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

The pride of the artist himself in his work is shown by the fact that he has signed his name upon it in two places —i. e. on the head-dress of Balthasar, the black king, and on the metal collar of his attendant. The signature Jennin Gossart (diminutive, Little John), was that under which Mabuse was inscribed as a member of the Guild of St. Luke at Antwerp. In the history of Flemish art the picture is of interest as one of the last works painted before the "Italianising" influence became marked. It is one of the finest specimens of Mabuse's first period (see under 656); but it will be noticed that the architecture of the ruin is no longer Gothic, but already shows the influence of the Renaissance. The picture is after 400 years in perfect preservation. It has an artistic unity, for the parts are subordinated to the whole; but it is full of incident, which adds not a little to its attractiveness and curious interest.

The Adoration of the Magi affords a remarkable instance of the way in which the Bible text, first expounded by Church legends, was then embroidered by the painters; and this example of "evolution in art" may be studied very fully in the National Gallery, which contains pictures of the subject painted in various schools and at various periods. The starting-point of the whole development is the second chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel where it is related that "wise men came from the East to Jerusalem"; that a star guided them to Bethlehem; and that "when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him; and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts – gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." Legend set itself to work on this narrative. The Wise Men, it was decided, were three in number; and the Psalmist's prediction – "the Kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring presents, the Kings of Sheba and Saba shall offer gifts" – showed that the Magi were kings. Later writers identified their realms as Tarsus, Saba, and Nubia; whence one of the kings is commonly represented as a Moor or Nubian. Their names also became known – Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. Further developments of the legend – how their remains were discovered by the Empress Helena at Constantinople, and taken by Milan to Cologne – do not here concern us; it will be seen that by the time art was ready to take up the story, the painters had much material around which to let their fancy play.

The earlier painters in each school treated the story simply. Then as technical resources increased, and artistic effect rather than mere religious instruction became the motive, the theme was ever more and more expanded, until it became the most gorgeously rendered of all the Gospel scenes. Many readers will remember the severe and simple treatment of the subject by Giotto in the Arena Chapel at Padua; with which may be compared in our gallery Orcagna's small picture (574). If the visitor after looking at that will turn to the splendid pageant (1033), with its seventy figures, by Botticelli (or Filippino Lippi), he will see at a glance how the theme became embroidered and enlarged. The picture by Fra Angelico (582) represents an intermediate stage. A similar contrast may be noted in the Flemish room. The picture attributed to David (1079) is simple, earnest, and homely; far less gorgeous and various than the Mabuse. The fact is that, in the more elaborate pictures of the subject, it was taken as an excuse or occasion for displaying whatever elements of pomp or circumstance appealed to the individual artist. Thus Peruzzi (167 and 218) elaborates the architecture and the horses, and introduces portraits. The Tuscans made out of the subject a Florentine pageant. Mabuse's picture is interesting, amongst other reasons, as a kind of epitome of the arts and crafts of his time. Note, for instance, the cups and chalices in which the kings bring their presents; their jewelled robes and head-dresses; and, for a minor detail, the pretty bag worn by the Black King's page: it might well be copied for a lady's reticule to-day.

