THE^RTOFTHE
BELGIAN-GALLERIES
ESTHER • SINGLETON
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S3
bOSTON UNIV£e<biT^
:OLLEGE OF LIBERAL ART>
LIBRARY
J. VAN
EYCK
ST. BARBARA
Plate I
(See page 139)
Musee Royal
des Beaux-Arts
Antwerp
{)e ^rt of ^ ^
®alkries d^ ^
Being a History of the Flemish School of
Painting Illuminated and Demonstrated by
Critical Descriptions of the Great Paintings in
Bruges, Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels and Other
Belgian Cities. ^ j^ J> J' J'
By
Esther Singleton
Illustrated
Boston
L. C. Page & Company
M DCCCCI X
80ST0N UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIPRApx
1-
Sc
Copyright, igog
By L. C. Page & Company
(incorporated)
All rights reserved
First Impression, October, 1909
34 9 6(b
Electrotyped and Printed at
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C .H . Simonds&' Co., Boston, U.S.A.
/7So
preface
In the following pages,! have endeavoured to give
a concise description of the works of art in the Bel-
gian galleries as well as some of the most famous
masterpieces to be found in cathedrals, churches
and other religious foundations. The visitor to the
galleries of Antwerp, Brussels and Bruges will im-
mediately notice that the great majority of the pic-
tures are by native artists, only a few foreign works,
principally by Italian and French masters, being
met with. Dutch pictures, of course, are found in
considerable numbers; but the Dutch School is so
closely allied with the Flemish that it is difficult to
distinguish them till the time of Rubens. Even the
Little Masters of Belgium and Holland closely re-
semble one another in character, especially the
painters of genre and still-life. Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds thought it more reasonable to class the pictures
according to their size rather than the birthplaces
of the artists, the style and manner of many of the
Dutch and Flemish painters being identical. In-
deed, the Dutch claim Thierry Bouts, who removed
from Haarlem to Louvain to study with Van der
vi IPretace
Weyden, as one of the early lights of their School.
The first Dutch portrait-painter, Jan Van Score!,
was a pupil in Utrecht of Mabuse, the Fleming;
and the great Frans Hals spent the first twenty-five
years of his life in Antwerp. At the end of the
Sixteenth Century, Northern Art had become Ital-
ianized and the division may be said to have finally
occurred when Rubens dominated the Flemish and
Rembrandt the Dutch School.
During the Seventeenth Century there were
many Flemish painters who were essentially Dutch
in feeling and subject, especially the School of
Teniers and the painters of animals, flowers, fruits
and still-life.
Difference of religion was one cause of varied
development of the Schools, for while the Protes-
tant Dutch were painting portraits and scenes of
domestic life, as well as pastoral landscapes and
marines, the Roman Catholic Flemings were still
painting great altar-pieces and pictures of sacred
and ecclesiastical history. The latter, however,
were generally lacking in the old spirit of devotion.
This book is intended as a help to the student in
tracing the course of Flemish Art by the most not-
able pictures to be found in the Belgian galleries.
The introductory part contains short biographies of
the chief masters whose works appear in the galler-
ies, principally, and descriptive matter relative to
preface vU
their place in the course of Flemish Art, together
with some description of their individual art qual-
ities and their influence on others.
In describing the art of the individual galleries,
the general plan has been to deal first with the gems
of the collection and the works of the greatest mas-
ters, grouping the latter irrespective of subject.
The student may occasionally notice what he con-
siders a false attribution of authorship. This will
be due to the fact that there is still great dispute in
that regard among art authorities over many works
of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. In all
cases of doubt, I have adopted the opinions of the
latest authorities who have written on the subject
of Flemish Art. In describing the pictures, I have
gone to the works of those authors who write most
interestingly, as well as to those solid historians
whose authority is recognized. I am particularly
indebted to the writings of Blanc, Mantz, Michiels,
Weale, Crowe and Cavalcaselle, Fierens-Gevaert,
Wauters, Hymans, Fromentin, Jacobsen, and many
others who have contributed to French and Belgian
art periodicals; and I have acknowledged my in-
debtedness in the text for all verbatim quotations.
I desire to thank Mr. Arthur Shadwell Martin for
valuable assistance in the work. e. s.
New York, July, 1909.
Contcnte
CHAPTER PAGB
Preface v
I. Flemish Painters and Painting . . . i
II. Bruges — The Hospital of St. John and
THE Picture Gallery of the Academy hi
III. Antwerp — Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts 136
IV. Antwerp — The Hotel-de-Ville and the
Musee Plantin-Moretus; Ghent —
The Museum ;Tournai — The Munic-
ipal Picture Gallery; Ypres — The
Museum; and Mechlin — The Civic
Museum 230
V. Brussels — Palais des Beaux-Arts . . 260
VI. Brussels — Musee Royal de Peinture
Moderne; Hotel-de-Ville; Musee
Communal; Musee Wiertz . . . 342
Index 359
%iQt of HUustvations
PLATB PAGE
I J. Van Eyck. — St. Barbara . . Frontispiece
Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Amsterdam
II Jan Mostaert. — Scenes from the Life of St.
Benoit 2
Palais dcs Beaux-Arts, Brussels
III Lambert Lombard. — Human Calamities . . lo
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
IV Thierry Bouts. — The Last Supper . . . i8
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
V Lucas Van Leyden. — Dance of the Magdalen 26
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
VI Jan Swart. — Adoration of the Magi . . 34
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
VII PiETER Brueghel. — Massacre of the Innocents . 42
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
VIII School of Van Orley. — Lady with the Pink . 50
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
IX Jan Van Coninxloo. — The Marriage of Cana 58
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
X Cornelis de Vos. — Portrait of the Artist and
His Family . 64
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
XI Frans Snyders. — Still Life .... 72
Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
XII David Teniers the Yoltnger. — The Five Senses 80
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
XIII A. Van Utrecht. — Kitchen .... 88
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
XIV J. B. Madou. — The Fortune-Teller ... 96
Musee Royal de Peinture Moderne, Brussels
XV E. de Schampheleer. — The Old Rhine near
Gouda . . 104
Musie Royal de Peinture Moderne, Brussels
xi
xu
Xtat ot irilu6tratton5
FLATK
XVI Frans Courtens. — Returning from Church
Musee Royal de Peinture Modcrne, Brussels
XVII Memling. — The Mystic Marriage of St
Catherine
Hospital vf St. John, Bruges
XVIII Gerard David. — Cambyses Condemning Si-
samnes ......
Academy, Bruges
XIX JoRDAENS. — The Family Concert .
Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
XX R. Van der Weyden. — The Seven Sacra-
ments
Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
XXI Q. Massys. — The Entombment .
Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
XXII Floris. — Fall of the Rebel Angels .
Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
XXIII A. Van Dyck. — Portrait of a Little Girl
(With Dogs by Jan Fyt)
Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
XXIV Rubens. — Madonna with the Parrot .
Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
XXV Rubens. — The Coup de Lance .
Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
XXVI Jan Fyt. — Two Harriers
Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
XXVII Clouet. — Frances II, Dauphin of France
Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
XXVIII Ter Borch. — The Mandolin Player .
Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
XXIX Frans Hals. — Fisher Boy ....
Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
XXX Antonello da Messina. — Calvary
Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts, Antwerp
XXXI H. Leys. — Re-establishment of Worship in
the Cathedral of Antwerp
Musee Royal de Peinture Moderne, Brussels
XXXII G. De Craeyer. — Assumption of St. Cath-
\^ 1. IIX^ • as • • • •
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
XXXIII A. Moro. — The Duke of Alva .
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
PAGE
1 10
120
128
136
144
160
168
176
184
192
200
208
216
224
230
238
246
Xtst ot miustrations
XUl
PLATE
XXXIV
XXXV
XXXVI
XXXVII
XXXVIII
XXXIX
XL
XLI
XLII
XLIII
XLIV
XLV
XLVI
XLVII
XLVIII
PAGE
Rembrandt. — Portrait of an Old Woman 254
Palais dcs Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Jacob Van Ruisdael. — Landscape (With
Figures and Animals by A. Van de
Velde) 262
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Palamedes. — Musical Party . . , 270
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Patenier. — Repose in Egypt . . . 278
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Jan Brueghel. — Autumn Presenting Fruits
to Diana 284
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Mabuse. — Jesus in the House of Simon the
Pharisee 294
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Martin de Vos. — Portrait of a Lady . 300
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Teniers the Elder. — A Farm Scene . . 308
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Van Delen. — Portico of a Palace . . 318
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Jan Steen. — The Gallant Offering . . 326
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Flemish School. — Portrait of Marie Pacy 334
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Holbein. — Sir Thomas More . . . 340
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
J. Stevens. — Dog at the Mirror . . . 346
Musee Royal de Peinture Moderne, Brussels
Hobbema. — The Mill 350
Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
Wiertz. — The Forge of Vulcan . . . 356
Musee Wiertz, Brussels
Wot art of t\ft
33elgian <SaIItrie0
CHAPTER I
FLEMISH PAINTERS AND PAINTING
Before the Fifteenth Century, pictorial art in the
Netherlands was at a low ebb, and confined mainly
to mural painting and miniature. The artists were
inferior also to those of Cologne. The oldest known
mural painting, dating about 1300, is a Christ bless-
ing the Virgin, in the refectory of the Hospice de la
Biloque at Ghent. Melchior Broederlain painted in
1398 an altarpiece now at Dijon, the subjects of
which are the Visitation, Presentation in the Tem-
ple, Annunciation and Flight into Egypt. These
show a strange mingling of ideality and realism,
simplicity and delicacy. Some of the heads are
beautiful and graceful; but many are trivial and
vulgar.
The Van Eycks (Hubert, 1366-1426; and John,
1
2 Ube Hrt of tbe Belgian Galleries
1 380- 1 440) were the founders of the School of
Bruges and the glory of early Flemish art. No
research has succeeded in tracing their beginnings,
their studies, or their masters. When they first
appear in the records, they are already high in
princely favour. In 1432, Philip the Good, Duke
of Burgundy, visited John in his studio at Bruges.
Whether they invented oil painting or not, they
certainly perfected the process, probably by substi-
tuting a siccative oil, Or varnish, for the oils pre-
viouslv in use.
Their great picture. The Adoration of the Lamb,
marks a revolution in the realm of painting, similar
to the changes introduced about the same period in
Italy by such innovators as Gentile da Fabriano,
Pisanello and Masaccio. For the first time for
many centuries, an artist had again set himself the
task of painting the open air, and adding the beauty
of man to that of nature. In his personages, noth-
ing Gothic remains. It is true that most of the
individuals wear the costume of their day ; but there
is freedom in their attitudes, gestures and facial
expression. The landscape is at once fresh, precise,
luminous, limpid and profound. The Van Eycks
are the first to display a passionate love for smiling:
landscape with its rivers and meadows, hills, trees
and flowers.
