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A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery, Volume I, Foreign Schools
943. A PORTRAIT
Unknown (Early Flemish: 15th century). See also (p. xx)This portrait, which is dated 1462, was formerly supposed to be Memlinc's portrait of himself, in the costume of the Hospital of St. John at Bruges, but is now called by others Bouts's own portrait. "It is," says Sir W. Armstrong (Notes on the National Gallery, p. 28), "pretty surely the work of Dirck Bouts. Compare it with the Madonna numbered 774, and ascribed to Van der Goes. In conception, in chord of colour, in technical manner, the similarity is so complete between them as to leave room, in my mind, for very little doubt as to the identity of their authors. And this Madonna is by Dirck Bouts, as no one who has examined his 'Last Supper' in the Church of St. Pierre at Louvain can doubt… Sir Martin Conway, who was the first, I fancy, to recognise Bouts in all three of these pictures, drew my attention to a curious peculiarity of his: he goes out of his way to paint hands. In his 'Last Supper' many hands are displayed that might quite naturally have been hidden, and we find the same thing in this portrait." Whether of Memlinc or of Bouts, the face bespeaks a gentle, humble, pious, laborious soul. The painting of the hair is especially remarkable. It is touched with the utmost minuteness, and yet the silky, flowing texture is conveyed with the utmost freedom. This picture was formerly in the possession of Samuel Rogers.
944. TWO USURERS
Marinus van Romerswael (Flemish: about 1497-1573).Marinus of Romerswael (his birthplace), also called "de Zeeuw" (the Zeelander), was fond of this subject, the composition of which he seems to have borrowed from Quentin Metsys, by whom also similar pictures are common. In early life Marinus was apprenticed to a glass-painter at Antwerp. Nothing is known of his later life till towards its close, when he was residing at Middelburg. "There, in 1566, in an iconoclastic outburst of the populace, the churches of the town were wrecked; and Marinus was accused before the tribunals of taking part in the spoliation of the Westmonsterkerk. Being held guilty, he was condemned on the 25th of June 1567 to perform an ignominious public penance and to be banished from Middelburg for the space of six years. An aged man then, he can scarcely have survived his term of exile" (see authorities cited in the Official Catalogue).
One inserts items in a ledger; the other puzzles over the particulars of some business transaction. It is a powerful realisation of what Ruskin calls the New Beatitude, "Blessed are the merciless, for they shall obtain money." "The picture is remarkable," says Sir Edward Poynter, "not only for its marvellous finish, and the energy of the expressions, but for its luminous quality and the purity of the colour."
945. ST. AGNES ADORING
Joachim Patinir (Early Flemish: died 1524). See 715.St. Agnes, the young martyr virgin, – attired as a
Pensive nun, devout and pure,Sober, steadfast, and demure, —kneels before the infant Christ, "for knowest thou not that Agnes has been a Christian from her infancy upwards, and the husband to whom she is betrothed is no other than Jesus Christ?" The infant Christ holds a coral rosary in his hand, for he would crown her with jewels compared with which all earthly gifts are as dross. "It chanced that the son of the prefect of Rome beheld her one day as he rode through the city, and became violently enamoured, and desired to have her for his wife. He asked her in marriage of her parents, but the maiden repelled all his advances. Then he brought rich presents, bracelets of gold and gems, and rare jewels and precious ornaments, and promised her all the delights of the world if she would consent to be his wife. But she rejected him and his gifts, saying, Away from me, tempter! for I am already betrothed to a lover who is greater and fairer than any earthly suitor. To him I have pledged my faith, and he will crown me with jewels, compared to which thy gifts are dross" (Mrs. Jameson: Sacred and Legendary Art, p. 356.)
946. A MAN'S PORTRAIT
Mabuse (Flemish: about 1470-1541). See 656.On the back of this picture is the brand of Charles I., a crown with C. R.
947. A PORTRAIT
Unknown (Flemish School).Formerly hung with the French pictures. Now ascribed to the Flemish School of the 15th or early 16th century.
