Chapter D: G. ROSSETTI: Early Italian Poets (2)

Michele, a pupil of Domenico Morone (1211), was a contemporary
and sometimes an assistant of Cavazzola (735). The works of
the two are easily distinguishable. Michele, says Morelli,
"is more pointed in the foldings of his draperies, as well as
in the fingers of his hands, which are always rather stumpy
in Cavazzola. In conception, however, Cavazzola is far above
Michele, and also more elegant and noble in his drawing"
(_German Galleries_, p. 54). Many of Michele's works are to be
seen at Verona. His landscape backgrounds, as in the present
picture, are interesting.

Coriolanus, a noble Roman, so called from Corioli, a city of the Volscians he had taken, bore himself haughtily, and was banished. Nursing his revenge, he threw himself into the arms of the Volscians, determined henceforth to bear himself "As if a man were author of himself, And knew no other kin," and advanced at their head upon Rome. The Romans, in terror, endeavoured in vain to appease him, and at last sent out his wife, Volumnia, with her child, here kneeling before him, and his mother, Veturia (Volumnia in Shakespeare's play), to intercede. In their presence "the strong man gave way; he throws himself on his knee, and is restored once more to human love"--

Like a dull actor now,
I have forgot my part ... O, a kiss
Long as my exile, sweet as my revenge!
Now, by the jealous queen of heaven, that kiss
I carried from thee, dear; and my true lip
Hath virgin'd it e'er since. Ye gods! I prate,
And the most noble mother of the world
Leave unsaluted: sink, my knee, i' the earth.

SHAKESPEARE: _Coriolanus_, Act v. Sc. 3.

1215. MADONNA AND CHILD.

_Domenico Veneziano_ (died 1461). _See 766._

For the history of this picture (now withdrawn from exhibition) see under 766. The restorations of 1851 there referred to were in great part removed after the acquisition of the picture by the National Gallery. But "it was found, late in 1904, that its state threatened its immediate destruction, and it was hoped that the mischief might be arrested by re-lining. The pigment was, however, found to be falling from the plaster ground in such a way that re-lining, which would affect only the adherence of the ground to the canvas backing, was useless, and very reluctant recourse was had to the process of transferring the picture itself to canvas. This transfer resulted in such a loss to the picture that it has been withdrawn from public exhibition, and, for the present, it is thought better to leave it as a genuine picture, of interest to connoisseurs, rather than subject it to the extensive repainting without which it would hardly be intelligible to the ordinary visitor" (_Director's Report_, 1905). A small copy of the picture is exhibited among the Arundel Society's Collection.

1216, 1216 a & b. THE FALL OF THE REBEL ANGELS.

_Spinello Aretino_ (Tuscan: about 1333-1410). _See 581._

These fragments of a fresco, now transferred to canvas, are of particular interest from the following mention of it by Vasari. He relates how Spinello Aretino, after executing important works in various cities of Italy, returned to his native city, Arezzo, and very shortly settled down to decorate the church of S. Maria degli Angeli. The subject chosen was certain stories from the life of St. Michael. "At the high altar," says Vasari, "he represented Lucifer fixing his seat in the North, with the fall of the angels, who are changed into devils as they descend to the earth. In the air appears St. Michael in combat with the old serpent of seven heads and ten horns, while beneath and in the centre of the picture is Lucifer, already changed into a most hideous beast. And so anxious was the artist to make him frightful and horrible that it is said--such is sometimes the power of imagination--that the figure he had painted appeared to him in his sleep, demanding to know where the painter had seen him looking so ugly as that, and wherefore he permitted his pencils to offer him, the said Lucifer, so mortifying an affront." Vasari attributes a fatal result to this vision. "The artist awoke," he says, "in such extremity of terror that he was unable to cry out, but shook and trembled so violently that his wife, awakening, hastened to his assistance. But the shock was so great that he was on the point of expiring suddenly from this accident, and did not in fact survive it beyond a very short time, during which he remained in a dispirited condition, with eyes from which all intelligence had departed" (i. 269). In fact, however, Spinello lived many years and executed several important works after the date in question. Some years ago the church of the Angeli was dismantled, and the greater portion of the frescoes perished. Sir A. H. Layard, who was passing Arezzo at the time, was fortunately able to secure a large piece of the principal fresco. The fragment is from the centre of the composition, and contains a portion of the figure of Michael and six of the angels following him. The archangel, with raised sword, is striking at the dragon; his attendants, armed with spears and swords, thrust down the demons. Besides these figures, Sir A. H. Layard was able to save a portion of the decorated border of the fresco (1216 A & B). These he presented to the nation in 1886.

1217. THE ISRAELITES GATHERING MANNA.

_Ercole Roberti de' Grandi_ (Ferrarese: 1450-1496).
_See 1127._

"The lithe and sinewy form in the nude figure of the young man, the accurate draughtsmanship, the firm modelling, the care and study bestowed even on the tiny figures in the background, the dramatic intention and impression of vitality, indicate a familiarity with the works of Mantegna" (_Times_, July 24, 1886). The artist exhibits, adds Sir F. Burton, "no less appreciation of natural grace in the female figures than of dignity in the principal male personages."

1218, 1219. JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN.

_Francesco Ubertini_ (Florentine: 1494-1557).