Hubert's qualities have been summed up as fol-
SCENES FROM THE LIFE bF ST. BENOIT
JAN Palais des
MOSTAERT Plate ii Beaux- Arts
{See page 281) Brussels
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIBRARY
fflemisb painters anb paintina 3
lows : — " He carried the realistic tendency, already
existing in the Flemish masters, to an extraordinary
pitch of excellence, whilst in many essential respects
he adhered to the more ideal feeling of the previous
period, imparting to this, by the means of his far
richer powers of representation, greater distinct-
ness, truth of nature and variety of expression.
Throughout his works he displayed an elevated and
highly energetic conception of the stern import of
his labours in the service of the Church. The pre-
vailing arrangement of his subject is symmetrical,
holding fast the early architectonic rules which had
hitherto presided over ecclesiastical art." ^
The Adoration of the Lamb, which is, perhaps,
the most famous picture in the world, inaugurated
the Flemish School of painting, which thus attained
greatness with one bound. It is the joint work of
the two brothers, though, perhaps, Hubert had by
far the larger share in its production. Various
learned critics have attempted to distinguish the
styles of the two brothers and have pointed Out to
their own satisfaction the parts painted by each;
but, as they all differ in opinion, the layman is satis-
fied merely with regarding and admiring the picture
as the work of the Van Eycks.
This gigantic altar-piece was ordered by Jodocus
Vydts, a burgomaster of Ghent, and his wife, Isa-
^ Kugler.
4 Ube Hrt ot the JBclQian (Ballertes
bella Borluut, for their mortuary chapel in the
Cathedral of St. Bavon. Van Mander tells us that
when it was finished " swarms " came to gaze upon
it; but as the wings were closed, except on special
festival days, " few but the high born and those
who could afford to pay the custos saw it." The
great work consisted of two series of panels. The
upper wings, when closed, represented The Annun-
ciation and the lower portion portraits of Jodocus
Vydts and his wife and of John the Baptist and
John the Evangelist. Sibyls and half figures of
Zachariah and Micah ornamented the semicircles
above. When opened, were seen three upper central
panels, representing Christ, with the Virgin on his
right and John the Baptist on his left; and below
these three panels, the great panel, representing the
Adoration of the Lamb. Next to John the Baptist
and next to the Virgin were respectively the two
groups t)f Angel Musicians and St. Cecilia, now in
the Berlin Museum, and beyond these, at each end,
the figures of Adam and Eve, now in the Brussels
Gallery. Above the figures of Adam and Eve, were
miniature groups of the sacrifices of Cain and Abel
and the death of Abel.
Only the central panels in St. Bavon's are the
original work of the Van Eycks : the missing wings
have been replaced by copies.
" On a panel which overtops all the others the
iflemisb painters ant) painting 5
noble and dignified figure of Christ sits enthroned
in the prime of manhood, with a short black beard,
a broad forehead and black eyes. On his head is
the white tiara, ornamented with a profusion of
diamonds, pearls and amethysts. Two dark lappets
fall on either side of the grave and youthful face.
The throne of black damask is embroidered with
gold ; the tiara relieved on a golden ground covered
with inscriptions in semicircular lines. Christ
holds in his left hand a sceptre of splendid work-
manship, and with two fingers of his right he gives
his blessing to the world. The gorgeous red mantle
which completely enshrouds his form is fastened
at the breast by a large jewelled brooch. The
mantle itself is bordered \/ith a double row of
pearls and amethysts. The feet rest on a golden
pedestal, carpeted with black, and on the dark
ground, which is cut into perspective squares by
lines of gold, lies a richly- jewelled open-work
crown, emblematic of martyrdom.
" Christ, by his position, presides over the sac-
rifice of the Lamb as represented in the lower panels
of the shrine. The scene of the sacrifice is laid in
a landscape formed of green hills receding in varied
and pleasing lines from the foreground to the ex-
treme distance. A Flemish city, meant, no doubt,
to represent Jerusalem, is visible chiefly in the back-
ground to the right ; but churches and monasteries.
6 Xlbe Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Balleries
built in the style of the early edifices of the Nether-
lands and Rhine country, boldly raise their domes
and towers above every part of the horizon, and are
sharply defined on a sky of pale gray gradually
merging into a deeper hue. The trees, which oc-
cupy the middle ground, are not of high growth,
nor are they very different in colour from the un-
dulating meadows in which they stand. They are
interspersed here and there with cypresses, and on
the left is a small date-palm. The centre of the
picture is all meadow and green slope, from a fore-
ground strewed with daisies and dandelions to the
distant blue hills.
** In the very centre of the picture a square altar
is hung with red dan ask and covered with white
cloth. Here stands a lamb, from whose breast a
stream of blood issues into a crystal glass. Angels
kneel round the altar with parti-coloured wings and
variegated dresses, many of them praying with
joined hands, others holding aloft the emblems of
the passion, two in front waving censers. From a
slight depression of the ground to the right, a little
behind the altar, a numerous band of female saints
is issuing, all in rich and varied costumes, fair hair
floating over their shoulders, and palms in their
hands; foremost may be noticed St. Barbara with
the tower and St. Agnes. From a similar opening
on the left, popes, cardinals, bishops, monks and
JflemlBb painters anb painting 7
minor clergy advance, some holding croziers and
crosses, others, palms. This, as it were, forms one
phase of the adoration.
*' In the centre, near the base of the picture, a
small octagonal fountain of stone, with an iron jet
and tiny spouts, projects a stream into a rill, whose
pebbly bottom is seen through the pellucid water.
The fountain and the altar, with vanishing points
on different horizons, prove the Van Eycks to have
been unacquainted with the science of linear per-
spective. Two distinct groups are in adoration on
each side of the fountain. That on the right com-
prises the twelve apostles, in light grayish violet
cloaks kneeling bare-footed on the sward, with long
hair and beards, expressing in their noble faces the
intensity of their faith. On their right stands a
gorgeous array of three popes, two cardinal monks,
seven bishops and a miscellaneous crowd of church
and laymen. The group on the left of the fountain
is composed 'of kings and princes in various cos-
tumes, the foremost of them kneeling, the rest
standing, none finer than that of a dark bearded
man in a red cloth cap stepping forward in full
front towards the spectator, dressed in a dark blue
mantle and holding a sprig of myrtle. The whole
of the standing figures command prolonged atten-
tion from the variety of the attitudes and expres-
sions, the stern resolution of some, the eager
8 Zbc Htt ot tbe Belotan Galleries
glances of others, the pious resignation and con-
templative serenity of the remainder. The faithful
who have thus reached the scene of the sacrifice are
surrounded by a perfect wilderness of flowering
shrubs, lilies and other beautiful plants, and remain
in quiet contemplation of the Lamb." ^
On the wings are represented pilgrims coming
to worship the Lamb. The group on the left repre-
sents crusaders, knights and noblemen, kings and
princes, all in splendid costumes that give an idea
of the magnificent court of Burgundy. In the last
panel on the left Hubert Van Eyck is seen, dressed
in blue velvet lined with gray fur and a dark cap on
his long brown hair, riding a spirited white pony.
Not far from him and near two riders is a man in
dark brown trimmed with fur and wearing a black
turban, his face turned towards Hubert. Critics
agree in supposing this to be John.
The group on the right wing represents ascetics
and saints approaching to the Adoration. Among
them the Magdalen and St. Christopher are notice-
able.
John preferred easel pictures to frescoes. On
account of the wonderful finish of his work, his
paintings were comparatively few in number, com-
prising half a dozen Madonnas and about as many
portraits. The latter are remarkable for their real-
^ Growe and Cavalcaselle.
fflemlBb painters anb ipaiutlno 9
ism, which st)metimes approaches brutaHty. Many
critics consider John the equal of Raphael, Diirer,
Holbein, Velasquez, Van Dyck, or Rembrandt as
a portrait painter.
The Van Eycks had as pupils or follow*ers all the
Flemish and German painters of the Sixteenth Cen-
tury. They reigned supreme north of the Alps, the
Schools of Tours and Cologne alone preserving a
certain independence. Even in Italy, their pictures
sold for their weight in gold, and their new process
of painting was propagated through Antonello da
Messina, who had learned their secret.
Roger Van der Weyden (1399- 1464) in his life-
time was as celebrated as the Van Eycks. He visited
Italy in 1450; and was so highly esteemed there
that, On his return home, orders followed him. He
was very versatile and produced miniatures and
wood-engravings, as well as paintings in oil. His
works greatly influenced German art and artists, par-
ticularly Martin Schongauer, the greatest German
painter of the Fifteenth Century. In Flanders, his
great disciple was Hans Memling.
" His figures, among which males predominate
both in number and interest, do not all possess the
impassibility sometimes attributed to them. Their
beauty, or their moral significance, is merely re-
strained, just like the artist's own emotions. Both
need to be discovered. As for the expression of the
10 Zbc Htt ot tbe Belgian (Ballertes
colour, the nbvel truth of the light, the profound
feeling of the landscape — these are incontestable
merits in the Louvain painter. They explain his pro^
found influence upon Memling, Gerard David, Quen-
tin Massy s, the Master of the death of Mary, his
prestige with the Sixteenth Century Renaissants, and
the growing admiration of modern criticism for his
genius." ^
The Descent from the Cross, signed 1443, of St.
Pierre of Louvain, is probably not by Roger Van
der Weyden, notwithstanding documentary evi-
dence in its favour. It is by a very close pupil, or
follower. It is very archaic in aspect, and the work
is cleanly and conscientiously done. It recalls the
master in many of its qualities. The clothes are
painted with extreme care. Joseph of Arimathea
is robed in a magnificent houppelande of brocade on
which jewels sparkle here and there in settings of
artistic design. The Virgin, with her thick neck,
small mouth and pointed chin, reminds us of the
MaUre de Flemalle by her sculpturesque character.
Noticeable also is the popular character of some of
the types, and the forced pathos of St. John. The
colour is very brilliant.
A master who occupies an important place in the
Fifteenth Century, a contemporary of Roger Van
der Weyden, is known as the Maitre de Flemalle.
' Fierens-Gevaert.
LAMBERT
LOMBARD
HUMAN CALAMITIES
Plate III
{See page 280)
Palais des
Beaux- Arts
Brussels
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
liPRARV
fflemtsb ipatnters ant) iPatnttng ii
A Primitive in his composition, he is more mod-
ern than Roger Van der Weyden on account of his
atmosphere of reaHty and his picturesque interiors.
He was first known as the Maitre a la souriciere
(Master of the Mousetrap), because St. Joseph is
working upon a mousetrap upon one of the panels
of the triptych in the Merode Collection (Brussels) ;
but as many of his important works, now in the
Staedel Institut (Frankfort), are supposed to have
come from the old Abbey of Flemalle in Liege, the
critics gave him this name. He is enveloped in
mystery, though some would identify him as
Jacques Daret.