948. LANDSCAPE: A SKETCH
Rubens (Flemish: 1577-1640). See 38.949. LANDSCAPE WITH GIPSIES
950. VILLAGE GOSSIPS
951. THE GAME OF BOWLS
David Teniers, the elder (Flemish: 1582-1649).This artist is less memorable for his own works, which are mediocre, than as the founder of a family of painters (see Wauters: The Flemish School, p. 299), and the father of the celebrated David Teniers (the younger). He was a member of the Antwerp Guild of Painters, but spent ten years at Rome, where he came under the influence of Adam Elsheimer. The elder Teniers was the master of his son, who carried on his style, so that it is not always easy to distinguish their several pictures. In their own time father and son were equally appreciated. There is a large number of works by the elder Teniers in the Dulwich Gallery. On the whole they are browner in tone than those of the younger painter.
952. "THE VILLAGE FÊTE."
David Teniers (Flemish: 1610-1694). See 154.So the picture is usually called, but the subject seems rather to be a pilgrimage to some holy shrine or miraculous well. A cross is seen on the right; the priest in charge of the pilgrimage stands somewhat lower down; on the left is a man selling little memorial flags with crosses on them. The hungry travellers are waiting for the meal which is being prepared for them in several huge cauldrons. The town of Antwerp is seen in the distance. This picture, dated 1643, is among the best works of Teniers, and includes 150 figures. "Truth in physiognomy, distribution of groups, the beautiful effect of light and shade, command," says Hymans, "our warmest admiration." In the foreground are Teniers and his party, with his little boy leading a greyhound, and the girl of this party is almost the only pleasant face in the picture. The painter, one begins to suspect, had not much real sympathy with his "village scenes" after all; and perhaps the demand for such scenes on the part of his aristocratic patrons was only a kind of vicarious "slumming" – an anticipation of the fashionable craze of a later age.
953. THE TOPER
David Teniers (Flemish: 1610-1694). See 154.This picture is signed with a T. within a D., which is the signature of the elder Teniers.
But, lo, a Teniers woos, and not in vain,Your eyes to revel in a livelier sight:His bell-mouth'd goblet makes one feel quite Danish,Or Dutch, with thirst – what, ho! a flask of Rhenish. – Byron.954. A LANDSCAPE
Cornelis Huysmans (Flemish: 1648-1727).This painter, whose pictures have for the most part become very dark, was born at Antwerp, the son of an architect. He studied the art of landscape under Jacques d'Arthois at Brussels, by which master we are told he was kept so closely to drawing that he could only practise painting by night. He took up his abode at Mechlin; but in 1702 removed to Antwerp, returning, however, to Mechlin fourteen years later. Favourable examples of his work may be seen at the Louvre.
955. WOMEN BATHING
Cornelis van Poelenburgh (Dutch: 1586-1667).This painter was a native of Utrecht, where he studied under A. Bloemaert. He afterwards visited Italy and Rome, where he was in 1617, and where he studied the works of Elsheimer. He generally painted Italian landscapes, which he peopled with nude figures, goddesses, nymphs bathing, or antique shepherdesses. These works hit the taste of Royal and Grand Ducal patrons throughout Europe. On quitting Rome for Florence, he was employed by the Grand Duke. In 1627 he returned to Utrecht, whither his fame had preceded him. Rubens is said to have visited him, and Van Dyck painted his portrait. He was invited also to London, and was employed both by Charles I. and James II. He was on three occasions appointed Dean of the Painters' Guild at Utrecht, where he died. He frequently helped his fellow landscape painters by inserting figures for them. Those in Both's "Judgment of Paris" (No. 209) are by him.
956. AN ITALIAN LANDSCAPE
957. GOATHERDS
958. OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF ROME
959. A RIVER SCENE
Jan Both (Dutch: 1610-1662). See 71.960. THE WINDMILLS
Cuyp (Dutch: 1620-1691). See 53.961. DORT (THE "LARGE DORT")
962. DORT (THE "SMALL DORT")
Cuyp (Dutch: 1620-1691). See 53.Groups of Cuyp's favourite cows in the foreground. In the distance the Groote Kerk of Dordrecht, with its handsome tower.
963. A SKATING SCENE
Isaac van Ostade (Dutch: 1621-1649). See 847.A scene such as Isaac van Ostade specially loved. (See Pater's Imaginary Portraits, cited under 1137.)