Francesco, the son of Ubertino, a goldsmith, called Il
Bacchiacca, studied first under Perugino, and afterwards with
Franciabigio and Andrea del Sarto. He was also at one time
in Rome, where he lived on terms of intimacy with Giulio
Romano and Benvenuto Cellini; he is mentioned in Cellini's
Autobiography. He was "more particularly successful," says
Vasari, "in the execution of small figures, which he executed
to perfection and with infinite patience. Ultimately Bacchiacca
was received into the service of the Duke Cosimo, seeing
that he was excellent in the delineation of all kinds of
animals, and was therefore employed to decorate a study for
his Excellency, which he did with great ability, covering the
same with birds of various kinds, together with rare plants
and foliage. At a later period he painted in fresco the grotto
of a fountain which is in the garden of the Pitti Palace, and
also prepared the designs for hangings of a bed to be richly
embroidered all over with stories in small figures, this being
considered the most gorgeous decoration of the kind that has
ever been executed in similar work, seeing that the designs
of Francesco have been worked in embroidery, thickly mingled
with pearls and other costly material, by Antonio, the brother
of Francesco, who is an excellent master in embroidery" (iv.
492). It would appear from Vasari's account that Francesco's
works consisted of _predelle_ for altar-pieces, and pictorial
adornments for wedding chests, and other pieces of "art
furniture."[236] Morelli, however, in an interesting chapter
on Bacchiacca (_Roman Galleries_, pp. 103-113), claims for him
a much more important position, ascribing to him among other
works the charming and celebrated "Portrait of a Boy" in the
Louvre, commonly attributed to Raphael.

The present panels decorated the room in the house at Florence, from which Pontormo's picture of Joseph also comes (see under 1131); they were doubtless painted for "cassoni," or large chests which were used by the Italians of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries as wardrobes. "In those palmy days art was welcomed everywhere in Italy, and had a share in all the concerns of men, and in all the events and festivities of daily life. The nobles took a delight in enriching their palaces, their country houses, and the chapels in their churches, with paintings and sculpture, and even required that their household furniture should, whilst useful, be graceful and beautiful." Our panels were purchased many years ago from the heirs of the Borgherini.

Several incidents occur in each of the two pictures, but the main figures constantly recur, and we recognise them by their dress and look. (1218). On the left, in this picture, are Joseph's brethren travelling in search of corn towards the land of Egypt, quaint figures in fantastic dresses, with little Benjamin, a child in a blue frock, and Reuben weeping, and another brother trying in vain to console him. "And the famine was sore in the land.... And the men took ... Benjamin; and rose up, and went down to Egypt" (Genesis xliii. 1, 15). On the right in the same picture is Joseph welcoming his brothers in the portico of the palace, Pharaoh's armed guard outside looking rather grimly and inhospitably on the intruders. The landscape is green and picturesque. It is noticeable that blue (the colour of hope) is here made sacred to Joseph and Benjamin, the children of promise, who are in every instance dressed alike.

(1219). In the companion panel the further history of Joseph and his brethren is depicted in three scenes or compartments, divided by pillars. On the left are the brothers unloading the donkey of the empty meal-jars, now to be filled through Joseph's kindness. In the centre is Joseph making himself known to his eleven brethren. He is gazing tenderly on little Benjamin, who advances towards him in the foreground. "And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph: doth my father yet live?" (Genesis xlv. 3). On the right are seen the brethren departing homeward, and the mule laden with Benjamin and the filled meal-bags is being driven off.

1220. THE VIRGIN AND CHILD

_L' Ingegno_ (Umbrian: painted 1484-1511).

This is the only picture, says the Official Catalogue, which
can be authenticated "with something like certainty" as the
work of Andrea di Luigi, of Assisi. His name occurs in receipts
and registers from 1505 to 1511, in the capacity of procurator,
arbitrator, auditor to the magistracy, and finally of papal
cashier at Assisi. It was perhaps this "talent" for affairs
that won him the name of "L' Ingegno." Vasari says he was the
most promising disciple of Perugino, and the resemblance to
that artist in this picture is strong. Compare for instance
even so small a thing as the dress patterns here with those in
288, as also the close resemblance to the "purist" landscape
there described.

1221. "DARBY AND JOAN."

_Abraham de Pape_ (Dutch: died 1666).

This painter, a friend and pupil of Gerard Dou, was a
well-to-do citizen of Leyden. He was twice Dean of the
Painters' Guild in that place. This picture (formerly in the
Blenheim Collection) is considered one of the best of his
works. The painter's name is inscribed on the wooden cupboard
on the wall above the spinning-wheel.

1222. A STUDY OF FOLIAGE, BIRDS, ETC.

_Melchior de Hondecoeter_ (Dutch: 1636-1695). _See 202._

Formerly ascribed to Otto Marseus; but the defaced part of the signature has recently been deciphered as being that of Hondecoeter, dated 1668.

1227. VIRGIN AND CHILD

_Marcello Venusti_ (Florentine: 1515-1579). _See 1194._

Also St. Joseph and St. John the Baptist, with the skin of a wild beast quaintly treated as a head-dress. A picture from a composition by Michael Angelo, known as "Il Silenzio."

1229. VIRGIN AND CHILD.

_Luis de Morales_ (Spanish: 1509-1586).

Luis de Morales was born at Badajos, and is one of the most
native of Spanish artists. He did not resort to Italy, such
foreign influence as is discernible in him being rather that of
the Flemings; and the religious sanctity of his work won him
the surname of "the Divine." "His subjects, always devotional,
were," we are told, "mostly of the saddest, as the Saviour in
his hour of suffering, or dead in his mother's arms, or the
weeping Madonna. His object was to excite devotion through
images of pain, and to this end the forms are attenuated and
the faces disfigured by the marks of past or present anguish."
He was very largely commissioned by churches and convents,
and his fame spread over Spain. He was called to the court of
Philip II. in 1563, but was dismissed as soon as he had painted
one picture, and thereafter he fell into great poverty. He
had appeared at court, it is said, "in the style of a grand
_seigneur_" which seemed to the king and his courtiers absurd
in a mere painter, and was the cause of their disfavour. Some
years later, however, the king, learning of his poverty,
granted him a pension. In his earlier period, Morales painted
crowded compositions with numerous figures; in his later,
smaller pictures, such as the one before us.

1230. PORTRAIT OF A GIRL.

_Domenico Ghirlandajo_ (Florentine: 1449-1494).

