A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery, Volume I, Foreign Schools

1332. GEORGE, 1ST EARL OF BERKELEY

G. Netscher (Dutch: 1639-1784). See 843.

The first Earl of Berkeley – a man of considerable note in his day, and the author of a religious work to which some complimentary couplets by Waller have given a kind of immortality – was born in 1628 and died in 1698. He was one of the Commissioners nominated in 1660 to proceed to the Hague to invite Charles to return to the kingdom, and shortly afterwards he received various important appointments. In 1688, after the flight of the King, he was one of the lords assembled at the Guildhall to draw up the celebrated declaration constituting themselves a provisional government until such time as the Prince of Orange should arrive.

1333. THE DEPOSITION FROM THE CROSS

Tiepolo (Venetian: 1692-1769). See 1192.

1334. THE FORTUNE-TELLER

Pietro Longhi (Venetian: 1702-1762). See 1100.

A girl, in the hooped dress and three-cornered hat of the 18th century, is having her hand read by a fortune-teller, while a cloaked cavalier, standing near in a white domino, watches the result.

1335. THE MADONNA

Unknown (French School: 15th Century).

The face is most delicately executed; the white head-cloth and gown are covered by a blue mantle, which is jewelled and embroidered at the edge. The originally gold background is now brown; the nimbus of the Virgin is punctured in a beautiful foliated design.

1336. THE DEATH OF DIDO

Ascribed to Liberale da Verona (Veronese: 1451-1535).See 1134

Painted probably to adorn the front of a cassone or marriage-chest. "The buildings of the forum in which the pyre stands are copied from well-known monuments at Verona. In the background on the left are seen two spectators in the everyday costume of the artist's contemporaries. The one on the left-hand side seems from his dress to be a German. Dürer has portrayed himself in an exactly similar way. The identity of the person thus represented will always remain hypothetical; nevertheless, the soldier leaning on his lance, on the extreme right, points directly to Dürer, for the figure is taken from a well-known engraving by him" (Dr. Richter in the Art Journal, February 1895).

1337. "ECCE HOMO!"

Bazzi (Lombard: 1477-1549). See 1144.

Probably part of a picture of Christ bearing His Cross. The face wears a gentle, grave, and dignified expression on features of a noble type.

1338. THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS

1339. THE NATIVITY OF ST. JOHN

Bernhard Fabritius (Dutch: painted 1650-1672).

Of this painter very little is known. He was a member of the Painters' Guild at Leyden, and it is clear from his works that he was a disciple of Rembrandt.

(1338). The subject is treated with Dutch directness. It is a Dutch interior with Dutch peasants. An opening in the roof discloses a peep of landscape in the light of early dawn.

(1339). Somewhat more academic in treatment. The infant saint lies in a wicker cradle, at the foot of which lies St. Elizabeth, who offers an apple to another child standing by the side of its nurse or mother. To the right of the picture St. Zacharias writes on a tablet the record of the birth.

1340. LANDSCAPE

Roeland Roghman (Dutch: 1597-1686).

Roghman is a landscape-painter widely known by his drawings and etchings. He was a friend of Rembrandt. His pictures usually represent views in Holland and on the borders of Germany, but he travelled also in the Tyrol. His works "exhibit a close attention to nature in the forms, but his colour is dark and disagreeable" (Bryan).

1341. A WOODLAND SCENE

Cornelius Decker (Dutch: died 1678). See 134.

1342. LANDSCAPE

J. de Wet (Dutch: 17th Century).

This is the only landscape subject known to bear the signature of J. de Wet; other works so signed are of biblical subjects. A Jan de Wet, a native of Hamburg, was a pupil of Rembrandt, – a tutelage not inconsistent with the style of this picture.

1343. AMSTERDAM MUSKETEERS ON PARADE

Unknown (Dutch School: about 1650).

Formerly attributed to Govert Flinck (1615-1660), who was a pupil of Rembrandt, and was commissioned to paint many considerable works for the Town Hall of Amsterdam. Observe the group of officers on the left; one bears a standard embroidered with the arms of that city.

1344. A LANDSCAPE

Salomon Ruysdael (Dutch: 1600-1670).

