescued from oblivion. 3 Gheerardt David was not unknown to Sanderus, who calls him Gerardus Davidis Veteraquensis, master of Adrian Isebrand of Bruges. 4 Nor was he quite a stranger to Van Mander, who had heard of him in a 1 See the entry of this name in the register of admissions to the guild of Bruges, and the register of the master's death in "Weale's Beffroi, II. p. 288, and I. 225. Oudewater is a town on the Issel between Utrecht and Botterdam. 2 Beffroi, u. s. II. 288. 3 Mr. Weale discovered David which alone would be an im- portant service to the history of Flemish Art. (See Beffroi, u. s„ I. 224). The pictures were already classified in the first edition of this work fifteen years ago. 4 Sanderus. Flandria Illust., u. s., II. 154. €HAP. XII. J GHEEEARDT DAVID. 301 vague and spectral way, yet of whom he could only tell that his works were highly prized by Pieter Pcerbus. 1 His style is exactly that which Van Mander ascribes to Geerrit of St. Jan, his pictures being clean, sharp, finished, and regular in arrangement and expression. 2 It would be difficult to find a painter of the Flemish school whose panels are more remarkable for gloss and polish, or one who spends more time in blending colours to a grainless and spotless surface. What characterizes his compositions is symmetrical distribu- tion, realism, and burnished flesh tint; forms of a staid unimpassioned type, of curt proportion and imperfect contour. In the sheen of vestments, or in gaudy juxta- positions which jar upon the eye, we miss the delicate fibre of the true colourist; and still there is brilliance and lustre to attract and please us. Landscape of varie- gated tints is often in singular contrast with marble pallor of flesh; but we may perhaps assign the re- currence of this phenomenon to the abrasion of the coloured glazing, which gives a sombre glow to some panels. Of great prominence in Gheerardt is the feature which Van Mander prizes in Albert Van Ouwater and Geerrit of St. Jans, the skill with which landscape is treated and tinted. Who taught Gheerardt David is still a question ; but it is easy to trace in his works an imitation of Van Eyck and Memling. At the time when Gheerardt took the freedom of his guild at Bruges, Memling was pro- bably the best artist in the Netherlands; and there was much to learn from his soft and delicate manner ; but there were pictures by John Van Eyck to be 1 Van Mander, u. s., 205. 2 lb. 206. 302 GHEERARDT DAVID. [chap. xn. studied in churches and private houses ; and they too, no doubt had attractions for a stranger bred at a dis- tance from Bruges. In a very short time David rose to honours in his trade ; he was fourth "vinder" of the guild in 1488, first vinder in 1495 and 98. 1 He came a bachelor. In 1496 he married Cornelia Cnoop, the daughter of a gold- smith.^ It was Gheerhardt's fortune, in 1488, to wit- ness the striking scenes connected with the rising against Maximilian of Austria; he might have seen the sentence of death executed on the magistrates accused of treason after the submission of Bruges. It was from the followers of these magistrates that he received a commission for a Last Judgment completed in 1498, and we may still read the valuation of this picture made by arbitrators appointed by the town and corpo- ration. 2 Amongst the persons named in the accounts of the city of Bruges, as having been concerned in valuing and paying for this picture, we notice Jacques Spronc a high official in the painter's guild, Joes de Smet, an artist, Jan de Corte, and Jan des Trompes, the latter at that time bailey of Ostend and treasurer of Bruges, and a man of mark in the municipality. 3 It is not im- probable that des Trompes Avas struck with the talents which Gheerardt displayed, and ordered of him the 1 Beffroi, u. s., I. 224. Vinder was the name of an official who ranked above the masters, and below the governor of the guild. 2 It has been supposed that the picture here alluded to is that which now hangs in separate parts in the Academy of Bruges and represents the arrest and flaying of Sisamnes by order of Cambyses. (See "Weale in Le Beffroi, u. s. I. 259-61 and 276-86). But this is not proved, and we require to see these pictures anew before resolving whether they are by Gheerardt or not. 3 Le Beffroi, u. s. I. 259-61 and'276-86. CHAP. Xn.] GHEERARDT DAVID. 303 large altar-piece which still adorns the Gallery of Bruges, and is known as the "Baptism of Christ." 1 On the open face of this triptych, we see the naked Christ in a hip cloth standing up to his knees in Jordan, St. John to the left pouring water out of the hollow of his hand on the head of the Redeemer, and an angel to the right in a cope of gold brocade, carry- ing the robe; whilst God the Father in the sky gives the benediction. On the right wing Jean cles Trompes kneels with his son Philip under the protection of St. John Evangelist; and on the left, his wife Elizabeth Van der Meersch, is attended by her four daughters, and St. Elizabeth of Hungary. In the landscape dis- tances, John the Baptist preaches and foretels the coming of the Messiah. The closed wings of the trip- tych, of a later date than the inner face, exhibit a picture of the Virgin with Christ on her knee, holding a bunch of grapes, and bending towards des Trompes* second wife Madeleine Cordiers, and her daughter accompanied by St. Mary Magdalen. The records of the house of Trompes tell us that Jean des Trompes lost his first wife in 1502, and his second wife in 1510;- and this, coupled with the fact that Madeleine Cordiers's daughter appears to be 5 years old, gives us 1507 as the date of the completion of the altar- piece. 2 The striking feature here is a splendid and highly-tinted landscape, to which the figures give relief and life. The background is so bright that the coldness of the figures, and faults of composition and design, do not at once strike the eye. It may lack atmosphere, which is owing to the cleaner; but nothing can be- 1 There are as yet no records to prove that Geerhardt is the painter, but the treatment is his. 2 Befl'roi, u. s. 259-61. 276-86. 304 GHEEEAEDT DAVID. [CHAP. XII. more perfect than the execution in every other parti- cular. The portions more immediately in the fore- ground are complete in every respect. The trees are highly and vigorously coloured, and finished with per- fect minuteness, without detriment to the effect ot the general mass. They preserve, individually and severally, the character of their foliage and form, and the water reflects surrounding objects with perfect harmony and perspective truth. In contrast with this, the group of Christ baptized is not only inharmonious in colour, and feeble in composition, but tasteless and faulty in design ; it is out of keeping with surrounding objects, and surcharges the foreground plane. The more distant personages being small, are less obtrusive; the figures, taken separately, are stout, short, and 'in- elegant. In no picture of Memling, to whom this piece was long assigned, is there such impast investments, or such a mode of colouring as here — yellowish flesh tints cutting sharply on grey half shade, and the latter sharp by the side of dark shadows ; the sudden contrasts of brilliant colours in dresses are similar to those adopted by the school of Leyden. If we turn from the central picture to the wings where the Madonna and Infant Christ are represented, we find the stiff and affected bend of head peculiar to Van der Weyden; whilst the Child, instead of being naked, as in all the panels of Memling, is clothed like those of Van der Goes. The picture of the Baptism shows the germ of that small school of landscape which afterwards arose at Dinant, — the head of which, in- dubitably, is the painter of this work, and his pupils such men as Patenier and De Bles. Shortly after the death of Jean des Trompes the altar-piece of the Baptism was transferred by a deed CHAP. XII.] GHEERARDT DAVID. 305 of gift to the church of Saint Basile at Bruges, where it remained till it was taken to Paris in 1794; on being restored to the municipality of Bruges, it found a place in the town collection where it now remains. 1 Saint Basile still contains a panel by Geerhardt David, an arched triptych representing Christ taken down from the cross, reminiscent of Van der Weyden's composition of the same subject. 2 That Gheerardt was elected dean of his guild in . 1501 — 2, is a proof that he then stood at the head of his profession in Bruges ; his affiliation to the brother- hood "de l'Arbre Sec" in the Minorites of Bruges is registered in 1508. In 1509, he presented to the Carmelites of Sion at Bruges the well known altar- piece of the Virgin and Child with saints and angels which now forms part of the municipal collection at Rouen. There is much symmetry in the distribution of this pretty picture. The Virgin sitting in state on a chair shrouded in drapery, wears the regal crown, and holds on her lap the infant who carries a bunch of grapes; at her back stand two beautiful angels playing the viol and mandoline, the music of which is devoutly listened to by St. Fausta and St. Apollonia whose heads appear on a level with the Virgin's shoulders. To the right a pleasant company of saints is. seated, — St. Agnes with her lamb turning to St. Catherine, who reads 1 Bruges Academy. Nos. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31 ; the centre, m. 1.32 h. by 0.98 ; the wings m. 1.32 h. by 0.43. All the panels are in- jured by flaying and repaints. See the Beff'roi, I. 966-86, and II. 294. 2 Bruges, Saint Basile. Chapelle du Saint Sang, arched ; centre, rn. 1.04 h. by 0.70. Not seen by the authors. In a receipt for payments made to restore this piece in July 30 1675, it is described as by "Maitre Gerard de Bruges." A copy of the central panel is in the convent des Mari coles at Bruges. See Beffroi, u. s. I. 231. 20 306 GHEERAEDT DAVID. [CHAP. XII. from a missal, St. Dorothy with a casket full of roses, and a fourth saint without emblems; to the left a similar band comprising St. Grodelive reading, St. Barbara pondering over the contents of a missal, St. Cecilia and St. Lucy ; in the background to the right, Gheerardt himself, facing his wife who stands on the left. With all the regularity of arrangement peculiar to Memling, this altar-piece is characteristically like the Baptism in treatment. The figures are placed side by side with little attention to aerial perspective, and with but slight variety in the shape and expression of the heads. The danger of falling into extremes, usually incurred by imitators, is illustrated here by curious in- congruities of proportion and of tone. The Virgin's frame is long and slender, her face of an agreeable oval, other figures of short stature have round and over- weighted heads ; some flesh tints are cold, others warm ; there is not much study or natural truth apparent in the drawing of extremities; the outlines are dry and hard, the drapery broken and crude ; sharply contrasted vestment tints and stiff impast of thick surface remind us of the Baptism of Bruges. 1 By the same hand, and of polished coldness in finish, are two panels in the collection of the Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, representing the Virgin and the Angel Annuntiate ; 2 by the same again a beautiful little landscape picture belonging to Count 1 Eouen Museum. No. 301. Wood, m. 0.1.20 h. by 2.13. See the records which prove the date of 1509 and the authorship of David in the Beffroi, u. s. I. 234. 289-93, and II. 289. See further in the same place an account of the sale of the picture by the Carmelites for 57 florins to one Berthels in 1785. 2 Collection of Prince Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. "Wood, each piece, m. 0.78 h. by 0.65. Exhibited at the International picture show of 1869 in Munich as Van Eycks under Nos. 16 and 17. CHAP. XII.] GHEEEAEDT DAVID. 307 Arco Yalley at Munich, representing the Virgin in a meadow holding the Infant on her lap, who sits be- trothed to St. Catherine, in presence of numerous female saints. 1 In the burnish of surface, as in the deli- cacy of outline, which marks the thin and slender hands of the pair in the Annunciation, we trace the pencil of Gheerardt as surely as we trace it in the cold deep greens of the Dutch landscape in the Marriage of St. Catherine. Much in the feeling of David and his school is the clear, gay tinted, and polished picture at the Berlin Museum, representing Christ crucified and bewailed by the Marys, the Magdalen, and John Evangelist. In the ashen tinge of a sky upon which small fleecy clouds are rolling, in the pearl blue of distant hills, and a grey middle distance merging into cold green towards the foreground, we are strongly impressed with the individuality of Gheerardt. The cold and porcelain enamel of changing hues in flesh, the juxtaposition of madder purples with yellows and green or pink and violet in dresses, are as characteristic as the curt stature of the personages, and their overweight and breadth of head ; there is more air, more harmony, and more softness of handling than in the Baptism of Bruges ; but the figure of Christ is a facsimile of that in the altar - piece of Jean des Trompes, and remarkable for its exaggerated leanness and mild expression of face. 2 In natural connexion with these pieces, numerous others in various galleries deserve to be mentioned. 1 Munich, Count Arco Valley. No. 21 of Munich Inter- national Exhibition. Wood, m. 0.78 h. by 0.59. 2 Berlin Museum. No. 573. Wood, arched, 4 f. 7 h. by 3 f. 3 ; from the Solly collection. 20* 308 GHEERAEDT DAVID. [CHAP. XII. A nativity in the Santa Trinita Museum at Madrid, is a panel to which a theatrical appearance is given by two figures of all but life size, holding back a hanging through which the principal scene is viewed. In the centre, the Infant Saviour is stretched upon straw, with a flower in his hand; he lies in all the naked- ness of nature adored by the kneeling Virgin, numerous angels, and two shepherds. Outside the door of the hut a crowd of people advances ; to the right in front of the ox and the ass is St. Joseph. — There is little elevation or feeling in the male heads; the two large figures holding back the hanging are coarse, and the lean shape of the Infant is curiously lifeless. Peculiarly reminiscent of David are the distant figures in a land- scape almost copied from that of the Baptism, and a thick impast of colours generally; but we miss the gaudy juxtapositions of tints peculiar to the Bruges altar-piece, and notice in their stead a certain flatness produced by pallor of shadow and excess of neutral reds and greys. 1 An Epiphany in the Pinakothek at Munich natu- rally falls into the same class. It is richly furnished with figures, representing the Virgin in front of the pent house — a ruin embowered in trees and grasses, at one of the windows of which a red faced man looks in grinning. St. Joseph stands on the right, with one of the offerings in his hand; to the left kneel the kings, and their suite of black and white slaves. We are again struck by softness of outline and shortness of proportion in the figures, by gaudiness in dresses and thick impast of colour; the flesh tints vary be- 1 Madrid. Santa Trinita Museum. Classed as by Lucas of Leyden, and much damaged by cleaning. CHAP. XII.l GHEEEAKDT DAVID. 309 . . / tween pallid white and ruddy red, according to age and sex ; the relative positions of the Virgin and Christ are the same as in the Madrid nativity ; the land- scape of houses and gables, the cattle, and sheaves, are similar; and we trace beneath the reddish prevail- ing tone a general grey preparation. 1 Of this picture, which was once assigned to Van Eyck, and is now catalogued under the name of Gerard Horenbaut there is a copy in the Gallery of Berlin. 2 A semi replica assigned to Van Eyck is in the Brussels Museum where the Virgin, in a corner of the picture, receives the offering of one of the Magi, whilst a second em- braces the Saviour's hand. St. Joseph, behind the Virgin, sits in front of an arch, near which the oxen, ass, and sheaves, are placed; the suite of the Magi occupies the right hand of the picture, and is com- posed of horsemen as well as of men on foot ; the usual distant episodes crowd the landscape, which is a counter- part of that in the "Crucifixion" at Berlin; the Virgin and the kneeling king are the same as in the Munich picture. We thus discover in the Brussels' work com- ponent parts of divers panels scattered through the galleries of Prussia and Bavaria ; yet its execution is, in most respects, 'superior to that of all the others. The figures though straight and stiff are natural ; the colour, grey in parts and red in others, challenges comparison with that of Memling and Van Eyck ; the draperies are not too much broken, and the colours are of stiff and substantial impast. 3 1 Munich Pinakothek. Saal No. 45, purchased in 1816 from Count Rechberg. Wood, 3 f. 10 h. by 5 f. iy 4 . 2 Berlin Mus. No. 546. Wood, 3 f. h. by 3, from the Solly collection. 3 Brussels Museum. No. 634. Wood, m. 0.84 h. by 0.68. 310 GHEEKAKDT DAVID. [CHAP. XII. Leaving continental for English collections we shall notice in this class the tree of Jesse which passed from the Culling Eardley collection at Erith into the hands of Mr. J. D. Gardner in London, 1 in which the genealogy of Christ is treated much in the style of all genealogies, by the symbolic representation of a tree in an arabesque style, the boughs of which are ingeniously interlaced and balanced, and made to expand into co- loured roses, out of which numerous semi-figures of saints rise. This tree grows in the centre of the picture from behind a stone chair, on which St. Anne is seated, reading a book, and resting her right hand on the figure of the Virgin reposing on a richly-coloured carpet. The Infant Saviour lies on a white cloth in her two hands ; two patrons kneel in prayer on each side of the group, both dressed in black, with joined hands ; the one on the right having dark hair and aquiline features, the other, fair hair and a light complexion. The latter is supported by a standing figure of a priest in front, mi- tred, and clothed in a dark dress, trimmed with ermine covering an embroidered vest, and white drapery ; — a white wand in the right hand seeming to symbolize Aaron. The former is supported by David, also in a long mantle of a light shot green colour, playing the harp; the remainder of the dress is of many colours, and embroidered, and the legs are encased in yellow boots. It may be said of this, as of all the personages depicted, that their dresses are more than usually variegated, and that the painter was partial to the changing hues of shot textures. Amongst the saints, whose bodies issue in various attitudes from the roses, it is possible to re- 1 We gather from Mr. Weale's Notes on "Gerard David" in the Gazette des Beaux Arts, Vol. XX., p. 500, that the tree of Jesse passed into the hands of Mr. Gardner. CHAP. XII.] GHEERARDT DAVID. 