The name of Ghirlandajo is one of the great landmarks in the
history of Florentine art. He was the first to introduce
portraits into "historical" pictures for their own sake, and
his series of frescoes in S. Maria Novella is particularly
interesting for the numerous portraits of his friends and
patrons, dressed in the costume of the period and introduced
into scenes of Florentine life and architecture. "There is a
bishop," says Vasari, "in his episcopal vestments and with
spectacles on his nose"--Ghirlandajo was the first master who
ventured to paint a figure wearing spectacles--"he is chanting
the prayers for the dead; and the fact that we do not hear
him alone demonstrates to us that he is not alive, but merely
painted." These groups of men and women in Ghirlandajo's
sacred compositions stand by in the costume of their day as
spectators of the incidents represented. He introduced also the
architecture of Florence in the richest display and in complete
perspective; and thus in his subjects taken from sacred story
he has left us "an exalted picture of life as it presented
itself to him in that day." "In the technical management of
fresco Ghirlandajo exhibits an unsurpassed finish, and worked
in it with extraordinary facility. He is said to have expressed
a wish that he might be allowed to paint in fresco the whole
of the walls which enclosed the city of Florence." He was
carried off by the plague in his forty-fifth year, but he had
already completed a very large body of work. He was the son of
a silk-broker named Bigordi. He and his brother David, who was
also a painter, were apprenticed to a goldsmith. Their master
probably manufactured the garlands of gold and silver which
were so much in favour with the women of Florence, and the
young men coming from his shop thus acquired the name of _del
Ghirlandajo_. Domenico early showed his bent by the striking
likenesses he drew of the people who passed by the goldsmith's
shop. He remained to the end of his life, says Ruskin, "a
goldsmith with a gift of portraiture." As early as 1475 his
reputation was established, for in that year he was called to
Rome to paint in the Sistine Chapel, where his "Calling of
Peter and Andrew" is still well preserved. Among the frescoes
executed after his return to Florence may be mentioned the "St.
Jerome" in the church of the Ognissanti, the history of "St.
Francis" in the Trinita, and the famous series in the choir of
S. Maria Novella. Copies from several of these works may be
seen in the Arundel Society's Collection. They are described by
Ruskin in his _Mornings in Florence_ (see also _Praeterita_,
vol. ii., and numerous incidental references in _Modern
Painters_). Ghirlandajo had not, perhaps, Giotto's dramatic
instinct for the heart of his subjects, but his frescoes are
remarkable, not only for their brilliantly decorative effect,
but for their noble and dignified realism. In the Uffizi at
Florence are his best easel pictures. There is also a fine
"Visitation" in the Louvre. Ghirlandajo was celebrated further
as a worker in mosaic (_e.g._ the mosaic over the north door of
the Cathedral at Florence). He was twice married. The painter
Ridolfo (1143) was a son by his first wife. Amongst his other
pupils were Granacci and Michael Angelo.

The girl is of the same type--with the same hair, "yellow as ripe corn," and the same dainty primness--as the lady in Mr. Willett's picture (for some years on loan in the National Gallery, and now in the collection of M. Rodolphe Kann at Paris), but she was perhaps of humbler station--a simple flower in her hair and a coral necklace being her only ornaments.

1231. PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN.

_Sir Antonio More_ (Flemish: 1512-1578). _See 1094._

"A man in the prime of life, attributed to Sir Antonio Moro; the signature is perhaps apocryphal. There is little doubt, however, that the attribution is correct; the manipulation shows all the prodigious power of Moro. His capacity for seizing character and the fine tone of his flesh colour are all here. The execution suggests the brilliant study of Hubert Goltzius, by Moro, in the Brussels Gallery. That masterpiece was stated to have been painted in an hour; the present head bears every indication of almost equally rapid brush work" (_Times_, September 19, 1887).

1232. PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN.

_Heinrich Aldegrever_ (Westphalian: about 1502-1555).

"Aldegrever is a son of the Renaissance, but he has not
altogether escaped the old Franconian stiffness and
provincialism.... His real strength is in engraving.... He
worked also as a goldsmith, and his ornamental designs are
numerous. We also know of a small number of woodcuts by him"
(_Woltmann_, ii. 234). His pictures are very rare. The flower
and ring which figure in the best known portrait by him at
Vienna are again met with here, but this picture is less stiff
and formal than that.

1233. THE BLOOD OF THE REDEEMER.

_Giovanni Bellini_ (Venetian: 1426-1516). _See 189._

A devotional picture recalling such reminiscences of mediæval mysticism as are found in many of our hymns--

Come let us stand beneath his Cross:
So may the blood from out his side
Fall gently on us drop by drop.
Jesus our Lord is crucified.

"A cold sky with underlit clouds suggests the still and solemn hour of early dawn, a fitting time for the advent of this weird and livid apparition. Gaunt, bloodless, and with attenuated limbs, the Redeemer, we recognise, has passed through the Valley of 'the Shadow of Death'--not victoriously; there is no light of triumph in the lustreless eyes; no palm nor crown awaits this victim of relentless hate, the type of infinite despair and eternal sacrifice" (_Times_, September 19, 1887)--

Sunrise is close: the upper sky is blue
That has been darkness; and the day is new,
Bleaching yon little town: where the white hue,
Spread blank on the horizon, skirts
The night-mass there is strife and wavy rush
Of beams in flush....
The dawn is blue among the hills and white
Above their tops; a gladness creeps in sight
Across the silver-russet slopes, but night
Obscures the mortal ebb and flow
Flushing Thy veins; Thy lips in strife for breath
Are full of death.

("Michael Field" in _Sight and Song_.)

The looks and gestures of the Saviour seem to demonstrate that the blood which pours from His riven side is freely given for the redemption of the world. In the details of the picture, which careless observers might mistake for mere chance accessories, there is an allegorical meaning. The paved terrace with the open doorway symbolises the Paradise regained by the Blood of the Sacrificed, the ideal Church, the Church of the New Covenant, in contradistinction to the Hortus Inclusus, the garden enclosed, without a door, which was the type of the Old Covenant. The antique reliefs are pagan prototypes of the Christian sacrifice. On the right is Mucius Scaevola, before Lars Porsena, thrusting his hand into the fire,--the ancient type of heroism and readiness to suffer; on the opposite side is a pagan sacrifice, with Pan playing the pipes, signifying the propitiatory sacrifices of the ancients, and thus foreshadowing the Sacrifice on the Cross. The landscape background carries out the same ideas. On the right is a barren hill with leafless trees, and at its base some ancient ruins and a crumbling fountain. In contrast to this on the opposite side is a prosperous and well-fortified city, lying amid meadows; a church tower; the sky above is rosy with the light of early dawn. Figures are seen turning from the ancient ruins and making their way along the path which leads to a new and better home, the Christian city (Richter's _Lectures on the National Gallery_, p. 37).