A good example of one of the founders of the Haarlem School of Landscape, uncle of the more famous Jacob Ruysdael. Like his nephew, he was a member of the sect of Mennonites. He appears to have had some talent for business; he was a prominent officer to the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke, and there is a story of his having invented a sort of imitation marble, by the sale of which he was able to live in easier circumstances than the majority of his artistic brethren. Salomon's work resembles much that of Van Goyen (see 137), and it is difficult to distinguish early works by the two painters. Afterwards they diverged. "Van Goyen prefers the round forms of the clouds that on a fine summer day overhang the Maas; his brush always plays with the delicacy of their shadows, and loves to turn a landscape into what the moderns would call 'a harmony of gray and silver.' Salomon Ruysdael is by no means so reticent in the matter of colour. His skies in his later period are frankly blue" (Quarterly Review, October 1891).

There is in this picture "a peculiarly sharp, clear, and firm touch, very like that of Stark of Norwich. The warm, deep-toned evening sky is admirable" (Athenæum). The picture is signed, and dated 1659.

1345. LANDSCAPE

Jan Wouwerman (Dutch: 1629-1666).

Jan was a younger brother and pupil of the more famous Philips (see 878). Some works by another brother, Pieter, may be seen in the Dulwich Gallery.

1346. A WINTER SCENE

Hendrik van Avercamp (Dutch: 1585-1663).

A characteristically animated work by the Mute of Kampen, as this painter was called. He was the son of a schoolmaster. He was born dumb, and documents have been discovered in which his mother speaks of her "dumb and pitiable son." Having shown an early talent for drawing, he was placed with a painter at Amsterdam, and there and at the Hague he practised until 1625. He afterwards joined his widowed mother at Kampen. In her will of 1633 she made provision for him "in order that he may not be a burden on his brothers and sister." He loved especially to depict lively scenes of winter sport. He defines his figures sharply against the ice and snow. "The refined modulations of tint and the delicacies of aerial perspective, aimed at by painters of such scenes in the middle of the 17th century, are seldom found in Avercamp's works" (Official Catalogue).

1347. FARMYARD SCENE

Isaak van Ostade (Dutch: 1621-1649). See 847.

The crisp touch and golden light in this Cuyp-like picture will please all lovers of Dutch art.

1348. LANDSCAPE WITH GOAT AND KID

Adrian van de Velde (Dutch: 1635-1672). See 867.

A pleasant twilight effect.

1352. LANDSCAPE

F. de Moucheron (Dutch: 1633-1686). See 842.

The signature of the artist is on the cornice of one of the buildings. Possibly Lingelbach (see 837), who often worked with Moucheron, painted the figures.

1353. LANDSCAPE WITH SATYRS

Martin Ryckhaert (Flemish: 1587-1631).

Martin Ryckhaert was a son of the elder, and brother of the younger, David Ryckhaert. He studied, and for some years practised his art, in Italy. He is entered in the register of the Painters' Guild at Antwerp as "a painter with one arm," and is so represented in the portrait by Van Dyck in the Dresden Gallery.

1375. CHRIST IN THE HOUSE OF MARTHA

Velazquez (Spanish: 1590-1660). See 197.

A picture of the earliest, or Seville period of the painter. Though professedly a religious subject, it is in reality one of the bodegones, or tavern-pieces, which had come into favour at Seville during the end of the sixteenth century – naturalistic studies of the tavern and the kitchen. "They are certainly to be valued," says Pacheco, "when painted as Velazquez paints them, for in this branch he has attained such an eminence that he has left room for no rival. They deserve high esteem; for with these elements and with portraiture he discovered the true imitation of Nature." In the background, shown through a window or square opening in the wall, is seen an inner chamber with Christ addressing Martha, who stands, and Mary, who kneels before Him.

1376. A DUEL IN THE PRADO (A SKETCH)

Velazquez (Spanish: 1599-1660). See 197.

Note that some of the figures in the foreground closely resemble the group in "The Boar Hunt" (No. 197).

1377. THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS

Venetian School (16th Century).

Formerly ascribed to Savoldo (see 1031). "In its deep and striking chiaroscuro it reminds one of a greater and later artist, Bassano, and even of the earlier works of Velazquez. It is a very interesting picture, full of imagination, especially in its landscape, and generally in fine condition. For light and effective painting, look at the pigeons in the basket on the right" (Monkhouse: In the National Gallery, p. 261). This picture was bequeathed by the late Sir William Gregory, one of the Trustees of the Gallery, who secured it for the paltry sum of £12: 10s., and was (as we know from his "Autobiography") justly proud of his bargain.247

1378. AN INTERIOR WITH FIGURES

Jan Steen (Dutch: 1626-1679). See 856.