311 cognise a few by their symbols ; but the greater part are difficult to name, as time has obliterated the in- scriptions on the gold ground by which each one was distinguished. 1 Some of these figures point downwards towards the Virgin, whilst others look up with eagerness or veneration at another group which crowns the upper portion of the picture, and represents the Virgin hold- ing the Infant, affectionately receiving a book from the hands of an . aged man ; — the Eternal with orb in hand and the papal crown, looking on with great solemnity. An interesting feature of this panel is the patience and care with which it is executed, recalling to mind the habits of a miniaturist accustomed to lavish his efforts on the representation of arabesques and orna- ments. We might point to several miniatures in this feeling, such, for instance, as that of the "Baptism of Christ," once in Mr. Parrer's collection, and the nu- merous pages of Mr. Weld Blundell's missal at Ince. The pictures which it most resembles are the "Baptism of Christ" at Bruges, and the "Virgin and Child" with patrons and saints, in the town-hall of Rouen. Of these, we have remarked that they were occasionally tasteless, and faulty in design— the figures being frequently short and inelegant, defective in limb and hand, and hard or feeble of outline; we noticed, too, that the draperies were crude and angular, and that the colour was laid on with much impasto. We find the same defects here. The Virgin, seated near St. Anne, has the type com- mon to Van der Weyden — the small chin and neck, and sloping shoulders of that master ; the naked Infant is 1 Traces of one of these inscriptions are visible near the- saint in one of the roses on the left of the chair of St. Anne, 312 GHEERARDT DAVID. [CHAP. XII. more like one by Memling. The Saviour in the lower group is marked by a squareness of shape not un- frequent in Van Eyck's creations. The figure of the Eternal, the finest in the panel, recalls to mind that of God the Father by Memling, in the shrine of St. Ur- sula ; and one of the saints in the roses, who is recog- nised by the chalice to be St. John the Evangelist, resembles the Saviour in the "Baptism of Bruges." In all its peculiarities, however, the picture approaches most to the "Rouen votive altar-piece;" it has th"e feebleness of design of which we have spoken, — visible particularly in the short stature and poverty of form of Aaron, and in the faulty attitude of the body and legs of David, in the patient elaboration of the exe- cution, and the want of vigour in the outlines — the knot- ted and large development of the digital joints, and the angularity of the draperies, and the profusion of their folds, without reference to the form they cover — the profusion of vehicle employed in the colours, and their vitrous aspect. It must be admitted, however, that the general as- pect of the picture, unfavourable as it is by its distri- bution to any development of composition, offers a fair arrangement in the disposal of the attitudes, so as to avoid monotony, and a good balance of harmonies, chiefly in the secondary and tertiary keys, — each figure being properly detached by the flowers forming the complement of the colours in the vestments. The flesh-tints are somewhat flat and unrelieved, of a pale, cold tint, falling as in miniatures to a rosy hue in the shadows. That Gheerardt should have had a share in some, if not in all of these pieces, we may consider the more probable as he lived for forty years in Bruges ; his death CHAP. XII.] NAMELESS PAINTERS. 313 on the 13th of August 1523, and his burial inNotre Dame of Bruges, being registered in the most authentic form. 1 The catalogue of pictures in which Van Eyck, Van der Weyden, and Memling are imitated by disciples of the Flemish school is not exhausted when the works of Gheerardt David and his school are considered ; there are others still to be noticed in numerous collections. Somewhat akin to the Madonna of Rouen in body of colour and in defects of drawing and composition, is a marriage of Cana, at the Louvre, which once hung in the chapel "du Saint Sang" at Saint Basile of Bruges. 2 At a table laid out under a colonnade, the bride sits with her mother in the midst of guests and, attended by the Virgin, Christ presides at the upper end of the board ; to the right, in the foreground, is a donor with his son, to the left the donatrix ; and, looking in from the outside, a Dominican monk. On the closed shutters the Virgin and Child are depicted; the gaudiness of tints in dresses here exceeds any thing of the kind in the altar-piece of the Baptism. Some panels on which Flemish writers have founded an opinion that Memling lived till 1499, are in the 1 Beffroi, I. 225. Not seen or not noticed by the authors, but assigned to Gheerardt, are the following : London, Mr. White, from the collection of Mr. Thomas Barrett of Lee Priory ; wing of an altar-piece once in St.Donatian of Bruges, representing the donor Bernardino de Salviatis, canon of St. Donatian, attended by the patron Saint of the cathedral, St. Bernardino, and a bishop — all in a landscape. On the opposite wing, which is missing, there was a likeness of Christine Yan Kossem the donor's mother, at- tended by St. Chi'istina and two other saints (Weale in Gazette des Beaux Arts. Vol. XX. p. 494-6). Cologne, Oppenheim Col- lection.— Virgin and Child in a landscape. Wood,m. 1.02 h. by 0.84, from the collection of Mr. du Sybel at Brussels (Beffroi, u. s., I. 288-9).— Madrid Museum. No. 1491. Virgin and Child (Waagen in Jahrbucher fiir Kunst und Wissenschaft. 8°. Leipzig, 1868. Heft I. p. 49). 2 Louvre. No. 596. Wood, m. 0.96 h. by 1.28. (Compare Weale in Gazette des Beaux Arts, u. s. XX. 499). 314 NAMELESS PAINTERS. [CHAP. XII. Antwerp Gallery, signed "C. H.," and dated 1499. 1 These panels form a diptych, and represent the Virgin standing in a Gothic edifice, and holding the Infant Christ ; behind her are two angels with a book ; kneel- ing on the wing is an abbot in prayer. On the obverse is the Saviour standing on a globe, and near him a kneel- ing Benedictine. The stiff, exaggerated posture of the Saviour, the chough of hair upon his forehead, the hard manner in which the garments are depicted, the dull unmeaning colour, which neither equals the softness and the clearness of Memling, nor the firmness and severity of Van Eyck ; all these suffice to show that the diptych is the work of a painter unlike Memling in style and handling and afflicted with the painful defects of a mechanical and monotonous execution. A picture in this country, which deserves the same remarks as these, is the pretended Memling formerly in Mr. Rogers' Collection, representing the Virgin and Child — a highly-finished and minute work, apparently from the same hand as this Antwerp diptych, but deli- cately painted, with much body of well-blended light colour. 2 Two other panels, the "St. Catherine" of the Bel- vedere Gallery, attributed to Hubert Van Eyck, and the "Virgin and Child," assigned to John Van Eyck, noticed in the works of those artists, strike us as exhib- iting characteristics similar to those which mark the Madonnas of the Antwerp Gallery and the Rogers' Collection. 1 Antwerp Museum. Nos. 517 and 518; four panels, each 0.31 m. high by 0.15 m. broad. Wood. Taken from the Abbey of the Dunes lez Bruges ; having been sold by the last abbot, Mr. Nicolas de Koovere, to Mr. Van Ertborn. 2 "Wood, about 6 in. by 4. Ascribed by Passavant (Kunst- reise, Frankfurt, 1833. p. 9) to Memling, by others to Van Eyck. CHAP. XII.] NAMELESS PAINTERS. 315 In the same Gallery, .but different in manner, are two small heads on one panel, of a male and female — certainly powerful in colour and of much nature, firm in design, and profuse in vehicle, hut exhibiting the peculiar features of a more modern craftsman than Van Eyck or Memling, 1 and rather in the manner of the former than in that of the latter. There was sold at Christie's in 1854, at the sale of pictures belonging to J. D. Gardner, a triptych origi- nally taken from a Spanish monastery, representing the nativity, with the Visitation and Epiphany at the sides. On the back of these panels were the expulsion of Adam and Eve, and beneath them, figures of St. John and St. Catherine. This triptych under Memling's name is by the same hand as a Nativity in the Museum of Dijon, in which the habits of an artist of Memling's time may be traced. The colour of the flesh-tints at Dijon is grey and dark in shadow and ruddy red in light ; there is lack of chiaro-'scuro ; the attitude and features of the figures are unnatural, the type of the Infant's face is repulsive, and the forms are defective. 2 In the Labouchere collection at Stoke Park a picture ascribed to Van Eyck represents a vision appearing to a man on the right hand foreground, who kneels asleep with his head on a desk. This personage is dressed in full pontificals, and reposes under the protection of a guardian saint, who carries a crozier and mitre. The types, character, attitude, and drapery of the figures in this panel are proper to the school of Van derWeyden, and not to that of Van Eyck ; the colour, so far from rivalling or approaching that of the chief of the Fle- 1 Wood, 7'/ 4 in. high by 5 '/a in- broad. 2 No. 239, Dijon Cat. m. 87 c. by m. 70 c, French nieas. Wood. 316 NAMELESS PAINTERS. [CHAP. XII. mish school, is like that of the early artists of Belgium, from which Van der Weyden did not entirely eman- cipate himself; the treatment is very unequal, and similar to that in numerous works by scholars and imitators of Van der Weyden, whose pictures are classi- fied in various galleries under the names of Van Byck and Memling, and are really executed by men of a very second-rate talent. A portable altar-piece from the Gallery of the King of Holland, supposed to have belonged to Charles the Fifth, is a mixed copy of Van der Weyden and Memling by one of their followers— the centre comprising the "Adoration of the Magi ;" the right wing, female saints ; the left, male saints, all praying. The closed triptych is adorned with monochromes of St. Anthony and St. Christopher. 1 A series of pictures in the Palace of the Prince at Madrid 2 may be noticed here. It consists of fifteen small panels embodying scenes from the Passion of our Saviour ; one of them an exact copy of a sup- plementary episode in Memling's picture of "St. John the Baptist" in the Louvre, representing the Baptism of Christ, and resembling a composition of the same subject on the outer wing of Memling's "Sposalizio" in the Hospital at Bruges. Another of these panels contains figures like those upon the shrine of Memling; such, for instance, as the soldiers, clad in polished armour, re- flecting surrounding objects. These pictures, small as they are in size, and minute in finish, imitate, in many points of costume and detail, the works of Memling ; but the colour is not his ; it is thickly and evenly laid on, high in tone, and hard to the touch. The character of 1 Purchased for 6,450 fl. Wood, 68 in. high by 43 broad. 2 See Quevedo,Hist. del Escorial,p. 354. Asci-ibed to A.Diirer. CHAP. XII.] NAMELESS PAINTERS. 317 certain heads exhibits the study of John VanEyck, whose firmness of hand is almost attained by this successful artist. But this appears in parts only, whilst in others both colour and design are weak and flaccid. Streamers float amongst the figures, emblazoned with the lion and the tower, which are the royal cognisance of Castile. Inscriptions are also visible here and there, but so defaced as to be illegible. The border of the garment of the Magdalen, in one of the fifteen panels, is covered with the letter H., and that of the Magdalen, in another panel, is likewise covered with the letter M. But though these letters are the initials of Memling's name, the handling of the pictures is not his ; they seem, indeed, to belong more properly to a painter of the sixteenth century, who studied not merely Memling, but Van Eyck. The names of Juan Flamenco and Jan de Flandes suggest themselves at once in connexion with these panels ; but as nothing certain is known respecting them, the matter remains in doubt. Still, we may hazard a conjecture here ; and it may not be unlikely that these are the productions of Jan de Flandes, who finished eleven pictures, in 1509, for the cathedral of Palencia. As regards other imitators of Memling and Van Eyck, some men of that time, like Mabuse, diverged into such different styles — being at one time Flemish and minute, at the next, Italian, and merely imitative — that we scarcely believe- the evidence which proves that the artist is the same in both; but when Mabuse painted in the first of these manners, he followed the method of Memling's imitators, which we think far preferable to that in which he imitated Michael Angelo. Another painter, superior to Mabuse — Kalkar — is an instance of similar imitation. His pictures in the 318 KALKAE. [CHAP. XII. Church of Kalkar, his native town, show how skilfully he sought the early Flemish manner ; but when he was in Italy, he imitated Titian and Giorgione with such effect, that, Vasari tells us, his pictures passed for the originals of those masters. In truth, the Flemings possessed, more than any others, the art of imitation ; and we see them, after Memling, acting on an uniform principle, and merely varying in slight particulars of finish and detail. Who these imitators were it is now impossible to say. In the Breviary of Cardinal Grimani, now at Venice, several hundred miniatures are preserved, which the Anonimo ascribes to Memling, Lievin of Antwerp, and Gerard of Ghent. 1 The miniatures in this manuscript, 1 The person here meant is, doubtless, Gerard Horenbaut -whose birth has been hitherto placed too late in the fifteenth century ; namely, in 1498, (vide "Messager des Sciences et des Arts de Belgique," Vol, I. Ghent, 1833, p. 16). Albert Diirer's Reliquien (Campe) correct this error ; that painter stating in his diary that Gerard, Avho lived at Antwerp in 1521, had then a daughter named Susanna, aged eighteen, whose precocious talent he admired. Gerard Horenbaut must have been in his manhood in 1498. This is an additional fact in support of be- lieving that Horenbaut, and not Van der Meire, painted minia- tures in the Breviary of St. Mark. It may not be amiss, also, to correct an error, somewhat common at the present time, respect- ing the name of the person who presented this Breviary to Car- dinal Grimani. The "Anonimo ed. b}' Morelli" states (p. 77), that the Breviary was sold to Cardinal Grimani for 500 ducats, by Messer Antonio Siciliano. It has been inferred from this, that the person alluded to by the Anonimo was Antonello da Messina, — the painter whose life and works are treated of in the present volume. Morelli, in one of his notes to the Anonimo (note 100, p. 189), speaking of Antonello da Messina with reference to the portraits of Alvise Pasqualino, and Michel Vianello, says, that the presence of Antonello da Messina in Venice, in 1475, is proved by a letter written from Matteo Colaccio Siciliano to Antonio Siciliano, "Rector of the artists" in Padua, and published in his work, "De Fine Oratoris,'' in 1486. In this letter, Colaccio mentions Antonello da Messina as follows: — "Habet vero hsec setas Antonellum Siculum, cujus pictura Venetiis in Divi Cas- siani sede magnse est admirationi." Antonio Siciliano, to whom CHAP. XII.] GRIMANI BREVIARY. 319 which approach nearest to Memling, in the style pe- culiar to his followers, are numerous ; but the most remarkable one, representing the "Offerings of the Magi," is a reduced fac-simile of the Munich "Ad- oration." Another Adoration of the Kings, formerly in posses- sion of Mr. Aders, and later still in the collection of Mr. Green at Hadley 1 is inscribed with the initials A. W., yet assigned to Lievin de Witte. Who ever the painter may have been, he shows himself a careful and minute executant, an imitator of Memling, partial to the light rosy tints of miniatures, and from the cha- racter of his painting, a contemporary of Lievin de Witte and Horenbaut. This Adoration is more finished, more pleasing in colour and types than the root of Jesse of the late Culling Eardley collection ; the composition is not an exact reproduction of that of Munich, above mentioned, but is reminiscent of it as it is of the minia- ture at Venice. At Xanten on the Rhine there is a picture in the Flemish style, representing the temptation of St. An- thony, marked on the bonnet of one of the figures with the initials "A. W. ;" but the treatment, though Flemish, is not that of the Munich "Adoration." Thus the ques- tion as to who these imitators of Memling are, remains involved in darkness. It is true that Lievin de Witte or d'Anversa — for, doubtless, they are one person — must have painted at this time. Van Mander describes him this letter is adressed, was one of the family of the Adinolfi, and a native of Catania ; and is, therefore, a different person from Antonello da Messina. It is cm-ions to note that the Anonimo (p. 81) speaks of the portrait of Antonio Siciliano painted by a Flemish artist. > Manchester Exhibition. No. 482. 320 LIEVIN DE WITTE. [CHAP. XII. as a man of talent in painting, but especially of clever- ness in architecture. There is great architectural pro- ficiency in these imitators, and Lievin may be the author of some of the panels which we have mentioned ; but the question, it need scarce be repeated, is too obscure to be solved at present. CHAPTER XIII. DIE KICK BOUTS. It is probably by accident that the name of Dierick Bouts or Stuerboudt was brought into connection with a school of early art at Haarlem. On a visit to that city Van Mander was shown the painter's dwelling with its old fashioned front and carved adornments; and as he journeyed further through the Netherlands, he saw his picture of Christ between St. Peter and St. Paul in the collection of a private gentleman at Leyden. 