This little picture is among the earliest of Bellini's works. The abnormal length of the figure of Christ and the exaggerated length and straightness of the forearms are points which should be noticed in this connection, resembling as they do characteristics of other early works by the painter, and also the drawings of his father, Jacopo. But "already, in spite of the archaism of form, he shows a feeling for atmospheric tonality; the ruin to the right and the two figures near it are, as painters say, in their place; that is to say, the treatment as regards relations of tone is such as the linear perspective would lead us to expect. Still more surprising is the way in which the eye is led down the valley to free spaces of luminous air" (Roger Fry: _Giovanni Bellini_, p. 18). The subject is a rare one in Italian art. Mr. Fry gives a reproduction of a similar figure in a picture by Crivelli in the Poldi Pezzoli Collection at Milan; and Dr. Richter, one from a woodcut in Savonarola's treatise on "Humility," first printed in 1492.

1234. "A MUSE INSPIRING A COURT POET."

_Dosso Dossi_ (Ferrarese: 1479-1542). _See 640._

Called a "court poet" because, one may suppose, of his sleek and uninspired appearance; but poets do not always look their parts, and 'tis the function of the Muse "to mould the secret gold." But perhaps the artist had some gently sarcastic intention, for it is but a small sprig that the Muse has spared to the poet from her garland. The head of the poet is clearly a portrait. That of the Muse "is as fine in technique and condition as anything in the whole range of Dossi's work" (Benson).

1239, 1240. THE MURDER OF THE INNOCENTS.

_Girolamo Mocetto_ (Venetian: worked 1484-1514).

Mocetto was a native of Verona, but a pupil of Giovanni Bellini
at Venice. He was "one of the earliest," says Lanzi (ii. 167),
"and least polished among Bellini's disciples." And it is
interesting to contrast the accomplished and beautiful work of
the master (1233) with the almost ludicrous imperfections of
these two pictures by the pupil. Notice especially the absurd
attitude of the attendant to the left, in 1239; and in 1240,
the expression of grief in the mother. Mocetto's claim to
distinction rests rather on his rare engravings, executed from
the designs of Giovanni Bellini and Mantegna. He "was also the
painter of the great window in the church of SS. Giovanni e
Paolo (Venice), which, although badly restored, still remains
a magnificent work" (Layard, i. 332).

These works probably formed the wings of a triptych. In the former scene Herod directs the massacre which has already begun; in the second, the massacre is at its height.

1241. CHRIST PREACHING IN THE TEMPLE.

_Pedro Campaña_ (Flemish-Italian: 1503-1580).

The painter of this picture forms an interesting link in the
history of art. "In Spain the influence exercised over the
national school by the northern Gothic masters was weakened
at an early stage by the Italian Renaissance. Strange to say,
a Fleming, who had learned his art in the school of Michael
Angelo, was the chief instrument by which Italy asserted her
power. Peter de Kampencer, to whom the Spaniards gave the
name of Pedro Campaña, was born in Brussels. He left Italy,
where he had enjoyed the protection of Cardinal Grimani, for
Seville (1548), where he founded an academy." Luis de Morales
(see 1229) is said to have been among his disciples. One of
his masterpieces, a "Descent from the Cross," in Santa Cruz,
was the picture which Murillo was never tired of admiring (see
the story told under 13). Besides such large altar-pieces,
"he was accustomed," says Lanzi (i. 402, Bohn's edition), "to
paint small pictures, which were eagerly sought after by the
English, and transferred to their country, where they were
highly prized." In 1560 Campaña returned to his native city,
and became official painter to the tapestry works there.

The subject of this "celebrated picture" (as Lanzi calls it) is "The Magdalen led by St. Martha to the Temple, to hear the preaching of Christ." Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, is identified in legend with the Magdalen, and her conversion is said to have begun with the incident here depicted. The kneeling figure of the Magdalen is conspicuous amongst the women listeners; she is encouraged by Martha, who points to the preacher (see Mrs. Jameson's _Sacred and Legendary Art_, p. 219, ed. 1850, for other representations of this subject).

1243. PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN.

_C. W. Heimbach_ (German: 1613-1678).

Dated 1662. Notice the characteristic "steeple-crowned" hat.

1247. THE CARD PLAYERS.

_Nicolas Maes_ (Dutch: 1632-1693). _See 153._

This picture, purchased in 1888 at the sale of the Gatton Park (Lord Oxenbridge's) Collection, was stated by the auctioneer to be by Rembrandt, but there is little doubt that it is really by his disciple, Maes; though, as it is larger than most of the known works by that master, other critics have ascribed it to another pupil of Rembrandt, Carl Faber, or Fabricius. "In any case it is unmistakably of the Rembrandt school, and owes its inspiration to the method of presentation peculiar to the master. From every technical point of view it is first-rate. It is infused with the largeness of style, the just appreciation of character, and the glowing colour, to be found in Rembrandt's matured works. It is the turn of the girl to play. She regards her hand in evident perplexity, doubtful which card to throw down. The man is apparently sure of his game" (_Times_, June 4, 1888).

1248. PORTRAIT OF A LADY.

_Bartholomeus van der Helst_ (Dutch: 1611-1670). _See 140._

The sitter belonged to the Braganza family. So prematurely demure is this plain little girl that, in spite of the fact that her hair is "down" and that she wears a round nursery cap, she is dignified with the title of "A Lady." She is certainly every inch a grown-up lady in her rich brocade dress, pearl necklace, and costly feathers. Van der Helst gave special attention, says Sir F. Burton, to "the discrimination of stuffs, and his skill in reproducing the lustre and shimmer of jewellery or gold embroidery and the delicacy of the lace-worker's art has never been equalled." The picture is signed, and dated 1645.