No less remarkable than the variety of treatment in pictures of the Magi is the large measure of uniformity of type which may be found in them all. A few remarks on these common elements, which were for the most part symbolic, will serve the double purpose of directing attention to further details in Mabuse's picture and of connecting it with other examples in the Gallery. The scene of the drama is in the earliest pictures a stable or a shed; in the later, it is almost invariably the ruins of a temple or other ancient building – a symbol of the triumph of Christianity over paganism. The ox and the ass will be noticed among the ruins here, and the shepherds are seen approaching. The idea is to mark the event as a manifestation alike to the Jews (the shepherds) and to the Gentiles (the Magi). Angels hover above, singing the "Gloria in Excelsis," and the composition is crowned by the Star with the Dove. The background almost invariably includes a mountainous landscape, through which the retinue of the kings may be discerned winding its way – a reminder that they journeyed from a far country. This is a feature, indicated sufficiently by Mabuse, which may be seen more emphasised in the picture by Foppa (729). The Kings are nearly always shown as old, middle-aged, and young respectively, and one of them is black: when the Gentiles were called to salvation, all ages, continents, and races were included. In Mabuse's picture the equality of the races is emphasised in a further way; the Black King, conspicuous on the left, has his train borne by a white page. The eldest of the kings offers a vase of gold, out of which Christ has taken a piece, which He holds in His hand. The king uncovers his head. "To most mediæval painters the Adoration envisages itself essentially as an act of feudal homage." Conspicuous in the foreground are two dogs. "The one on the right," says the Official Catalogue, "is similar to a dog by Albert Dürer in his engraving of St. Eustace, that on the left is reversed from a print by Martin Schongauer." The dog is often thus included in the "Adoration"; as, for instance, in one of the earliest (Orcagna, 574) and in one of the latest (Peruzzi, 218) of our versions; and everybody will have noticed how frequently in other religious pictures also the dog is introduced. "This custom of putting either the dog, or some inferior animal, to be either in contrast, or modest companionship, with the nobleness of human form and thought, is," says Ruskin, "a piece of what may be called mental comparative anatomy, which has its beginning very far back in art" (Eagle's Nest, ch. 8; see also Modern Painters, vol. v. pt. ix. chs. 3, 6). The place of Joseph in the scene differs a good deal in different pictures, for the early legends varied. Orcagna (574) shows him receiving one of the presents from the hands of the Child: he plays, as it were, the part of royal treasurer or chamberlain. Dosso Dossi (640) shows him kneeling in the background. In the present picture he stands, in a red dress, under an archway, listening devoutly to the heavenly harmony. All the figures in Mabuse's picture (there are some thirty) will repay examination. The Virgin's expression is well given; and, as a study in contrasts, the reverent figures behind the kneeling king may be compared with the man on the extreme left who, catching hold of a pillar, is leaning out in curiosity to see the sights. There is much other detail which might be described – the plants, for instance, in the foreground and on the ruins; but enough has been said to indicate the wealth and variety of interest which is to be found in this picture.

2856. A CAVALIER AND A LADY

Pieter Quast (Dutch: 1606-1647).

Quast was a painter and engraver of The Hague; his pictures are in the style of Brouwer and Isaac van Ostade.

2862. ST. JOHN GUALBERTO

Lorenzo Monaco (Florentine: 1370-1425). See 1897.

This picture represents St. John Gualberto, the Florentine (died 1073), establishing the Order of the Vallombrosans, whose proper habit is of a pale ash colour. He was Abbot of San Miniato, from which he retired to Vallombrosa, establishing there the Order called after the place of its original home.

2863. VIRGIN AND CHILD, WITH ANGELS

School of Benozzo Gozzoli (Florentine: 1420-1497). See 283.

PICTURES ON LOAN

THE HOLY FAMILY

B. Fungai (Sienese: about 1460-1516). See 1331.

This picture, not yet numbered, is lent by the Victoria and Albert (South Kensington) Museum. It is generally characteristic of Fungai, but the figure of the Infant Christ is not pleasing.

Lent by Mr. Pierpont Morgan.

THE MADONNA DI SANTI ANTONIO

Raphael (Urbino: 1483-1520). See 1171.

"In the same city (says Vasari) – [the city of Perugia, for which also the Ansidei Madonna was painted] – Raphael was commissioned to paint a picture of Our Lady by the nuns of Sant' Antonio of Padua; the Infant Christ is in the lap of the Virgin and is fully clothed, as it pleased those simple and pious ladies that he should be; on each side of Our Lady are figures of saints, San Pietro, namely, with San Paolo, Santa Cecilia, and Santa Catarina. To these two holy virgins the master has given the most lovely features and the most graceful attitudes; he has also adorned them with the most fanciful and varied head-dresses that could be imagined – a very unusual thing at that time. In a lunette above this picture he painted a figure of the Almighty Father, which is extremely fine, and on the predella are three scenes from the history of Christ, in very small figures… The whole work is without doubt very admirable; it is full of devout feeling, and is held in the utmost veneration by the nuns for whom it was painted. It is very highly commended by all painters likewise."