1 The truth appears to be that Dierick's parents lived at Haarlem, but that the school in which he was educated had its seat in Flanders. On the framing of the panel which Van Mander saw at Leyden, the gilder fashioned this inscription, "Dirck a native of Haarlem produced this work in 1462, at Louvain;" and modern annalists subsequently traced all Dierick's productions to that place. 2 As far back in the 15th century as A. D. 1439, there was settled at Louvain a guildsman called Hubert, noted in numerous items of account as "de schildere" (the painter) but known to his friends as Hubert Stuerboudt. He was at the head of a numerous family of artists of which his sons Hubert the younger, Gielys, and Frissen, were the most conspicuous mem- 1 Van Mander, u. s., 207. 2 lb. ib. 21 322 HUBEET STUERBOUDT. [CHAP. XIII. bers; but the practice which he enjoyed was modest and unassuming, and usually confined to the humblest functions. 1 That he coloured four bas-reliefs in 1439, for the choir of St. Pierre at Louvain, is not more important than that he carved a picture frame for Dierick Bouts in 1481. 2 In 1449 — 52, he furnished drawings for bas-reliefs in the new townhall. 3 In 1452, he was master of decorative art in the service of the authorities; and as such alternately worked at the "refectien" (entremets) for the procession of Our Lady T or images of the Virgin, tabernacles and dogvanes. 4 At one period he was honoured with the more im- portant commission of a "Last Judgment" for the portal of a cemetery — but this was an exceptional and rare event. In the quaint text of the municipal accounts we learn to judge at once of the quality of work to which he was put, and the price at which it was valued. "The paradise" for the procession of Our Lady (1462) was charged eight stivers; 5 the tinting "of Our Lady, and the tabernacle of St. Peter at the Porte de Tirlemont" (1462) five gulden; 6 the taber- nacle at the gate St. Esprit (1464) thirty six "pleken"; 7 the "Last Judgment" above the entrance to the ceme- tery of St. Pierre (1467) two and a half gulden. 8 Hubert was perhaps a relative; he certainly was a friend of Dierick Bouts, for whom he received the 1 Of Hubert the younger, Gielys, and Frissen, there are no- tices from 1462 to 1481. Compare Louvain Monumental, u. s., 185, and Schayes (A. G. B.) Documents inedits in Tom. XIII. No. 11 of the Bulletins de l'Acad. Boyale de Belgique. 2 Louv. Mon. 135. 185. 3 lb. ib. 136. * lb. ib. ib. 5 Schayes. Doc. Ined. p. 6. 6 Louvain Mon. 60. 7 Ib. ib. 35. The plecke was the 90th part of a gulden. 8 Ib. ib. 108. CHAP. XIII.] DIERICK BOUTS. 323 payment of his salary in 1468. 1 We know nothing as to the relationship of the two men ; but it is clear that Dierick was looked up to as a master in Louvain, and when we take a retrospective glance at the series of pictures which he left behind him, we can tell under whose tuition he rose to local fame. At some period, . which is still uncertain, Roger Van der Weyden was made a citizen and painted pictures at Louvain. The sight of these pictures might induce Dierick to study in Van der Weyden's school; he may have been Roger's "help" and journeyman at Louvain itself. When this occurred is immaterial; Dierick, we saw, was in active practice two years before Van der Weyden's death. According to the unsupported evidence of Molanus, an annalist of the 17th century, Dierick is the son of Theodoric Bouts, a landscape painter who died aged 75 in 1400. There were portraits of Theodoric, and his two sons, Dierick and Albert, in a panel at the Minorites (recollets), and pictures by Albert Bouts, in the convent of the Augustines, at Louvain; 2 but of these no trace has been preserved, and there is grave cause for doubting the correctness of the dates of Molanus, when we consider that Dierick's productions betray the education of the schools of Bruges and Brussels, and date after 1460. No means at present exist to solve these doubts ; the life size figure of the Redeemer between St. Peter and St. Paul, which Van 1 E. Van Even. Thierry Bouts. 8°. Brux. 1861. pp. 20-21. 2 Molanus, Hist. Lov. MSS. 10, in Van Even's Thierry Bouts, u. 8., p. 3, and Louv. Mon. p. 139. The pictures here mentioned are missing. Mi-. Wauters, in a record of 1467, at Brussels, found the name of "Thierry de Harlem" registered as a witness, aged 76, and supposes this Thierry to be Dierick Bouts, but the identity is not proved; nor is it probable. Wauters, Bevue Uni- verselle des Arts, u. s., 1856, p. 252. 21* 324 DIEEICK BOUTS. [CHAP. XIII. Mander studied, is missing, and no earlier picture of proved genuineness is known except the Last Supper in Saint Pierre of Louvain, the payments for which were made in 1466 — 8. Looking at the complex of Dierick's works, it is not an improbable conjecture that he painted a small bust likeness which, early in the present century, attracted attention in the collections of Mr. Aders and Samuel Rogers. In the high cap and wig, and close vest encasing the form, in the meek expression of a face not without sickly regularity, or the stiff action of hands resting awkwardly on each other, many persons supposed that we ought to recognize the self-made portrait of the convalescent Memling when still feeble from his wounds, and musing over the kind treatment of the nuns of St. John of Bruges. The date of 1462, carved on the stone wall forming the background of the picture, was only considered fatal to the theory that Memling's wounds were received at Nancy; but it is telling as against the authorship of Memling that the treatment is unlike that of his genuine pieces, whilst it is like that of Bouts ; and we shall be struck at the very outset by Dierick's copiousness of glassy impast, uniform ruddiness of flesh tint, and curious want of feeling for relief by shadow. 1 Judging further of Dierick's power from the Last Supper at Louvain, we might assign to him the copies of Van der "Weyden's Deposition from the Cross in the Escorial, and the Virgin sitting to St. Luke in the Santa Trinidad Museum at Madrid. That Dierick was not unacquainted with Bruges, and not quite a stranger 1 Ex Aders' and Eogers' collections. "Wood, under life size, dated "1462". Through an opening to the 1. there is a view of a landscape. See Passavant, Kunstreise, p. 94. CHAP. XIII.] DIEEICK BOUTS. 325 to men of influence at the Burgundian court, might be gathered from a document published by Count De Laborde, in which (A. D. 1462) one Thierry de Harlem is described as claiming and receiving from Pierre Bladelin a scapular saved from the wreck of the pro- perty found in the house of Jehan Coustain after his execution; 1 — but we are unable to determine whether Dierick Bouts is identical with Thierry de Harlem or not, and if he were it might still be probable that Van dor Weyden was Dierick's teacher, more especially as there is evidence in Dierick's works that he was acquainted with the style of Roger's cleverest pupil. The earliest records as yet discovered prove that Dierick lived as a married man at Louvain in 1450. 2 Long after his name had been forgotten it was habitual to assign his Last Supper in St. Pierre of Louvain to Memling, and until records were found establishing the authorship few people believed that it was not the work of a much more gifted craftsman. Yet to those who had devoted some leisure to the study of Flemish painting there were many features in the Last Supper which pointed to one partaking of the styles of Van Eyck, Memling, and Van der Weyden. It is also characteristic of the want of acumen which till quite lately marked pictorial criticism that the wings of this triptych were exhibited in the Galleries of Berlin and Munich under the name of Memling. 1 "Je Thierry de Harlem confesse avoir receu de Pierre Bladelin conseiller de MS. le Due de Bourgogne une patenostre, lesquelles patenostre ont par eulz este trouve entre les biens declairiez par feu Jehan Costain, et sont icelles patenostres a moy appartenant despiega le IX e jour d'Octobre Pan milcccc soixante deux." De Laborde, Les Dues de B., u. s., Vol. II. p. 222. 2 Wauters in A. Pinchart's Annot., u. s., p. CCXXXI. 326 DIEEICK BOUTS. [CHAP. XIII. One of the features of Dierick's practice is that he suggests distinctions in his impersonations by varieties of texture in skin and complexion. The coarse grain in the face of the apostles seated round the table of the Last Supper is distinguished from the finer one of that of Christ by accidents of surface and by swarth, but the contrasts created by this means are brought out with unnatural strength, and the smooth coldness of the one is as much overdone as the wrinkled detail of the other. What there is of relief by shadow, is often grey and crude; swarth is too uniform in red- ness, and there is something metallic in the gloss and projection of colours tempered in viscous vehicles. Much of melancholy stillness pervades the eyes which show the greater portion of the pupils ; and flexibility seems denied to heads of bony form and overweighted size. We miss the true ideal of selection in long necked and shoulderless specimens of mortality — and yet with all these failings Dierick's picture is striking for earnestness of feeling and conscientious solemnity of treatment, and a certain freshness in landscapes which has its charm. If we look closely at the masks we observe an impress of Memling in the face of Christ, whilst the two servants in rear of the table remind us of the models of John Van Eyck; both faces being clearly portraits, one indeed supposed to represent the painter himself. 1 Of the four panels once forming the 1 Louvain St. Pierre. Chapel of the Trinity. Last Supper. "Wood, 2 f . 9 h. by 4 f. 5, originally on the altar of the Saint Sacrement. The Saviour is between four apostles. Three apostles are at each end, and two on stools at the front side of the table. The hall has two windows and a ceiling of beams, from one of which a chandelier depends. Through a door to the left a land- scape and colonnade are seen. The payments for this picture in 1466-8 are in Van Even's Thierry Bouts, u. s., pp. 37-8. It was CHAP. XIII.] DIERICK BOUTS. 327 wings of this triptych Elijah in the Desert wakened by the Angel, and the Feast of the Passover, in the Berlin Museum, are less delicate in finish than the Last Supper; and there is something unpleasant in the cold grey transitions of flesh, and the careless modelling of pasty fluid tones, but the landscapes contribute greatly to diminish the first unfavourable impressions thus created, and there is much agreeable brilliance in the full juicy tones. The meeting of Abraham and Melchi- sedek and the gathering of the Manna in the Pina- kothek at Munich are suggestive of similar remark; all the panels show that the master was at fault when delineating instant action; and it is clear from the strain and angular stijffness of his personages that Dierick was not as skilful in the selection of propor- tions or in the outline of extremities and articulations as he ought to have been. We note also a wide divergence from the habits of Van der Weyden, in the tasteless splendour and overladen ornaments of dress. 1 It is difficult to imagine a greater contrast than that which distinguishes the court painter of this time from the painter in the service of municipalities. Van Eyck and his successors are privileged as members of the Ducal household; they draw their salaries and receive bounties for extraordinary services ; they have their servants and livery horses. Dierick Bouts and his like live in a much humbler sphere. They receive their small but well earned payments for performance restored in 1840 by Mr. L. Mortemard and C. de Cauwer, and it was then that the words : "Opus Johannis Hemling" were painted on the frame. i Berlin Museum Nos. 533 and 539, both: Wood, 2 f . 9 h. by 2- 2i/ 2 « — Munich Pinakothek, Nos. 44 and 55, Cabinets. Wood, same size as the panels at Berlin. — All purchased at Brussels. 328 DIEEICK BOUTS. [CHAP. XIII. of their duties , they have no fixed salary, but they go annually to the town hall and carry home their vest- ment money (voedergeld) ; they are clothed at the public expense, but that is their only privilege; and they have the charges of their guild at recurring intervals. The court craftsmen take some reflex from the splendour of their masters, the city painters are plain and humble servants of a municipality not without its pride of wealth but dealing economically and care- fully with the pence of the tax payers. So in 1468, we find Dierick Bouts entered in the accounts of Louvain as "portratuerdere," or municipal painter ex officio, but excepting the honour and the title, his dues arc but 90 plack for a coat. 1 Years after Van der Weyden painted the legends of Trajan and Herkenbald for the town hall of Brussels, Dierick was commissioned to design two pictures for the council room in the townhouse of Louvain. He found the subject, or some one chose it for him, in the well known legend of the Chronicle of Godfrey of Viterbo which tells of the execution of an innocent man, and the tardy retaliation which followed it. In one of the panels King Otho is seated in the court of his castle attended by his Queen, on whose perjured evidence an earl is charged with offending her honour. The body of the decapitated earl lies on the ground, his head being held by the executioner and delivered to his countess in the presence of numerous spectators. In the second picture, the countess kneels before Otho enthroned, holding the head of her hus- band in one hand, and a glowing bar of iron in the other. The courtiers wonder at the triumphant issue 1 Van Even. Thierry Bouts, u. s., p. 8. CHAP. XHI.] DIEEICK BOUTS. 329 of the ordeal, which leads to the death of the Queen at the stake, as shown in the distance. We may ascribe some portion of the stiffness and slenderness, which marks the majority of the figures in these two pieces to the tightness of close fitting dress peculiar to Dierick's time. The hose and jackets and jerkins of the period, are as unpicturesque, the folds of brocaded coats are as stiff and brittle, as may be; and yet Dierick makes small effort apparently to correct or conceal these natural impediments to pictorial effect^ There is a man in an embroidered pelisse in the "execution," who turns his back to the spectator, and still shows three quarters of his face by a forced dis- location of the muscles of his neck. A courtier in profile in the ordeal stands before us with little more of leg than a stork ; and the gesture of the king as he sits in wonder is curiously trivial and affected ; an in- correct, and very high centre of vision throws legs and feet into quaint and unpleasant obliquities ; there is an obvious lack of shoulders and calves in most instances ; but such defects as these are counterbalanced by occasional force and nature in attitude, as in the case of the executioner, or a wondering friar; by grace and simplicity of drapery cast, as in the kneeling countess ; and above all by the soft clearness of land- scapes, rendering with happy fidelity the hilly ranges that form the attraction of the valley of the Maes. How clearly Bouts was indebted to Van der Weyden and Memling for types and faces, we observe in the delicate features and graceful movement of females; but the feeling for tone which distinguishes Memling is hardly to be found in the ruddy uniformity of flesh dulled by leaden undertones and unrelieved by shadow, or in the richly ornamented but deep dyed 330 DEEEICK BOUTS. [chap. xm. shades of vestments. Nor is Dierick technically up to the mark of his contemporary of Bruges, when he strives to conceal his workmanship under coloured glazes of a viscous half transparency. In this respect, indeed, there is one painter to whom he nearly ap- proximates, and that is Cristus, with whom he has in common the habit of cold grey flesh transitions. 1 The municipality showed a proper appreciation of Dierick's skill after the completion of these pictures by ordering others of equal importance. They signed a contract, in May 1468, for a triptych of the Last Judgment, which was finished for the hall of the Echevins of Louvain, in 1472. They ordered at the same time a picture of colossal dimensions for which the subjects were given (1471), by Jean Van Hsecht, an Augustinian monk and doctor of divinity, and this work the magistrates visited in state at the painter's shop ; but before it could be finished, Dierick died, and his heirs were paid for what he did after the panels had been valued by Van der Goes. 2 1 These two pictures were sold in the present century to a dealer, and then passed into the collection of King William of Holland, from which they were bought at the price of 9000 florins. They were finally sold to the Brussels Museum for 30,000 francs. Wood, m. 3.23 h. by 1.82: numbered 30 and 31. The figures are of life size. The following records have reference to these pieces. "Anno 1468 wordden II stucken schildereyen gemaeckt by Mr. Dierick Stuerbout, die in de Eaetcamere staen, d'eene daer de Keysere justitie doet doen over eenen grave von hove, voert betichten van de Keyserinne, van dat hy haer oneer- barheyt te voren gelecht hadde ; ende d'andere daer de Keysere over zyne Keyserinne justitie doet, metten brande, daert voir- seyde betichten, valsch bevonden wirt; die geexstimeert waeren op H c XXX(230)croonenLXXII phs (Philippen)t' stuck." Extract from an unedited MS. lately belonging to Mr. E. van Hoorebeke at Gand, and printed by Mr. de Bast in the Messager des Arts et des Sciences de la Belgique. Tom. I. pp. 17-22. 2 The following documents illustrate the text. "Van eender tafelen te maken van scryn houte die Meester Dierick verdinckt CHAP. XIII.] DIERICK BOUTS. 