1251. PORTRAIT OF A MAN.

_Frans Hals_ (Dutch: 1580-1666). _See 1021._

It is only at Haarlem that the full power of Hals can be seen; but this picture shows something of his dash and facility. There is, indeed, upon it a stamp of power and individuality, alike in conception and treatment, which makes it one of the most interesting portraits in the Gallery. It is signed with the painter's monogram, and dated 1633. Possibly it is a portrait of the painter himself; and certainly it shows the type of a man to which Hals belonged--Hals, the dashing volunteer who fought in the military guilds, the good-for-nothing, daredevil fellow who loved his glass and was none too faithful in his domestic relations, whose excesses brought him finally to penury, but whose high spirit and unfailing dash enabled him to remain true, through it all, to the calling of his art.

1252. A FRUIT-PIECE.

_Frans Snyders_ (Flemish: 1579-1657).

Snyders was one of the principal Flemish painters of animals
and still life, and his talents were so much admired by Rubens
that the latter often employed him to paint fruit, game, and
other accessories in his pictures. Rubens in exchange sometimes
drew the figures in pictures by Snyders, whom, as a last proof
of affection, he appointed by will to manage the sale of his
works of art. Snyders received many commissions, too, from the
Archduke Albert and from Philip III. of Spain. His earlier
pictures were confined to representations--such as this one
of fruit and vegetables, or of dead game and fish. In the
establishment of his parents, who were proprietors of a large
eating-house, he had ample opportunity of studying such models.
"Snyders is not to be surpassed," says Sir F. Burton, "in
the painting of fruit. With his fine appreciation of colour,
and his large method of handling, he reproduced with few but
masterly touches the characteristic surface of each luscious
product of the garden, with greater truth to nature than was
generally attained by those painters who sought it by means of
minute and laborious imitation." Afterwards Snyders enlarged
his scope, and produced those scenes of the chase for which he
became celebrated. The vigour which Snyders threw into these
productions is extraordinary, but pictures of animals in savage
chase or butchered agony do not appeal to all tastes. "I know
no pictures," says Ruskin, "more shameful to humanity than the
boar and lion hunts of Rubens and Snyders, signs of disgrace
all the deeper because the powers desecrated are so great. The
painter of the village ale-house sign may, not dishonourably,
paint the fox-hunt for the village squire; but the occupation
of magnificent art power in giving semblance of perpetuity to
those bodily pangs which Nature has mercifully ordained to
be transient, and in forcing us, by the fascination of its
stormy skill, to dwell on that from which eyes of merciful
men should instinctively turn away, and eyes of high-minded
men scornfully, is dishonourable alike in the power which it
degrades, and the joy to which it betrays" (_Modern Painters_,
vol. v. pt. ix. ch. vi. § 19).

1255. A STUDY OF STILL LIFE.

_Jan Jans van de Velde_ (Dutch: born 1622).

This rare painter, perhaps the son of Jan van de Velde, the
engraver, was settled at Amsterdam in 1642. Besides being a
painter he was in business as a broker, and was described in
the marriage register as a silver-wire drawer. This picture is
dated 1656.

1256. A STUDY OF STILL LIFE.

_Herman Steenwyck_ (Dutch: 17th Century).

This Steenwyck is not to be confused with the painter of
architectural interiors (see 1132). Herman, and a brother,
Pieter, were painters of still-life subjects at Leyden.

1257. THE BIRTH OF THE VIRGIN.

_Murillo_ (Spanish: 1618-1682). _See 13._

A sketch for the large picture now in the Louvre (No. 540). "Like so many of the sketches of Murillo, it is so light in touch," says one of the critics, "so exquisite in colour, as to be, from an artistic point of view, preferable to the finished picture." This, however, is not the only advantage which Murillo gains from smallness of scale. There is a prettiness, and even a sentimentality, permissible on a small scale which offends the dignity of a large canvas. Thus, the "affectation" of the attendant angels is far less "absurd" here than in the large picture. "One of the cherubs shrinks back," adds Mr. Eastlake in his Louvre catalogue, "frightened at a dog, which seems a strangely human act of weakness; another holds up a piece of baby-linen, with a provokingly fantastic air." But herein we have the very characteristics which make the religious sentiment of Murillo's pictures interesting. In the early Italian pictures the Virgin is a great lady, living in a fine house or spacious cloister. But in Spain the symbols of devotion passed into realities; and a combination of mysticism in conception with realism in treatment is the distinguishing "note" of the Spanish religious school. One could not wish for a prettier presentment of this mingled note than is afforded by this little sketch, with its angels half in ecstatic adoration over the "Lily of Eden," and half in human playfulness--a sketch which seems to combine with the frank realities of a humble nursery the religious sentiment of Keble's _Christian Year_:--

Ave Maria! blessed maid!
Lily of Eden's fragrant shade,
Who can express the love
That nurtured thee so pure and sweet,
Making thy heart a shelter meet
For Jesus' Holy Dove!

1258. A STUDY OF STILL LIFE

_J. B. S. Chardin_ (French: 1699-1779).

Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin was the contemporary of Boucher
(1090), and his pictures may serve to remind us that there was
a _bourgeoisie_ in France as well as a _noblesse_ when Louis
XV. was king. The simple subject of this picture--a loaf of
brown bread, with a bottle of wine, spread out on a piece of
old newspaper--takes us far away from the luxurious trifling
of the Court painters. Chardin followed the path of frank
realism, treating, however, all his subjects with refinement.
To Dutch precision he added Gallic grace. He painted either
still life (as here) or scenes from the domestic life of the
people (as in 1664, and in a picture in the Dulwich Gallery).
His treatment was devoid of affectation, and his colouring
fresh and agreeable. "He is the best colourist in the Salon,"
said Diderot of him in his lifetime. Chardin, in the exercise
of his honest industry, knew how difficult it was to excel,
and said on one occasion to Diderot and the other critics,
"Gently, good sirs, gently! Out of all the pictures that are
here seek the very worst; and know that two thousand unhappy
wretches have bitten their brushes in two with their teeth, in
despair of ever doing even so badly." Chardin's fellow-workers
appreciated his merits, and he was elected a member of the
Academy in 1728, becoming Treasurer of that body in 1755. There
is a large collection of his works in the Louvre. They fell
into disrepute during the succeeding reign of David and the
"classical" school, but they have again won a high position
in the estimation of those who know. This picture (which is
signed, and dated 1754) was presented to the Gallery; for No.
1664, purchased in 1898, the sum of £721 was paid.

Chardin's pictures show that instinctive "power of reticence" which is one of the secrets of fine art. "It is what gives value to such humble efforts as the study of still-life subjects, and raises them--as in the works of the French painters, Chardin especially, and of some of the Dutch painters--above the level of mere mechanical imitations, and transforms them into works capable of giving us real pleasure" (Poynter's _Lectures on Art_, p. 195).

1260-1270. EARLY GREEK PORTRAITS.

These eleven portraits are part of the find by Mr. Flinders Petrie, in his excavations at Hawara, in the Fayoum (Middle Egypt), and are of great interest as supplying a fresh link in the historical development of art as exhibited in the National Gallery. Here is portraiture in its infancy. But even these portraits, done probably by Græco-Egyptian artists in the second or third century A.D., are later developments from an earlier stage. They were affixed to the outside covering of mummies in a position corresponding to the head of the corpse:[237] the exact arrangement can be seen in two mummies from the same "find," now in the British Museum. "They are derived," says Miss Amelia B. Edwards, "by a clearly traced process of evolution from the portrait-heads first modelled in stucco upon Egyptian mummy cases, and then painted. From coloured portraiture in high relief to coloured portraiture on flexible canvas, where a certain amount of relief was obtained by the prominence of the bandaged face beneath, was one step; and from the flexible canvas to the panel upon which the semblance of relief was given by light and shadow and foreshortening was another and far more important step. It marked the transition from the Eastern to the Western school of painting." The portraits are painted with pigments of rich colour on thin panels of cedar wood, wax being the medium employed. "The rather lumpy surface or _impasto_ which comes from the use of a wax medium is very obvious. The melted wax rapidly hardened when the brush touched the cold surface of the panel, and so prevented the pigment from being laid in a smooth, even manner. The wood was not, like stucco, sufficiently absorbent for the subsequent application of heat to get rid of the lumpy surface by driving the superfluous wax below the surface" (Middleton's _Remains of Ancient Rome_, i. 100). The persons buried with these panel portraits were mostly of Greek origin; but some--as, for instance, the man (No. 1265, presented by Mr. Haworth)--seemed rather to be of the Roman type. The faces exhibit all variations, from living grace to the emptiest vacuity. It has been suggested that "the better portraits were painted from the life, whilst in other cases the painter was perhaps only sent for after death, and this may account for the vague and lifeless looks of many of the portraits, inanimate in spite of the wide, open, and vacuous smile." It will be noticed that "the style of the portraits is usually conventional precisely in those details which make the difference between one living face and another. The eyes, which more than any other feature should impart the living expression in all these cases, are executed in a perfunctory and formal manner. And they are, moreover, in many cases too large for the face. This is not merely due to the inability of the artists, for many of these portraits show a real grasp of character and a distinct technical skill in the modelling, notably in that, perhaps, most difficult of tasks, the indication of the play of muscles around the mouth. Under these circumstances I think no one will deny that the measure of success achieved in some of the best of these portraits is very remarkable. The old man in particular (1265) shows a breadth of style and a quiet humour which reminds us of some of the Dutch masters of the Teniers school. Of course there are good and bad among them; the quality probably depended to some extent upon the price which the relative could afford to pay. One wonders what the price may have been, especially when we read of the enormous sums which great pictures fetched in the palmy days of Greek painting. Most of these people seem to have been well to do, as the gold wreaths of the men and the jewellery of the women prove" (Cecil Smith, ch. vi. of W. M. F. Petrie's _Hawara, Biahmu, and Arsinoe_: 1889). No. 1261 retains the greater part of a gilt gesso border, stamped or modelled with a wavy tendril and bud pattern.

1277. A MAN'S PORTRAIT.

_Nicolas Maes_ (Dutch: 1632-1693). _See 153._

Signed, and dated 1666. A singularly lifelike portrait of a singularly unattractive face.

1278. A CONVIVIAL PARTY.

_Hendrik Gerritsz Pot_ (Dutch: about 1600-1656).

The picture is signed HP (on the side of the projecting
chimney). Several pictures--chiefly conversation-pieces and
portraits (including one of Charles I. in the Louvre)--bear
these initials. They are supposed to belong to the above-named
artist, of whom it is recorded that he visited England and made
portraits of the king.

An ordinary scene of the kind, but there is a pleasant touch in the little dog who furtively licks the hand of its half-tipsy master.

1280. CHRIST APPEARING AFTER HIS RESURRECTION

_Unknown_ (Early Flemish: 15th Century).

The Virgin Mary sits on the edge of an old-fashioned bedstead. Christ, with the marks of the wounds in breast and feet, faces her, and behind him is a great company of saints, kneeling. Highly finished throughout.

1282. SAN ZENOBIO RESTORING TO LIFE A DEAD CHILD.

_Jacopo Chimenti da Empoli_ (Florentine: 1554-1640).

Chimenti, of Empoli, near Florence, was "an imitator of
Andrea del Sarto, and distinguished for his Madonnas; he was
distinguished also for his love of good eating, and acquired
from his contemporaries the nickname of _L' Empilo_, instead of
L' Empoli, which is as much as to say stewpan" (Wornum, _Epochs
of Painting_, p. 356). He was largely employed in the churches
of Florence and the neighbourhood. His best production is his
"St. Ives" in the Uffizi: "in noble conception and truth and
glow of colour it reminds us of the best of the old Florentine
masters."