The small scenes which formed the predella have been dispersed;262 for the rest, the picture thus described by Vasari is before us. Vasari dates the work 1505, but it is now commonly ascribed to the years 1507-8, after Raphael had experienced the influence of Fra Bartolommeo; it would thus be a little later than the Ansidei Madonna.

The history of the picture is long and eventful. In 1677 the nuns obtained permission to sell it, "to pay their debts and because the surface was in some parts flaking away." The central panel and the lunette (forming the picture as it now is) were bought by Antonio Bigazzini, a nobleman of Perugia, for a sum of about £500. Shortly afterwards, the picture passed into the hands of the great Colonna family at Rome, and it is often called "The Colonna Raphael." The fortunes of the picture now became part of those of modern Italian history. In the last century, the picture had been bought by Francis II., King of Naples. It was a great favourite of his, and was always kept in his bedroom in the Royal Palace. When the revolution of 1860 came, and the king was driven out of Naples, the Raphael accompanied him on his wanderings, and the king succeeded in conveying it in safety to the fortress of Gaeta. When Gaeta fell in 1861, and the king went into exile, he again took the picture with him, and it was safely transported to Spain. The king was accompanied in his flight by the financier and factotum, formerly Spanish Minister at Naples, upon whom he had conferred the title of Duke of Ripalda. To him the king in some way pledged the picture, and for a time it became known as the Ripalda Raphael. Its history next becomes connected with the secular jealousies of England and France. In 1867 Sir J. C. Robinson saw the picture at Madrid, and received a hint that it might possibly be for sale. Sir William Boxall, the Director of our Gallery, went to inspect the picture, which was then in fine condition; and Disraeli authorised the trustees to buy it. Negotiations were commenced on the basis of £20,000; but the Duke of Ripalda was a friend of the Empress Eugénie, and the knowledge that England was in the market inspired a counter-bid of £40,000 from France. The outbreak of the Prussian War caused a hitch in the negotiations; and the picture, which had been sent to Paris, underwent rigorous "restoration." The Colonna Raphael, wrote Sir William Gregory (May 1870), "was, a few months ago, one of the most perfect and important pictures of that master. In an evil moment it had been submitted to the cleaner, and a piteous spectacle it now is in the eyes of gods and men. It is said that on the old frame being removed, the picture fell to the ground in three pieces. This is confirmed by the extraordinary winking appearance of the eye of one of the female saints, through which unfortunately one of the cracks runs, and which therefore had to be repainted by a modern hand." Ruskin, perhaps unaware of these repaintings or believing that they could be removed, strongly urged the acquisition of the picture for the nation (Works, xxii. 140, xxxiv. 512). But the authorities would not entertain the idea, and the picture, refused both by the Louvre and by the National Gallery, returned, unpurchased and unhonoured, into the hands of the Duke. In 1886 it was lent to the South Kensington Museum and there it remained for several years, until Mr. Martin Colnaghi bought it from the representatives of the late King of Naples. The Parisian repaintings were removed, and the picture was restored to much of its pristine beauty. Ultimately it passed into the possession of Mr. Pierpont Morgan (at the price, it is said, of £100,000), and by him it is for the present lent to the National Gallery.

THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI

Unknown (Spanish: end of 15th century).