964. A RIVER SCENE
965. RIVER SCENE WITH STATE BARGE
966. A RIVER SCENE
967. DUTCH SHIPPING
Jan van de Cappelle (Dutch: painted 1650-1680). See 865.968. THE PAINTER'S WIFE
Gerard Dou (Dutch: 1613-1675). See 192.969. A FROST SCENE
Aart van der Neer (Dutch: 1603-1677) See 152.970. THE DROWSY LANDLADY
Gabriel Metsu (Dutch: 1630-1667). See 838.971, 972. LANDSCAPES
Jan Wynants (Dutch: about 1615-1679). See 883.973. SANDBANK
Wouwerman (Dutch: 1619-1668). See 878.Formerly ascribed to Jan Wynants.
974. LANDSCAPE
Philip de Koninck (Dutch: 1619-1688). See 836.A view of the Scheldt and Antwerp Cathedral in the distance.
975. THE STAG HUNT
976. A BATTLE
Wouwerman (Dutch: 1619-1668). See 878.In Wouwerman's battle-pieces, says Ruskin, there is "nothing but animal rage and cowardice" – with which he contrasts the noble battle-piece by Paolo Uccello (583). "It is very singular," he adds, "that unmitigated expressions of cowardice in battle should be given by the painters of so brave a nation as the Dutch. Not but that it is possible enough for a coward to be stubborn, and a brave man weak; the one may win his battle by blind persistence, and the other lose it by a thoughtful vacillation. Nevertheless, the want of all expression of resoluteness in Dutch battle-pieces remains, for the present, a mystery to me. In those of Wouwerman, it is only a natural development of his perfect vulgarity in all respects" (Modern Painters, vol. v. pt. ix. ch. viii. §§ 8-10).
977. A SEA-PIECE
W. van de Velde (Dutch: 1633-1707). See 149.978. A RIVER SCENE
W. van de Velde (Dutch: 1633-1707). See 149.A state barge in the centre; trumpeters sounding a salute on either side in other vessels.
979. A STIFF BREEZE
W. van de Velde (Dutch: 1633-1707). See 149.980. DUTCH SHIPS OF WAR
W. van de Velde (Dutch: 1633-1707). See 149."The best example we have of the painter – a delightful picture. The sky is so delicate and unobtrusive that it does not expose his weakness in cloud drawing" (J. Brett, A.R.A., on "Landscape at the National Gallery," in Fortnightly Review, April 1895).
981. A STORM AT SEA
W. van de Velde (Dutch: 1633-1707). See 149.See also under 819. This picture is signed (on a floating spar) and dated London 1673.
982. A FOREST SCENE (dated 1658)
983. A BAY HORSE (dated 1663)
984. LANDSCAPE WITH CATTLE
A. van de Velde (Dutch: 1636-1672). See 867.985. SHEEP AND GOATS
Karel du Jardin (Dutch: 1622-1678). See 826.986. THE WATERMILLS
Ruysdael (Dutch: 1628-1682). See 627.987. A ROCKY TORRENT
Ruysdael (Dutch: 1628-1682). See 627.988. AN OLD OAK
Ruysdael (Dutch: 1628-1682). See 627.989. WATERMILLS, WITH BLEACHERS
Ruysdael (Dutch: 1628-1682). See 627.See note to No. 44.
990. A WOODED PROSPECT
Ruysdael (Dutch: 1628-1682). See 627."This picture with its large shadows sweeping over the landscape and its faint gleams of sunlight, suggesting an imminent rain-storm, is one of Ruysdael's most poetical works" (Poynter: The National Gallery, ii. 174).
991. THE BROKEN TREE
Ruysdael (Dutch: 1628-1682). See 627.992. ARCHITECTURAL SCENE
Jan van der Heyden (Dutch: 1637-1712). See 866.Classic v. Gothic. An interesting picture of the architectural tendency of the time – the classical Palladian architecture of stone rising over the ruins of the red brick Gothic of earlier times. The same mixture of the old and the new – in juxtaposition not altogether unlike what is here represented – may be seen in the town of Abingdon (Berks), where Inigo Jones's market-hall, built about the time of this picture, towers above the red bricks of the humbler and earlier styles.
