Chapter D: G. ROSSETTI: Sonnets and Ballads.187 (3)
The principal building is the Scuola of the religious fraternity of St. Roch--"an interesting building of the early Renaissance (1517), passing into Roman Renaissance," and, "as regards the pictures it contains (by Tintoret), one of the three most precious buildings in Italy" (_Stones of Venice_, Venetian Index). From the adjoining Church of St. Roch, the Holy Thursday procession of the Doges and Officers of State, together with the members of the Fraternity, is advancing under an awning on its way to St. Mark's. Notice the carpets hung out of the windows--a standing feature, this, in Venetian gala decorations from very early times (see, for instance, No. 739).[199] Notice, also, the pictures displayed in the open air--a feature which well illustrates the difference between the later "easel pictures" and the earlier pictures intended to serve as architectural decorations. "A glance at this picture is sufficient to show how utterly the ordinary oil painting fails when employed as an architectural embellishment. Pictures which were to adorn and form part of a building had to consist of figures, separated one from another, all standing in simple and restful attitudes, and all plainly relieved against a light ground" (Conway: _Early Flemish Artists_, p. 270). Apart from one of the conditions of early art thus suggested, the picture is interesting as showing how in the eighteenth century in Italy, as in the thirteenth, art was part and parcel of the life of the people. Cimabue's pictures were carried in procession; and here in Canaletto's we see Venetian "old masters" hung out to assist in the popular rejoicing.
938. VENICE: REGATTA ON THE GRAND CANAL.
_Canaletto_ (Venetian: 1697-1768). _See 127._
A state regatta--a pastime which owes its origin to Venice--in honour of the visit to the city of the King of Denmark in 1709. In the centre of the canal are the gondoliers, racing; to the sides are moored the spectators, the gala barges of the nobles conspicuous amongst them. The variegated building on the left is a temporary pavilion for the distribution of prizes. These regattas at Venice took the place of our royal processions here. "Wherever the eye turned, it beheld a vast multitude at doorways, on the quays, and even on the roofs. Some of the spectators occupied scaffoldings erected at favourable points along the sides of the canal; and the patrician ladies did not disdain to leave their palaces, and, entering their gondolas, lose themselves among the infinite number of the boats" (_Feste Veneziane_: quoted in Howells's _Venetian Life_, ii. 69). Another custom in which we have begun to imitate the Venetians, and which may be seen in this picture, is that of hanging out carpets and stuffs by way of decorations. "The windows and balconies," says the same account, "were decked with damasks, stuffs of the Levant, tapestries, and velvets;" a very old Venetian custom: see under 937.
939, 940. VENICE: THE PIAZZETTA, AND THE DUCAL PALACE.
_Canaletto_ (Venetian: 1697-1768). _See 127._
Canaletto's representation of the central spot of Venice. In 939 is the Piazzetta, the little Piazza or square, in front the church of St. Mark, with its bell towers; on the left are the mint and library; on the right is the ducal palace. This appears again in 940, with the famous column of St. Mark, patron saint of Venice, while beyond it is the Ponte della Paglia, the prisons, and the Riva degli Schiavoni.
941. VENICE: THE GRIMANI PALACE.
_Canaletto_ (Venetian: 1697-1768). _See 127._
This palace, situated on the Grand Canal and used until lately as the post-office, was built in the sixteenth century by San Micheli, and is "the principal type at Venice, and one of the best in Europe, of the central architecture of the Renaissance schools--that carefully studied and perfectly executed architecture to which those schools owe their principal claim to our respect, and which became the model of most of the important works subsequently produced by civilised nations.... It is composed of three stories of the Corinthian order (_i.e._ in which the ornament is concave, distinguished from Doric, in which it is convex), at once simple, delicate, and sublime; but on so colossal a scale that the three-storied palaces on its right and left only reach to the cornice which marks the level of its first floor" (_Stones of Venice_, vol. iii. ch. ii. §§ 1, 2). Buildings in the same style in London are St. Paul's and Whitehall.
942. ETON COLLEGE.
_Canaletto_ (Venetian: 1697-1768). _See under 127._
Painted during the artist's first English visit, 1746-1748, perhaps in the same year (1747) that Gray published his well-known ode--
Ye distant spires, ye antique towers
That crown the watery glade,
Where grateful Science still adores
Her Henry's holy shade.
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 together
In sad or singing weather....
If love were what the rose is
And 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 sunny
South, where Anio leaps in foam,
Thou wast reared, till lack of money
Drew 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."