St. Zenobio (died A.D. 417) was a Bishop of Florence, famous in his time for his eloquence and good works, and a favourite saint with the Florentines in after ages. The following is the legend painted in this picture:--"A French lady of noble lineage, who was performing a pilgrimage to Rome, stopped at Florence on the way, in order to see the good bishop Zenobio, of whom she had heard so much, and having received his blessing she proceeded to Rome, leaving in his care her little son. The day before her return to Florence, the child died. She was overwhelmed with grief, and took the child and laid him down at the feet of St. Zenobio, who, by the efficacy of his prayers, restored the child to life, and gave him back to the arms of his mother" (Mrs. Jameson, _Sacred and Legendary Art_, p. 415).

1284. ST. FRANCIS AND ST. MARK.

_Antonio Vivarini_ (Venetian: died 1470). _See 768._

A companion panel to the one already in the Gallery; see 768. The design of the pedestal is, it will be seen, the same in both.

1285. PORTRAIT OF NAPOLEON I.

_Horace Vernet_ (French: 1789-1863).

Emile John Horace Vernet, soldier and artist, was the
grandson of Claude Joseph Vernet (236). He was decorated in
1814 by Napoleon for his gallant conduct before the enemy
at the Barrière de Clichy, on which occasion he served in a
regiment of hussars. In the Louvre there is a picture by him
representing the defence of Paris on that occasion. On the fall
of the Empire he left France for a time, but he gradually won
the favour of the court. In 1833 he joined the French army at
Algiers, and there gathered material for the huge battle-pieces
which he painted for Louis Philippe. The Crimean War furnished
him with another congenial set of subjects. His work had a
great vogue in its day, but owed more to its patriotic and
stirring subject-matter than to abiding artistic qualities.

Less ideal than the beautiful sketch which David made of Napoleon as First Consul, or the later conventional pictures painted for a generation which had not seen the original. There is no dreamy intensity in the eyes, and no engaging smile. The famous lock in the centre of the forehead is there, and the face is still handsome, imposing, and resolute; but there is already something of the heaviness which presaged his fall.

1286. A BOY DRINKING.

_Murillo_ (Spanish: 1618-1682). _See 13._

"The boy is resting his left arm on a table and holding a square bottle, like one of those used for schiedam. The head is finely modelled, with a firm, broad touch; the bright eyes are deep set under the brow, and they betray eager delight in the draught he is taking. The flesh tones are unusually pure and bright for Murillo. The picture seems to be that which, named 'A Spanish Youth Drinking,' was sold in 1836 with Lord Charles Townshend's collection for £414. With the Earl of Clare's pictures was sold, in 1864, 'A Peasant holding a Bottle and drinking from a Glass,' which had belonged to Prince Talleyrand and Lord C. Townshend,' for £1365" (_Athenæum_).

1287. INTERIOR OF AN ART GALLERY.

_Dutch School_ (17th Century).

Of interest alike for its technical skill and for its historical information. No less than forty-two pictures hang upon the walls of the "Art Gallery," and the collection is very interesting as showing the taste of an amateur of the period. In addition to these, there are globes, gems, maps, engravings, nautical instruments, pieces of sculpture, and other "objects of vertu"--all painted with miniature-like delicacy. Especially charming is an elaborately inlaid cabinet with china and other "curios" upon it. Notice also the fine Persian carpet. The art treasures are being eagerly scanned by several groups of connoisseurs, whilst--with a touch, perhaps, of satiric intent--a monkey is perched on the window-sill, criticising the critics. It is interesting to note that with only three exceptions all the paintings depicted in the Art Gallery are in black frames. This was the common practice with the Low Country painters. Several of the latest additions to the Dutch pictures in the Gallery are in their original black frames. The famous Teniers at Vienna of "The Archduke's Gallery" is an equally apt illustration of the taste of Dutch and Flemish painters (_Athenæum_, 2nd January 1892).

1288. FROST SCENE.

_Aart van der Neer_ (Dutch: 1619-1692). _See 152._

1289. LANDSCAPE WITH CATTLE.

_Cuyp_ (Dutch: 1620-1691). _See 53._

A characteristic little work. In the distance is a ruined castle-keep in the water, which may be the same building as that depicted in No. 824.

1291. THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN.

_Juan de Valdes Leal_ (Spanish: 1630-1691).

Valdes Leal, who was born at Cordova, settled afterwards at
Seville, where he became the first President of the Academy
in that city. It is to him that some critics have assigned
the "Dead Orlando" in this room (741). His most famous
picture--"one of the most repulsive, but also most impressive
ever painted," says Mr. W. B. Scott--is "The Two Dead Men,"
in the Hospital of Charity at Seville, representing a charnel
house with the partially-decayed corpses of a bishop and a
noble. So dreadful is the realism that Murillo said he never
could approach the picture without fancying he smelt the
horror. "Ah, my compeer," replied the flattered realist, "it
is not my fault; you have taken all the sweet fruit out of the
basket and left only the rotten."

In the present picture Valdes Leal has picked sweet fruit too; indeed it is over sweet. The donatrix of the picture and her son are shown in either corner, while in the midst the Virgin ascends to Heaven, surrounded by bands of angels. The picture is thoroughly characteristic, in its florid type of sentiment, of the Spanish school.

1292. A FAMILY GROUP.

_Jan van Bylert_ (Dutch: 1603-1671).

A painter of Utrecht; entered the Guild of Painters there in
1630, and repeatedly filled the office of its Dean. Studied at
Utrecht under A. Bloemaert, and afterwards visited Italy and
France. His works are numerous in the galleries of Amsterdam
and Utrecht.

They are plain old people, truth to tell, this group of two Dutch housewives and a Dutch burgher, and they are somewhat too obviously sitting for their portraits. How prim and neat all the surroundings are! how pretty is the trailing rose on the balustrade! and with what quiet, unobtrusive fidelity the whole picture is painted!