331 Dierick Bouts was on his deathbed in 1475; and on the 17th April, feeling that his end was near, he made a will in which he divided all his property between Albert and Dierick his sons by his first wife, Catherine and Gertrude, his daughters, nuns in the convent of Dommale, and Elizabeth Van Vossem his second wife. He ordered his body to be buried in the Minorites of Louvain. The will is dated from a house in the Rue des Freres Mineurs at Louvain, and its heeft te makene van porteratueren ende van meer andere cleine refectien, &c. 1468—9. "Anno 1479-80(?) Item Meester Dierick Boudts, scildere,tegen der Stad verdinght hadde te schildere viere stucken van eender grooter tafelen die aen een dienen souden op een sael oft camere te zettene van porteratueren ende nock van eenen cleinen tafel- nelken met zynen dueren van den ordele, ende daer d'ordel in- neghestelt es, hangende in de raet camere. "Daeraff, de voirscreve meester Dierick soe verre hy dis vol- maect hadde gehad, soude hebben van de Stad de somme van Vc. cronen ; d'welc alsoe niet ghebuert en es, Avant by binnen mid- delen tyde gestorven es, alsoe dat de selve binnen synen tyde niet meer vol maect en heeft van den grooten tafelen den een stuck, ende tweeste byna volmaect, ende dat clein stuck van den or- dele hangend in de Eaetcamere, volmaect. Daer voer hem ende synen kinderen vergouwen ende betaelt heft, ter estumacien ende scattingen van eenen den notabelsten scildere die men binnen den lande hier omtrent wiste te vindene, die gheboren es van den Stad van Ghendt, ende nu wonechtig inde Booden cloester in Zuenien, de somme van guldens vorscreve IIFVI gul. XXXVI. pi. (Schayes, u. s., p. 8.) "Eenen Monik van den Boden- Cloestere ghescinckt, als boven, die de Tafele van portraturen visiteerde, boven 't Begister, en in de Baet Camer d'oirdeel te Jannes in den Ingel, 1 Stoep ryns wyns, 1480." (Van Even, Thierry Bouts, u. s., p. 26.) Item ten tyde doen meester Dierick voirscreven dit were maecte en de stad visenteerde tot synen huyse, werd hem ghescinckt, ten bevele van den burgmeesteren ■ende den heeren van den rade, in wyne, lopende xc plecken. Ende desgelycx ghescinckt meester Janne Vanhaeght, doctoir in der Godheit, die der stadt de materie gaff uut ouden zeesten die men scilden soude, was hem gescinckt tot synen huyse in wyne, XCIX plecken, valet te samen in guldens vorscreven III gul. XXVII pi. (Schayes, u. s., p. 8.) Other records are in van Evens' Th. Bouts, u. s. 332 DIEEICK BOUTS. [CHAP. XIII. signature doubtless preceded Dierick's death by a few days only. 1 For a century or more the pictures of Dierick's later time remained in their places at Louvain, then disappeared for ever; 2 but in want of them we have other works from the same hand to fall back upon, and these perhaps not the least interesting amongst the compositions originated by the master. About the time when the brotherhood of the Holy Sacrament founded the altar at Saint Pierre on which Bout's last supper was placed, they also erected another altar which they dedicated to St. Erasmus; and here a trip- tych was placed, which, from evidence of style and the testimony of Molanus, we accept as the work of Die- rick. 3 There is nothing to distinguish this triptych in manner from the legendary pictures of 1468 or the Last Supper ; it is only more repulsive from the hideous nature of the subject. 4 Equally disagreeable and quite as characteristic of the master as regards treatment is the Martyrdom of St. Hippolytus in Saint Sauveur at Bruges depicting the saint stretched upon the ground, and about to be torn to pieces by four very large 1 See the will in Journal des Beaux Arts for 1867, pp. 111- 112. An act of August 25, 1475, is mentioned in Pinchart's Annot., u. s., p. CCXXXIII, as alluding to Dierick's widow. 2 Two parts of Dierick's unfinished piece with subjects "of the olden time", were in their places at the town hall in 1628. — Louv. Mon., u. s., 141. 3 Molanus. Hist. Lovan. MS. in Louv. Mon., u. s., 180 and v. Evens, Thierry Bouts, p. 38, where the probability that this piece was finished before 1466 is suggested. 4 Louvain. St. Pierre. This picture, on wood, is in the chapel of the Virgin des Sept Douleurs, having been removed from its original place. It represents the saint in a landscape on a stretcher beneath a windlass, on which the bowels are wound by two men in the presence of a judge and spectators. On the wings are figures of St. Jerom and St. Bernard. On the framing is a modern inscription: "Opus Johannes Hemling." chap, xin.] DIEKICK BOUTS. 333 horses, led by servants. This hideous scene, treated in the style of Memling, has furnished one of the argu- ments in favour of that painter's stay at Venice. The horses, it is said, are copies of those in the front of San Marco; hut there is no resemblance to warrant such an inference ; and these are neither as natural nor as well drawn as those in the Apocalypse of the Sposalizio. The painting as a whole has been much restored and touched, and the tone and colours are altered; but the composition is poor, the character of the heads and figures is defective, the dresses are in bad taste, and the attitudes are exaggerated according to Bouts' custom. The figure of the saint is thin and slender, and its muscular development faulty. The wings are in better preservation; one, containing an incident from the life of St. Hippolytus, a group of men, being like the central panel, the other, representing a kneeling man and woman in- a landscape, being cold in tone, whilst it is soft in outline, and more in Memling's style than the rest of the altar-piece. The ill-restored obverse of this triptych represents in chiaro 'scuro St. Charles, St. Hippolytus, St. Elizabeth, and St. M argaret. 1 Numerous panels in continental galleries are as- signable to Dierick, and we should prominently men- tion amongst these the triptych in the Pinakothek of Munich, still catalogued as Memling, which was painted for the altar of the Snoij family at Malines. The centre represents the Epiphany, the wings St. John the Baptist and St. Christopher carrying the Infant Christ. 1 The donors on the right wing of the picture are according to Mr. Weale, Hippolyte de Berthoz and his wife Elizabeth de Keverwyck. The altar-piece once belonged to the guild of lime- burners. — See Bruges et ses Environs by W. H. J. "Weale. Bruges 1862. pp. 67-8. 334 DIEEICK BOUTS. [CHAP. XIIII. Noteworthy here is the thick and glossy impast, thie inky flesh tint, and the slender length of the figures. 1 "Judas kissing the Saviour, and the Capture," iis a picture in the Munich Gallery similar in style tto those of Dierick, and apparently painted by him at thie time when he completed the legendary pictures cof Louvain, now at the Hague, 2 where they are attributed to Memling. The character of "the Last Supper" at Louvain iis distinguishable in the picture of the Leuchtenbercg Collection, also assigned to Memling, "St. John thie Baptist showing the Saviour to a repentant sinner.'" 3 "The Resurrection," in the Moritz Kapelle sat Nuremberg, seems also, from its size and execution, tto have formed part of "the Capture" in the Munich Pima- kothek.. 4 The chapel of Los Reyes at Granada contains a picture in three compartments, representing the Cruci- fixion, the Deposition, and the Resurrection. It is noticeable that this last, and the Resurrection jat Nuremberg, are the same composition, though tine figures in the panel of Granada are more exaggerateed in form and darker in tone, and appear to be by aan artist of Cologne. Two pictures in the sacristy of tine same church are called Memling, but are of a later date. Numbers of pictures might now be classed amongst the works of artists who made the art a trade, amd 1 Nos. 48, 49, 50, Cabinets. Munich Gallery. "Wood; centire, I f. 11" h. by 1 f. 11"; wings, 1 f. 4" 6"' h. by 10"; on the baciks of the side panels are (No. 49) St. Catharine, (No. 50) St. Barbarra. 2 No. 58, Cab. Munich Catal. Wood, 3 f. 3" 3"' h. by 2 f. 1"4"". 3 No. 104, H. Saal. Leuchtenberg Catalogue. Wood. 1 f. 8"'h. by 1 f. 3" 6"' broad. This collection is noAv at St. Petersburg. « No. 23, Moritz Kap. Catalogue. Wood, 3' 5" high by 2' ! 2" broad, Nuremberg. Assigned to Memling. CHAP. XIII.] DIEEICK BOUTS. 335 who painted in the mixed and degraded manner of the amalgamated schools of Louvain and Cologne; but the enumeration would be tedious. We need only mention a Christ taken from the cross, at Brussels, assigned to Memling, 1 and a similar subject at the Hague, 2 also given, and with no more reason, to Memling, a Head of Christ at Munich, copied, without intelligence, from that by Van Eyck at Berlin, 3 and another Head of the Saviour, somewhat in the manner of Massy s, in the same Gallery, 4 as examples of our meaning. In the Madrid Museum there is a bad copy of Memling's "Adoration of the Magi" 5 at Bruges Which is called an original. The Inventory of Margaret of Austria contains a picture by Dierick Stuerbout, of which the traces are lost. 6 Mr. Passavant assigns to Dierick a small picture once belonging to Mr. Schoff Brentano, of Frankfort. It is painted like the legendary panels of the Hague. The subjects are, "The Prophecy of the Sybil ofTibur to the Emperor Augustus ;" and a Madonna and Child. The scenes are laid in an apartment of Flemish archi- tecture. Several figures, supposed by Mr. Passavant to be portraits, surround the Virgin. Two portraits in the collection of Prince Demidoff, a male and a female, were sold in 1870 as Stuerbout's. They were previ- 1 No. 48, Brussels Catalogue. 0.98 m. high by 1.88 m. broad. Ascribed by Waagen to Dierick Bouts ;— an untenable opinion. 2 No. 60, Museum of the Hague. Wood. 3 No. 51, Cab. IV. Munich Pinak. Catalogue. Wood, 1' 6" 9"' high by 1' 1" 9'" broad. 4 No. 52, Cab. IV. Munich Pinak. Catalogue. Wood, 1' 1" 6'" high by 9" 9"' broad. 5 No. 467, Madrid Catalogue. 2 ft. 4 in. 6. high by 1 ft. 11 in. 6. broad; wood. 6 "Une petite Nostre Dame fait de la main de Dierick." — Inventaire de Marguerite cVAutriche, De Laborde, u. s., p. 29. 336 DEEEICK BOUTS. [CHAP. XIII. ously assigned to another master. At a sale of Mr. Abel's Collection at Stuttgart, the Berlin Museum is said to have bought two rounds, 1 representing scenes from the life of Joseph. Two panels in the Ursulines of Bruges represent scenes from the legend of St. Ursula, and are assigned to Dierick. Of Albert Bouts we have note in the manuscript of Molanusj who assigns to him an "Assumption of the Virgin" in the lesser choir of St. Pierre at Louyain ; but the picture is no longer to be found. 2 1 M. 1.40 in diameter — 1. Joseph, sold, and the brother with the dress before Jacob. — ■ 2. Joseph and Potiphar. 2 Molanus, u. s., and Van Even's Thierry Bouts, p. 23. CHAPTEE XIV. PKOGEESS OF THE AET IN ELANDEES. — ITS INFLUENCE ABEOAD. It is clear, from the foregoing narrative, that the arts in Belgium began to flourish immediately after the accession of the house of France to the throne of Burgundy. Elements of strength which existed before their time, required but their vigour to acquire deve- lopment. What Flanders wanted up to that time was the peace and order which the stronghanded policy of the Dukes produced. Under Louis de Male and his immediate predecessors, Flanders and its cities rose to great commercial and manufacturing importance ; but the Counts of Flanders had neither power nor prestige to keep within due bounds the unruly spirit of their cities. They provoked it, on the contrary, by attempts to wrest from them their fairest privileges, and turned the energies of the people from the pursuit of riches to that of redressing wrongs. They had all to lose in such a struggle, threatening as it did their only source of wealth — the trade of their dominions. The Flemish communes were as rich as they were powerful ; to have conciliated, instead of exciting their hostility, should have been the aim of skilful rulers. But the principles which governed the communes were not quite reconcileable with those of the no- hlesse ; and on one great question they were especially at variance. On the Rhine, where each petty prince 22 338 PROGRESS OP THE ART IN FLANDERS. [CHAP. XIV^. swelled his revenue by erecting toll-bars and impedinjg trade, commerce flourished in spite of these hini- drances. In Flanders, trade was in the hands of thte municipalities, which manufactured the raw materially and governed the ports. The duties levied on foreigin produce enriched their coffers, and not the excheque3r of the princes. To wrest these ways and means froim the communes was the ceaseless effort of the Countts of Flanders ; they quarrelled with their people, anid then sought foreign aid for their subjection. Francce, ever jealous of possessing these rich and importamt provinces, at all times afforded them assistance. Eng- land, on the other hand, too anxious for their welfarre to leave them without aid, encouraged them in theiir struggles against the Counts and France. The Flemissh nobles, consisting not alone of those who lived "esn chasteaux forts," as Guicciardini says, but of thie patricians, who also boasted of descent, took part iin general against the communes, and formed the adversse factions of the "Leliarts," or partisans of the Lily, anid the "Clauwerts," or wielders of cleavers. For yeairs the Clauwerts asserted their superiority in arms againist the Leliarts ; they triumphed at the battle of tine Spurs, where the flower of French chivalry was routeed and destroyed; and they kept up their ascendancy eveen against Louis de Male, their last Count. Nothing at this time exceeded the wealth anid power of the cities. Bruges, which at first was but a church upon an island, had grown at the Crusades inito a fortress with battlement and drawbridge. The churcch of St.Donatian occupied the centre of a fortified squarre, and there the Counts, like Baldwin of the Iron Aran, and Guy de Dampierre, were wont to hear mass. 1 Tlhe i "Histoire de Bruges." Bruges, 8°. 1850. p. 20. CHAP. XIV.] ITS INFLUENCE ABROAD. 339 waters which surrounded the old citadel, or Bourg, were formed into canals, the chief of which was broad and deep, and communicated with the port of Sluys. That port was also fortified, and the channel was deep enough to admit the largest vessels. Philip Augustus, after his return from the crusades, sent a powerful fleet to Sluys, and forced the entrance, The booty was so great as to astonish him ; it comprised tons of manufactured goods, and raw material. Un- fortunately for him an English squadron hove in sight, and Philip burnt his fleet and plunder ; but the riches which he found are a proof of the wealth collected by the merchants of the time. England always took a special interest in Bruges ; and every effort of the Counts of Flanders to coerce the communes brought the British kings to her support. The trade of Bruges and Ghent was thus increased by rivalry between the communes and the princes. The first of these advantages was the importation, free, of woollens from England, the mere hint of stopping which was a signal for tumult throughout the entire breadth of the country. Then came, in 1127, the privi- lege of a Hanse l . This, which was called the English Hanse, because its counter was in London, was granted to the people of Bruges when William of Normandy attempted to deprive the Flemish cities of their funda- mental rights. The merchants of the Hanse were privileged to try their civil actions before arbitrators chosen amongst the merchants of the city. The president in London was a citizen of Bruges, who took the title of Count of the Hanse, and all the towns had members. Those which 1 Kervyn de Lettenhove, Hist, de Flandre, 8°. Brux. 1847. vol. II. p. 291. 22* 340 PKOGRESS OF THE AET IN FLANDERS. [CHAP. XIY.. joined the company at first were Ypres, Damme, Lille;, Bergues, Furnes, Orchies, Bailleul and Poperinghe ; itt was afterwards reinforced by St. Omer, Arras, Douaii, Cambrai, Valenciennes, Peronne, St. Quentin, Beauvaisj, Abbeville, Amiens, Montreuil, Hheims, and Chalon. This English Hanse, the Hanse Towns, the mer- chants of Lombardy and Venice, and those of Novgorodl, kept up the prosperity of Bruges by their trade, audi the erection of spacious counters there. The fair o)f Bruges was usually crowded with traders from eveny country in the world. 1 Torn by civil dissensions, Bruges, and the otheir Flemish cities had neither choice nor leisure to fosterr art and bring it to the high perfection which it after- wards attained under the Dukes of Valois. Philip tlue Hardy, John the Fearless, and Philip the Good, wieldinig more powerful resources than the Counts of Flanderss, and backed by the agricultural districts of Burgundjy, were enabled to quell, in a great degree, the turbulencce of their cities. The wealth which they had amasse(d was partly expended in the peaceful rivalry which arosr the palm of taste in art. Thus the school of Bruges progressed. It is true that previous to this time thie civic authorities of Belgian cities were already knowm far their partiality to public exhibitions of their powesr and taste; but these were far less comprehensive thain later efforts of the same description. The ceremoniejs incident to the arrival in Bruges of Thierry d'Alsacce, with the relic of the Holy Blood, were marked by a display of tapestries and banners, creditable to the agije in which they were produced; 2 but public taste the3n 1 Ibid. p. 299. 2 Hist, de Bruges, U. s., p. 31. CHAP. XIV.] ITS INFLUENCE ABKOAD. 341 showed itself more frequently in sumptuous apparel and gorgeous stuffs than in works of art. Under Louis de Male, the public appreciation of what required a more refined attention and cultivation was increased. That prince perceiving the progress of this feeling, founded, as has been seen, the Corporation of St. Luke, at Bruges. 1 The school which then arose so rapidly to perfection under the Dukes of Burgundy, thus owed a portion of its progress to the wealth and independent spirit of the communes. The taste, power, and cultivation of a court gave it an additional spur, and the clergy, threw in their weight to favour the movement. The monastic orders, as we have shown, had followed art with far less fervour than their neighbours. Scarce a monk in Flanders wielded brush or pencil, when Beato Angelico filled the cities of his native country with examples of his skill. They had even then surrendered to the lay brotherhoods, or freemasonries of architecture, the building of their churches and cathedrals, and they sought the aid of the sister art to decorate internally the countless structures which had been produced by those talented bodies. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries had seen the rise of numerous abbeys throughout Burgundy and Flanders. In those of Burgundy the rigid system of Citeaux prevailed; but in Flanders, the monks enjoyed an easier regime. The wealth of these enormous abbeys consisted chiefly in their wool, with which they served, in partnership with England, the looms of the Flemish cities. Their power grew with riches, and many of these Flemish convents were more arrogant in the exhibition of it than even the noblesse. The abbots of Sithiu, the 1 Delepierre(0.), Galevie d'Artistes Brugeois, 8°. Bruges, 1840, p. 6. Sandertis, Fland. Illust. u. s., torn. II. p. 148. 