St. Lawrence (for whose legend see 747) is being prepared for martyrdom. Beside him there is an image of Cæsar, unto whom will be rendered Cæsar's due--the saint's life; but over his head is an angel from heaven, for unto God will go the saint's soul. The emperor is crowned on earth; the angel brings the saint a palm branch, an earnest of the martyr's crown in heaven.
1015. FRUIT, FLOWERS, AND DEAD BIRDS.
_Jan van Os_ (Dutch: 1744-1808).
Born at Middelharnis, a most distinguished flower-painter in
the manner of Van Huysum. He also painted marine pieces and
wrote poetry. His wife drew portraits in chalk, and his two
sons were painters.
Prominent amongst the flowers is the red cockscomb. A picture by the most distinguished flower-painter of his time, and characteristic, in an interesting particular, of Dutch pictures of this kind generally. "If the reader has any familiarity with the galleries of painting in the great cities of Europe, he cannot but retain a clear, though somewhat monotonously calm, impression of the character of those polished flower-pieces, or still-life pieces, which occupy subordinate corners, and invite to moments of repose, or frivolity, the attention and imagination which have been wearied in admiring the attitudes of heroism, and sympathising with the sentiments of piety. Recalling to his memory the brightest examples of these ... he will find that all the older ones agree--if flower-pieces--in a certain courtliness and formality of arrangement, implying that the highest honours which flowers can attain are in being wreathed into grace of garlands, or assembled in variegation of bouquets, for the decoration of beauty, or flattery of _noblesse_. If fruit or still-life pieces, they agree no less distinctly in directness of reference to the supreme hour when the destiny of dignified fruit is to be accomplished in a royal dessert; and the furred and feathered life of hill and forest may bear witness to the Wisdom of Providence by its extinction for the kitchen dresser. Irrespectively of these ornamental virtues, and culinary utilities, the painter never seems to perceive any conditions of beauty in the things themselves, which would make them worth regard for their own sake: nor, even in these appointed functions, are they ever supposed to be worth painting, unless the pleasures they procure be distinguished as those of the most exalted society" (_Notes on Prout and Hunt_, pp. 10, 11, where Ruskin goes on to contrast with this Dutch ideal the simple pleasure in the flowers and fruits for their own sake which marks W. Hunt's still-life drawings).
Observe, as further characteristic of Dutch fruit-pieces, the butterfly, the fly, and the earwig: "There was a further _tour de force_ demanded of the Dutch workman, without which all his happiest preceding achievements would have been unacknowledged. Not only a dew-drop, but, in some depth of bell or cranny of leaf, a bee, or a fly, was necessary for the complete satisfaction of the connoisseur. In the articulation of the fly's legs, or neurology of the bee's wings, the genius of painting was supposed to signify her accepted disciples; and their work went forth to the European world, thenceforward, without question, as worthy of its age and country. But, without recognising in myself, or desiring to encourage in my scholars, any unreasonable dislike or dread of the lower orders of living creatures, I trust that the reader will feel with me that none of Mr. Hunt's peaches or plums would be made daintier by the detection on them of even the most cunningly latent wasp, or cautiously rampant caterpillar; and will accept, without so much opposition as it met with forty years ago, my then first promulgated, but steadily since repeated assertion, that the 'modern painter' had in these matters less vanity than the ancient one, and better taste" (_ib._ pp. 14, 15).
1016. A PORTRAIT OF A GIRL.
_Sir Peter Lely_ (Dutch: 1617-1680).
Lely, the court painter of the reign of Charles II., by whom
he was knighted, was a native of Holland; his father's name
was Van der Vaes, but the son took the nickname of Le Lys or
Lely (from the lily with which the front of his father's house
was ornamented) as a surname. He was born in Westphalia, but
settled in England in 1641, the year of Van Dyck's death, on
whom he modelled his style. It was Lely who is said to have
painted Cromwell, "warts and all," but he easily accommodated
himself to the softer manners of the Restoration. The rich
curls, the full lips, and the languishing eyes of the frail
beauties of Charles II. may be seen at Hampton Court. Lely
was "a mighty proud man," says Pepys, "and full of state."
The painting of great ladies was a lucrative business, and
his collection of drawings and pictures sold at his death for
£26,000, a sum which bore a greater proportion to the fortunes
of the rich men of that day than £100,000 would bear to the
fortunes of the rich men of our time. He was struck with
apoplexy while painting the Duchess of Somerset, and was buried
at St. Paul's, Covent Garden.