Another of Sir William's bequests, and, like the preceding, "a bargain." "A French dealer," he wrote, "offered me £250 the day after I had bought it for £2: 3s." An itinerant musician enters the kitchen in a village inn or country farmhouse, and salutes the buxom lady of the house with a fantastic gesture of courtesy. A flute sticks out of his pocket.

1380. FRUIT AND FLOWER PIECE

Jan van Os (Dutch: 1744-1808). See 1015.

1381. THE HOLY WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE

Francesco Mantegna (Paduan: about 1470-1517.)See 639

For the subject, see 576. Notice the pool in the foreground on which are two water-fowl, while a tortoise crawls towards it. This picture is the same size as 639 and 1106, and the three beautiful little panels doubtless formed a series – now at last brought together again, having been long separated in three different collections.

1383. "LA JEUNE FEMME AU CLAVECIN."

Jan Vermeer of Delft (Dutch: 1632-1675).

This picture formerly belonged to the celebrated French critic Thoré (who wrote under the name of "W. Bürger"), to whom belongs the credit of having rescued Vermeer from oblivion. He was famous in his own day, being one of the chiefs of the Delft Guild of Artists. But after his death his works were dispersed or destroyed or ascribed to Pieter de Hooch, and his very existence was forgotten till "Bürger's" researches rehabilitated him (see Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1866, pp. 297, 458, 542). He was born in Delft, and was for a short time a pupil of Carel Fabritius, a painter who was deeply imbued with the spirit and manner of Rembrandt. Vermeer obtained good prices for his pictures, but his circumstances cannot have been flourishing, for his widow had to apply to the court of insolvency to be placed under a curator. His works are now rare and costly: for the present picture £2400 was paid. The artist with whom Vermeer has the closest affinity is De Hooch. At an auction in Amsterdam in the middle of the 17th century a De Hooch is praised as being "nearly equal to the famous Van der Meer of Delft," and there is often some confusion between the works of the two painters. Substitute red for blue, it has been said, and a Vermeer becomes a De Hooch. Both painters are remarkable for the quality of light displayed in their interiors, and Vermeer has never been surpassed in the cool general effect which he produced. "Though in perfection of execution," says M. Havard, "the one rivals the other, they differ singularly in their use of the brush. Whilst Hooch has a vigorous and supple touch, Vermeer on the other hand, proceeding by short steps, paints in small patches, and then connects the whole by glazing in a manner peculiar to himself, which produces a vibrating effect, a characteristic of this original painter which we cannot forget" (The Dutch School, p. 186). Beauty of tone and perfect harmony are conspicuous in all his works, which in some other respects exhibit marked differences, for "the Sphinx of Delft" (as Bürger calls him) had several manners. It is supposed that he worked for a time under Rembrandt. The picture of four life-sized figures in the Dresden Gallery called "Les Courtisanes," and dated 1656, suggests the influence of that master. During the last ten or twelve years of his life he adopted a second manner, of greater delicacy and subtlety. In all his works there is a singular completeness and charm. He is a master in rendering momentary expression, and his pictures attract by the successful delineation of character, as well as by the skill with which he makes his figures move in light and air. He has also a complete mastery of perspective, and in his effects of light upon flat surfaces he is unsurpassed.

This picture is a good example of the qualities described above.248 "The head, however, has unfortunately suffered from over-cleaning, showing the gray under-painting which gives the picture a colder aspect than it would otherwise have" (Official Catalogue). The picture has a very good "pedigree," Bürger, to whom it once belonged, having traced it back, through the Solly and Danser-Nyman Collections, to an anonymous sale catalogue of 1714.

1386. SOLDIERS QUARRELLING OVER THEIR BOOTY.

1387. PLAYERS AT TRIC-TRAC

W. C. Duyster (Dutch: 1599-1635).

These pictures are by one of the rarest of the Dutch masters – William Cornells Duyster, a painter of Amsterdam. They were acquired from a family in whose possession they have been ever since they were brought over to this country by an officer in the army of William III. The fine execution and brilliant condition of the pictures make them decidedly attractive. They are both signed; 1386, on a box in the foreground; 1387, on the border of the beautifully-painted tablecloth.