Hans Memling (1425-1495) appeared just as
the Van Eycks and John's beloved disciple Roger
Van der Weyden had solved the most difficult prob-
lems of painting, and created a new manner: their
successor had only to follow along their path, and
make use of their resources. With his inherited
treasure, he built a magic palace in which the ideal
reigns, and beauty is enthroned.
Roger recognized his talents, and even took him
for a collaborator: Margaret of Austria had a
triptych, the centre of which was by Roger, and the
wings by Memling. It is even believed by com-
petent critics that the master took the pupil to Italy
with him in 1450.
In his altar-pieces, Memling almost always fol-
1^ XTbe Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
lowed a narrative method : he Hked to develop an
action, and to tell the story of his characters by
means of successive scenes. His exquisite taste and
feeling applies to nature as well as to mankind.
Under his brush, the light sometimes assumes
golden tones never eclipsed by Claude Lorraine;
his deep and limpid waters, his swards spangled
with flowers, his thick woods full of mysterious
shadows, and his beautiful azure skies half veiled
with light mists place him on a level with the Dutch
masters.
Memling is one of the three great Flemish Primi-
tives (counting the two Van Eycks as one). Van
Eyck surpasses him by the almost hieratic grandeur
and solemn harmony of his compositions, and the
keen character of his portraits, in which, however,
we feel some remains of the manner of the minia-
turists. Roger Van der Weyden is sometimes
stronger in drawing than Van Eyck, but more reso-
lutely naturalistic in the best sense of the word;
but Memling, although some of his portraits, not
all, lean somewhat towards weakness, has put into
his whole work the dream of a tender, delicate and
passionate soul, an almost Raphaelesque love of the
most aristocratic grace and elegance; and, in his
most inspired moments, he has risen by his qualities
as a designer, modeller and colourist to the level of
his greatest brethren in Flemish art.
fflemtsb painters anb IPaintfna 13
Taine sums up the characteristics of the art of
the Primitives as follows:
" A Flemish Renaissance underneath Christian
ideas, such, in effect, is the two-fold nature of art
under Hubert and John Van Eyck, Roger Van der
Weyden, Memling and Quentin Massys; and from
these two characteristics proceed all the others. On
the one hand, artists take interest in actual life;
their figures are no longer symbols like the illumina-
tions of ancient missals, nor purified spirits like the
Madonnas of the school of Cologne, but living be-
ings and bodies. They attend to anatomy, the per-
spective is exact, the minutest details are rendered
of stuffs, of architecture, of accessories and of land-
scape; the relief is strong, and the entire scene
stamps itself on the eye and on the mind with ex-
traordinary force and sense of stability; the great-
est masters of coming times are not to surpass them
in all this, nor even go so far. Nature evidently is
now discovered by them. The scales fall from their
eyes ; they have just mastered, almost in a flash, the
proportions, the structure and the colouring of visi-
ble realities ; and, moreover, they delight in them.
Consider the superb copes wrought in gold and
decked with diamonds, the embroidered silks, the
flowered and dazzling diadems with which they or-
nament their saints and divine personages, all of
whom represent the pomp of the Burgundian Court,
14 Zbc Brt of tbc Belgian Galleries
Look at the calm and transparent water, the bright
meadows, the red and white flowers, the blooming
trees, the sunny distances of their admirable land-
scapes. Observe their colouring — the strongest
and richest ever seen, the pure and full tones side
by side as in a Persian carpet, and united solely
through their harmony, the superb breaks in the
folds of purple mantles, the azure recesses of long,
falling robes, the green draperies like a summer
field permeated with sunshine, the display of gold
skirts trimmed with black, the strong light which
warms and enlivens the whole scene; you have a
concert in which each instrument sounds its proper
note, and the more true because the more sonorous.
They see the world on the bright side and make a
holiday of it, a genuine fete, similar to those of
this day, glowing under a more bounteous sunlight
and not a heavenly Jerusalem suffused with super-
natural radiance such as Fra Angelico painted.
They are Flemings and they stick to the earth.
They copy the real with scrupulous accuracy, and
all that is real — the ornaments of armour, the
polished glass of a window, the scrolls of a carpet,
the hairs of fur, the undraped body of an Adam and
an Eve, a canon's massive, wrinkled and obese fea-
tures, a burgomaster's or soldier's broad shoulders,
projecting chin and prominent nose, the spindle
shanks of a hangman, the over large head and
iflemisb painters anb painttna 15
diminutive limbs of a child, the costumes and fur-
niture of the age; their entire work being a glori-
fication of this present life. But, on the other hand,
it is a glorification of Christian belief. Not only are
their subjects almost all of a religious order, but
again they are imbued with a religious sentiment,
which, in the following age, is not to be found in
the same scenes. Their best pictures represent no
actual event in sacred history, but a verity of faith,
a summary of doctrine."
Thierry Bouts (1400-1475) was a great con-
temporary of John Van Eyck. Without useless
luxury, or great tragic bursts, his painting is char-
acterized by the probity, sincerity and impeccability
of the most religious conscience. His restrained
colouring, of rare quality, does not run to golds,
nimbuses, or brilliant accessories. His art is not
sumptuous, nor princely, nor passionate. Like the
great Florentine Ghirlandajo, he clothes a character
with bourgeoise austerity. People have so strongly
insisted on the phlegm of his personages, that some
critics (notably Voll and Heiland) have tried to
detach him from the Flemish School in order to
make a Dutch Master of him. .
In the church of St. Pierre, Louvain, are two
important pictures by Thierry Bouts. The Martyr-
dom of St. Erasmus was painted about the same
time as the Last Supper. It is painted on wood,
16 XTbe art ot tbe Belgian Galleries
and represents the saint in a landscape on a stretcher
beneath a windlass on which his bowels are being
wound off by two executioners who are being
watched by a judge and attendants. On the
wings of the triptych are St. Jerome and St. Ber-
nard.
" Equally disagreeable, and quite as character-
istic of the master as regards treatment is the Mar-
tyrdom of St. Hippolytus in St. Sauveur at Bruges,
depicting the saint stretched on the ground and
about to be torn to pieces by four very large horses,
led by servants. This hideous scene, treated in the
style of Memling, has furnished one of the argu-
ments in favour of that painter's stay at Venice.
The painting as a whole has been much restored and
touched, and the tone and colours are altered; but
the composition is poor, the character of the heads
and figures is defective, the dresses are in bad taste,
and the attitudes are exaggerated according to
Bouts's custom. The figure of the saint is thin and
slender, and its muscular development faulty. The
wings are in better preservation; one, containing
an incident from the Hfe of St. Hippolytus, a group
of men, being like the central panel, the other,
representing a kneeling man and woman in a land-
scape, being cold in tone, whilst it is soft in outline,
and more in Memling's style than the rest of the
altar-piece. The ill-restored obverse of this triptych
jFlemtsb ipatnters ant) painting 17
represents in chiaroscuro St. Charles, St. Hippo-
lytus, St. Elizabeth and St. Margaret." ^
The Last Supper is the central panel of a polyp-
tych, painted in 1464, for the altar of the Holy Sac-
rament in the Collegial Church of Louvain. It is
now in the church of St. Pierre, Louvain, near the
Martyrdom of St. Erasmus. Two wings of the
altar-piece are in Berlin, and two others in Munich.
" The Last Supper is one of the most profound
and best-painted works of the Fifteenth Century;
and if one were to make a list of five or six supreme
masterpieces of the Flemish Primitives, this would
have to be included. The painter introduces us into
a fine Gothic room opening into other apartments.
In the centre, the tall table is set for the last meal.
The disposition and attitude of Christ and His
Apostles conform to the traditions observed in the
representations of the ancient mysteries. Christ has
a chalice before him, and in his left hand holds the
Host, which he blesses with his right. Two apostles
are placed on either side of the Saviour, and three
others are at each end of the table. St. Philip and
Judas sit facing Christ. This arrangement is also
borrowed from Mediaeval dramaturgy. These
transpositions of a ritualistic scenography in nowise
injure the originality of the composition. The de-
tails are painted with a fidelity that the Maitre de
' Crowe,
18 Ubc Hrt of tbe Belgian (Balledes
FUmalle would have envied. What true emotion,
moreover, there is in the faces! Behind Christ, a
servant — or perhaps the host ! — stands with
piously clasped hands; and beside the buffet is
another personage in whom some people have
thought they recognized the painter himself. In
the framing of a narrow window, appear two other
youths who might be the sons of Bouts : Thierry
and Albert. All the heads — those of the august
participants in the mystic festival, and those of the
simple bourgeois who contemplate the Eucharist
breathe truth and fervour. All these men are at
the same time very close to life and very close to
God — and, before leaving them, Christ has desired
to be like unto themselves more than ever. Hence
arises the strict unity in the expression and the strik-
ing elevation of the sentiment. Rightly has it been
said of this picture that, after the Adoration of the
Lamb, it is the very type of the image of devo-
tion." 1
Thierry Bouts had two sons, both painters.
Thierry, the eldest, was called '' pictor ymaginum,"
and died rich before 1491, leaving a son, Jan, who
also became a painter. The younger, Albert, died
about 1548 and enriched with his productions sev-
eral churches in Louvain. Albert Bouts forsook
the strong qualities of his father's school to launch
^ Fierens-Gevaert.
THIERRY
BOUTS
THE LAST SUPPER
Plate IV
{See page 272)
Palais des
Beaux- Arts
Brussels
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
CDLLEGF OF LFEPM. ARTS
jFlemtsb ipatnters an& pafnttng 19
out in the refinements of a somewhat doubtful
taste; and the School of Louvain with him is in its
decadence.
After the death of Memling, the last representa-
tive of the pure traditions of Van Eyck, the Flem-
ish School halted for a time between its first manner
and another better adapted to the tendencies that
were directing all minds to antiquity. It would be
interesting to show the successive minds through
which the new ideas gradually won their way, and
those that remained faithful to the old art; but,
with MemHng, the filiation of the heads of the
Bruges School stops : we cannot say with any cer-
tainty who was the pupil of his predilection. The
centre of the School which had first been displaced
when Van der Weyden removed it to Brussels, now
abandons Bruges for Antwerp, and remains there
permanently.
Among the immediate followers of Memling
were Gerard Van der Meire, at Ghent; Joachim
Patenier and Jerome Bosch at Antwerp ; and finally
Gerard David at Bruges. His elegance was also
imitated by Gossaert, Bellegambe, Mostaert, and
Lancelot Blondeel.