993. A HOUSE AMONG TREES
994. A STREET IN A TOWN
Jan van der Heyden (Dutch: 1637-1712). See 866.995. A WOODY LANDSCAPE
Hobbema (Dutch: 1638-1709). See 685.996. A CASTLE IN A ROCKY LANDSCAPE
Hobbema (Dutch: 1638-1709). See 685.Signed, and dated 1667.
997. SCOURING THE KETTLE
Godfried Schalcken (Dutch: 1643-1706). See 199.In pictures of this kind by Dou and his followers you fancy, it has been said, that "you see and hear the very grit as it cuts into the yellow metal."
998. SINGING A DUET
Godfried Schalcken (Dutch: 1643-1706). See 199.A lover holds a guitar, his mistress some music; on the table is a rose —
If love were what the rose is,And I were like the leaf,Our lives would grow togetherIn sad or singing weather…If love were what the rose isAnd I were like the leaf.Swinburne: A Match.999. BY CANDLE-LIGHT
Godfried Schalcken (Dutch: 1643-1706). See 199."To give the most natural effect to his candle-light pieces, Schalcken is said to have adopted the following system: – He placed the object he intended to paint in a dark room, with a candle, and looking through a small hole, painted by day what he saw by candle-light" (Bryan's Dictionary).
1000. THE ESTUARY OF A RIVER
Bakhuizen (Dutch: 1631-1708). See 204.1001. HOLLYHOCKS AND OTHER FLOWERS
Jan van Huysum (Dutch: 1682-1749). See 796.Notice the snail crawling along in front.
1002. FLOWERS, INSECTS, AND FRUIT
Jacob Walscappelle (Dutch: painted about 1675).A painter of fruit and flowers in the style of de Heem. His flowers are generally arranged in water-bottles, and are besprinkled with butterflies and other insects. He painted at Amsterdam from about 1667 to 1718.
1003. DEAD PARTRIDGES AND OTHER BIRDS
Jan Fyt (Flemish: 1611-1661).Fyt – painter and etcher of animals – was a pupil of Snyders, whom in some respects he excelled. The sale catalogues of the greater part of the nineteenth century show that his works were little appreciated, but recent criticism has given him a very high place among the animal and still-life painters of his country. "Fyt's work," says Sir F. Burton, "is perfect in its kind, exhibiting the finest observation of nature, and an execution which unites the greatest mastery with the utmost delicacy. His composition is unconstrained, and the colouring and tone of his pictures are most pleasing." He was born at Antwerp, where, after some years' residence in Italy, he became Dean of the Painters' Guild.
1004. AN ITALIAN LANDSCAPE
Nicolas Berchem (Dutch: 1620-1683). See 78.1005. PLOUGHING
Nicolas Berchem (Dutch: 1620-1683). See 78."There is in this small picture," says Sir Edward Poynter, "a genuine feeling for nature, which is generally somewhat wanting in the works of Berchem, whose manner, founded on the study of Italian landscape art, gives frequently an artificial effect to his composition" (National Gallery, i. 44).
1006. HURDY-GURDY
Nicolas Berchem (Dutch: 1620-1683). See 78.Berchem, as we have seen, was an "Italianiser," and here introduces us to one of the exports of that country —
Far from England, in the sunnySouth, where Anio leaps in foam,Thou wast reared, till lack of moneyDrew thee from thy vine-clad home.Calverley: Fly Leaves.1007. A ROCKY LANDSCAPE
Jan Wils (Dutch: about 1600-1670).Wils, whose pictures are seldom met with, "would appear, from the style of most of his works, to have studied under Jan Both at Utrecht… He was the father-in-law and one of the teachers of Nicolas Berchem, between whose works and some of those of Wils (as, for instance, the present picture) a great resemblance may be traced" (Official Catalogue).
The figures in this picture are supposed to have been put in by Wouwerman.
1008. A STAG HUNT
Pieter Potter (Dutch: 1597-1652).Pieter Potter, the father of Paul Potter, was a native of Enkhuizen, and originally painted on glass. In one of his early signatures (1628) he describes himself as "glass annealer, also painter." Later on, he settled at Amsterdam and was director of a manufactory of gilt leather there. He formed his style, we are told, under the influence of Frans Hals, and painted various subjects, such as scenes in the guard-house, still-life, and landscape.