Signed "Lo Fil de Mestre Rodrigo." Lent by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

COPIES FROM THE OLD MASTERS

I. —VELAZQUEZ

One collection is of fifty-nine copies in oil-colour, on a reduced scale, of pictures by Velazquez in the Prado Gallery, at Madrid, presented by Lord Savile. They were painted by Mr. Chidley Molony, an English gentleman who first went to Spain as an officer in the army of General Evans, and subsequently settled at Madrid, where he was a great favourite and well known, especially to the English Colony. The following are the subjects of these copies: —

1. The Adoration of the Magi.

2. The Crucifixion.

3. The Coronation of the Virgin.

4. St. Anthony visiting St. Pablo.

5. A Group of Rustics drinking (the picture known as "Los Borrachos").

6. The Forge of Vulcan.

7. The Surrender of Breda (the picture known as "Las Lanzas").

8. The Tapestry Fabric of St. Isabel at Madrid (the picture known as "Las Hilanderas").

9. Velazquez in his painting room, with various members of the Royal Family and their Attendants (the picture known as "Las Meninas").

10. "Mercury and Argus."

11. Equestrian Portrait of King Philip III.

12. Equestrian Portrait of Queen Margarita de Austria (wife of Philip III.).

13. Equestrian Portrait of King Philip IV.

14. Equestrian Portrait of Queen Isabel de Borbon (first wife of Philip IV.).

15. Equestrian Portrait of Prince Baltasar Carlos, as a child.

16. Equestrian Portrait of the Duke of Olivares.

17. Portrait of Philip IV. as a young man, in court dress.

18. Portrait of the Infanta of Spain, Doña Maria, Queen of Hungary (sister of Philip IV.).

19. Portrait of the Infante, Don Carlos, second son of Philip III., in court dress.

20. Portrait of King Philip IV. in hunting dress.

21. Portrait of the Infante, Don Fernando de Austria (brother of Philip IV.), in hunting dress.

22. Portrait of Prince Baltasar Carlos, at the age of six, in hunting dress.

23. Portrait of King Philip IV., at the age of fifty (?), clad in half armour.

24. Portrait of Doña Mariana de Austria (second wife of Philip IV.).

25. King Philip IV. kneeling at prayer.

26. Queen Mariana de Austria, second wife of Philip IV., kneeling at prayer.

27. Portrait of Prince Baltasar Carlos, son of Philip IV., at the age of fourteen, in court dress.

28. Portrait of the Infanta, Maria Teresa de Austria, daughter of Philip IV. and afterwards Queen of France.

29. Portrait (bust length) of the Cordovan poet, Don Louis de Góngora y Argote.

30. Portrait of Doña Juana Pacheco, wife of the author (bust length; in profile).

31. Portrait of a Girl (daughter of Velazquez?).

32. Portrait of a Girl (another daughter of Velazquez?).

33. Portrait of a middle-aged Lady (half length).

34. Portrait of Don Antonio Alonso Pimentel, ninth Count of Benavente, Groom of the Bedchamber to King Philip IV.

35. Portrait of the Sculptor, Martinez Montanes (half length).

36. Portrait of Pablillos de Valladolid, a Jester of King Philip IV.

37. Portrait of Pernia, a Jester of King Philip IV. (commonly known as the Portrait of "Barbarroja").

38. Portrait of a Jester of King Philip IV., nicknamed Don Juan de Austria.

39. Portrait of a Dwarf of King Philip IV., called "El Primo."

40. Portrait of a Dwarf of King Philip IV. (Sebastian de Morra?)

41. Portrait of Don Antonio, an English (?) Dwarf of King Philip IV. (with a mastiff).

42. The Boy of Vallecas.

43. The Idiot of Coria.

44. Æsop.

45. Menippus.

46. The God Mars.

47. Portrait of a Man (bust length).

48. Portrait of a Man (bust length).

49. Portrait of Alonso Martinez de Espinar, Groom of the Bedchamber to Prince Baltasar Carlos (bust length).

50. View in the Garden of the Villa Medici, Rome.

51. View in the Garden of the Villa Medici, Rome.

52. View of the "Calle de la Reina" in Aranjuez, with a Royal Cavalcade on the road.

53. Study of an old Man's head, in profile.

54. Study of an old Man's head (a smaller copy).

55. Portrait of Philip IV., in court dress.

56. Portrait of Prince Baltasar Carlos, as a child, in court dress.

57. A Group of Figures, presumably painted by Velazquez, in the foreground of a "View of Zaragoza", by Juan Bautista Martinez del Mazo.