" The painters of the Fifteenth Century had long
studied and represented the world, mankind and
religion under their most brilliant and gentle as-
pects. Piety, innocence, calmness of spirit and love
20 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Balleries
of good without hatred of evil passed from their
souls into their pictures and thence into the hearts
of the multitude. Even their vulgarity is ingenu-
ous : it does not take its rise in the cruel pleasures
of raillery: it is the simple imitation of forms
which are most commonly seen. They have diffi-
culty in expressing odious feelings, anger, perfidy
and wickedness. Savage moods are rendered with
serious and pensive expressions ; tyrants and judges
look mild and kind ; executioners pity their victims ;
the pagans massacring St. Ursula's virgins have
perfectly tranquil faces.
" This harmony, desired by intelligence and
dreamed of by poets, is personified by the Bruges
School and realized in its pictures. There is no
war between man and man, or man and nature;
no more storms, catastrophes, clouded skies, nor
melancholy days. Everywhere we see grass,
flowers, green boughs, singing birds, gleaming
waves, shining stars, an eternal spring. The most
perfect Christian ideal governs all the relations of
man, God, and nature." ^
But this ideal, being opposed to reality, was soon
dissipated. The Bruges School could not fail to
produce artists who, while making use of its tech-
nique and manner, formed a kind of opposition.
These are named Hugo Van der Goes (1430-1482),
^ Michiels.
IFlemtsb painters anb iPainttno 21
Simon Marmion (1425-1480) and Jerome Bosch
(1462-15 16). The first two habitually regarded
life under its most sombre aspect, painting on their
panels figures of desolation. Their successor,
Bosch, took for his domain the twilight regions of
the fantastic world, the place of Divine tortures
where hopeless tears endlessly flow.
Although truth and exactitude and observation
of nature are not lacking in Jerome Van Aken
(Bosch), he did not work with the patience of the
Van Eycks. His rapidity was not entirely detri-
mental, since it made his form more free and supple;
he learned a better expression of the attitudes and
movements of men and animals. Hotho tells us
that the imaginary ground of his visions, although
full of men, animals, monuments and rustic details,
does not look at all encumbered; there are even
wide empty spaces and solitary vistas. His capri-
cious taste is noticeable in his general dispositions.
He carries further than any other in the Bruges
School the contrast between light and shade, cold
and warm tints. He freely opposes vermilion, yel-
lowish green and reddish brown with ochre mixed
with blue tints, or with grounds of greenish blue.
Red and yellow flames break from the dark smoke,
and bright gleams illuminate the surface of the
ponds, or are reflected from the armour worn by
hideous skeletons.
22 Ube Hrt of tbe Belgian 6allerte5
Hugo Van der Goes, so celebrated in his own
day, is not represented in any of the great Belgian
galleries. In Italy, it was said of him that on this
side of the Alps he had no equal. Critics still praise
his broad and simple work, the austere expression of
his faces and the strength of his colouring; but
blame his hard outlines, dark shadows, and absence
of chiaroscuro, or relief and transparence in the
flesh. Like Memling at Bruges, in Brabant he was
the last important figure in Van Eyck's school,
which, under Massys, was soon to be transformed,
and then to bow to Italian influence. After him the
old Gothic manner soon disappears.
The theocratic art of Van Eyck preserves in the
dispositions of the groupings a regularity that is
still ritualistic: Van der Weyden was the first to
make his divine personages breathe with human
feelings. Gerard David (1450-1523) went a step
further: he painted real scenes; and, after some
examples that he had perhaps admired in Italy, he
taught the Flemings great historical composition.
It is with this profoundly original creator that the
admirable Burgundian epoch comes to an end.
Gerard David was a productive painter ; and had
many pupils. His was a pious and gentle nature,
fitted for subjects of a tranquil character, delicate
assemblages of saints and Virgins enthroned. He
was a continuator of Memling, sometimes with an
if lemi0b ipatnters an& paintina 23
unequal brush, but with great charm of sentiment
and an almost modern melancholy. He was also
well acquainted with Massys, and imitated him. A
Descent from the Cross, painted in 1520, now in
the Chapel of the Sacred Blood at Bruges, is al-
most an exact copy of the picture by Massys in the
Antwerp Museum.
" It is not known where Gerard learned his art,
but most probably at Haarlem, or under Dirk Bouts,
but the composition and colouring of his earliest
known pictures show that before settling in Bruges
he had travelled in Italy and come under the influ-
ence of the Venetian School, probably of Carpaccio.
Certain details such as the amorini, the garlands of
fruit and flowers, and the Medicean cameos repro-
duced in these, prove him to have visited Florence.
His works were formerly often attributed to Mem-
ling, with whose style they have a certain affinity.
David lived in Bruges for forty years and received
many commissions not only from the magistrates
and citizens of that city, but also from France,
Italy, Spain and Portugal. He is reckoned among
the most esteemed Netherlandish painters, remark-
able among other qualities for his careful and truth-
ful painting of landscape. Some critics suppose
indeed that his landscape backgrounds were exe-
cuted by Joachim Patenier." *
^ Weale.
24 Zbc Hrt of tbe Belgian Galleries
" Contemporary with David were a few artists
who painted with a pathetic sentiment sorrowing
Virgins and beautiful dying Christs in which the
profound rehgious emotion of the Flemings still vi-
brates. Among these were the unknown masters
designated the Master of the Assumption, the
Master of the Mater Dolorosa, the Master of the
Death of Mary. But this intimate dramatization
lof violent grief, this tranquillity in the attitudes
that double the psychic eloquence of the characters
becomes more and more rare. The calm, pensive,
concentrated art of the great Bruges period dies
with the splendid city whence it spread over the
world. The Italian current carries it away with all
its anatomical efforts, its care for external move-
ment, and its receipts for style and composition ; till
at length the Romanizing taste, already dear to Jan
Gossaert, triumphs with Van Orley, Blondeel, Lom-
bard, De Vos, Coxie and Floris." ^
Jan Mosaert (1474- 155 5) may be regarded as
the last of the Gothic Flemings. He carried on the
old traditions to the middle of the Sixteenth Cen-
tury, respectfully and with great talent, recalling
the blue and hilly distances of John Van Eyck, the
superb stuffs of Memling ornamented with gold
and gems, the minute exactitude in the detail of
' Fierens-Gevaert.
iflemtsb painters anb IPatntina 25
Bouts, together with the strong colouring and hie-
ratic gravity of all.
Joachim Patenier, or Patinir (1490- 1548), and
Herri de Bles (1480-1550) were two of the first
Flemish masters to raise landscape to special im-
portance. They mark the transition between the
naive Fifteenth Century school, which they saw die
out, and the Italianized Flemish style of the follow-
ing period. De Bles, known also as the Master of
the Owl, from his frequent introduction of that
bird in his pictures as a sort of monogram, treated
subjects of various kinds, but generally with a land-
scape background very carefully treated. His for-
est, mountain and meadow views are loaded with
details and complicated with rocks Or intense and
sombre verdure. In him we find the exaggeration
of the naturalistic system inaugurated by John Van
Eyck. He is nevertheless a curious painter, and
deserves a place in the history of Flemish landscape.
Patenier was his compatriot, and almost his
neighbour, painting similar subjects, but being
superior to De Bles in fineness of execution and
feeling. In fact, details that should be lost in the
distance are often too faithfully rendered. Patenier
always conserved the patience and care of the old
miniaturist. He was the first painter to give less
importance to the figures than to the landscape of
his pictures. But the great Primitives, as well as
26 Ube Btt ot tbe Belgian (Ballertes
Leonardo da Vinci, Perugino, and many others,
had treated nature with more breadth and fideUty
than he in the backgrounds of their compositions.
Van Mander says that he introduced pretty Httle
figures into his landscapes. It is doubtful whether
the relatively large figures in some of his pictures
are by his own hand.
" The Sixteenth Century is generally regarded
as a period of decadence for the Flemish School,
but this opinion must be received with some reser-
vations. The school became enfeebled because its
heads, repudiating the qualities that had character-
ized their predecessors, adopted a new manner
without completely assimilating it. They became
less and less Flemish without becoming entirely
Italian. But this period of transition, the greater
part of which was filled with frightful wars, was
not of long duration. During the first half of the
Sixteenth Century, the galaxy of artists of the Low
Countries showed themselves to be as brilliant as
ever: it is the period of Quentin Massys, Jean
Mabuse, Bernard Van Orley, Lucas Van Leyden
and Jean Bellegambe. Here again numerous and
original talents appeared. Weakness was not be-
trayed till the following generation, which sub-
mitted completely to the influence of Italy. How-
ever, it did not decline without glory; and, among
other works of merits it can claim the religious
2 i ^
^ *^ 61
s '^
s
a
<
Q
a
<
H
O
w
Q
o
BOSTON UNIVERSITY •
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIRRAf'^
jf lemisb painters anO painttrtG 27
works of Frans Floris and Michael Van Coxie, as
well as the portraits of Pourbus and Antonio
Moro." ^
The pious and tranquil character of Flemish
painting suffered great changes under Quentin
Massys (1460-1530) and Jerome Bosch (1462'-
15 16). Massys put more boldness into the design
and gave freer movement to his personages ; he also
treated with equal interest episodes of ordinary life
and religious subjects, while Bosch, as though he
foresaw the revolution for which Luther and Calvin
were to give the signal, painted purgatorial scenes
with an exaggeration bordering on the ridiculous.
To some degree, these two artists formed the transi-
tion between the Primitives and a whole galaxy of
artists who lived in the first third of the Sixteenth
Century.
Massys succeeded in harmonizing in his work the
contradictory tendencies that were appealing to his
contemporaries. He was largely converted to
Italianism ; but Gothic inspiration still illumines his
masterpieces at Brussels and Antwerp. He was
somewhat isolated in his conservatism. One of his
imitators was Martin Glaeszone, whose genre sub-
jects are without spirit or charm.
" Massys," writes Wauters, " was the first in
Flanders to comprehend that the details should be
» Wauters.
28 Ube Hrt of tbe Belgian 6allettes
subordinate to the whole; and to put into practice
the great law of unity. Sometimes his style takes
leave of Gothic forms : his lovely Virgins and his
charming saints, captivating, dreamful and of subtle
beauty, are the promise of a new art, less mystic
and more worldly than that of Memling. We per-
ceive that we are in an intermediate epoch. But,
notwithstanding this strange influence, Massys is
as Flemish as it is possible to be. He is the
creator of the Antwerp School, the prophet of its
splendours, and he forms the glorious transition
between Van Eyck and Memling, who have dis-
appeared, and Rubens and Jordaens, who are to
come."
Except Massys, who grew old without leaving
his Antwerp studio, all the heads of the Belgian
school after Memling followed the same path with
more or less success: Mabuse, Van Orley, Belle-
gambe and Blondeel should be grouped together,
not only because they were almost exactly con-
temporaries, but also because their common sub-
mission to Italian influence is visible in their works.