1009. THE OLD GRAY HUNTER
Paul Potter (Dutch: 1625-1654). See 849.1010. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE
Dirk van Delen (Dutch: 1607-1673).This painter was born at Heusden. He lived at Arnemuiden in Zealand, of which town he was burgomaster. He worked also at Haarlem, Delft, and Antwerp.
A picture by a rare master – interesting to students of the history of architectural taste. In 992 we are shown the struggle between the old Gothic style and the new Renaissance architecture; here we see the full victory of the latter. Dirk van Delen loved to depict the costly and variegated marbles on splendid palaces in the style of the late Renaissance. He will not be defrauded, even by considerations of distance, of any of his details, and every statue and ornament is shown us as minutely as if it were on the level of the eye. The classical style has pervaded too the fountain; note the gilt bronze group of Hercules and the Hydra.
1011. PORTRAIT OF A LADY
Coques (Flemish: 1618-1684). See 821.A faithful imitation on a reduced scale of Van Dyck's ideal of feminine "elegance." There is a certain artificial simplicity very characteristic of the time, in the combination of the lady, with her sumptuous white satin and the elaborate architecture behind her, and her pet lamb.
1012. PORTRAIT OF A MAN
Matthew Merian, the younger (Swiss: 1621-1687).This painter was the son of Matthew Merian, the elder, an eminent Swiss draughtsman and engraver. The father had established himself at Frankfort as a book and print seller, and on his death in 1650, the son assumed management of the business, and continued the publication of the "Theatrum Europæum," for which he arranged several plates. But the younger Merian was best known as a painter. He was born at Bâle, and at the age of 14 came to Frankfort, where he learnt to paint under Joachim van Sandrart, whom he accompanied to Amsterdam in 1637 and to England in 1640. In this country he came into friendly relations with Van Dyck, whom he took as his model in the art of portraiture. Merian also travelled in France and Italy. As a portrait-painter he was much patronised by the German princes and also by the Emperor Leopold I. He also painted religious and historical pictures, such as the "Martyrdom of St. Lawrence," for the high altar of Bamberg Cathedral, and the "Resurrection," in the Library of Bâle.
This picture was formerly ascribed to Van Dyck. The man's dress is of black velvet, of the fashion of about 1665-70.
1013. GEESE AND DUCKS
Melchior de Hondecoeter (Dutch: 1636-1695). See 202.1014. THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. LAWRENCE
Adam Elsheimer (German: 1578-1620).Elsheimer was the son of a tailor at Frankfort-on-Maine. He himself settled in Rome. "He inherited with his northern blood an intense love of nature and her varied aspects. Upon this he engrafted a careful study of the human form, and in Italy he profited by the example of the great masters of preceding generations. Thus, aided by a certain homely imagination, he formed a style of his own, combining landscape and figure in such a manner that each was the necessary complement of the other, and that subject and situation were in perfect harmony. The lonely, and at that time, wooded, depressions of the Roman Campagna, and the hills of Albano and Tivoli, were his favourite haunts, and in their scenery his imagination placed events in biblical or mythological story. He loved especially to paint the strange effects produced by diverse sources of illumination. The novelty of his aims, the beauty of his execution, and the geniality of his disposition, gained him admirers and friends" (Official Catalogue). His contemporaries Sandrart and Cornelius de Bie describe him as an extraordinary artist who had "a peculiar manner of his own. He was, indeed, the first who invented a style of small sceneries, landscapes, and other curiosities." He possessed, we are told, so extraordinary a memory, that it was sufficient for him to have looked at an object or scene once to draw it with the utmost precision. The extreme patience and labour with which he finished his pictures were such that the prices he received never sufficiently repaid him. Had he been paid but a fourth part of what his works have since produced, he might have lived in affluence instead of indigence and distress. Elsheimer usually painted on copper (as is the case with this picture). His etchings and drawings are well known; in the Städel Institute of his native town there is a large collection of them. There are also some in the British Museum. Elsheimer's works had a considerable influence on many succeeding Dutch painters. "Elsheimer," says Mr. Colvin in his Guide to the British Museum Drawings, "fills a very important part in art as the forerunner on the one hand of Claude and his group, by his delight in the composition and massing of the forms of hill, plain, and grove in the country round Rome, and on the other hand of Rembrandt and his group, by his predilection for strong artificial contrasts of light, and for the dramatic and speaking action of his figures."