The courtly affectation which distinguishes Lely's portraits is not absent from this little girl. She is feeding the parrot, but obviously takes no interest in it--not even troubling indeed to look at it. Her concern seems to be only to hold up her flowing frock (or "simar") prettily and to point her fingers gracefully.
1017. A WOODY LANDSCAPE.
_Unknown_ (Flemish: dated 1622).
_See also_ (p. xx)
The landscape is probably by Josse Mompers, an Antwerp artist who lived 1564-1635.
1018. A CLASSICAL LANDSCAPE.
_Claude Lorraine_ (French: 1600-1682). _See 2._
A characteristic example of Claude's "classical compositions" as described in our chapter on the French School. It is one of his late works, being dated 1673; the names of Anchises and Æneas occur.
1019. THE HEAD OF A GIRL.
_Greuze_ (French: 1725-1805). _See 206._
I will paint her as I see her....
With a forehead fair and saintly,
Which two blue eyes under-shine,
Like meek prayers before a shrine.
Face and figure of a child,--
Though too calm, you think, and tender,
For the childhood you would lend her.
Mrs. BROWNING: _A Portrait_.
1020. GIRL WITH AN APPLE.
_Greuze_ (French: 1725-1805). _See 206._
A cloud of yellow hair
Is round about her ear.
She hath a mouth of grace,
And forehead sweet and fair.
AUSTIN DOBSON: _A Song of Angiola_.
1021. PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN.
_Frans Hals_ (Dutch: 1580-1666).
Among the Dutch portrait-painters, Hals stands second only to
Rembrandt, while for mastery of the brush he is second only
to Velazquez. Though born in Antwerp and a pupil of Karel van
Mander (the Flemish painter and biographer), Hals is claimed
as a member of the Dutch School, inasmuch as his father was
settled at Haarlem in Holland, and he himself lived and worked
there. In style, "though his vigorous drawing recalls by its
boldness the masterly method of Rubens, his manner of giving
to his work a sustained light, his style of composition, and
the choice of his subject, place him unmistakably in the Dutch
School.... No one, either before or after him, ever attained
the marvellous exactness with which he places flesh tints in
juxtaposition, without their mixing together, just as they
come from the palette.... No artist ever manipulated his
brush with such firmness, freedom, and life. In consequence
of his extraordinary ability, Frans Hals has been called 'the
personification of painting'" (Havard: _The Dutch School_,
p. 110). "We prize in Rembrandt," says another critic, "the
golden glow of effect based upon artificial contrast of low
light in immeasurable gloom. Hals was fond of daylight of
silvery sheen. Both men were painters of touch, but of touch
on different keys. Rembrandt was the bass, Hals the treble."
Rembrandt's portraits are the more profound, and there is in
them an intensity of pathetic realism which was beyond the
reach of Hals; but Hals seizes the brighter moments of lusty
life with a force and truth which have never been excelled.
Hals is best seen in the Haarlem Museum in a series of portrait
groups. Of his single portraits, No. 1251 in our Gallery is a
characteristic example, and at Hertford House is a famous and
charming picture, "The Laughing Cavalier," which is full of
what Fromentin well calls "the irresistible verve" of Frans
Hals.
The life of Hals was irregular and improvident, but full also
of work and energy. At a time when the Dutch nation fought
for independence and won it, Hals appears in the ranks of
its military guilds. He was also a member of the Chamber
of Rhetoric, and president of the Painters' Corporation at
Haarlem. In 1610 he married, and five years later was summoned
before the magistrates for ill-treating his wife, and on that
occasion was severely reprimanded for his violent and drunken
habits. His first wife died prematurely, and he saved the
character of his second by marrying her in 1617. With her
he seems to have lived happily for nearly fifty years, and
they brought up a large family. Financial troubles, however,
befell the painter. In 1654 a forced sale of his pictures and
furniture at the suit of his baker brought him to penury. A few
years later we hear of the municipality paying his rent and
firing for him, and granting him a small annuity. His widow
had to seek outdoor relief from the guardians of the poor. His
four sons were all painters, and attained some distinction.
Several of the best Dutch painters--Van der Helst, A. van
Ostade, Metsu, Terburg, Steen, and others--were directly or
indirectly his scholars. In the Haarlem Museum there is a
picture by Job Berck-Heyde, dated 1652, of the studio in which
Frans Hals is surrounded by his sons and pupils.