** The first Italian influx takes place with Jan
Mabuse, Bernard Van Orley, Lambert Lombard,
Jan Mostaert, Jan Schoorel and Lancelot Blondeel.
They import in their pictures classic architecture,
veined marble pilasters, medallions, shell niches,
sometimes triumphal arches and cariatides, some-
Jflcmtsb painters anb patnttng 29
times also noble and vigorous female figures in an-
tique drapery, a sound nude form, well proportioned
and vitalized, of the fine pagan stock and healthy;
their imitation reduces itself to this, while in other
respects they follow national traditions. They still
paint small pictures, suitable for genre subjects;
they almost always preserve the strong and rich
colouring of the preceding age, the mountains and
blue distances of John Van Eyck, the clear skies
vaguely tinged with emerald on the horizon, the
magnificent stuffs covered with gold and jewels, the
powerful relief, the minute precision of detail and
the solid, honest heads of the bourgeoisie. But as
they are no longer restrained by hieratic gravity,
they fall in attempting to emancipate themselves
into simple awkwardness and ridiculous inconris-
tencies." ^
Jan Gossaert (Mabuse, 1470-1532) went to Italy
in 1508, and stayed there for ten years. On his
return, his work naturally showed Italian taste.
His new manner is fully presented in the Jesus at
the House of Simon, in Brussels.
A famous contemporary of Mabuse was Jean
Bellegambe of Douai ( ?-after 1530). His Adora-
tion of the Holy Trinity, in the church of Notre
Dame de Douai, in nine panels, is one of the typical
masterpieces of this period of transition. His sons,
" Tainc.
30 Zbc Hrt of tbe JSelgtan Galleries
grandsons and other descendants carried his school
and traditions down into the Eighteenth Century.
Lucas Van Leyden (1494-1533) painted in every
genre; and was one of the ablest artists of the
period who engraved their own works. In this,
he displays great delicacy and extreme finish, match-
ing Diirer in quality. His pictures are clear and
delicate in colour, and varied in character and ex-
pression, but his drawing is hard and mediaeval in
outline. His subjects are taken from sacred history
and contemporary manners. He was also a good
portrait painter.
Lancelot Blondeel, of Bruges (1496-1561) loved
to paint scenes with magnificent architectural set-
tings, the capricious ornaments of which are in
Renaissance style. His figures, quite Italian in
taste, are carefully executed; but they are man-
nered, and the flesh tints are cold.
Jan Van Coninxloo (1489-?) of whom little is
known except that he was the son of a painter of
the same name and had a brother, Pieter, also a
painter, is famous for his splendid altar-pieces
formerly attributed to Gilles Van Coninxloo (1544-
1609). The latter was a pupil of Gilles Mostaert,
travelled in France and Italy, and was one of the
best landscape artists of his day.
Bernard Van Orley (1488-1541) inherited the
sceptre of Flemish Art after the death of Massys
fflemisb patntets auD patntina 31
and Mabuse; and, after having swayed it with
glory, transmitted it through his pupil, Coxie, to
Otto Van Veen (or Vsenius), from whom it passed
to Rubens.
Notwithstanding a strongly marked Italian in-
fluence, his very unequal, but, generally, very finely
composed religious works, preserved a characteristic
Flemish colouring. At a period when the last imi-
tators of the Primitives seemed to follow the old
rut, Van Orley, by a singular blend of originality
and imitation of Italian art, played a great part in
the new outlook of painting in his native land.
Bernard displayed many marks of the new spirit
that was about to animate Flemish art. He did not
like the patient execution of his predecessors; he
was the first Flemish painter who worked in a rapid
manner. In fact, the swiftness of his brush became
famous. He therefore substituted for the charming
and simple minuteness of the old school prompt
labour, and opened the door to mere fabricators of
painting. The renown of Van Eyck and Memling
wearied him ; and thus we are far distant from the
ingenuous modesty of the early artists. A pre-
sumptuous trouble succeeds their calm reverie; and
already foretells fatal struggles which will fill men's
hearts with bitterness.
If Van Orley was not the pupil of Gerard David,
at least he was under his influence during his first
32 Zbc Hrt of tbe JSelQtan eallettes
period, where his figures have much action, and
characteristic heads with rather large features. His
architecture is full of false Renaissance, confused
with Gothic motives which reveal his imperfect
knowledge; and, in his landscape backgrounds, we
see the hollowed out rocks of his contemporaries —
Patenier, Bles, and the Master of the Death of
Mary, etc., — at that period considered very roman-
tic. His foliage is of a lovely green, and his colours
tend to a pale blue, while the flesh tints are reddish.
In all his pictures, the learned character of his
drawing, the boldness of his attitudes, the correct-
ness of his foreshortening, and the vigour of his
expressions remind us of Italian art. But notwith-
standing Van Orley's personal admiration of and
attachment to Raphael, he imitates him less than
Michael Angelo. We note the same hyperbole, and
the same striving after difficult postures : from that
time, energy suited the Flemish spirit far better than
grace. But in spite of foreign influence, Bernard,
in many respects, preserved the taste of his own
country. His colour belongs to the school of Van
Eyck; his types are of the Netherlands; his inte-
riors, with their beds, curtains, dressoirs and brass
ware, are all northern in character.
The famous Last Judgment in the Church of St.
Jacques, Antwerp, enables us to study the painter's
last manner. This beautiful composition was
fflemtsb painters anb iPainttuG 33
painted between 1537 and 1540. At the top of the
triptych, in the centre, we see Christ, the Virgin,
Saints and Angels; but all this part is neglected
by the painter, who devoted his powers particularly
to represent the separation of the just from the un-
just. We see them in innumerable multitudes
leaving their graves. In the midst of them, we
see Adam who starts back in terror at the sight of
the demons and the condemned; whilst Eve, com-
pletely nude, seems to await with confidence the
execution of the Divine promises. The painter's
fine and intense colour, and his deep knowledge of
anatomy, are strikingly apparent in this capital
work. His talent as a portrait painter also gives
great value to the wings, on which are painted the
givers of the triptych, Adrien Rockox and Cath-
erine Van Overhoff, with their children and patron
saints.
Pieter Coeck (1502-1553) was a pupil of Ber-
nard Van Orley, and accompanied his master to
Italy. He went to Constantinople, and the *' Man-
ners and Customs of the Turks," published by him
on his return, served his contemporaries and suc-
cessors for the Oriental costumes and accessories of
their historical and religious compositions for two
or three generations. Rembrandt made use of it,
as we find it in his inventory. Coeck also trans-
lated the works of Vitruvius and Serlio, and greatly
34 Ubc Hrt of tbe Belgian Galleries
influenced the decorative art of his day. His pupil,
Peter Brueghel the Elder, married his daughter.
Michael Van Coxie (1499-1592) was another
celebrated pupil of Van Orley.
" Michael Van Coxie had a feeling for elegance,
which he expressed everywhere — in his drawing,
his colours, his figures, his grouping, his draperies
and the smallest accessories of his pictures — which
charmed his contemporaries. For them he revealed
a new style: the freedom of his pencil, his knowl-
edge of anatomy, the easy carriage of his person-
ages, the skilful way in which they were grouped,
— all these merits heretofore unknown could not
fail to delight his spectators. They did not inquire
into the origin of all this ; they simply accepted the
new style without inquiring whence it came. More-
over, the sky, the trees and the landscape back-
grounds had also a modern expressiveness." ^
The Cathedral of St. Rombaud, Mechlin, pos-
sesses parts of two fine altar-pieces by Michael Van
Coxie. In the one, dated 1588, painted when the
master was 89 years old, we see St. George, stripped
naked and bound to a wheel that is beginning to
turn : planks studded with nails will tear his flesh as
he passes over. This frightful execution terrifies
the spectators, who turn their heads aside in order
not to see it. Two soldiers even, who should be
' Michiels.
JAN
SWART
ADORATION OF THE MAGI
Plate VI
{See page 280)
Palais dcs
Beaux-Arts
Brussels
BOSTON UNIVERSTTY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIBRahv
jflemtsb ipainterB anb lC>ainting 35
hardened to such scenes, are taking to their heels.
The executioners, moreover, can not restrain their
emotion. Although the saint's body has not yet
suffered, his face expresses a secret horror that his
will can hardly control. His eyes, however, are
fixed on an angel who is bringing him the crown
of the elect. The two wings of the triptych depict
other scenes of the saint's martyrdom.
The central panel of the second triptych is dated
1587. The subject is St. Sebastian bound to a tree,
and about to be shot to death with arrows. The
body is a fine study of the human: it is elegant in
form and well drawn. The head is distinguished
with an expressive nobility. The archers are shoot-
ing from a ridiculously short distance. The back-
ground is composed of a charming landscape and
cloudy sky. The whole work is unusually harmoni-
ous.
Other scenes of the martyrdom occupy the wings.
The last picture here is the Circumcision. The
great interior of a splendid temple where the cere-
mony takes place is painted by Coxie's collaborator
Jan Vredemann. The picture displays great ele-
gance.
Jan Van Hemessen (1500- 1555) was a painter
who still clung to the past even when the Renais-
sance was in full flower. He copied, without com-
prehending, Massys and Mabuse. Sometimes he
36 Ubc Hrt of tbe Belgian Galleries
goes to the limits of ugliness; his colour is hard,
and shadows heavy; but he has a turn for expres-
sion, and his simple energy approaches original-
ity.
Josse Van Cleef (1500-1556) was one of the best
Flemish portrait painters of the school of Holbein.
He recalls the latter's delicacy of design, the pleas-
ing intensity of his colour, his grounds of strong
green, and his attentive rendering of detail. In
him we see the first dawn of the flamboyant tones of
Jordaens. He serves as a link between Holbein
and Antonio Moro.
Flanders was just breaking away from the simple
forms of the religious art of the Fifteenth Century,
when Italian influence hindered independent native
development. Lambert Lombard (1506- 1566)
went to Rome in 1538 with Cardinal Pole; and al-
though he remained there only a short time, he
studied and was profoundly struck by the works of
Andrea del Sarto; and was dazzled by the other
stars of the Renaissance. On his return to Liege,
he opened a school there, and publicly taught that
the Middle Ages were for ever ended; and that
Italy was the country of the ideal. Floris, then
twenty years old, went to Liege to study under
Lombard, soon surpassed his master, and proceeded
to Italy.
Frans Floris (De Vriendt, 15 18-1570) was very
jflemlsb painters an^ Ipainttna 37
inappropriately called the Flemish Raphael, for he
was a far closer imitator of Michael Angelo. He
forgot his origin to become not merely an Italian,
but a Tuscan. Of the Sixteenth Century Flemings,
none more absolutely disowned his nationality, nor
possessed to such a degree the gift of assimilating
the style and temperament of others.