342 PROGRESS OF THE ART IN FLANDERS. [CHAP. XIV.". abbey of St. Bertin at St. Omer, owned large tractss in Flanders; the}' held the town of Poperinghe, aa large and wealthy manufacturing community; theiir priories were to be found in many other places, and! they claimed the right of consecration from no less aft dignitary than a bishop. Their richly ornamentecd dresses, sleek mules, and obesity of aspect, proclaimecd at once their riches and their power of enjoying the goocd and tasteful things of this world ; 1 to them the artss were much indebted for support and countenance. Im the cities, the same desire to enrich their churchess and cathedrals invariably procured for painters comi- missions from the chapters ; and the guilds of art, ini- variably possessed a chapel, where the mass was sunig at festivals by grateful priests. One need but poinit to the numerous productions ordered by the abbeys antd the chapters, from the ablest painters of the period, tco show how much the arts were then indebted to therm for support. The three great powers in the state, — the court, tine clergy, and the commune, — were thus enlisted in surp- port of art in Flanders, during the rule of the house cof France in Belgium. Not alone in painting was this result obtained. Tine greatest monuments of civil architecture, the great towrn- halls, the bourses, markets, and corporation palaces cof Belgium, are the produce of this period. The civil structures of the thirteenth and precedinig centuries are the "beffrois," at the ringing of whose bellls the trades assembled in the market-place. The "bejfrori" w r as the emblem of municipal freedom. It was part (of 1 A. Wauters, Les Delices de la Belgique, 8°. Brux. 18446. Altmeyer, Notice sur Poperinghe. Messager des Sciences et dies Arts, u. s., 1839, pp. 22—53. CHAP. XIV.] ITS INFLUENCE ABEOAD. 343 the charter of incorporation of a commune that it should have a bell, and, consequently, a belfry; but later, when the powers of the corporations became administrative and more complicated, the town-halls arose, sometimes by the belfry's side, sometimes on its site. 1 The Bruges town-hall is the earliest and most perfect specimen of this early style of building, having been raised in the fourteenth century, on the model of those mansions called "Steene," which existed at that time throughout the country. 2 The latter end of the fourteenth, and beginning of the fifteenth, mark the erection of the town- halls of Brussels, Louvain, and Gand ; the end of the fifteenth, and beginning of the sixteenth, that of the town-halls of Audenarde. Mons, Courtrai, and Leau. The building of many palaces in Bruges is due to the exertions of foreign merchants. There were sixteen counters in Bruges, belonging to trading companies, which possessed palaces for the transaction of business. The finest of these was the counter of the German Hanseatic League, destroyed a little less than a century ago. Those of the Castilians, Florentines, and Genoese, were remarkable for the beauty of their fronts. They were castellated and flanked with towers. The hotel of the Genoese was especially remarkable for its internal splendour. 3 Portinari, of the Florentines, patronised Van der Goes. The Genoese seem to have respected the talent of Van der Weyden. The Flemish pictures in Spain show that the Castilians appreciated Flemish art; and the pictures of the School of Bruges are 1 Schayes, Hist, de 1' Architecture en Belgique, 8 n . Brux. 1850, p. 12. 2 Ibid, pp. 10 — 33. Wauters (A.) Les Delices de la Belgique. 3 Schayes, u. s., pp. 41 — 56. Many miniatures of this period in the British Museum, contain drawings of these castellated towers. 344 PEOGEESS OF THE AET IN ELANDEES. [CHAP. XIV^. numerous in Bremen, Liibeck, Dantzig, and'other citiees of the Hanseatic League. Of the social status of the artists in the 14th ancd 15th centuries, little need be added. It can scarcely bte called independent, but it was happy. The early format,- tion of guilds in all the towns shows that they had ja position of importance in the country. The existence and organisations of guilds of art have been mentionedl. Each city was jealous of the other, and kept up ;a species of opposition and protection. The guild o)f Brussels- was once well-nigh ruined by litigation witlh the guild of Antwerp, whose "masters" insisted om sending pictures for exhibition to the Brussels faiir. The same thing happened later, between Ghent antd Antwerp. The painters of the latter city, and otherrs in the Netherlands, sent pictures to the market ait Ghent; and the sheriffs of the town ordered that no im- vasion of the kind should be permitted; and that, withim four years from 1653, foreign painters should be pro>- hibited from sending pictures to any but the annual fairss. Evelyn describes a fair at Rotterdam, "so furnishecd with pictures, that he was amazed." "The reason/' hie adds, "for this store of them, and their cheapness, pro>- ceeded from the want of land to employ stock ; so thait it was an ordinary thing to find a common farmer layy out two or three thousand pounds in this commodity/. Their houses were full of them, and they vended therm at their fairs to very great gains." 1 Guicciardini states that the most ancient brother - hood of Antwerp was that of La Violiere, whose memberrs were mostly painters, esteemed there as at Maliness, amongst the most notable of all the trades. 2 "The Pandl, 1 Evelyn's Diary. 2 Guicciardini, Descrip.de Tous les Pays Bas., u.s., p. 123. CHAP. XIV.] ITS INFLUENCE ABROAD. 345 or market for pictures at Antwerp," according to Guic- ciardini and Boussingault, "was a splendid edifice." 1 It was, probably, not till the sixteenth century, that the trade in pictures became so large; but it is evident that painters were considered most respectable mem- bers of trades. The attention paid them by princes and merchants is a proof of this ; and the account which has been given of their privileges at Brussels, in the life of Van cler Weyden, shows that they obtained even superior rights to the architects of that city. The influence which Flemish art indubitably wielded, has been shown in many portions of Italy, on the Rhine, in Westphalia, on the Danube, in Swabia, France, Portugal, and Spain. It soon supplanted the school fostered at Cologne. The pictures of the early time, at Cologne, have a certain charm ; some of them, in St. Severus, have all the faults peculiar to an infant art. The long, stark figures want the semblance of motion ; yet angles and straight lines, clumsy joints, and hands and feet, may be par- doned in consideration of the simple elegance and grace which mark the attitudes. In the "Crucified Saviour" there is a force of truth, which the later masters of the school were unsuccessful in approaching. But, perhaps, the noblest form in which the talent of an early painter shows itself, is in the "Virgin" of the "Seminary;" and no artist of the 14th century, in Germany or Flanders, gave so much benignity or grace to the Virgin; such simple elegance to the spare and lightly hanging folds which cover her; or to the hair, which falls in wreaths about a forehead full of majesty; no painter of the age was more happy in the creation of a light, clear and lucid transparence. 1 Boussingault, Voyage des Pays Bas, 12°, Paris, 1677. 346 PEOGEESS OF THE AET IN FLANDEES. [CHAP. XIV. The evidence which connects this and other early pictures with the name of Wilhelm of Cologne is by no means conclusive ; but there is no reason to doubt that Wilhelm lived at the period when they were painted, and still less reason to doubt that Wilhelm was the most skilful Rhenish artist of his time. For a consider- able period our knowledge of this ancient craftsman was confined to a notice in the Limburg chronicle, which described him "as the very best painter in all the German lands;" but the industry and patience of an indefatigable literary pioneer, Mr. Merlo of Co- logne, was rewarded twenty years ago by the discovery of his actual existence. 1 Between 1358, the date of his first appearance, and 1378, the date of his death, the name of Wilhelm de Herle was discovered in scabinal records treating of possessions in land and houses. The title of "Magister Pictor" was found in some cases appended to the name ; but there were no traces of commissions for pictorial work. The further discovery made in 1859 by Dr. Ennen of Cologne, that between 1370 and 1380 "Magister Wilhelmus" was painter to the city, and numerous entries of payments for the delivery of banners and wimples as well as for mural designs in numerous edifices, cleverly completed the chain of evidence, which had previously remained so hopelessly imperfect. Amongst the entries alluded to we should particularly notice those which refer to monumental compositions, such as "the painting of a librum juramentorum," "an image of the Holy Virgin by St. Cunibert," and a "St. Christopher near the but- cheries ;" but the most important is that which refers to the painting of the town hall or "domus civium," an 1 Merlo. DieMeister der Altkolnischen Malersclmle. 8°.K61n, 1852, pp. 31. 32. 33. CHAP. XIV.] ITS INFLUENCE ABEOAD. 347 edifice recently restored to some of its old splendour, and still decorated with fragments of 14th century frescos. 1 It is in the Hanseatic Hall of the Cologne Rathhaus that antiquaries believe, and we think with reason, that they have found remnants of Wilhelm's works. There we find the southern wall still adorned with statues of Hector, Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Joshua, David, Simon Maccabseus, Godfrey of Bouillon, king Arthur, and Charlemagne ; opposite to these, fragments of nine figures of life size, of which three heads only have been rescued from destruction. It is impossible to form a perfect idea of the talents of the master from these remains, but they lead us to think that the artist who painted them was a man who, considering the time in which he lived, was pos- sessed of great powers. We cannot affirm that the same hand executed these frescos and the Virgin of the Seminary, but there is no ground for utterly reject- ing such a presumption. Passing to other examples related to that of the Virgin just mentioned, Ave should notice the Virgin and Child with saints, in the Museum of Cologne, in which gentleness marks the face and expression of the Madonna, and a quaint slenderness characterises the forms of saints, draped in vestments of comparatively simple fold.' 2 We may admit that the Virgin of the Seminary is nobler and more serenely dignified than its counterpart in the Museum, but the Virgin of the Museum, on the other hand, is to be admired for a feeling of elegance not to be found in the rival figure of the Seminary. 1 See Dr. Ennen's "Meister Wilhelm" in Annalen des Histo- rischen Vereins fur denNieder-Rhein. SiebentesHeft. K61nl859. 2 Cologne Museum. No. 12. Triptych. Wood: centre 1 f. 8 3/ 4 h. by 1 f. 1. Wings 1 f. 83/ 4 h. by f. 5i/ 2 . Virgin and Child between St. Catharine and St. Barbara on gold ground. 348 PROGRESS OF THE ART IN FLANDERS. [CHAP. XIV. In the spirit of these early works, and doubtless one of the best creations of the older masters of the school of which we are treating, is the fragment of a triptych representing saints under canopies, in pos- session of Mr. Beresford Hope in London. There is a reminiscence here of old miniature art in composition and shape, but a great improvement in the same art in vigour of colours, or energy of expression, qualities conspicuous in the Van Eycks and in Martin Schon. The picture of Mr. Hope has the form common to that school, the painted architecture in the midst of which the figures stand, the character, the features and the attitudes of the persons represented, and the warm reddish tone of the colour. The latter defect is distinctly attributable here to the coloured oleo- resinous varnish with which the tempera is covered. The small dimensions of the triptych diminish the effect of exaggeration and disproportion produced by larger pictures in the same manner, and which exist here to a certain extent. The representation of the Virgin is graceful, that of the male saints faulty and approaching to caricature, chiefly in the lines which make out the forms, in the beards which adorn the chins, in the large and aquiline noses, and the stare of the open eyes. The same faults are visible like- wise in other figures, such as that of the king on the closed panel and that of the Saviour. The picture is, on the whole, creditable to the school of Cologne, and would alone prove that the Van Eycks and Memling took some of their peculiarities of manner from it. One figure indeed of a king in the Adoration has some distant resemblance to that of Hubert Van Eyck, not only in attitude but in dress and energetic expression. CHAP. XIV.] ITS INFLUENCE ABROAD. 349 The followers of the first great artist of Cologne strove in vain to imitate his manner. They used the old materials — panels primed and stretched with canvas. On these they painted with a pale and unsubstantial water-colour, which they fixed at last with a varnish, preserving and giving vigour to the picture. But they lost the grace and elegance of the founders of the school, and exaggerated their defects; and, whilst the eyes and other features became defined by unnatural lines, the work exhibited but feeble knowledge of ana- tomy. An instance of this may be seen in the "Crucified Saviour" of the Cologne Museum, in which the cross stands in the middle, and on each side are the Virgin and apostles, whilst numerous little angels, whose wings have been shorn by the restorers, flutter about the gold ground. This picture, also, may be mentioned as an instance of the practice then so common, of com- bining painting with the more material art of sculpture. 1 A picture of the "Passion," now in the cathedral, may be cited amongst the feeblest efforts of the painters of this early period; but it has a claim to some attention, from the state to which it is reduced by time, exposing the mode in which these men prepared their panels and worked upon them. Albert Diirer, in his diary, says: — "Item. I paid two silver pennies to have the picture opened, which master Stephen painted at Cologne." 2 Until recently Stephen of Cologne was only known by this slight entry in fhe diary of Diirer. It is said that he painted the great altar-piece of the "Adoration of the Magi," now in the cathedral of Cologne, and once the ornament of the chapel of the Rathhaus. 1 Cologne Mus. No. 13. Wood, 5 f . 3 h. by 7 f. 9. 2 Alb. Diirer, Eeliquien, u. s., p. 102. 350 PEOGEESS OF THE AET IN ELANDEES. [CHAP. XIV. Favoured with the clue afforded by Diirer, Mr.Merlo again proceeded some years since to search the records of his native city, and discovered that, in 1442, a native of Constance, a painter, called Stephen Loethener, was settled in Cologne with his wife Lysbeth. 1 He had bought a house called Roggendorp, in which he re- sided till 1444. His means apparently increasing, he sold the Roggendorp and bought a larger tenement called "zum Carbunckel," and established his studio in it. This purchase exceeded his means, and he was obliged to borrow money ; he secured its repayment by consenting to a rent charge of ten Rhenish florins per annum. His position gradually improved until 1448, when the guild of St. Luke chose him to represent their corporation in the senate. This new dignity probably caused Stephen to incur increased expenses. His means certainly became straightened. A new loan became necessary in 1448, and Loethener mortgaged his house and promised to pay yearly ten Rhenish florins as a perpetual charge. In 1451 the guild again chose him to represent their body in the senate, but this was the painter's ruin apparently; for he retired before the expiration of his legal tenure of office, and the mortgagee seized his house. Quad in the "Teutscher Nation Herrligkeit" 2 — says, "that Albert Diirer on his way down (to Flanders) came to a powerful city (Cologne), and was invited by the authorities to look at a noble picture (Stephen's)." He admired it greatly whereupon he was tauntingly informed that the artist had died in a hospital. Was it not strange, he was told, that men should be found willing to follow so poor 1 Merlo (J. J.) Die Meister der Alt-kolnischen Malerschule. p. 110 to 121. 2 Quad. ap. Merlo. — Nachrichten von dem Leben und den Werken Kolnischer Kiinstler. 8°. K6]n 1850. p. 438. Back of Foldout Not Imaged CHAP. XIV.] ITS INFLUENCE ABEOAD. 351 a profession and one leading to such a pitiful end. Durer made a quaint reply, and there the matter ended. The subject of Stephen's picture, or rather of Loethener's picture, supposing the two men to be iden- tical, is the "Adoration of the Magi" in the centre, and the patron saints of the city on the wings. That on the right hand contains St. Gereon and his atten- dants ; the left, St. Ursula and eleven virgins ; the closed shutters display an Annunciation. No styles were more divergent than those of Wilhelm and Stephen ; and it is impossible to tell whether the latter followed the discipline of the former. But, whilst in "Wilhelm one discovers length and meagreness as specially characteristic, a small, stout class of person- ages figures in the panels of Stephen. As the lofty pointed style of architecture, exhibited in the cathedral, contrasts with the low and Saxon build of St. Gereon's, so the pictures of the two great painters of Cologne contrast with one another. The parallel maintains itself in every detail. 1 Whilst Wilhelm's heads are long and grave, those of Stephen are round and happy. Where the eyes of the first appear exaggerated in their obliqueness, those of the second seem exaggerated in roundness. In every point the later painter shows a less noble spirit ; he paints lips pouting and rosy — eye- brows arched and thick — figures obese and bandy, pointing their feet downwards, as if they trod on tiptoe. The fingers of the hands are thick and coarse. In one 1 Ce maitre (Wilhelm) subissait avec naivete la domina- tion de l'architecture. Stephan .... me parait marquer une epoque differente et indique d'autres traditions. II substitue aux proportions de l'ogive adoptees par "Wilhelm celles du plein cintre .... II racourcit les corps tout en leur laissant la finesse; il arrondit les tetes. Fortoul. Art en Allemagne, 8°. Paris 1844. vol. I. p. 137. 