1390. A SEA-PIECE

Ruysdael (Dutch: 1628-1682). See 627.

An excellent example of Ruysdael's sea-pieces, in which he was not surpassed by any painter of the time. The view represented is the shore at Scheveningen. This picture, for which the sum of £3045 was paid by the nation, changed hands in 1872 for £68 as one of a pair!

1393. A MEDITERRANEAN SEAPORT

Claude Joseph Vernet (French: 1714-1789). See 236.

The frigate is flying the Dutch tricolor flag. At the foot of the fortified wall is a party of Turkish or Albanian merchants.

1397. AN OLD WOMAN SEWING

Unknown (Dutch School: 17th Century).

On the wall behind is an engraved portrait of a gentleman, with an inscription in which the name, Jan van Aach, and the date 1655 occur. The name is possibly that of the unknown painter.

1399. PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN

Gerard Terburg (Dutch: 1617-1681). See 864.

This and the following picture were in the collection of the late Sir Charles Eastlake. By the provisions of his will, they were to be offered to the National Gallery at the prices he paid for them, viz. £25 and £75.

1400. CHRIST BEFORE PILATE

Rembrandt (Dutch: 1606-1669). See 45.

This sketch is the original study for the etching of the same subject done in 1636. It is signed with the artist's name underneath the clock which is above the arched entrance on the right.

1401. A FRUIT-PIECE

Pieter Snyers (Flemish: 1681-1752).

A painter of fruit and flower pieces, landscapes, portraits, and figure subjects of low life; was Director of the Royal Academy of Antwerp.

Fowls, cray-fish, artichokes, lobsters, peaches, plums, strawberries, asparagus, radishes, and peonies – "all represented of natural size and distributed in picturesque confusion." The artist's signature is included, as if embroidered on the corner of the tablecloth.

1406. THE ANNUNCIATION

School of Fra Angelico (Florentine: 1387-1455). See 663.

"Through an arched opening behind the Virgin we see a sort of cloister garth. There are daisies on the sward, and in a pot stands a tall lily. A similar opening behind the Archangel reveals another part of the garth, enclosed on all sides by a rose trellis. Beyond the trellis are visible a hill and a convent resembling that of San Miniato, rows of cypresses, and more distinct peaks in fuller light. The embroideries, the angel's plumage, and both the nimbi, are represented in real gold, while the last are incised in radial lines, so that, like the wings, their brilliance is distinct, and they shimmer in the light. On the capitals of two of the columns of the cloister the red annulets upon a silver shield of the Albizzi family are seen" (Athenæum). The composition of this not very attractive picture recalls the Annunciations by Fra Angelico, at Cortona and in the Madrid Gallery respectively.

1409. THE MARRIAGE OF ST. CATHERINE

Andrea Cordelle Agii (Venetian: School of Bellini).

This picture is a repetition of one by Andrea Previtali in the sacristy of the Church of San Giobbe at Venice, and the painter has been supposed to be the same as Previtali. This, however, is probably not the case. The present picture is signed (on a cartellino) "1504: Andreas Cordelli Agy dissipulus Jovannis Bellini pinxit." He similarly describes himself as a pupil of John Bellini on a picture in the Poldi Pezzoli Gallery at Milan. Judging from his name, "twists and needles," he or his father was probably a pedlar (Layard's edition of "Kugler," i. 334).

"The conjecture that Andrea Previtali is identical with Andrea Cordelle Agii seems to me," says Morelli, "untenable. Both were fellow-scholars in the workshop of Giovanni Bellini, and it is undeniable that in some of their works they closely resemble each other; but this may be explained by the fact that the one probably copied the cartoons or even the pictures of the other. The few signed works which I have met with by Cordelle Agii appear to me, however, to be more refined and lifelike in expression, and his landscapes are warmer and less vividly green in tone, than those of Previtali" (Roman Galleries, p. 237 n.). As a picture by Previtali hangs close by (No. 695), the reader is in a position to consider the justness of the critic's remarks for himself.

1410. VIRGIN AND CHILD

Borgognone (Lombard: about 1455-1523). See 298.