58. Another group of Figures in the same picture.

59. Portrait of Doña Mariana de Austria, second wife of Philip IV., dressed in mourning (now attributed to Juan B. M. del Mazo).

II. —REMBRANDT

A second collection (also presented by Lord Savile) consists of forty copies, painted in oil-colour, on a reduced scale by Herr Paul Roemer, from pictures by Rembrandt in the Imperial Gallery of the Hermitage, St. Petersburg. The subjects are as follows: —

Enclosed in one Frame —

1. The Denial of St. Peter.

2. Portrait of Rembrandt's Mother; half length; seated, holding a book on her knees.

3. Portrait of Rembrandt's Mother; half length; seated.

4. Portrait of a young Warrior in armour.

5. Portrait of an aged Jew; half length; seated.

6. Portrait of a Man; half length; standing.

7. Portrait of a Woman; half length; seated.

8. Portrait of the Rabbi Manasseh ben Israel; seated.

9. A young female Servant, with a broom.

10. "Le Benedicite." (A Peasant family saying grace.)

Enclosed in one Frame —

11. Abraham at Table with the Angels.

12. Jacob's elder Sons showing him Joseph's garment.

13. Potiphar's Wife accusing Joseph.

14. The Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard.

15. The Incredulity of St. Thomas.

16. Portrait of Rembrandt's Mother; half length; seated.

17. Portrait of a young Jewess, crowned with flowers.

18. Portrait of a Turk; half length.

19. Portrait of a Man.

20. Portrait of a young Man, with long fair hair.

21. Portrait of a young Man, dressed in black.

22. Portrait of an old Man.

Enclosed in one Frame —

23. The Sacrifice of Abraham.

24. The Holy Family.

25. The Return of the Prodigal Son.

26. Danaë.

27. Portrait of an old Officer.

28. A Young Girl at her Toilet.

29. Portrait of a Man.

30. Portrait of a Woman.

31. A Landscape; with figures representing the journey to Emmaus.

32. View on the Rhine.

33. The Toilet of a young Jewish Girl.

Enclosed in one Frame —

34. The Disgrace of Haman.

35. The Descent from the Cross.

36. Portrait of Lieven Willemszon van Copenol, the Calligrapher.

37. The Mother of Rembrandt; half length; seated.

38. Portrait of an aged Jew.

39. Portrait of an old Man.

40. A Nun teaching a Child to read.

III. —MURILLO, Etc

A third collection (presented by Dr. E. J. Longton, of Southport) consists of forty-five small water-colour copies, by W. West, from pictures by old masters, principally in the Prado Gallery at Madrid. The following are the subjects: —

After Murillo —

1. The Adoration of the Shepherds. Prado, Madrid.

2. St. Elizabeth of Hungary tending the Sick. Academy of St. Fernando, Madrid.

3. The Dream of the Roman Senator and his Wife. Ibid.

4. The Roman Senator and his Wife telling their Dream to Pope Liberius. Ibid.

5. St. Thomas of Villanueva giving alms. Museum, Seville.

6. Christ on the Cross, supported by St. Francis. Ibid.

7. SS. Justa and Rufina. Ibid.

8. St. Anthony with the Infant Saviour. Museum, Seville.

9. St. Felix restoring the Infant Christ to the Virgin. Ibid.

10. La Vergen de la Servilleta. Ibid.

11. Moses striking the Rock in Horeb. La Caridad, Seville.

12. St. John the Baptist as a Child, with the Lamb. Ibid.

13. The Charity of St. Juan de Dios. Ibid.

After Zurbaran (?)