352 PROGRESS OF THE ART IN EL ANDERS. [CHAP. XIV.. great feature one sees the same result in the two painters.. They both excelled in female portraiture ; they bothi gave elegance to the female head; and Stephen wass successful in twisting round the hair, and setting off'f female heads with its assistance. The draperies off Stephen are more studied and more finished, but nott gracefully modelled. As to colour, Stephen paintedl softly, with much body, and with considerable smooth- ness and rounding of tints ; but his work was clear, likei Wilhelm's, and not vigorous in chiaro-'scuro. The finestt group in the altar-piece is that of the kneeling King,, and the "Virgin and Child." Indeed, the naked formi of the latter is especially deserving of attention and ad- miration. The Virgin of the "Annunciation" is remark- able for natural movement and graceful action; but,, like all the rest, the delineation wants vigour audi chiaro-'scuro. Certain marks which are found uponi this altar-piece have been supposed to represent the) date of 1410 ; the style of the picture is that of the first ; half of the fifteenth century. There were numerous imitators of the manner off Stephen, as there were of that of Wilhelm; but all infe- rior to him. The only production of the master, besides i the altar-piece of the Cathedral, is a small Madonna i and Child, surrounded by numerous angels, in the 3 Museum of Cologne, of which the draperies are pe- culiarly soft and pleasing. 1 Of his imitators, a fair • example is to be found in the "Last Judgment" of the) same collection. 2 Hitherto, art on the Rhine was original. Flemish i influence was distinguishable later ; and Van der Wey- - 1 Cologne Mus. No. 87. Wood, 1 f. 4 i/ 4 h. by 1 f. 2, gold ground. . 2 Cologne Mus. No. 90 fr. St. Laurentius of Cologne. W. 3f. . 10i/ 2 n. by 5 f. 51/2- CHAP. XIV.] ITS INFLUENCE ABKOAD, 353 den was the man whose style most tended to disturb old traditions. We find no trace of a direct sub- stantial contact between the two schools; but a close observer will not fail to discover how strongly Van der Weyden's compositions became impressed upon the artists of Cologne ; amongst the rest, the great "Descent from the Cross" will be found to have been copied, altered, and recopied in various ways. The men of the Rhine did not imitate with servility; but they varied, or modified their style in course of time, until they reverted to imitations of those great features which a man like Wilhelm indelibly impresses on his pupils and followers ; they gradually returned to the long, thin forms of their first founder, without regaining his elegance and nobleness. The school was thus reduced to lifeless mediocrity when the "Deposition from the Cross," which may yet be seen at the Wallraffische Museum was executed. This picture bears the date of 1499, and has been given to Israel Meckenen and Albert Van Ouwater; 1 it has been shown how difficult it would, be to maintain the name of Albert ; Israel Meckenen whose claims have also been urged was born at Meckenen between Ziitphen and Cleves, and is known solely by his engravings. There is nothing in common between him and the pictures, except the period of production. The date of his birth is 1440, and that of his death 1503; and, therefore, had he been a painter, he might have produced the "Deposition"; but there is no proof whatever, either that he painted at all, or that this particular work is his; and, in so far as the panels attributed to him can be examined and compared, 1 Vide antea, p. 198 and 247. 23 354 PROGRESS OF THE ART IN EL ANDERS. [CHAP. XIV^. there is not one of them which is not distinctly diff- ferentin age and handling; though they are all of tJne sanie defective style. The time in which they we;rs like the style and handling of those masters, that their • pictures were frequently confounded. On this account, , no doubt, the later efforts of this painter fail us ; but t his early style was imitated in the neighbouring town i of Xanten, where curious traces of the study of the s Flemings, and chiefly that of Memling, are found. "St . . Anthony's Temptation," in the cathedral, may bej mentioned as a proof how closely these pseudo-Flemish i painters followed both the school of Bruges and that t of Leyden. It is a curious point connected with this i ' No. 161 A, Berlin Cat.; No. 161 B, ibid. (CHAP. XIV.] ITS INFLUENCE ABROAD. 359 i picture, that we find upon it the initials "A. W.," : similar to those discovered on a panel once belonging to the Aders Collection, and not unlike, in style, the "Adoration of the Magi" at the Pinakothek of Munich. 1 The Flemish mode of painting and composition, as impressed upon these lesser German schools at second- hand — and as much by the teaching of the later masters of Cologne as by that of the Flemings them- selves — was directly stamped on Martin Schon, the pupil of Van der Weyden. The manner of Martin Schon may be judged from a panel now in the National Gallery the "Burial of the Virgin", which serves to show what a different impress is made on men of talent and mediocrities. 2 Van der Weyden' s compositions were used by many of his followers with indiscriminate eager- ness. Martin Schon improved upon Van der Wey- den' s style, and, with characteristic vigour, laid the foundation of the later school of Nuremberg. A small Nativity assignable to him in the collection of the Duke of Tarsia, at Palermo, reveals a large amount of power. Nothing can be finer than the figure of St. Joseph in this diminutive panel; his energetic expression is strongly in contrast with that of figures of the same class in Flemish pictures ; yet Flemish peculiarities are here united to those of Schon, which are chiefly vigour of expression and body of colour. The composi- tion is not unusual ; the Infant lies on the ground, and is adored by his kneeling mother ; St. Joseph stands pensive on the left, while on the right the shepherds enter the penthouse. Another picture by Schon, in the Doria Gallery at Rome, is assigned to Diirer, and re- 1 No. 45, Room 1, Munich Catalogue, vide antea. 2 London National Gallery No. 658. 360 PROGRESS OF THE ART IN FLANDERS. [CHAP. XIV/. markable for its beautiful warm tone. It represents s the death of the Virgin. A marvellous embroidered I stole formerly belonging to Pope Marcellus the IId,l, and now in the treasury of the cathedral of Gubbio, is s filled with figures quite in the style of Schon ; a grand 1 composition of the Last Supper is embroidered on one 3 of the shoulders of the vestment, and seven stories off the Saviour's passion in high relief cover the rest of it. . The character of the heads, the nude, the draperies, the * firm outlines, are in the finest character of the Flemish i works of the time of Martin Schon. The art of the i Van Eycks leads up through Van der Weyden, and I through Martin Schon, to Albert Diirer ; it affected, , through the School of Augsburg, the Noric painter • Wohlgemuth. The Belgian manner, which crept so slowly, yet so ► surely, into every part of Germany, invaded Spain — - where legions of its painters, sculptors, architects, , migrated to supplant or mingle with Italians. John Van Byck had, doubtless, spread the desire of pos- sessing pictures by his countrymen; but before his time, the early school of Florence had cast its roots and shed its flowers. There Gherardo di Jacopo Stamina, pupil of Antonio di Vinezia, and born at Florence in 1354, was the first to seek employment from the kings of Spain. He enriched himself, and gained the favour of the Spanish court, and returned to Florence full of honours ; but his pictures have since perished; and though the author of the book, entitled "Les Arts Italiens en Espagne," 1 describes an altar-piece of his as still in the Escorial, no such work to be is now found there. The subject was the "Adora- tion of the Magi." Dello followed Stamina into Spain. i "Les Arts Italiens en Espagne", Eome, 1825. CHAP. XIV.] ITS INFLUENCE ABEOAD. 361 He was a painter and a sculptor, and lived as late as 1455 ; but his pictures in Spain have been lost. He enriched himself at court, and returned to Florence with a knighthood ; but his stay in Italy was short ; he quarrelled with the seignory of his native city, returned to Spain, and died there. A single work of Dello is recorded in the book above referred to ; it was signed "Dello Eques Florentinus," but cannot now be found. Another piece has perished also ; it was a painted cloth, depicting the encounter of the Spaniards with the Moors at the battle of Higueruela. Having been found in Philip the Second's time, in the Tower of Segovia, it was copied by his order; and a fresco of it was produced by the Spanish painters, Fabricio and Granelio. 1 It may still be seen in the Hall of Battles at the Escurial; but it scarcely strikes us as a copy after Dello being rather a work of the later and baroque period of the seventeenth century. Had we not historic proofs that Stamina and Dello were in Spain, their stay would be scarcely credible, so faint was its impression on the artists there ; for Stamina was a glory of the school of Florence, and Dello no mean artist. But the only traces of Italian art now visible, are to be found in the old cathedral of Sala- manca, and in the chapel of St. Bias, in the cathedral of Toledo. The walls of the latter are covered inter- nally with the frescoes of an old painter of the end of the fourteenth century ; the chapel itself is one of the finest in the kingdom; and the subject which adorns it is the "Passion of our Saviour." If Italian painters failed to leave distinct a distinct impress, not so the Flemings ; for they soon invaded and monopolized the country. Their influence, at first 1 Quevedo, u. s., p. 341. 362 PEOGEESS OF THE AET IN FLANDEES. [CHAP. XTV. commingled, formed a tasteless cento of Italian and of Belgian art. Whilst in Germany, the Flemings impressed the pupils of the native schools with the desire to imitate and rival them; in Spain they came in person and painted for the Spaniards, who, in themselves, remained almost incapable of receiving an impression. The strugg- les of the Moors, and the constant state of war in which the country remained for years, are grounds sufficient for this backwardness of Spain, since the selfsame causes are the sole excuse for the cruelties of Alva, and the horrors of the inquisition. We see the pictures of a Van Eyck, a Cristus, Jan de Flandes, Juan Flamenco, and Juan de Borgogna, sought for and admired; but the Spaniards only fol- lowed art themselves a little later with effect; and even when they did their efforts were but feeble. Lodovico Dalmau is the first who left a name which figures on a picture in St. Michael of Barcelona. The Virgin is depicted sitting on a throne, holding in her arms the Infant Christ, and adored by civic magistrat es in their robes of state. "Sub anno MCCCCXLV. per Ludovicum Dalmau fui depictum," is the signature on this panel. Who was Dalmau? At present we have nothing but this picture to inform us of the life and existence of a painter who appears to have studied in the workshop of Van Eyck. The "Madonna" and the "Infant" prove it by their Flemish type; and the por- traits of the magistrates by their likeness to the same class of persons in the Flemish panels of the perio d. The paintings, further, are in oil. Gallegos was a Spaniard, who followed Van der Weyden and Memling's manner rather than Van Eyck's. His Madonna in the chapel of St. Clement of CHAP. XIV.] ITS INFLUENCE ABEOAD. 363 Salamanca is completely in the Flemish manner ; and so are other pictures of the same type and class. Dalmau and Gallegos are the best painters of this time in the country ; but there are others of less note, on whom the Flemings left their mark. There are fourteen panels in St. Iago of Toledo, painted in 1498, by Juan de Segovia, Pedro Gumiel, and Sancho de Zamora, in which the faces are inanimate, the eyes black, and the colour dead, as in the worst specimens of Belgium. 1 Pedro da Cordova painted an altar-piece in the cathedral of Cordova, which bears the date of 1475 ; the donor was the canon Diego Sanchez de Castro, as appears from the picture's signature ; the subject is the "Annunciation and various Saints;" the style, an inspiration from that of Petrus Cristus. Pedro Nunez painted a Deposition from the Cross, in the chapel of Santa Anna, of the cathedral of Seville, in which we note a similar exaggeration of the Flemish manner. There are numerous pictures besides these in which the mingling of Italian and Flemish characteristics is discovered; as, for instance, scenes from the New Testament in the chapel of St. Eugenio at Toledo, erroneously attributed to Juan de Borgogna. Juan de Borgogna, who is not to be confounded with Juan Flamenco, painted pictures in the Sala Capitularia of Toledo, the stalls of which are by Cupin d'Olanda. His works are in fresco, and represent the history of 1 "Hizose este retablo, por mandato de Dona Maria di Luna, hija de Don Alvaro y Dona Juana ; y trabajaron en el los artistas Juan de Segovia, Pedro Gumiel y Sancho de Zamora, segun consta de la escritura otorgada en Manganares en 1498; recibiendo por su trabajo la cantidad de ciento cinco mi maravedis." — Don Jose Amador de Los Bios, Toledo pintoresca, 4°. Madrid, 1845. p. 58. 364 PROGRESS OF THE ART IN FLANDERS. [CHAP. XIV. . the Virgin Mary. He is known to have received for? them, in 1511, 165,000 maravedis. In him we merely ; see the effort to produce an imitation of the style off the great Italian masters ; sometimes his memory is > with Ghirlandaio, sometimes with Peragino; but he) does not much recall to mind the manner of the) Flemings. Spanish art in the fifteenth century, thus appears > to have had no character of its own, but to have fol- - lowed the bent of whatever school was nearest to it, , Spain could boast, in the sixteenth century, of only two > men, both exaggerated in their way — Bosch, who made s the Flemish manner ridiculous, and Berruguete, who > is an artist of mannerism. The glory of Spain is its > modern school. The Flemish art -invasion seems to have spread,, not only into Spain, but into Portugal. We find the s following Flemish artists there in the fifteenth century: : — Master Huet, in 1430 ; Guillaume Belles, in 1448 ; ; Jean Anne, in 1454; Gil Eannes, in 1465; Jean, ini 1485; Christopher of Utrecht, in 1492; Antony of :* Holland, in 1496 ; and Oliver of Ghent, in 1496. A petition, addressed to the king of Portugal, by Garcia Henriquez, a painter, states, that in 1518, his father-in-law, Francis Henriquez, was commissioned by king Emmanuel to decorate the court of justice;; but that he died of the plague, as well as seven or eight painters whom he sent for from Flanders. 1 Jean Lemaire, a French poet of the sixteenth cen- tury, and laureate of Margaret of Austria, thus writes of the painters of the Netherlands. (Margaret's crown is being carved): — 1 See Raczynski, Les Arts en Portugal, 8°. Paris, 1846. 'CHAP. XIV.] ITS INFLUENCE ABROAD. 365 "L'orfevre allant vers son ouvroir tres riche, Plusieurs amis le vindrent assieger, Qui tous ont bruit oultre Espagne et Austriche, Si vont priant priant Merite n'estre chiche De leur conter, dont il vient si leger 1 . Alors Merite estant en leur danger Ne peut fuyr, que tout ne leur desploye, Car l'un d'iceux estoit maitre Bogier, L'aultre Fouquet, en ce qui tout loz s'employe. Hugues de Gand qui tant eut les tretz netz, Y fut aussi, et Dieric de Louvain Avec le roi des peintres Johannes, Duquel les faits parfaits et mignonnetz Ne tomberont jamais en oubli vain, Ni si je fusse un peu bon escripvain, De Marmion, prince d'enluminure, 1 Dont le nom croist comme paste en levain, Par les effects de sa noble tournnre. II y survint de Bruges Maistre Hans, Et de Frankfort, Maistre Hugues Martin, Tous deux ouvriers tres chers et triomphans Puis de peintre autres nobles enfans, DAmyens Nicole, ayant bruit argentin, Et de Tournay, plein d'engin celestin Maistre Loys dont tout discret fut l'ceil; Et oil, qu'on prise ou soir, et ou matin, Faisans patrons, Baudouyn de Bailleul. Encore y fut Jaques Lombard de Mons, Accompagne de bon Lievin dAnvers, Trestons lesquels, autant nous estimons, Que les anciens, jadis par longs sermons, Firent Parrhase et maints autres divers, Honneur les loge en ses palais couvers." All these painters are brought together by the poet whilst the goldsmith, in whose place they congregate, is forging the Margaritic crown. He proceeds : — "Lors un Valencennois Gilles Steclin, ouvrier fort autentique, Luy dit ainsi: Maistre, tu me congnois." Merit here passes an eulogium on Steclin, and gives him the crown to work. The poem then proceeds: — "Mais il convient, pour entente plus meure, Prier ton pere aussi qu'il y besongne, Car chacun sait la main fort propre et seure De Hans Steclin, qui fut ne a Coulongne." 366 PEOGEESS OF THE AET IN FLANDEES. [CHAP. XIV.. The work is finished, and then exhibited to the sp ec- tators, who are asked their opinion: — "Que t'en semble t'il AdrienMangot de Tours Et toi Eomain, Christofle Hieremie, Porta one roy tel richesse aux estours Sur son arme? Je ne le cvoirais mie. Qu'en diras tu Donatel de Florence Et toy, petit Antoine ,de Bordeaux, Jean de Nimeghe, ouvrier plein d'apparance, Eegarde un peu la noble transparance, De ces dix corps tant lumineux et beaux. Et toy, le bruits des orfevres nouveaux, Robert le noble, illustre Bourguignon Viens en juger ; II n'y gist nulz appeaux Avec le bon Margeric d' Avignon. Approcbe toy, orfevre du due Cbarles, Gentil Gantois, Corneille tres habile, Jean de Rouen, je te pris que tu paries: Tu as eu bruit de Paris jusques a Aries En l'art fusoire, sculptoire et fabrile ; Malleatoire aussi tu fu utile, D'architecture et de peinture ensemble Ou te melas par tel usage et style Que ton engin haut qu'humain ressemble." The Margaritic Crown is a strange confusion of names, dates, and places ; but the rhymes are curious, as they show the interest still felt in the sixteenth century for the artists of the fifteenth, and because they are the work of a Frenchman. Nor are these tlie only examples of Flemish painters being made tlie theme of poetry ; in another place, Lemaire mentions them as follows in the legend of the Venetians, which he wrote in 1509. "J'ay pinceaux mille, et brosses et ostilz Et si je n'ay Parrhase ou Apelles Dont le noin bruit par memoires anciennes J'ay des espritz recentz et nouvelletz Plus ennobliz par leur beaux pinceletz Que Marmion, jadis de Vallenciennes Ou que Foucquet qui tant en gloire siennes Ne que Poyer, Rogier, Hugues de Gand Ou Johannes qui tant fut elegant." CHAP. XIV.J ITS INFLUENCE ABROAD. 