" Besides two sons of some artistic celebrity in
their day, Floris left many disciples, the greatest of
whom were Martin de Vos, Lucas de Heere and
Martin Van Cleef. His influence on his period was
considerable. The authority of his constantly ap-
plauded work, the character of his imagination, at
once fiery and delicate, and the prestige naturally
attaching to such an able imitator of Michael
Angelo and Andrea del Sarto enabled him to dis-
cipline almost all contemporary fancies and organize
a great school that reigned flourishing and admired
till the first years of the Seventeenth Century. This
school, however, more Italian than Flemish, had
against it the old traditions of the country and the
eternal resistance of the national temperament. It
can only count therefore in the history of art in
Flanders as an interval during which skilful rhet-
oricians held the stage without having time to finish
the piece. The sudden appearance of Rubens put
these foreign comedians to flight, and the school,
38 Zbc Hrt of tbe Belgian Galleries
having recovered itself, began to talk Flemish
again. ^
Faithful to the habits and tendencies of his coun-
try, Martin de Vos (1532-1603) did not fail to give
importance to details, multiply accessories, and open
a window on a landscape. By this trait we imme-
diately recognize the predominance of a Flemish
mind that Italy has not entirely fashioned. It is
strange that with De Vos the secondary group al-
most always overpowers the principal figures.
Sometimes the scene, instead of being repeated in
the distance, is continued. If, in the front of the
picture, we see the Prodigal Son casting himself at
his father's feet, in the distance, we see the tables
already set, and the feast beginning. And, as if the
painter wanted to play with the solemn laws of
Classic Art, he places on the same canvas the Prodi-
gal Son revelling, on his knees, and herding the
swine: an ingenuous and entirely primitive way of
despising the unities of action, time and place ! But
we must pause a moment before those backgrounds
where the artist has, so to speak, worked in the
echoes of his drama : they are generally landscapes.
Martin de Vos thus shares with Bernard Van Orley
the honour of having introduced into the Low
Countries a genre which was to be carried there to
the last limits of perfection. We know how the
^ Paul Mantz.
iFlemtsb painters an& patnttnG 39
Sixteenth Century painters viewed the country: it
was under the strongest colours. Before Paul Bril,
before Brueghel, Martin de Vos fobed his landscape
with those green and blue tones whose sharp crudity
to-day astonishes our eyes, accustomed as we are
by the great Dutch landscape painters to the melan-
choly and sweet harmony of broken colours and
autumnal tints. It was, moreover, quite simple
that the love of nature should begin with tracing
the brilliant image of Spring. Martin de Vos did
not merely represent the flat country of the province
of Antwerp; he gave movement to his landscape,
cutting it up with accidentals full of grace and in-
terest; he invented happier forms for it, as well as
the violent colours of emerald and ultramarine.
It would even seem that in painting Nature, he
went to Germany rather than Flanders. Lastly he
enlivened his backgrounds with forest cabins and
Gothic villas.
*' Less mannered than his successors, De Vos,
however, like Tintoret, strove after contrasts of atti-
tude and movement and picturesque ease of car-
riage; but in his pictures we do not find, as in
Bloemart's useless personages, idle figures, or mere
fillings. Moreover, with De Vos we see the dis-
appearance not Only of the last traces of the Italian
style Imported by Van Orley, Lombard and Floris,
but the remains of the Gothic art, some vestiges of
40 xrbe Hrt ot tbe Belgian Gallettes
which were still noticeable in him, especially in the
angular folds of his draperies and the choice of his
stuffs. Next comes Otto Vaenius, who forms the
transition between De Vos and Rubens, as De Vos
did between Vsenius and Floris." ^
Lucas de Heere of Ghent (1534-1584) was
archaeologist, numismatist and author of literary
works, including a poem on the Flemish painters.
He painted many portraits at the Courts of France
and England. His Solomon and the Queen of
Sheba in Saint Bavon is dated 1559.
Antoine Claessens ( ?-i6i3) was probably a
pupil of Massys. His Last Judgment (signed and
dated 1574), in the Bruges Town Hall, exhibits
qualities of expression and exquisite finish char-
acteristic of Memling, but the colour is browner
and heavier, and lacking in freshness.
The three brothers Francken, Frans (1544-
1616), Ambrose (1545-1618), and Jerome (d.
1620) were famous in their day. Though not one
of them went to Italy, they all studied under Floris,
and were influenced by Martin de Vos, following
with considerable success the somewhat cold
methods with which Flemish genius was trying to
combine with Italian grace. They lived to see the
triumph of Rubens, and find themselves neglected
as representatives of a discredited school.
» Blanc.
If lemtsb painters an^ painting 41
There was a large number of secondary painters
in the last half of the Sixteenth Century that pre-
served somewhat of the old Flemish genius. Among
these may be mentioned the Brueghels at Antwerp;
Peter Aertszen of Louvain, and his pupil Joachim
Bueckelaer David Vinckboons and Lucas Van
Valckenburg of Mechlin; Frans Francken the
Younger and Joost Van Cleef of Antwerp; Frans
Pourbus the Elder and Younger, Willem Key,
Nicolas Neuchatel, called Lucidel, Geldorp Gortzius
of Louvain, Mark Gerard of Bruges, Paul Van
Somer of Antwerp, the Bril brothers, Mathew and
Paul, Josse de Momper and Rolandt Savery, Adam
Willaerts and Bonaventure Peeters of Antwerp
(marine painters), Hendrik Van Steenwyck and
Pieter Neefs of Antwerp (architectural painters),
Hans Bol of Mechlin and Hoefnagel of Antwerp
(miniaturists).
Pieter (Peasant) Brueghel (1530-16 — ?) re-
ceived lessons from Van Orley and Jerome Coeck,
but his real master was the long dead Jerome Bosch,
whose fantastic works fascinated him. He went to
Italy, of course ; but was more affected by the Alpine
landscape than by anything else. On his return, he
may be said to have revived the Flemish spirit which
was daily dying under imitation of the Italians.
Brueghel would not allow^ himself to be carried
along with the crowd : the peasant become painter
42 Ube Htt Of tbe Belgian Galleries
consulted only his own tastes. He reproduced the
familiar scenes of his boyhood which had lost none
of their charm for him. By his love for the mar-
vellous, his talent in landscape painting and his
ability in painting village manners, Brueghel re-
newed the traditions of Flemish painting, gave one
hand to the past and the other to the future. A
disciple of Bosch, and allied with the Van Eycks and
Memling, he prepared Teniers and the kermesses of
Rubens, Brouwer and Van Ostade. His pastoral
tendencies gained for him the name *' Boeven
Brueghel " (Peasant Brueghel) ; and his comic
scenes, " Viesen Brueghel" (Droll Brueghel).
His two sons, *' Velvet " (1568-1625) and
*' Hell " (1574-1637), were equally famous. Pieter
received his sobriquet, " Hell," from his love of
painting fires and infernal scenes. Flames in dark-
ness are admirably represented in his works. The
sombre character of the period with its crimes, per-
secutions and atrocious wars is reflected in the
tragic pictures of both father and son.
" During the second half of the Sixteenth Cen-
tury, Pieter Brueghel is the great jester of the
Flemish School ; he is one of those who used gaiety
as a mask in order to hide, and sometimes to reveal,
the anxieties and the melancholy of a period when
human life counted for so little, and when struggle
was in every mind and every heart. Therefore, the
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BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIRERAL ARTS
iflemtsb painters anb patnttnQ 43
slightest fancy of the painter of peasants is worth
more in a moral sense and in historical value than
the most learned reminiscences of Floris and De
Vos. Moreover, he is closer than they to the tradi-
tional ways of Flemish painting. He believes in
boldly contrasted colours, and in the strong tonali-
ties so dear to the old Fifteenth Century masters;
he strives for energy and character; he paints men,
houses and landscapes as he sees them; the creator
of a school which gradually changed and finally was
extinguished, his was the honour of adding the
protest of his own frank burst of laughter to the
resistance of the national genius against the inva-
sion of foreign methods.
" However, this healthy and robust art was
scarcely accepted and comprehended except among
the lower classes. The aristocracy and lettered
classes of the day remained entirely in sympathy
with Italianism; and Flanders in denying and be-
littling herself. Early in the Seventeenth Century,
Otho Van Veen, fascinated with the ultramontane
painting, always sought after the tenderness of Cor-
reggio and Andrea del Sarto ; and the three Franck-
ens prolonged, not without coldness, the lessons of
the School of Fontainebleau. Before long, also, an-
other principle came to complicate and sadden the
situation. Several artists, recently arrived from
Rome, and affected by the violences of Caravaggio,
44 Xlbe art of tbe Belgian Galleries
made a specialty of vigorous tones and heavily ac-
cented shadows, and tried to persuade their coun-
trymen that it was good taste to paint black. The
native genius was about to suffer a new assault, the
Flemish element was compromised, when, in 1608,
Rubens returned from Italy." ^
Peter Aertszen (1505- 15 73) was a pupil of Allart
Claessen. He worked at Amsterdam, Antwerp,
Louvain and Delft. In his treatment of religious
subjeT:ts, he imitated Lucas Van Leyden and Heem-
skerck, but he introduced simple and even vulgar
touches of realism powerfully expressed. His draw-
ing w^as free and his colour lively, which renders
him one of the first representatives of that natural-
ism that is the glory of the Little Masters of the
Dutch and Flemish Schools.
Joachim Bueckelaer (1530-1577), Aertszen's
nephew, followed in his steps. He was famous for
his markets, fairs, kitchens, interiors, game, fruit
and still life. He painted Biblical scenes in the
costume of his own day.
David Vinckboons (1578- 1629) settled in Am-
sterdam, and reintroduced landscape painting which
had been neglected there for more than fifty years.
Savery and Coninxloo assisted in this. He was a
follower of Velvet Brueghel though witH individual
qualities. He then proceeded to treat religious
^ Paul Mantz.
3f lemtsb painters an^ ipalnting 45
subjects in a familiar manner; and excelled in
kermcsses, in which he loved to make the strong
reds and blues of peasant costume play against the
bright and sombre greens of the landscape. To-day
the latter have changed to yellow and brown.
Lucas Van Valckenburg (1549- 162 5) painted
excellent landscapes in gray and silvery tones. He
was also a portrait and miniature painter.
Joost Van Cleef, called the Fool (1510-?), lost
his reason and died at an early age. His portraits
are remarkable for their sincerity of expression and
brilliant colour. His works have often been con-
founded with those of Holbein and the School of
Clouet.