1293. MUSICAL PASTIME.

_Jan Miense Molenaer_ (Dutch: died 1668).

This painter, the best of three artists of the same name,
"excelled in representing peasant interiors and scenes of
rustic life in a quiet style and in skilfully graduated tints.
His colouring is warm and clear; his drawing spirited, and
his touch full of life. Besides this, he possessed a certain
refinement, and his humour never overstepped the bounds of
decency. While his works retain characteristics peculiar to
him, they manifest also something of the styles of Steen,
Brauwer, and Ostade" (Havard: _The Dutch School_, p. 159). He
was a native of Haarlem, and afterwards settled in Amsterdam.
His earlier works (such as the present picture) suggest the
tutelage of Frans Hals; the later works show the influence of
Rembrandt.

This picture (which is signed on the side of the foot-warmer) is a capital example of the artist. "The fair faces of the singers are very spontaneously expressive of their gaiety, and have something of the animation of Jan Steen without his vulgar types and occasional grimace."

1294. AN ALLEGORICAL SUBJECT.

_William van de Poorter_ (Dutch: painted 1630-1645).

This painter was a native of Haarlem, where he belonged to
the Guild of Painters, and was a pupil of Rembrandt. In this
picture the light, coming from the top on our left, falls on
the globe and figure with Rembrandtesque effect.

The subject is perhaps a "Vigil of Arms," and may depict a knight or king passing the night before his investiture in the seclusion of a private chapel. On the altar before which he stands are a globe, two crowns, and several documents. His left hand is turned slightly forward, as if to call attention to the action, while in his right hand he holds a sceptre with its point resting on the globe. On the floor in front of the altar lie his arms and armour; behind, hangs his banner. On his head is a laurel wreath; and over a bright breastplate he wears the richly embroidered robe of his order.

1295. MADONNA AND CHILD, WITH SAINTS.

_Girolamo Giovenone_ (Lombard: early 16th Century).

Giovenone was a native of Vercelli, in which city several fine
pictures by him are preserved. Other painters who worked, or
were born, at Vercelli are Macrino d' Alba (1200), Lanini
(700), and Gaudenzio Ferrari (1465). By some critics our
picture is assigned to another painter of the same school,
Defendente Ferrari (see Catalogue of the Burlington Fine Arts
Club's Exhibition, 1898, p. lxxix.). Examples of both painters
may be seen in the Turin Gallery.

The Virgin and Child are flanked by the kneeling figures of two men, perhaps brothers, who were doubtless the donors of the picture. Behind each of them stands his patron saint, patting the devotee approvingly on the back. The Virgin's face is charming; so also are two little angels, who are quaintly perched up aloft, one on either side sitting on ledges of the canopied throne. The picture is a good example of symmetry--almost exaggerated, one may think--in composition.

1296, 1297. LANDSCAPES.

_Giuseppe Zais_ (Venetian: died 1784).

Zais, a Venetian, was a pupil of the Florentine landscape and
decorative painter Zuccarelli (1702-1788) who settled for many
years at Venice. Zuccarelli in 1752 came to this country, where
in 1768 he became an original member of the Royal Academy.
The works of Zais also for a time attracted the attention of
English amateurs, but he died a pauper in the hospital of
Treviso.

Amusing examples of the so-called "pastoral landscape," which found favour in the last century--the landscape painted "in praise of the country by men who lived in coffee-houses." Zais was nearly contemporary with Longhi, and shows us the same Venetians in _villeggiatura_ whom Longhi shows us in town (see 1100 and 1101). In 1286 we see some "picturesque" farm-buildings on one side of a stream, with a "picturesque" cow-herd asleep; whilst on the other side is a party of gay ladies--dressed in crinolines and bows, and devoid of hats, shawls, or wraps--flirting with _beaux_. The companion picture (1297) is conceived in the same style; but the ladies are here fishing, though, to judge from the amateurishness of their proceeding, they are not likely to catch fish.

1298. LANDSCAPE: RIVER SCENE.

_Joachim Patinir_ (Early Flemish: died 1524). _See 715._

This picture, acquired in Florence in 1889 together with two by Zais (1296, 1297), was for some years attributed to the Venetian school. It is now recognised as a work of Patinir. The heavy blue tone of that painter's distances here gives way to a lighter colour; but the fantastic landscape has strong resemblances to No. 716. If by Patinir, the work is unique in being one of pure landscape, with no scriptural incident. "The earliest independent landscape that we possess by an old master, the first admission that inanimate nature pure and simple is worth making a picture of. In the left corner is the artist sketching, which is a sort of guarantee that he worked in the open air, and that he had been struck with the beauty of some such prospect.... He has been so used to regard landscape as an accessory that he does not dare to paint it except from a distance, or on any but a minute scale, and he enlivens it with signs of human industry in the raft and the limekiln. It is as though a landscape had stepped out of the background of some old picture, and asserted its independence with fear and trembling" (Monkhouse: _In the National Gallery_, p. 202).

1299. PORTRAIT OF A YOUTH.

_Domenico Ghirlandajo_ (Florentine: 1449-1494). _See 1230._

It is interesting to compare this portrait with Botticelli's of a somewhat similar subject (No. 626). Both were probably "good likenesses"; but Ghirlandajo's is less forcible and impressive than Botticelli's.

1300. VIRGIN AND CHILD.

_Unknown_ (Milanese School: 15th-16th Century).

Apparently by a follower of Leonardo.

1301. PORTRAIT OF SAVONAROLA.

_Unknown_ (Florentine: 15th Century).

A portrait of the great patriot-priest of Florence (1452-1498), whose strange career is familiar to all readers of George Eliot's _Romola_. Ultimately he was condemned to death, with his two disciples; and on the back of the portrait is a representation of their execution. They were hung on a cross, and burnt.

1302. THE SOUL OF ST. BERTIN.

1303. A CHOIR OF ANGELS.

_Simon Marmion_ (French: 1425-1489).