367 Foucquet, whom Lemaire thus notices, is one of the first French painters who formed his manner in Flanders. Charles the Sixth and Charles the Seventh were fond of art, and patronized its professors, found- ing for them the Paris Academy of Painting. The Duke of Berry and the Duke of Orleans were equally remarkable for their love of painting. The latter is known to have had in his service Colart of Laon, who laboured for him in the capacity of "peintre et varlet de chambre" in 1395 and 1396 ; but Colart de Laon appears to have been of that class of painters who adorned wooden carved work with colour. Jean Fouc- quet came later; and a picture is still left us from which his manner may be judged. It is the portrait of Agnes Sorel, mistress of Charles VII., in the garb of the Virgin Mary, and surrounded by angels with red wings. This, after all, is a repulsive picture, hung up high in the Gallery of Antwerp, where the name of the master is not known, but is unmistakeably Flemish in tone and execution. It is a panel which gives us an imitation of Van der Weyden, and a foretaste of Mem- ling; but is far below the works of these masters. The figure of the Virgin has some of the softness and elance manner of Memling, and the Infant Saviour the heavi- ness of Van Eyck's representations. 1 Foucquet was born in 1415, and must have painted this picture before 1450, when Agnes Sorel died. Louis the Eleventh employed him to paint his like- ness, in which Foucquet was unsuccessful; and Margaret of Austria seems to have prized a picture of his in her possession, which represented the "Virgin and Child." His style may be judged by the miniatures of the illuminated Josephus in the Paris National Library, i No. 132, Antwerp Gal. m. 0.91 h. by 0.81. 368 PEOGEESS OF THE aet in flandees. [chap. XIV. the "earliest miniatures of which we saw are by Pol van Limburg and his brethren. Later still in France was Jehan Cloet, whom we find employed at first in the household of the Duke of Burgundy, in 1475. The descendants of Cloet flourished in Paris for three generations. His son became painter to Francis the First; and the name of Jean having been lengthened into Jehanet, he gradually became the Jannette of our galleries. The portraits of Francis the First and his Queen, at Hampton Court, will show the style of Je- hanet, and the influence exercised upon the early painters of France by the Flemish school. But the love of Francis the First for art was not satisfied by having a painter whose manner had been founded on the teaching of a Fleming. He occasionally sent to Belgium for pictures, dealing, usually, with Jean Du- bois, of Antwerp, to whom we find him paying, on more than one occasion, large sums for pictures. Slight as Avas the influence of art in France during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it was still more so in England, where the traces of painting are so feeble that the patient research of Vertue almost failed to discover anything worthy of remembrance. It was not till the sixteenth century that numerous Flemish artists migrated from Flanders to England, and gave themselves up chiefly to the production of portraits. The earliest painters of Belgium did not, therefore, exercise any influence in England; and the manner which Cornelis, and Lucas de Heere imported, and made fashionable, was no longer the old and original one inherited from the Van Eycks — but a feeble style, adulterated by commingling with the various schools of Italy and Germany. IN D E X. A. .Aix la Chapelle. Suermondt. Cristus 139. Van Eyck (J.) 95. 115. 139. .Albert. See Bouts. JA lb ert of Holland. See Ouwater. Allamagna. SeeCorrado, Justus. .Andrea del Castagno. 231. 232. Axgelico. 211. 212. -Angelo di Pietro of Sienna. (Parrasio) 207. .Anne (Jean) 364. .Annekin Vevhunnemann. 281. .Anthony of Holland. 364. Antoine de Bordeaux. 366. .Antonello da Messina. His life and works. 230—6; error of supposing that he owned the Grimani breviary. 318. .Antwerp. Ertborn. See Collec- tion. — Goldsmiths' Hall. Cristus. 137. 141. — Museum. Antonello. 235. 273. Cristus. 145. Foucquet. 367. Imitators. 313. Justus. 181. Memling. 294. 298. 313. 314. Van der Meire. 152. Van der Weyden. 220.224. VanEyck. (H.) 77. (J.) 66. 108. 110-12. 115. — Private Coll. Van Eyck (J.) 113. — Van Cock. See Collections. — ■ Weber (Mr.) See Collections. Anvers. L. de: See Lievin. Asselt, (Jean van der). Painter to the Count of Flanders and Duke of Burgundy. Notices of his life; frescos atCourtrai, pictures at Ghent. 13. 14. Audenarde. Ste. Walburge. N. Martin. 243. Autdn. Notre Dame. Van Eyck. (J.) 96. Axpoele (Daniel v.) 241. — (Willem v.) Copies van der Asselt's frescos at Courtrai. 14. 241. B. Baerse, (J. de la) of Termonde. Notices. 18. 19. 21. 24. Baldovinetti (Alesso). 231. 232. Barcelona. S. Michael. Dalmau. 362. Baroncelli (of Florence). 206. Bathmen (Ch. of) Frescos. 3. Baudouyn de Bailleul. 365. Beaumez (G. de). 23. Beaumez (J. de). 17. Beaune. Hospital. VanEyck (J.) 198. Van der Weyden. 198- 200. BEAUNEPFVEu(of Tournai). 10.13. Bbllechose (Henri) painter to the Duke of Burgundy. 19. • 237. Belles (Guillaume). 364. Bellini (Gentile) 234. Bellini (Gio.) 234. Bellini (Jac). 117. Bellono (A.) of Asti. 9. Berlin. Library. Early pictures. 29. — Museum. Antonello. 235. 236. Bouts. 326-7. 336. Coxie. 66. Cristus. 137. 141. 142. 143. 145. G.David. 307. Memling. 294. 297. Ouwater? 247. Eu- gieri. 222. Van der Goes. 167. 168. Van der Meire. 148-9. Van der Weyden. 190-3. 197. 214-15. 222. 223. 24 370 INDEX. (The younger?) 197. Van Eyck (J.). 46-72. 110. Zeit- bloin. 358. Berlin. Royal Palace. Van der Weyden. 219. Bebne. Town Hall. Van der Weyden. 189. Berruguete. Notices. 364. Besaen (C.) of Lille. 9. Blondel (L .)restores Van Ey ck's altar-piece at St. Bavon of Ghent. 65. Bologna Gall. Van der Goes. 166. 167. — Zambeccari Coll. Memling. 210. Van der Goes. 168.169. Van der Weyden. 209-10. Bonneret (C.) 9. Bono of Ferrara. 207. Bosch (J.) 364. Bosco (near Alessandria) Mem- ling. 269. Boulogne. See Hue and Jean. Bouts (Albert). 323. 336. — (Albert the younger) 331. — ■ (Dierick). Inquiry as to the place of his birth, and the connection of his family with the city of Haarlem. 321; his residence at Lou- vain, ib. ; his relations to the Stuerbout family, ib., and 322-3. Bouts' birth and ar- tistic education. 323. Por- trait with the date of 1462, 324; probable cooperation of Bouts in pictures by Van der Weyden, ib. Bouts identical with Thierry de Haarlem of Bruges, ib., and 325. His pic- tures are frequently ascribed to Memling. 325. Bouts' style, as displayed in the Last Supper at Louvain. 326-7. Social status, ib., and 328. Pictures ordered for the Justice Hall at Louvain, and now at Brussels. 328-330. Other works of the same kind. 156. 330. Bouts' death. 331. Martyrdom of St. Eraas- miis and Hippolytus. 332-S3. Panels in Bouts' style; paa- nels missing or spuriouas. 119. 150. 299. 332-6. Bouts (Dierick) the youngeer. 330. — (Theodoric). 323. Brea (L.) 176. 177. Broederlam (Melchior). Hlis life; his works, as painteer to the Luke of Burgundiy. 13. 17. 19. 20-3. 23. 25. Bruges. — Abbaye des Dunes (leaz) Memling? 313. — Academy. David (G.) 2998. 302-4. 305. Memling. 2832. 298. Van der Weyden. 2244. Van Eyck (J.) 108. 110. 1111. 123-4. — Booksellers' guild. Memlinpg. 267. — Carmelites oi Sion. G.Davidd. 305-6. — Curriers^ guild. Menilinag. 275. 278-9. — Hospital of St. John. Memn- ling. 251-2. 270-2. 274. 2775. 276. 277. 282. 283-7. — Hospital of St. Julien. Monm- ling. 276. 277. 282-3. — Kaisershaus. Van der Wevy- den. 205. — Maricoles. (Convent) G. Dtfa- vid. 305. — Notre Dame. Memling. 278-1-9. — St. Basile. G. David. 3004. 305. 313. — St. Donatian. Early pictur.re. 28. G. David. 313. Van Eycck (J.) 120. — St. Jacques. Memling. 2881. 282. Van der Goes. 159. Vaan der Weyden. 205. — St. Sauveur. G. Van . . INDEX. 371 Brussels. Carmelites. Van der Weyden. 203. 227. — Library. Van der Weyden. 226. — Museum. Bouts (D.) 330. Cristus. 139. 146. David. 309. Memling. 275. 276. 277. 335. Van der Weyden. 225. 229. Van Eyck (H.) 52. 65. (J.) 52. 65. 125. — Painters' 1 Chapel. Van der Weyden. 217. — Palace of Nassau. Van der Goes. 170. — Re collets. Van der Weyden. 193. — Van Rotterdam (Mr.) See Collections. Budingen. Abbey of: Cristus. 146. Buonarroti. See Michael An- gela- Burgos. See Spain. Burleigh House. Van Eyck (J.) 101-4. c. Cambrai. Cathedral. Cristus. 137. — Monastery of St. Aubert. Van der Weyden. 214. 215-6. Campin (B.) of Tournai. 183-4. Carlo di Mantegna. 177. Carpaccio ; contrasted with Memling. 282-3. Careggi (Florence). Memling. 269. Cennino Cennini. 231. Chatsworth. VanEyck(J.)89.90. Chiswick. Duke of Devonshire. Memling. 273. Clite. Se« Van den Clite. Cloet (J.) Notices. 368. Colantonio delFiore. 73. 74. 75. Colard de Laon. 17. 367. Colart le Voleur. 239. Collections (dispersed.) — Abel. Bouts (D.) 336. Van der Weyden. 226. — Aders. D. Bouts. 324. Lievin de Witte.319. Memling. 222. I 256. 288. 294. Van Eyck (H. and J.) 66. ; Collections. Aerschot. Van der Weyden. 226-7. ! — Ambras. Van der Weyden. \ 223. — Archduke Ernest (Brussels). Van der Weyden. 227. j — Arundel. Van Eyck (J.) 95. — Bammeville. Van Eyck (J.) 120. — Baucousin. Memling. 296. — Beauharnais. Memling. 279. — Beck ford. VanderMeire.150. — Bembo. Memling. 257. — Brentano. Bouts (D.) 335. — Charles I. Gerard of Haar- lem. 249. — Colbert. Van der Weyden. 224. — Culling Eardley. G. David. 309; — Czernin. Van der Weyden. 219. — Demidoff. See S. Donate — Dumortier. Van Eyck (J.) 116. — Eastlake. Van der Goes. 169. Van der Meire. 150. — Engels (Cologne). Van Eyck (J.) 95. — Farrer (London). Memling. 291. Miniatures. 311. — Germeau (Paris). Memling. 299. — Goddyn (Bruges). Memlatig. 279. — Grimani (Venice). Albert of Holland. 247. Gerard of Hol- land. 318-19. 250. Lievin. 338. Memling. 255. 318. Ou- water. 247. — Hague. See King William. — BZerz (London). Memling. 289. — Imbert (Bruges). Memling. 279. — King William II. of Holland (Hague). Bouts (D.). 330. Memling. 191. 291. 294. 296. 24* 372 INDEX. 298.316. Van derMeire. 151. Van der Weyden. 191. 193. 218. Van Byck (J.) 113-4. Collections. Kriiger. Master of the Passion or of Werden. 355. Meckenen. 355. G. van derMeire. 151. — Lampognano. VanEyck (J.). 123. — Leonico Tomeo. Van Eyck (J.). 123. — Lucien Bonaparte. Memling. 291. — Lyversberg. Cristus. 145. Lucas of Leyden? 356-7. Master of the Passion. 198. Van Eyck (J.) 125. — Margaret of Austria. Fou- cquet. 367. Memling. 255. 289. Van der Weyden. 225. 227. Van Eyck (J.) 88. 93. 100. 122. — Middleton. Van Eyck (J.) 95. — Nani (Venice). Rugieri. Van der Weyden? 222. — Nembs (Ploen in Holstein). Van Eyck (J.) 77. — Nieuwenhuys. Van Eyck (H. and J.). 66. 120. Memling. 279. — Northwick. Memling. 298. — Portinari. Memling. 269. — Pourtales. Memling. 297. Porbus. 170. Van der Goes. *170. — Puccini. Van der Goes. 165. — Bam (Venice). Van der Wey- den. 222. 227. 256. — Robinson. Antonello. 236. — Rogers. Bouts (D.) 323. Imi- tators of Van Eyck an d Mem- ling. 314. Memling. 222.256. 297. 314. Van der Weyden. 227. — San Donato. Bouts. 119.335. Memling. 299. VanEyck (J.) 119. — Solly. Cristus. 145. G.David. 307. 309. .lections. Snoij. Bouts (ED.) 333. Strasburg. Memling. 299. Sybel (du). G. David. 313. Tatistcheff. Cristus. 143. Vallardi. Memling. 299. — Van Cock. Memling. 279. — Van den Bogaerde. Meinlinng. 279. — Van der Schrieck. Memlinng. 277. Van Eyck (J.) 116. 1S33. — Van Ertborn. Van Eyvck (H.) 77. — Van Hal. Van Eyck (J.) 1114. — Van Botterdam. Van Eyyck (J.) 125. — Vendramin. Van der Weey- den. 227. — Verhelst. Van Eyck (J.) 1220. — Wallerstein. Memling. 2225. 295. Van Eyck? (H.) 7 78. (J.)? 128. 129. (M.) 132. — Weber (AntAverp). Van Eyyck (J.) 119. 120. — Weyer. Cristus. 139. 1446. Memling. 289. Cologne. Cathedral. 14th ceen- tury picture. 349. Stephaen. 349. — Engels. See Collection. — Hamm (Mr.) Lucas of Luey- den? 356-7. — Lyversberg. See Collectidon. — Museum. Meckenen. 1398. 353. Ouwater. 198. Stephoen. 352. Unknown. 349. WVil- helm. 347. — Oppenheim Coll. Cristus. 1:137. 141. G. David. 313. — ■ St. Columba. Van der W^ey- den. 218. , — St. Cunibert. Wilhelm. 3345. — ■ St. M. im Capitol. Old ppic- tures. 355. — St. Severus. Early fresecos. 345. — Seminary. Wilhelm of ( Co- logne. 345. — Toivnhall. Stephen. 349. Wil- helm. 346. INDEX. 373 Cologne. Weyer. See*Collec- tion. — Wilhelm of : SeeWilhelm. Copenhagen. Museum. Cristus. 143. Van Eyck (J.) 42. Cobneille cle Gand. 366. Cobrado d'Alemania. 176. Cossa (F.) 207. 210. Coste (Jean). Painter at Vau- dreuil. 7. Courtrai. Notre Dame. J. v. d. Asselt. 13. 14. Coustain (J.) His execution. 324. Coustain (Pierre). Painter to the Dukes of Burgundy; is tried for evading the guild laws. 138. 239 ; his work val- ued by Van der Weyden. 220. Coxie(M.). His copies from Van Eyck and Van der Weyden. 66. 196. Cristofle Hieremie. 366. Cristopher of Utrecht. 364. Cristophorus of Cologne. In- quiry as to his identity with Cristus of Bruges. 136. 137. Cristus (Petrus). The only paint- er whose works reveal the teaching of the Van Eycks ; 135-6. His birth and settle- ment at Bruges ; 136. Alleg- ed visit to Cologne; 136-7. His affiliation to the guild of Bruges; chronological list of his works ; records of his stay at Bruges and his prac- tice there; trial of Pierre Coustain for evading pay- ment of guild dues, and Cris- tus' share in that trial. 137. 138. Cristus' style; influence upon him of the school of Cologne. 139. Portrait of Edward Grimston and other ■works. 139— 146. Pictures by Cristus assigned to Van Eyck. 125. D. Dalmau. See Lodovico. Dantzig. Cathedral. Memling. 257. Ouwater ? Van der Goes ? Van Eyck ? 257. Daret (J.) 240. David (G.) Recent discoveries respecting him. Question whether he is not identical with Geerrit or Gerard of Haarlem ; 300. As to his edu- cation; 301. He settles at Bruges, and paints for the magistrates and for Jean des Trompes; 302-3. Question as to Avhether the Judgment of Cambyses at Bruges is by him; 302. The Baptism of Christ in the Bruges Acad. 298. 303-5. Pictures at St. Basile; the Madonna of the Carmelites of Sion at Rouen ; 305. 306. David's works in continental galleries ; 308-9; and pieces of similar cha- racter in England; 309-12. Gheerardt's death ; 312; pic- tures in the manner of David and his followers; 313-320. Dello. Notices. 360-1. De Rycke (Daniel). 161. 162. Dierick. See Bouts. Diest. 14th century art. 2. Dijon. Chartreuse. Baerse (J. de). 18. 21-4. Bellechose. 19. Broederlam. 21. 24. Malwel. 18. Sluter. 23. — Museum. Baerse (J. de la). 23-4. Broederlam. 18. 21. 23-5. Memling? 315. Van Eyck (H.)? 78. Domenico Veniziano. 231. 232. DONATELLO. 366. Dresden. Museum. Memling? 128. 297. Van der Weyden? 225. Van Eyck (J.). 104. 107. 110. 125. 128. Dubois (J.) of Antwerp. 368. Durer(A.) Picture erroneously 374 INDEX. assigned to him at Rome. 119. 359. His admiration of the pictures of Van der Goes. 160.170. of Van der Weyden. 205. of Van Eyck. 65. Sup- posed visit to Haarlem. 248. Dyrick. See Bouts. Dyrick of St. Omer. 296. E. Eckerghem. St. Martin. N. Mar- tin. 244. Enfield. Revd. Mr. Heath. Memling. 288. 289. 290. England. Earl of Verulam. Cristus. 137. 139. 140. Escurial. See Spain. Eyck. See Van Eyck. F. Fabricio. Notices. 361. Ferrara. Van der Weyden. 207. 227. Eilarete. 231. Floreffe (Ch. of). Frescos. 3. Florence. San Donato. See Collections. — S. M. Nuova. Cristus. 143. Memling. 279. Van der Goes. 143. 157-8. — Uffizi. Cristus. 143. Mem- ling. 273. 279.. 280. Van der Goes. 143. 165. 279. Van der Weyden. 208-9. Foucquet (J.). Miniatures. 31. 365. 366. 367. Francis Henriquez. 364. Frankfort. Brentano. See Col- lection. — Mr. Gontard. Memling. 297. — Stcedel. Cristus. 136. 137.140. Memling. 294. Van der Wey- den. 193. 211. 224. (The younger). 224. Van Eyck. 112. 1-13. Frescos (early). See Bathmen. Diest. Floreffe. Ghent. Gorcum. Haarlem. Huy. Liege. Msestricht. Nieu- port. Ypres. Gr. Galasso Galassi. 207. 2008. 210. Gallegos. Notices. 363. Garcia Henriquez. 364. Geerrit. See Gerard. Gerard of Harlem. Notices c of his life and works. 248-9. Gerard Horenbaut. See Horenn- baut. Genoa. Santa M. di Castelldo. Justus d'AUamagna. 171-5.5. — Signor Molfmo. Antonelldo. 235. Gentile da Fabriano. 212. Gerard David. See David. Ghent. Butchery. N. Martiiin. 244-5. — Byloque. Early frescos. 3. — Carmelites. Van der Goeies. 170. — Cordeliers. Van der Asselilt. 14. — Hall of the Echevins. Axx- poele. 14. 241. 242. N. Manr- tin. 14. 242. — Hotel de le Walle. (14th cenn- tury). Van der Asselt. 14. — ■ Huyvetter (Mr.) Justus oof Ghent. 181. — Leugemeete. Early frescos. 3 3. — St. Aubert. Early frescos. 3 3. — St. Bavon. Van der Meinre (J.) 146. 147. 153. VanEyclck (H.) and (J.) 46-72. — St. Cristophe. Early frescoes. 3. — St. Jacques. Early frescos. 3 3. Justus of Ghent. 181. Vann der Goes. 161. — St. Jean. Early frescos. 3. — Verhelst (Mr.) See Collecc- tions. Gil Eannes. Notice. 364. Glasgow (nr.) Hamilton Palaceie. Antonello. 235. Goes. See Van der Goes. Gorcum. Early frescos. 2. Granada (Ch. of). Bouts (B. 1 ).) 334. Memling. 334. INDEX. 375 Granelio. Notices. 361. Gree nhithe. Mr. Fuller Bussell. Memling. 298. Groenendaele. Van der Wey- den. 204. 227. Gubbio. Duomo. Schon. 360. Guilds. Antwerp. 11. Bruges. 11. Ghent. 11. Paris. 12. H. Haacht (J. de). 23. Haarlem. Cathedral. Ouwater. 246. — Knights of St. John. Gerard of St. John. 248. — ■ Regulars (Ch. of the). Ge- rard of Haarlem. 248. — St, Bavon. Early frescos. 3. — See Gerard of. Hadley. Mr. Lemme. Van Eyck (copies). 66. — Mr. Green. L. de "Witte. 319. Hague. Museum. Bouts (D.) 335. Memling. 225. 288. 291. 294. 335. (See Coll. of Wil- liam II.) Hampton Court. Cloet, Janette. 368. Memling? 295. Hans. See Memling. Hasselt. See Asselt. Heemskerk (M. van). 246. Hennecart (J.) 239. Henri de Brabant. 206. Hehle. Wilhelm de. See Wil- li elm. Hesdin. Castle. 237. M.Broeder- lam. 21. Holbeins (the). 357. Holker Hall. Memling. 299. Hoogstraaten (Ch. of). Van der Meire (G.) 152. Horenbaut (Ger.) Notices of his life and works. 152-3. 309. 318. Hubert. See Stuerboudt and Van Eyck. Hue de Boulogne. 237. 239. Huet (Maitre) Notice. 364. Huy. Convent des Croisiers. Early shrine. 2. I. Imbert. See Collections. Imitators of VanEyck and Mem- ling. 313-20. Imperiato (J.) of Asti. 9. Ince. Mr. Blundell. Missal 311. Van Eyck (J.) 88. 90-2. Isebkand (Adrian). 300. J. Jacques. See Baerse, Lombard. Jan de Flandes. Notices of him. 294. 317. Jean. 364 and see Asselt. Beau- mez. Coste. Fouquet. Mau- vin. Jean de Nimeghe. 