Pieter Pourbus (15 10- 1584) and his son Frans
(1540- 1 580) may be ranked among the best por-
trait painters of the Sixteenth Century. By their
patient methods and respect for the individual char-
acter of their sitters, they belong to the school which
Holbein founded and reigned over. Pieter Pourbus
can best be studied in his religious pictures, on the
wings of which are usually painted the donors in
devout attitudes. Here his serious brush excels in
reproducing in their intimate reality and every day
costume those Flemish nobles or merchants, kneel-
ing, with joined hands, with familiar faces endowed
by religious conviction with touching gravity. Be-
fore the central panel of his triptych, he places not
46 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
only the father and mother, but also the children
in order. On one side are the sons severely clothed
in their black pourpoints; and, on the other, are
the daughters, with their faces half hidden in their
white hoods. The Bruges churches are full of such
pictures.
Frans was perhaps an abler artist, but lacking
in his father's touching simplicity. He was an ex-
act and sincere portrait painter ; and liked to intro-
duce into his religious pictures the faces of his con-
temporaries and his friends. His style was a com-
bination of Flemish taste and Italian influence. In
his Christ among the Doctors at St. Bavon several
of the notabilities of the court of Philip II have
been recognized.
Willem Key (1520- 1568), a portrait and his-
torical painter, was a pupil of Lambert Lombard
at Liege and a comrade of Frans Floris. Painting
the Duke of Alva, he was so terrified over hearing
his announcement to kill Egmont that he died of
the shock.
Nicholas Neuchatel, called Lucidel, who became
a famous portrait painter, entered the studio of
Peter Coeck of Alost in Antwerp in 1539. His
portraits are noted for their refined feeling for col-
our and careful treatment of detail. The dates of
his birth and death are unknown.
Gualdorp Gortzius, called Geldorp (1553-1616
Iflemtsb painters an^ painting 47
or 1618), was a pupil of Frans Francken the Elder
and Frans Pourbus. He became one of the best
portrait painters of his time.
Paul Van Somer (1570-1621) painted portraits
in Antwerp with his brother Bernard, but went to
England, where he worked for many years and
where he died. His colour is warm and clear and
his execution finished.
Another favourite Flemish portrait-painter at the
English Court was Mark Gerard of Bruges, spelled
also Geerarts, the son of a painter of the same name.
The dates of his birth and death are unknown ; but
he was a pupil of Lucas de Heere.
Paul Bril (i 556-1626) at first painted the tops
of harpsichords and finally found his way to Italy,
where he studied under and assisted his brother
Matthys. He was patronized by Clement VUI
and painted many landscape pictures, to some of
which Annibale Carracci contributed figures.
" He viewed nature with a fresh eye — selecting
her natural and poetic rather than her arbitrary and
fantastic features. He was the first to introduce a
certain unity of light in his pictures, attaining
thereby a far finer general efTect than those who
had preceded him. His deficiencies lie in the over
force, and also in the monotonous green, of his
foregrounds and in the exaggerated blueness of his
distances. Nevertheless, this painter exercised a
48 XTbe Hrt of tbc Belgian Galleries
considerable influence over Rubens, Annibale Car-
racci and Claude Lorraine, and must ever occupy
an important position in the development of this
branch of art." ^
Roelandt Savery (i 576-1639), a native of Cour-
trai, is noted for his wild rocky landscapes where
savage animals dwell and for his poetic feeling,
especially in his treatment of fine woodland scenes.
His landscapes are often crowded with animals.
He was a pupil of his brother, Jakob (1545- 1602),
a landscape and animal painter and a disciple of
Hans Bol and inherited his talent from his father,
Jakob, a native of Courtrai, who settled in Amster-
dam about 1550, and excelled in painting animals,
birds and fishes. Josse de Momper (1564-1634),
also a painter, followed the fantastic landscapes of
the older masters, with high hills and strong sun-
light. David Teniers the Elder, Henrik Van Balen,
Peter Brueghel the Younger and the Franckens
Contributed the figures in his foregrounds. His
works are numerous. Josse de Momper was also
a famous etcher.
Adam Willaerts (1577-before 1662) painted
river and canal scenes, fish markets, processions,
harbour and coast views and villages and ships on
fire. His waves are not always natural; but his
colour is vigorous, his touch broad and soft and
' Crowe.
fflemtsb painters an^ patnttna 49
the groups of figures with which he enlivens his
scenes correct and full of spirit.
Another marine painter was Bonaventura Peeters
( 1 614- 1 634), whose works are unequal in merit,
but who had great talent for composition and the
arrangement 'of light and shade. He was especially
fond of a tempestuous sea with lightning flashing
from the clouds, and a ship in danger. His works
are rare in public galleries. *' His pictures," says
Crowe, *' have generally a very poetic character,
though often untrue and mannered in the forms of
the hills, the clouds and in the movement of the
waves. On the other hand they have the merit of
a great power and clearness of colour and of a mas-
terly handling." His brother Jan Peeters (1624-
1677) painted similar subjects successfully.
The same spirit that prompted a rich man to
have his castle or more modest home perpetuated
on canvas, led him to wish for a representation of
the venerated church or cathedral, whose bells he
had heard every day of his life, and in which he
had been baptized and married, and in which one
day he would be buried in the tomb of his ancestors.
A special branch of painting, therefore, arose which
had for its object the reproduction of the interiors
of Gothic churches. Here we find the painter far
removed from the architectural draughtsman, for
the rigid rules of geometry are little to his taste.
50 Zhc Brt ot tbe JSelotan Galleries
The first Flemish master of this genre was Hen-
drik Van Steenwyck (1550-1604), a pupil of Jan
Vriedeman de Vries, whose architecture introduced
into his pictures proves his devoted study of Vitru-
vius and Serlio. Steenwyck was a master of per-
spective both lineal and aerial, and treated the
artificial light of lamps, torches and candles with
marvellous accuracy and effect. As a rule, he makes
the spectator pause at the entrance of the great
portal giving him a view of the entire nave to the
high altar with its lace-like rood scr'een, white
cloth, holy vessels and lighted tapers. Again he
will give a view so that a side chapel is conspicuous
and where one dim lamp throws its orange gleams
through the dark shadows. In many pictures, too,
by his use of colour and treatment of light and
shade he gives the spectator the same impression
that he receives in the cathedral itself. The human
figures were supplied by one of the Franckens and
other masters.
" I love to find in the pictures of Steenwyck not
only the exact architecture of the cathedrals with
their springing columns, their glass windows, their
sonorous pavement and that marble font in which
the roof of the edifice is reflected, but also the im-
pression produced by all these things at different
hours of the day, that moral essence that emanates
from it all and the unexpected poetry of a scene
SCHOOL OF
VAN ORLEY
LADY WITH THE PINK
Plate VIII
{See page 279)
Palais des
Beaux-Arts
Brussels
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGf-" OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIBRARY
fflemtsb ipatnters ant) iPatntina 5i
whose elements are after all only stone, light and
shadows." ^
His son, Hendrik, was his pupil and follower.
The best of Steenwyck's pupils, Pieter Neefs
(1570-165 1 ), painted in the same style as his
master; but exceeded him in his warmth of tone
and in the truthfulness of his torchlight effects. Jan
Brueghel, David Teniers the Elder and Frans
Francken the Younger contributed figures to his
pictures. Pieter Neefs the Younger (i 601 -after
1675) was inferior to his father.
Among the Flemish painters of interior ar-
chitecture must be mentioned Antony Ghering
(?-i668) and Willem Van Ehrenberg (1637-1675
or 1677).
The architecture is also good of Denis Van Als-
loot (1550- 1625), who was particularly noted for
his representation of public squares at the time of
some national fete or public procession.
Jan Van Rillaert (about 1508- 1568) was a native
of Louvain and was frequently employed to paint
and design the decorations for public ceremonials.
He also executed numerous works for churches,
convents and the Town Hall of Louvain. His son
of the same name was also a painter.
Adam Van Noort (155 7-1 641) was a Fleming
who never went to Italy : he was a great painter,
' Charles Blanc.
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
^'^' r LIBERAL ARTS
52 xibe Hrt of tbe JBelgtan (3allertes
however, and had many pupils. Among the latter
were Rubens, and Jordaens, who married his
daughter. He painted little: but in his master-
piece at the church of St. Jacques, Antwerp, we
find an intelligent prescience of all the qualities
which a few years later were to be the honour of
the Antwerp School. In this picture, Rubens and
Jordaens are contained in germ, and announced in
advance.
Otho Vsenius (1558- 1629) was another great
contemporary.
" The pictures of Vasnius," says Wauters,
" never fail to excite interest by their correct ele-
gance, the charm of their female figures, and their
sincere feeling for the beautiful. To-day the work
of Vsenius, by its coldness and mannered Classicism,
leaves us somewhat indifferent, but the artist is
nevertheless assured of immortality, for he was the
master of Rubens. This honour he shared with
Adam Van Noort."
The Resurrection of Lazarus, in the Church of St.
Bavon, Ghent, is considered by some critics to be his
masterpiece. It is a picture that any of the great
masters would be proud to sign. In colour, it is
unsurpassed.
Karel Van Mander (1548- 1606) is better known
as a poet and the author of the Lives of the Flemish
Painters than as an artist. His chief glory is to
fflemisb painters anb patntino 53
have been the master of Frans Hals. The Church
of St. Martin contains several pictures by him,
though only one is signed. It is dated 1582, and
depicts the Martyrdom of St. Porphyria, and, as the
inscription informs us, of two hundred knights,
who, remaining firm in their belief, were decapi-
tated with her and thrown to the dogs. It is a work
of very ordinary merit. The foreground is occu-
pied by three bleeding corpses and their severed
heads. The middle distance is devoted to the execu-
tion of the saint. The open space is surrounded
by a multitude of spectators, and men on horseback.
The distant landscape is closed in by mountains,
the faces of the whole crowd are singularly lacking
in expression : even the saint looks entirely indif-
ferent to her fate, and shows no holy ecstasy. The
contours are constrained, and some even hard. No
fine effects of distance are rendered ; and the artist's
beloved Italian method is only half-heartedly fol-
lowed. He halts between the old and the new. His
colour is startling and crude. The Last Judgment
here is equally unsatisfactory.
Frans Hals, who is often classed in the Dutch
School, is claimed rightfully as a Fleming by birth
and education. Born in 1584, at Mechlin, he
studied under Karl Van Mander, who vainly tried
to impart his enthusiasm for the Italians. After
his master's death in 1606, Hals followed his natu-
54 Ube Hrt of tbe BclQian Galleries
ral bent — portraiture ; but with what success is
not known. The return of Rubens from Italy, and
his subsequent exclusive sway in Flemish art, in-
duced Hals to emigrate to Haarlem about ten years
later. He died there in 1666, — the last of the
great Flemish portrait painters.
John Snellinck (1544-1638) was a painter of
religious subjects; and, in his colour, was a worthy
forerunner of Rubens.