The nimbus which surrounds the Virgin's head is inscribed in gold with the words AVE. MARIA. GRATIA. PLENA. DOM. The background is interesting. On the right is no doubt a faithful view of part of the old façade of the Certosa of Pavia before it was completed. On the left are other buildings which appear to be part of a convent, with Carthusian friars walking in front. This picture is earlier in date than Borgognone's "Two St. Catherines" (298); it is "more rigid in style and a capital example of the painter's less ambitious work" (Catalogue of the Burlington Fine Arts Club's Exhibition, 1898, p. xxxvii.).

1411. A DIPTYCH

Ercole Roberti de' Grandi (Ferrarese: 1450-1496). See 1127.

On the left the Adoration of the Shepherds. There is much natural charm in the figure of the Virgin bending over the manger. On the right the dead figure of Christ, with St. Jerome and St. Francis in the middle distance receiving the stigmata. Very delicately finished.

1412. VIRGIN AND CHILD, WITH ST. JOHN

Filippino Lippi (Florentine: 1457-1504). See 293. See also (p. xxi)

Formerly ascribed to Botticelli.249 Notice the beautifully painted white eglantine and jasmine blossoms in the vase on the balcony. The youthful St. John is an attractive figure, very characteristic of this group of painters.

1415. PORTRAIT OF A LADY

Gerard Dou (Dutch; 1613-1675). See 192.

"An old inscription on the back of the panel states that this picture is a portrait of Anna Maria van Schurmann; but it will be observed that the portrait by Jan Lievens (1095), supposed to represent the same lady, differs in the colour of the hair, and has other points of variation, which preclude the possibility of both having been painted from the same person" (Official Catalogue).

1416. VIRGIN AND CHILD, WITH SAINTS

Filippo Mazzola (Parmese: died 1505).

The Mazzola family affords one of the many instances in the history of painting of artistic heredity. Filippo's two brothers were also painters, and his son was the more famous Parmigiano (see under 33). The Mazzoli were much employed in Parma, but their work seldom rose above mediocrity. By Filippo – called delle erbette from the plants which he was fond of introducing into his pictures – there are religious-subject pictures to be seen at Parma. But he is best known for his portraits, in which the influence of Antonello da Messina is to be traced (see Morelli's German Galleries, p. 418). An excellent one in the Brera bears his signature.

This picture is in its original frame, of early cinque-cento pattern, richly carved, gilt, and painted. A somewhat similar frame has recently been given to the "Vision of St. Eustace" (1436).

1417. CHRIST'S AGONY IN THE GARDEN

Andrea Mantegna (Paduan: 1431-1506). See 274.

A celebrated picture (painted in 1459 for Giacomo Marcello, Podestà of Padua), and a specially interesting acquisition to our Gallery – first, as belonging to an earlier period of the master than his other important works here; and secondly, for its strong family likeness to the picture of the same subject by his brother-in-law, Giovanni Bellini, which, hangs in an adjoining room (No. 726). At the time when these pictures were painted Giovanni and Andrea were working at Padua under the influence of Giovanni's father, Jacopo Bellini (Vasari has some family gossip on this subject, ii. 265); and the original suggestion for the treatment of the subject in both pictures appears in Jacopo's sketch-book, now in the British Museum. A prominent object in the distance (an Italian version of Jerusalem) is a little gilt equestrian statue, which was evidently suggested by Donatello's equestrian statue of Gattamelata, still to be seen at Padua. The foreshortening of the apostles suggests the work of Uccello (see 583), who is known to have painted in that city. The picture has been described as "a marvellous combination of the fantastic and the realistic"; note for curious details the rabbits and storks, and the cormorant on the withered tree. This picture is more quaint than Bellini's; but Bellini's is the more original. "Mantegna's," says Mr. Monkhouse, "exhibits only a strong personal treatment of old conventions: Bellini's proclaims the dawn of a new world of art. What was old in the pictures – the Christ kneeling on a little hill, with the sleepy apostles in foreshortened attitudes in the foreground, the angelic vision on a cloud, and the suggestion of a neighbouring city – are common to both pictures. What was new – the fresh observation of nature for its own sake – is found only in Bellini's. We see this in the smouldering clouds of sunset, the light thrown on the distant buildings, the half-shade on the cliffs, the bringing-out of the figures into something like the real open, sun-illumined air, the attempt at solution of the problem of the tone of a face and figure relieved right against the sky" (In the National Gallery, 1895, p. 192).