1022. AN ITALIAN NOBLEMAN.
_Moroni_ (Bergamese: 1525-1578). _See 697._
His left foot appears to have been wounded, for it is attached by a kind of stirrup and black cord to a band above the knee. It is interesting to compare this portrait with the closely corresponding one by Moretto which hangs near it (1025). Both are excellent examples of the several masters. Both were, no doubt, good likenesses; but there is a suggestion of poetry in Moretto's which one misses in Moroni's. Both are believed to be portraits of members of the Fernaroli family.
1023. AN ITALIAN LADY.
_Moroni_ (Bergamese: 1525-1578). _See 697._
Said to be the wife of the subject of the preceding portrait. Not so happy a production; Moroni's strength lay in portraits of the other sex.
1024. AN ITALIAN ECCLESIASTIC.
_Moroni_ (Bergamese: 1525-1578). _See 697._
The letter in his hand is addressed to himself, and tells us that he is Ludovico di Terzi, Canon of Bergamo, and an Apostolic Prothonotary. These latter functionaries, of whom there are still twelve in the Roman Church, are the chiefs of what may be called the Record Office of the Church. It is their business to draw up the reports of all important Church functions, such as the enthronements of new popes and public consistories. It is an office of much dignity--as this holder of it seems to be fully conscious, and the prothonotaries rank with bishops in the Church.
1025. AN ITALIAN NOBLEMAN.
_Il Moretto_ (Brescian: 1498-1555). _See 299._
This picture, dated 1526, is one of Moretto's most elegant portraits. It is a true character portrait, a picture of a soul as well as of a face. It shows us an Italian nobleman with all the poetry and aspiration of chivalry. On his scarlet cap he bears his proud device--a medallion in gold and enamel of St. Christopher bearing the infant Saviour--the ideal of Christian chivalry: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of one of these, ye have done it unto me." The picture is no doubt a portrait of one of the Fernaroli family, from whose palace in Brescia it came.
1031. MARY MAGDALENE.
_Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo_ (Brescian: about 1480-1548).
Savoldo, "an excellent amateur, who was apparently first a
pupil of Romanino, then of Giovanni Bellini, and later of
Titian"[200] (Morelli: _Borghese Gallery_, p. 246). "He visited
Florence in 1508, and we find him enrolled as master in the
Painters' Guild there; his stay cannot, however, have been of
long duration, as none of his works known to us betray the
slightest Florentine influence" (_id. German Galleries_, p.
408). "His works," says Sir F. Burton, "display a distinct
individuality, the result of tendencies inherent in his nature.
The romantic element, already developed in Venetian art, shows
itself strongly in his passion for scenes of early dawn and
late sunset and effects of night illuminated by fire. His human
types are pleasing with a certain grave dignity. His colouring
is on the whole colder than that of his contemporaries of the
Veneto-Brescian School, and his flesh tints are adust and
sombre, especially in his male figures; nor are his draperies
generally brilliant in colour, although he delighted in the
sheen of silken stuffs, contrasting it with the kind of
twilight which pervades many of his pictures." "His landscapes
in sacred subjects make a profound impression of silent wonder
and devotion. They seem to palpitate in sympathy with the
deeds they witness, instead of being mere scenic backgrounds.
In the Berlin Deposition, for instance, the sky is lurid
and blood-stained; in the Adoration at Turin the shepherds
seem to be stealing noiselessly along, afraid of causing the
least disturbance in the hush and awe of the morning" (Mary
Logan's _Guide to Hampton Court_, in which collection there
is a picture by Savoldo of a Madonna and Child, dated 1527).
Savoldo's pictures are rare, and often pass under other names.
He was, says Vasari (iv. 535), "a fanciful and ingenious
person, what he has accomplished well meriting to be highly
commended." An important altar-piece, bearing his signature,
is in the Brera at Milan, and a beautiful "Adoration of the
Shepherds" is in the Church of St. Giobbe at Venice.
"A vein of realism, combined with the mystery of Savoldo's deep colours and half-lights, is seen in the picture of a woman shrouded in a mantle in the National Gallery" (_Layard_, ii. 585). The picture agrees with the description given by Ridolfi of a "Magdalene," "a celebrated work of which there are many copies." A very similar picture, signed with Savoldo's name, is in the Berlin Gallery. The Magdalen is here approaching the sepulchre, before which is a vase of ointment on a square stone--for she had "bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning ... they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun" (Mark xvi. 1, 2). Notice the daring anachronism in the Venetian background, which "gives with exquisite truth a very early dawn upon the Giudecca."