366. Jean de Rouen. 366. Jean d'Orleans. 17. Jehan de Boulogne. 239. Jehan de Liege. Inquiry as to the identity of this painter and Hans Memling. 255. Jehan le Voleur. 237. Jehanet. See Cloet. Jodocus. See Justus. Johannes Alamannus. 175. — de Colonia. 354. Josse de Halle. 23. Juan Flamenco. Notices of him. 294. 317. Juan de Borgogna. 363. Juan de Segovia. 363. Justus d'Allamagna. 171-5. — of Ghent. Inquiry as to his identity with Justus dAlla- magna. 172-5. His "Com- munion of the apostles" at Urbino. 177. 180. Question as to whether he is the paint- er of the library at Urbino. 180-1. Notices. 181. K. Kalkar (Ch. of).Kalkar. 318. Kalkar (John of). 317. 358. L. Lancelot. See Blondel. Lede (Ch. of). N. Martin. 243. 376 INDEX. Lee Priory. Mr. Barrett. G. Da- vid. 312. Leonardo da Vinci. 20. Le Voleur. (See Colart and Jean). Leyden. Priv. Collection. D. Bouts. Leye (J. van der). 7. Liege. Early art. 2. 3. Liesborn (Master of). 357. Lievin de Witte. Notices. 152. 153. 318. 319. 365. Linz. Early pictures. 354. Lippi. Fia Filippo. 212. Liverpool Institution. Van der Weyden. 197. (The younger). 197. Lochner. See Stephen. Lodovico Dal man. Notices. 362. Loethener. See Stephen. Lombard (J.) de Mons. 365. London. Baring Coll. Mernling. 297. Van Eyck (J.) 126. 127. — Beresford Hope. Van Ej^ck (J.) 114. Wilhelm. 348. — Brett (Mr.) Mernling. 298. — British Museum. Van der Weyden. 203. Van Eyck. 203. — Dudley House. Mernling. 297. Van Eyck (J.) 126. 127. — Eastlake. See Collection. — Emerson Collection. Van Eyck (J.) 127. — Farrer. See Collection. — Gardner (Mr. J. D.) David? 310-12. 315. Mernling? 315. — Grosvenor Coll. Van der Weyden. 200-2. — Middleton. See Collection. — National Gallery. Antonello. 233. 234. Bouts (D.) 150. Cristus. 144. Master of Lies- born. 357. Master of Werden. 355. Mernling. 288. 294. 295. Schon (Martin). 359. Van der Goes. 169. Van der Meire. 144. 150. 151. Van der Wey- den. 225. Van Eyck (J.) 94. 100. 101. (Margaret). 132. London. Parsons (Mr.) Van denr Weyden. 226. — Robinson (Mr.) See Colh.c-> tion. — Rogers. See Collection. — Stafford House. Van Eyckk (J.) 127. 128. — Vernon Smith. Memliig^. 288 291 — White (Mr.) David (G.) 3122. Louis de Tournai. 365. Louvain. Augustins (Recoil ets).). A. Bouts. 323. — Dierick de. See Bouts. — Franciscans. Early pictures^. 29. — Minorites. Bouts. 323. — Notre Dame hors les Murs.s. Van der Weyden. 196. — Porte de Tirlemont. Stuer- - boudt. 322. — St. Pierre. A. Bouts. 336. D.). Bouts. 324. 325-7. 332. Stuer-r- boudt. 322. Van derWeyden.i. 190. 193. 194-7. -- Schollaert (Mr.) Van Eyckk (J.) 116. 133. — Toivnhall Bouts. 328-30JD. Stuerboudt. 322. — Van der Schrieck. See Col-L- lections. Lucas of Leyden. Notices of>f pictures assigned to Lima. 224. 308. 356. Lubeck. Cathedral. Memlingg. 291-3. Lutschena. Baron Speck vonn Sternburg. G. van der Meire. 3. 149. Lyversberg (Master of the Pas->- sion of). 198. 355. M. Maccari (D.). 176. 177. Madrid. Museum. Bouts? ((D.).) 335. Cristus. 140. 141. 146. i. David. 313. Mernling. 295.). 335. Van der Meire. 152. Vann der Weyden. 196.216. Vanu Eyck (J.) 96. 99. 125. 146. INDEX. 377 Madrid. Monastery of Los An- gelos. Van der Weyden. 216. — Palace of the Prince. Mem- ling? 316. — Santa Trinidad. Mus. Bouts (D.). 323. David. 307. 308.Lu- cas of Leyden. 308. Van der Weyden. 218. (school) 197. Maestricht. Early frescos. 2. Malines. Snoij Coll. See Col- lections. Malwel (Hermann). 18. — (Jacques). 18. — (Jean). Painter to the Duke of Burgundy. 17; executes an altar-piece for the Duke's private oratory; paints al- tar chests for the Carthu- sians of Dijon, and a likeness of Jean Sans Peur. 18. 19. Values an altarchest by Broederlam. 23. 237. Mangot (A.) de Tours. 366. Mannin. See Mauvin. Margeric d'Avignon. 366. Marmion de Valenciennes. 366. Martin (H.) 365. — (J.) 14. 241. 242. — (N.) 241. 242-5. — See Heemskerk. Massys (Quintin). Casual no- tices of pictures. 298. Mauvin (or Mannin [Jean]). 9. Meckenen (I.) 198. 353. 354.2+7 Meersch. See Van der Meersch. Meire. See Van der Meire. Melchior. See Broederlam. Memling (Hans). His pictures in the Hospital of St. John of Bruges ; description of his Marriage of St. Catherine. 250-2. Legend of Mending's stay in the Hospital and its cause. 253. Inquiry into Memling's early life and his education, — perhaps under Van der Weyden. 210. 253-4. What ear]}' historians tell of him. 254; earliest works of which notices are preserv- ed; examples in Italy. 255-6. "The Baptist" at Munich. 257. The Last Judgment of Dantzig. 257-266. Inquiry as to whether Memling visited Venice. 266; proofs that Memling was at Bruges be- fore 1477 ; altar-piece of the booksellers' chapel-probably the same that is now in the Turin Museum. 267-9. Again the "Marriage" of the Hos- pital at Bruges; Memling's style. 270-2. Altar-pieces of Count DuchatelinParis and the Duke of Devonshire at Chiswick. 273. Epiphany in the Hospital at Bruges. 274. Memling at Bruges in 1480. 275. "The Entombment", "The Sybil Zambetha", and the Moreel portraits at Bru- ges and Brussels. 275-7. Al- tar-piece of the curriers of Bruges, now at Munich. 278. Annunciation in the Radzi- vill Collection; portrait and other pieces at the Uffizi of Florence. 279. 280. Other pic- tures atW6rlitz,andatRome. 280. Question whether Mem- ling was free of the painters' guild at Bruges. 281. Altar- pieces at Bruges Academy. 281-3. Shrine of St. Ursula. 275.283-7. Genuine pictures in divers collections. 288-93. Memling's death. 293. Lists of pictures. 128. 169. 170. Genuine, spurious, and miss- ing. 191. 203. 222. 224. 294- 99. 313.314.315.316.318. In- quiry as toMemling's share in the Breviary of St. Mark. 1 52. 330. 334. 335. Notices. 365. Messina (A. da). See Antonello. j — S. Gregorio. Antonello. 234. Michael Angelo. His opinion of Flemish art. 210. — of Hungary. 206. 378 INDEX. Middelburg (Ch. of). Van der Weyden. 213—16. Milan. Trivulzi Collection. An- tonello. 235. — Vallardi. See Collections. Minden. Kriiger. See Collec- tions. Miniatures. See Paris. Oxford. Pol van Liinburg. Miraflores (Convent). Juan Flamenco. 294. Memling. 294. Van der Weyden. 190-1. Modena Mus. Gerard of Haar- lem. 250. Mostaert (Fr.) Casual notices. 246. 288. Munich. Arco- Valley (Count). David. 306-7. Hauber (Professor). Van der Weyden. 218. — Pinakothek.Bo\its(D.) 326-7. 333. 334. 335. Coxie. 66. Da- vid. 309. Gerard of Haarlem. 249-50. Horenbaut. 309. Master of the Lyversberg Passion. 355. Meckenen. 354. 355. Memling. 169. 257. 277. 278. 298. 333. Van der Goes. 168. 169. 257. 265. Van der Weyden. 124. 125. 217. 218. 223. Van Eyck (J.) 123-4. — Router (Mr.) Cristus. 146. Memling. 297. — Ross (Mr.) Van Eyck (J.) 94. — Sepp (Professor). Memling. 297. sr. Naples. Lost-pieces. Van Eyck and Van der Weyden. 120. 121. 212. — Museum. Colantonio. 73. 74. Van Eyck (H.) 73. 74. (J.) 73-5. — S. Barbara in CastelNuovo. Van Eyck (J.) 123. — S- Domenico Maggiore. Van Eyck. 75. — r San Lorenzo Maggiore. Co- lantonio. 75. Van Eyck (J.) 74. 75. 76. Zingaro. 75. 76. Naples. San Pietro Mar tire. Zingaro. 75. 76. — San Severino. Zingaro. 76. — Zir Collection. Antonello. 234. Nicole d'Amiens. 365. Nieuport. Early frescos. 2. Nimeghe (Jean de). See Jean. Northwich. See Collections. Nuremberg. Moritzkapelle. Bouts. 334. Memling. 334. Van Eyck. 125. Zeitblom. 358. 0. Oberto of Genoa. 177. Oil Painting on statues. 6. 7. Oliver of Ghent. 364. Oppenheim. See Cologne. Ouwater (A.v.) Notices of him and of pictures erroneously assigned to him. 198. 246-8. 261. P. Painters: of Cologne, and Maestricht. 2. Painting : System of oil paint- ing previous to the disco- very of oil medium. 25. 28. Palencia. Cathedral. Jan de Flandes. 294. 317. Palermo. Duke of Tarsia. Schon. 359. Paris. Cour d'Appel. Memling. 298. Van der Goes. 160. 298. — Duchatel Collection. Mem- ling. 273. — Gatteau Collection. Mem- ling. 288. — Library. Bedford Missal. 129-31. Foucquet. 367. Mi- niatures. 5. 31. 33. Pol van Limburg. 31-33. Van Eyck (M.) 129-31. — Louvre. Antependium of the 14th Century. 10. Antonello. 235. Bouts (D.) 299. David. INDEX. 379 313. Justus of Ghent. 180-1. Massys? (Q.) 357. Memling. 288. 291. 299. Miniatures. 4. Van der Goes. 175. VanEyck (H.) 66. (J.) 66. 95. 96. Paris. Pourtales. See Collec- tions. — Rothschild Collection. Mem- ling. 288. Van Eyck(J.) 113. Pedro da Cordova. 363. — Gumiel. 363. — Nunez. 363. Pesellino. 231. Piaggio of Genoa. 177. Picture fairs. 344-5. Piero della Francesca. 207. 210. 231. 232. Pinerolo. Tinted carvings. 7. Pisano (Vittor). 206-7. Pol van Limburg. Notices. 31. 368. Polizzi. S.M.del Gesu. Van der Goes. 166. Pollaiuoli. 231. 232. 357. Poyer. 366. Progress of art in Flanders. 337. R. Raphael, 211. Ritsere (Willem de). 242. Rogere van Bruesele, or van der Woestine. 182. 184. Roger of Bruges, of Brussels, dele Pastiu'e, and dePascuis, p. 188, and see van der Wey- den. Rome. Academy. Memling. Mo- staert. 288. — Barberini Palace. Justus of Ghent. 180. 181. — Borghese Palace. Antonello. G. Bellini. 235. — Doria Palace. Memling. 280. Schon. 359. Van Eyck (J.) 115. 119. Rotterdam. Picture fairs. 344. Rouen Museum. David. 305. Memling V 305. Rugieri. Notices. 222. Rycke. See De Rycke. s. Sacchi (P. F.) 177. Saladin de Scoenere. 192. Salamanca. Spanish painters under Italian influence at Salamanca. 361. Gallegos. 362. Sancho de Zamora. 363. Santi (Gio) in praise of Van Eyck. 68. Scheut. Convent of: See Van der Weyden. 219 and Mem- ling. 299. Schon (Martin). Notices. 220. 359. 360. Schoreel (J.) restores the altar- piece of St. Bavon. 65. Schrieck (van der). See Collec- tions. Scoenere (de). See Saladin. Segovia. Dello. 361. Fabricio. 361. Granelio. 361. Semino of Genoa. 177. Seville (Cathedral). Pedro Nunez. 363. Sigmaringen. Hohenzollern Col- lection. David. 129. 306. Van Eyck? 129. Van der Weyden. 226. Simone della Magna. 206. Sluter. Claux or Nicolas. 23. Spain. Burgos. Cristus. 137. 142. — Escurial. Bouts (D.) 323. Fabricio. 361. Granelio. 361. Stamina. 360. Van der Wey- den. 197. St. Bertin. Abbey Ch. Dyrick of St. Omer. Memling? 296. St. Petersburg. Hermitage. Cristus. 143. Memling. 299. Van der Weyden. 218. Van Eyck (J.) 113. 114. — Leuchtenberg Collection. Bouts. 334. Memling? 334. Starnina (G. di Jacopo). His influence in Spain. 360. Steclin (Gilles). 365. — (Hans). 365. 380 INDEX. Stephen of Cologne or Lochner or Lcethener. 139. 247. No- tices of his life and works. 350-2. Stoke Park. Labouchere Coll. Van Eyck? 315. Strasburg Mus. See Collec- tions. Stuerbout (Frissen). 321. — (G-ielis). 321. — (Hubert). Inquiry as to his relations with Dierick Bouts ; Notices of his life and prac- j tice. 321-3. — (Hubert the younger) 321. Stuttgart. Abel. See Coll. — Museum. Massys? 298. Mem- ling. 298. Swabia. See Zeitblom. T. Tatistcheff. See Collections. Tinted Sculpture. 6. Theodoric. See Bouts. Thierri de Haarlem. Inquiry as to his identity with Dierick Bouts. 323. 325. Toledo. Cathedral, or San Bias. Cupin d'Olanda. 363. Juan de Borgogna. 363. — St. Jago. Juan de Segovia. Pedro Gumiel, Sancho de Zamora. 363. Tomeo. See Collections. Tongerloo (Church of) Van derWeyden (Goswyn). 228-9. Tournai. Painted Sculpture. 7. Tura (Cosimo). 207-8. 210. Turin Museum. Cristus. 143. Mending. 268-9. Van der Meire (G.) 150. u. Uccelli (Paolo). Notices. 118. Urbino. Corpus Cristi. Justus. 177. 180. — SanV Agata. Justus of Ghent. 177. 180. V. Val de Bueil. See Vaudreuil. Valencia Museum. Flemish 15th century pictures. 29. Vasselaere (Ch. of) Van der Goes. 170. Vaudreuil. Jean Coste. 7. Van den Clite. 45. Van der Asselt. See Asselt. Van der Goes (Hugo). Patro- nized by Thomas Portinari. 155. His namesake Lievin ; his birth and education ; 156. 157. Painting on canvas cloths; 157; cartoons for glaziers; ib. ; altar-piece of the Portinari at Florence; 157-8. The "David and Abi- gail", 159. Crucifixion at St. Jacques at Bruges ; ib. and 160. Crucifixion at the Cour d'Appel in Paris. 160. 298. Hugo settles at Ghent, where he executes cartoons, can- vases and altar-pieces. 161. "Wedding of Margaret of York ; partnership with Da- niel de Eycke. 162. Betire- ment into a convent. 163-4. Hugo's death. 165. Works ascribed to him. 143. 144. 165-170. 261. 279. 288. 295. He values apicturebyBouts. 156. 330. Notices. 365. 366. — (Lievin). 156. Van der Meersch (P.). 281. Van der Meire (Bakhviv). 154. — {Gerard). Uncertainty of history as to his genuine works; 147. Particulars of his life; ib.; altar-piece of St. Bavon at Ghent. 147-8. Pictures at Berlin ascribed to van der Meire; other works of the same class. 148-151; unauthenticpieces ; breviary of St. Mark. 151-3. — (Gillis). 154. — (Henry). 154. INDEX. 381 Van der Weyden ( 188. 204. 219. — (Gosivyri). 228-9. — {Hugo). 154. — {Jan). 153-4. — {Margaret). 204. — {Peter). 154. 204. — (Roger). Origin of his art, his birth and education at Tournai. 182-3. Causes and statement of the errors, that have been handed down re- specting Van der Weyden. 183- 4. He is made official painter at Brussels. 183. 188. His style and the influences under which it was formed, 184- 7. Influence of Van der Weyden on other schools; 187-8. His four canvases at Brussels. 189. 190. Altar- piece of Mirafiores at Berlin. 190-3. Triptychs at Berlin and Frankfort, 193. Van der Weyden as a tinter of sculp- ture; ib.; Descent from the Cross at Louvain, and va- rious examples of the same subject by van der Weyden and his followers. 193-8. The Last Judgment of Beaune. 198-200. Triptych of Grosvenor House. 200-3. Altar-piece of the Carmelites of Brussels; and other lost pieces. 203-4. Van der Wey- den's family and residence at Brussels. 204; inquiry as to the probability of his stay atBruges.205. Visit to Italy, and pictures executed for Italian patrons. 205-12. Re- turn to Flanders ; triptychs of Middelburg (Berlin) and Cambrai (Madrid). 213-16. Pictures at Munich. 217-19. Van der Weyden as a man and citizen. 219; his portrait, ib. ; last works. 220 ; Van der Weyden's death; 221; Pic- tures of doubtful genuine- ness. 123. 221-6. Lost pieces. 227. Inquiry as to whether he was Memling's master. 253. 255. 256; or taught D. Bouts. 323. Notices. 365-6. Van der Weyden (the younger). 197. 228. Van derWoestine. See Boegere van Bruesele. Van Eyck (Hubert and John). Inquiry as to their birth and the history of the country in which they were born; 34. 35. Their coming to Ghent. 36. Were they in the ducal service at Ghent, and free from the constraint of their guild? 37. Liberal education given to John. ib. The count of Charolois. 37-8. John of Bavaria, and John van Eyck's service with him in 1423-4 at the Hague. 39. 41. Legend of J. v. E's. visit to Antwerp in 1420. 41-2. Hubert's practice at Ghent. John's appointment to the office of painter to the Duke of Burgundy. 42. How the early works of the Van Eycks came to be lost. 43- 46. Jodocus Vydts orders the Altar-piece of the Lamb. 46. Hubert begins and John finishes it. 47. 48. Is Hubert the chief of the Van Eyck school? 48. 49. Altar-piece of the Lamb. 49-61. What share had each of the bro- thers in it? 61-2. Qualities of the altar-piece. 62. 64. Technical execution. 65-6. How Hubert came to be for- gotten. 66. 68. Theories as to the invention of the new oil medium. 69. 70. What was it, and how did it alter the practice till then in use ? ; 382 INDEX. 70-2. Death of Hubert. 73. Works assigned to him in various collections. 73-8. 314. 315. Van Eyck (J.) His patron Philip of Burgundy. 79. Philip's commission to appoint J. V. E. his painter andvarlet. 81. Where did Van Eyck reside in 1426-8; at Bruges or at Lille? 81. Bruges. 82. Wan- derings of the Duke. 83. Se- cret missions performed by John Van Eyck. 83. 84. Jour- neys to Portugal and Spain; portrait of Isabel of Portu- gal. 85-88. "Consecration of j Thomas a Becket" at Chats- worth. 89. 90. Virgin of Ince Hall. 90. 91. 92. John Van Eyck's style in 1432. 92. 93. Missing pictures. 93. Por- traits and their character- istics. 94. Portraits at the Na- tional Gallery. 94-95. In the Suermondt collection. 95. The "Bollin Altar-piece". 95- 96. The "fount of Salvation" at Madrid. 96-98. Belations of Duke Philip with Van Eyck. 99. Portraits of the Arnolfini. 99-100. 101. Ma- donna of Burleigh House. 101-104. Madonna of Dres- den. 104-7. Secret missions of J. V. Eyck in 1435. 107. Madonna of the Bruges Aca- demy. 108. Portraits in the Belvedere of Vienna. 109. St. Barbara at Antwerp. 110. Pictures at Bruges, Berlin, Antwerp, Frankfort, Paris and St. Petersburg. 111-13. Pictures of Mr. Hope and Mr. Suermondt. 114. 115. Alleged intercourse of An- tonello da Messina with John van Eyck. 116. 230. 233. Triptych of Ypres. ib. Alleg- ed discoveries of J. V. E. in glass painting and perspec- tive. 116. 117. 118. Pictures ascribed to V. E. at Bome, in Paris, Antwerp, Ghent, St. Petersburg, and Wilt- shire. 119. 120. John Van Eyck's death. 121. Pictures erroneously assigned to J. V. Eyck or missing. 123-9. 198. 203. 217. 261. 309. 314. Van Eyck's epitaph. 134. Notices 365. 366. Van Eyck (Lambert). 133. — (Lievine). 132-3. — (Margaret). Notices. 129-132. Van Hal. See Collections. Van Orlay (Philip). 190. Venice. Academy. Antonello. 235. — Giovanelli Collection. An- tonello. 235. — Grimani. See Collections. — Library. Horenbaut. 152. Lievin de Witte. 152. Mem- ling. 152. Van der Meire (G.) 152-3. — Manfrini. Cristus. See Lon- don National Gall. — San Cassiano. Antonello. 235. — San Gregorio. Bugieri. 222. — S. M. de' Servi. Van Eyck (J.). 122. — Vendramin. See Collections. Verhdnnemann (A.). 281. Vienna. Academy. Mending. 295. — Belvedere. Antonello. 236. Gerard of Haarlem. 248-9. Mending. 169.170.288.289. 293. Ouwater. 248. Schon (M.) 220. Van der Goes. 169. 288. Van der Weyden. 220. 221-2. Van Eyck (H.)? 77. 126. 314. (J.) 109. 125. 126. 248. 314. j — ' Czernin. See Collections. — Gasser (Mr. H.) Van der I Weyden? 218. INDEX. 383 Vienna. Lichtcnstcin Gallery. Van Eyck (H.) 73. 77. (J.) 128. — Treasury. Van Eyck (J.) 120. Viete (Jehan) of Lille. 9. Vivarini (B.) 234. — (L.) 234. Voleur. See Le Voleur. w. Wallerstein. See Collections. Werden (Master of). 357. Weyden. See Van der Weyden. Wiesbaden Museum. Memling? 299. Wilhelji of Cologne. Notices of his life and works. 346-8. Wiltshire. Lord Heytesbuiw. Van Eyck (J.) 120. Witte. See Lievin de. Woestine. See Van der Woes- tine. Worlitz. Memling. 273. 280. Wohlgemuth (M.) 247. 360. X. Xanten, A. W. 319. 358. John of Kalkar. 358. Y. Ypres. St. Martin. Early tomb painting. 4. Van Eyck (J.) 104. 116. 133. z. Zanin de Franza. 206. Zeitblom. 357-8. Zingaro of Naples. 76. LEIPZIG. PRINTED BY W. DRUGULIN. \ j4