14. A Legendary Subject.

After Velazquez —

15. Los Borrachos (The Tipplers). Prado, Madrid.

16. Portrait of Philip IV. (with a Dog). Ibid.

17. Prince Balthazar as a Boy on his Pony. Ibid.

18. Portrait of the Infanta Doña Margarita. Ibid.

19. Portrait of a Male Dwarf, with a Dog. Ibid.

20. Las Meninas (The Maids of Honour); Velazquez in his Studio painting the Infanta Margarita Maria. Ibid.

21. Equestrian Portrait of Philip IV. Ibid.

22. Portrait of the Earl of Nottingham. Ibid.

After Titian —

23. Portrait of Philip II. as a Young Man. Ibid.

24. Equestrian Portrait of Charles. Ibid.

25. The Bacchanal. Ibid.

26. Portrait of Charles V., with a Dog. Ibid.

27. Portrait of an Officer.

After Rubens —

28. The Three Graces. Ibid.

29. The Garden of Love. Ibid.

After Van Dyck —

30. The Betrayal of Christ. Ibid.

31. Portrait of Henry, Count de Berg. Ibid.

32. Portrait of a Cavalier. Ibid.

After Ribera —

33. Jacob receiving Isaac's Blessing. Ibid.

34. Jacob's Dream. Ibid.

After Jordaens —

35. Family Group in a Garden. Ibid.

After Raphael —

36. The Holy Family (La Perla). Prado, Madrid.

37. The Holy Family (La Rosa). Ibid.

38. The Holy Family (Del Lagarto). Ibid.

39. Christ bearing the Cross (Lo Spasimo). Ibid.

After Correggio —

40. Noli me tangere. Ibid.

After Claude —

41. Landscape, with St. Mary Magdalen kneeling. Ibid.

After Giorgione —

42. The Virgin and Child, with St. Bridget. Ibid.

After Rembrandt —

43. Queen Artemisia. Ibid.

After Sir A. More —

44. Queen Mary of England. Ibid.

After Parmigiano —

45. Portrait of a Lady with three Children (probably Riccarda Malaspina, Wife of Lorenzo Cibo). Ibid.

IV. —THE ARUNDEL SOCIETY'S COLLECTION

The Arundel Society was formed in 1849 in order to meet "a revived interest in art by suitable instruction." In the case of early Italian art, "the materials for such instruction were abundant, but scattered, little accessible, and, in some instances, passing away." The Society set itself to secure engravings and other records of works of art which came within the description just given. A large collection of water-copies from the Old Masters was thus accumulated, and the Collection was in 1897 deposited in the National Gallery on loan. Two years later, the Society was wound up, and the collection was given to the nation. It is of great interest and value to all students of mediæval art. Many of the Arundel copies are familiar from reproductions in chromo-lithography. "The latter," as a well-known critic has remarked, "although they undoubtedly did good service in their time by calling attention to the less known and less easily available masterpieces of the earlier Italian art, were often enough lamentable caricatures of the things which they professed to represent. The drawings themselves are, however, in many cases, of an exquisite accuracy, of which the reproductions give little or no idea. Of course, when the attempt is made to copy in this medium the great achievements of Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, Palma Vecchio, Paolo Veronese, – or even of such earlier colourists as the Van Eycks and Memlinc, – failure, more or less complete, must inevitably be the result. It would be difficult, on the other hand, to overestimate the value of such copies as those of the famous frescoes of Mantegna in the Church of the Eremitani at Padua, those of Benozzo Gozzoli at San Gimignano and Montefalco, of Piero della Francesca at Arezzo, or of the great galaxy of Quattrocento painters – Perugino, Pinturicchio, Botticelli, Ghirlandajo, Signorelli, Cosimo Rosselli, and Piero di Cosimo – who worked in the Sixtine Chapel before Michelangelo came to dwarf and efface them with his stupendous ceiling, and, thirty years later on, with his 'Last Judgment.' For the purposes of study and comparison these copies, lent by the Arundel Society, fulfil much the same role as does a good museum of casts from antique masterpieces. They do not enable the student of art to form a complete idea of the originals, any more than the copies of the Pheidian and Praxitelean sculptures do; but they enlarge his view of the scope and significance of Italian and Netherlandish art in their greatest phases, and happily they fill up gaps which must occur even in the most various and representative collection, such as is the National Gallery."263