1032. CHRIST'S AGONY IN THE GARDEN.
_Lo Spagna_ (Umbrian: painted 1503-1530).
Giovanni di Pietro, called Lo Spagna (the Spaniard), presumably
from his nationality, was a pupil of Pietro Perugino--the
best, perhaps, of all his pupils who remained untouched by
other influences. Observe for the influence of Perugino's
teaching the lovely flowers in the foreground and the attitude
of the leader of the Roman soldiers on the left (like that
of Perugino's Michael in 288). In 1516 Lo Spagna was made a
citizen of Spoleto, and in the following year president of the
Society of Artists there. The Madonna Enthroned, now in the
Lower Church of Assisi, is considered his masterpiece.
An angel bearing a chalice flies towards Christ from above ("O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done"). On the right is Judas with a band of Roman soldiers. On the foreground are the three disciples sleeping ("What! could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch, and pray, that ye enter not into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak").
This picture was at one time ascribed to the young Raphael,[201] being identified with the work which he executed for Duke Guidobaldo of Urbino, and which is thus described by Vasari (iii. 8): "For the same noble, the master executed another small picture, representing Christ praying in the Garden, with three of the apostles, who are sleeping at some distance, and which is so beautifully painted that it could scarcely be either better or otherwise were it even in miniature." Vasari traces the history of the picture down to his time, when it was in the Hermitage of Camaldoli. Our picture was formerly in the possession of Prince Gabrielli at Rome. The greater portion of the original drawing for it is in the Uffizi, catalogued under Perugino.
1033. THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI.
_Filippino Lippi_ (Florentine: 1457-1504). _See 293._
_See also_ (p. xx)
This picture[202] (like 592, _q.v._) is often ascribed to Botticelli, from whom Filippino learnt his fondness for the circular form. Every one will recognise too the resemblance to Botticelli in the daintiness of the dresses, the trappings of the horses (especially in the middle of the foreground), and the other accessories (such as the head-dresses of the Magi on the right). Vasari, indeed, says of Filippino that "the ornaments he added were so new, so fanciful, and so richly varied, that he must be considered the first who taught the moderns the new method of giving variety to the habiliments, and who first embellished his figures by adorning them with vestments after the antique." Filippino and later painters give these embellishments to angels as well as to men; and Vasari, it will be seen, considered it altogether an improvement. Some remarks on the other side will be found in _Modern Painters_, vol. ii. pt. iii. sec. ii. ch. v. § 14 ("Of the Superhuman Ideal"). "The ornaments used by Angelico, Giotto, and Perugino (see, _e.g._ 288) are always of a _generic_ and _abstract_ character. They are not diamonds, nor brocades, nor velvets, nor gold embroideries; they are mere spots of gold or of colour, simple patterns upon _textureless_ draperies; the angel wings burn with transparent crimson and purple and amber, but they are not set forth with peacocks' plumes; the golden circlets gleam with changeful light, but they are not beaded with pearls nor set with sapphires. In the works of Filippino Lippi, Mantegna, and many other painters following, interesting examples may be found of the opposite treatment; and as in Lippi the heads are usually very sweet, and the composition severe, the degrading effect of the realised decorations and imitated dress may be seen in him simply, and without any addition of painfulness from other deficiencies of feeling." In addition to the minor ornamentation, one may notice in this picture the crowded groups of spectators which Filippino was fond of introducing. But so harmoniously are they grouped in six principal groups that the spectator will at first probably be surprised to hear that there are as many as seventy figures in the picture.
1034. THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST.
_Sandro Botticelli_ (Florentine: 1447-1510).
The family surname of Sandro (Alessandro, or Alexander) was
Filipepi. "He was apprenticed when a lad to a goldsmith, called
Botticello (for he obstinately refused to learn either to
read, write, or sum); of which master we know only that he so
formed this boy that thenceforward the boy thought it right to
be called Botticello's Sandro, and nobody else's (in Italian
Sandro di Botticello, abbreviated into Sandro Botticelli).[203]
Having learned prosperously how to manage gold, he took a
fancy to know how to manage colour, and was put under the
best master in Florence, the Monk Lippi" (see 666). Some
characteristics of Lippi's art--its union of a buoyant spirit
of life and enjoyment with simplicity and tenderness of
religious feeling--are seen in the pupil. But he added in his
turn marked characteristics of his own, which are noticed in
detail under his several pictures here. "Where Fra Filippo was
all repose, Sandro was all movement." Moreover, Botticelli's
range of subject was very wide--embracing Venus crowned with
roses and the Virgin crowned by Christ, the birth of Love (at
Florence), and the birth of the Saviour. Botticelli, says
Ruskin, is "the only painter of Italy who understood the
thoughts of Heathens and Christians equally, and could in a
measure paint both Aphrodite and the Madonna. So that he is, on
the whole, the most universal of painters; and, take him all in
all, the greatest Florentine workman" (_Fors Clavigera_, 1872,
xxii. 2). He was, we are told, _persona sofistica_, and lived
on terms of intimacy with members of the Florentine Platonic
Academy. The speculations which he shared with the poet Matteo
Palmieri are enshrined in his "Assumption" (No. 1126), painted
about 1475. In 1481 he executed a series of designs for
Landino's edition of Dante: these wonderful drawings, formerly
in the Hamilton Collection, are now at Berlin. "By this time,"
says Ruskin, "he was accounted so good a divine, as well as
painter, that Pope Sixtus IV. sent for him to be master of
the works in his new (Sistine) chapel--where the first thing
my young gentleman does, mind you, is to paint the devil,
in a monk's dress, tempting Christ! The sauciest thing, out
and out, done in the history of the Reformation, it seems to
me; yet so wisely done, and with such true respect otherwise
shown for what was sacred in the Church, that the Pope didn't
mind; and all went on as merrily as marriage bells." The
history of Moses--the subject of his other fresco in the
Sistine Chapel--"teems with his exuberant power and displays
great grandeur of landscape." In the same chapel are also 28
portraits of Popes by Botticelli. "And having thus obtained
great honour and reputation, and considerable sums of money,
he squandered all the last away. And at this time, Savonarola
beginning to make himself heard, and founding in Florence the
company of the Piagnoni (Mourners or Grumblers, as opposed to
the men of pleasure), Sandro made a Grumbler of himself, being
then some forty years old; fell sadder, wiser, and poorer day
by day; until he became a poor bedesman of Lorenzo de' Medici;
and having gone some time on crutches, being unable to stand
upright, died peacefully" (_Ariadne Florentina_, Lecture VI.;
_Fors Clavigera_, 1872, xxii. 2-6).
Few things are more curious in the history of taste than the
vicissitudes of Botticelli's fame. In his own day he had been
much esteemed, but his reputation was soon eclipsed. In 1602
a decree was issued by the Grand Duke of Tuscany prohibiting
the inhabitants of Florence from removing important works
of art, for "neither the city nor the land itself is to be
despoiled of the masterpieces of eminent painters." The
schedule of _eccellenti pittori_ contains nineteen names,
among which that of Filippino Lippi, Botticelli's pupil, is
included, but not Botticelli himself.[204] The rediscovery
of Botticelli has fallen to our country and generation. The
influence of Rossetti, the example of Burne-Jones, the famous
essay of Pater, and the enthusiasm of Ruskin, have established
a cult of Botticelli which in earlier generations would have
passed for a mild lunacy.[205] Goldsmith, had he witnessed
it, might have substituted the name of Botticelli for that of
Perugino in his satire on fashionable æstheticism. The poetical
imagination of Botticelli, his inventive design, the strong
sense of life which glows through all his pictures, are truly
admirable. But what lends additional force to his vogue is
the seal of _intimité_ which is set upon his work. Botticelli
treats his themes, says Burton "with a verve, a naïveté, and
pathos peculiar to himself." Besides the very greatest men,
there is (says Pater) "a certain number of artists who have
a distinct faculty of their own by which they convey to us a
peculiar quality of pleasure which we cannot get elsewhere, and
these, too, have their place in general culture. Of this select
number Botticelli is one; he has the freshness, the uncertain
and diffident promise which belongs to the earlier Renaissance
itself, and makes it perhaps the most interesting period in
the history of the mind; in studying his work one begins to
understand to how great a place in human culture the art of
Italy had been called."
The other pictures by Botticelli in the National Gallery (see 275, 1126, and 915) adequately represent his earlier phases; this one completes the story of his life--painted as it was under Savonarola's influence--
Wrought in the troublous times of Italy
By Sandro Botticelli, when for fear
Of that last judgment, and last day drawn near
To end all labour and all revelry,
He worked and prayed in silence.
ANDREW LANG: _Ballads and Lyrics, etc._
Comments
Log in to leave a comment.
A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery, Volume I, Foreign SchoolsChapter D: G. ROSSETTI: Sonnets and Ballads.187 (3)
0%33 min left in chapter