Abraham Janssens (1567- 1632) studied in Italy,
and returned to Antwerp during Rubens's absence,
and gained great fame and success. He was the
greatest painter in Flanders at that time, and was
heartbroken at being eclipsed by Rubens on the
arrival of the latter. He painted magnificent pic-
tures in the Italian taste, being a follower of Michael
Angelo. He is better represented in the Belgian
churches than in the museums.
St. Luke Painting the Virgin's Portrait adorns
the Cathedral of Mechlin. Placed on a platform
and holding her Son, Mary poses like an ordinary
person. Seated before a desk, the Evangelist
sketches her image in crayon on a piece of paper.
He holds his head well back to examine her atten-
tively. An old man standing behind him — St.
Joseph perhaps — criticizes his design. A box
placed against the wall contains a skeleton that is
brought to life by the presence of the Virgin, and
fflemisb painters an^ painting 55
that clasps its hands and adores her. The artist
has doubtless intended to make us understand thus
that the two personages are an apparition. The
Saint could not very well have painted Christ in His
infancy! The scene is decorated with a Roman
monument, and Renaissance ceiling and windows.
In the back of the room, a servant is grinding
colours; and, beyond, a half-open door reveals a
spacious chamber, with a bed and table.
" The manner in which this picture is painted ex-
cites some surprise. First, we notice a considerable
penury of details, quite in contrast with the prodi-
gality of Rubens. The flesh, the stuffs, the furni-
ture all lack shadings and transitions; and form
large plaques. The enormous draperies, which re-
call the vestments of Guido, do not belong to any
species of tissue, an Italian custom approved of by
Sir Joshua Reynolds and academical professors.
The colour is brilliant but hard : the carnations es-
pecially, to which the artist tried to give a southern
tone, are somewhat harsh and dry. One would say
that they belonged rather to wood than to flexible
and living flesh. The types are not very happy.
Mary's head does not announce much intelligence,
and borrows no charm from heavy eyelids denuded
of lashes. Christ has the face and expression of a
coarse little peasant. The male, energetic head of
St Luke would suit a warrior perfectly: the band
66 XTbe Hrt of tbe Belatan Gallertea
around it, tied in a knot on the brow gives it a still
more martial air. Yet this picture shines by its
vigour, and attests long anatomical studies ; but we
seek in it vainly for grace and supple life.
" Christ Descended from the Cross in St. Jean's,
in the same city, presents the same character and
tendencies." ^
Martin Pepyn (1575- 1643) was influenced by the
school of Frans Floris. It is unknown to whom he
was indebted for instruction, but the animated heads
and elevated character of many of his works show
the new art introduced by Rubens. He acquired
such a reputation in Rome that, when he announced
his intention of returning, Rubens was quite dis-
turbed.
Martin Pepyn had a superior talent, a delicate
imagination, and a profound poetic sentiment. But
his tastes and faculties had nothing in common with
the boldness and dramatic energy of Rubens and his
pupils. He loved gentle piety, calm, reverie and the
tender sentiments of the old school. He liked its
colour fine and polished like enamel ; and its minute
truth in the execution ; he liked its types, the grace
of its accessories, the opulence of its costumes, and
the tranquil splendour of its landscapes.
Nicholas de Liemaeckere, called Roose, (1575-
1646) was a fellow pupil with Rubens in the studio
* Michiels.
jf lemisb iPatnters an^ patnttna 57
of Otho Vsenius, and the collaborator of De Craeyer
in various decorative work. He painted sacred sub-
jects almost exclusively. The Ghent churches and
the convents of the whole province were enriched
with his works, taken principally from the mystic
legend of the Virgin. He was, or at least he tried
to be, the painter of the celestial court; but he is
only religious in intention : his somewhat heavy
painting is too often enveloped with heavy and black
shadows. His skies are generally lacking in depth
and light. What is worthy of praise in him is a
facile imagination that is always ingenious in
mingling his groups and varying his attitudes. If
it is true that Rubens praised him, as is said, we
must believe that he wanted to praise the inventor
while generously shutting his eyes to the faults of
the painter. Roose's best work is a luminous Entry
of the Virgin into Heaven in St. Bavon. It suf-
fers by being in the same chapel w^ith Rubens's
famous St. Bavon Distributing His Riches to the
Poor.
Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) received his
early lessons from Otho Vsenius and from Adam
Van Noort. He is the recognized head of the Flem-
ish School of painting and his influence was world-
wide. He went to Italy in 1600 and stayed there
eight years. In various pictures painted soon after
his return, we notice copies of figures in composi-
68 Ubc Htt ot tbe Belgian Oallertes
tions by Michael Angelo, Annibale Carracci, Titian
and Daniele da Volterra. The chief result of his
Italian studies was his adoption of Classical myths
and history as the ground-work for the illustration
of his genius, which is essentially Flemish.
" It is only in large compositions that his powers
seem to have room to expand themselves. They
really increase in proportion to the size of the canvas
on which they are to be displayed. His superiority
is not seen in easel pictures nor even in detached
parts of his greater works, which are seldom emi-
nently beautiful. It does not lie in an attitude, or in
any peculiar expression, but in the general effect, in
the genius which pervades and illuminates the
whole.
" The works of Rubens have that peculiar prop-
erty always attendant on genius, to attract atten-
tion and enforce admiration in spite of all their
faults. It is owing to this fascinating power that
the performance of those painters with which he is
surrounded, though they have perhaps fewer de-
fects, yet appear spiritless, tame and insipid; such
as the altar-pieces of Grayer, Schut, Segers, Huy-
sum, Tyssens, Van Balen and the rest. They are
done by men whose hands, and indeed all their
faculties, appear to have been cramped and confined :
and it is evident that everything they did was the
effect of great labour and pains. The productions
JAN VAN
CONINXLOO
THE MARRIAGE OF CANA
Plate IX
(See page 280)
Palais des
Beaux-Arts
Brussels
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIPRAPV
Iflemisb painters ant) Ipatnttn^ 59
of Rubens, on the contrary, seem to flow with a
freedom and prodigality, as if they cost him noth-
ing; and to the general animation of the composi-
tion, there is always a corresponding spirit in the
execution of the work. The striking brilliancy of
his colours, and their lively opposition to each other,
the flowing liberty and freedom of his outline, the
animated pencil with which every object is touched,
all contribute to awaken and keep alive the atten-
tion of the spectator ; awaken in him, in some meas-
ure, correspondent sensations, and make him feel a
degree of that enthusiasm with which the painter
was carried away. To this we may add the complete
uniformity in all the parts of the work, so that the
whole seems to be conducted, and grow out of one
mind ; everything is of a piece and fits its place.
" Besides the excellency of Rubens in these gen-
eral powers, he possessed the true art of imitating.
He saw the objects of nature with a painter's eye;
he saw at once the predominant feature by which
every object is known and distinguished, and as
soon as seen, it was executed with a facility that is
astonishing. Rubens was, perhaps, the greatest
master in the mechanical part of the art, the best
workman with his tools, that ever exercised a pen-
cil.
" This piower which Rubens possessed in the
highest degree, enabled him to represent whatever
60 XTbc Hrt ot tbe Belgian (BaJleriea
he undertook better than any other painter. His
animals, particularly lions and horses, are so ad-
mirable, that it may be said they were never prop-
erly represented but by him. His portraits rank
with the best works of the Painters who have made
that branch of the art the sole business of their
lives; and of those he has left a great variety of
specimens. The same may be said of his land-
scapes.
'* However, it must be acknowledged that he
wanted many excellencies, which would have per-
fectly united with his style. Among those we may
reckon beauty in his female characters : sometimes
indeed they make approaches to it ; they are healthy
and comely women, but seldom, if ever, possess any
degree of excellence : the same may be said of his
young men and children : his old men have that sort
of dignity which a bushy beard will confer; but he
never possessed a poetical conception of character.
In his representations of the highest characters in
the Christian or the fabulous world, instead of
something above humanity, which might fill the
idea which is conceived of such beings, the spectator
finds little more than mere mortals, such as he meets
with every day.
" The incorrectness of Rubens in regard to his
outline oftener proceeds from haste and carelessness
than from inability: there are in his great works,
fflemtsb painters an& patnttng 6i
to which he seems to have paid more particular
attention, naked figures as eminent for their draw-
ing as for their colouring. He appears to have en-
tertained a great abhorrence of the meagre, dry
manner of his predecessors, the old German and
Flemish Painters ; to avoid which, he keeps his out-
line large and flowing : this, carried to an extreme,
produced that heaviness which is so frequently
found in his figures.
" Another defect of this great painter is his in-
attention to the foldings of his drapery, especially
that of his women : it is scarcely ever cast with
any choice or skill.
" Carlo Maratti and Rubens are in this respect
in opposite extremes; one discovers too much art
in the disposition of his drapery, and the other too
little.
" The difference of the manner of Rubens from
that of any other painter before him is in nothing
more distinguishable than in his colouring, which
is totally different from that of Titian, Correggio,
or any of the great colourists. The effect of his
pictures may be not improperly compared to clusters
of flowers; all his colours appear as clear and as
beautiful : at the same time he has avoided that
tawdry effect which one would expect such gay
colours to produce; in this respect resembling Ba-
rocci more than any other painter. What was said
62 Ube Hrt ot tbe JSelgian (Balleries
of an ancient painter, may be applied to those two
artists, — that their figures look as if they fed upon
roses." ^
Contemporary with Rubens were several great
artists who, though influenced by his genius, pre-
served an independence of their own. The chief
of these were Caspar De Craeyer (1582- 1669);
Frans Snyders (1579-1657); Cornelis de Vos
(1585-1651); and Theodor Rombouts (1579-
1637).
Flemish critics place Caspar De Craeyer (1582-
1669) on a level with Rubens and Van Dyck.
Raphael Van Coxie was his first master; and De
Craeyer's early works reflect his style, which he
abandoned to follow that of Rubens. However, he
retained his own individuality; and was greatly
admired by Rubens and Van Dyck. When Rubens
saw his Centurion Dismounting from his Horse, he
exclaimed : " Craeyer, Craeyer, nobody will ever
surpass you ! " Van Dyck painted his portrait.
His compositions are learned and judicious; re-
jecting all superfluity and ostentation, he aimed at
the higher qualities of correctness and simplicity.
Less daring than Rubens, he is always correct, and
although he never soared to the height of that as-
piring genius, his works possess both grandeur and
dignity. His colouring is chaste and tender, re-
* Sir Joshua Reynolds.
fflemtsb painters anD painting 63
sembling in its carnations the clear tinting of Van
Dyck.
De Craeyer had a marvellous facility of execu-
tion and filled the churches of Brussels and its en-
virons with his pictures. In 1664, when eighty-two
years old, he left Brussels, and established himself
in Ghent, where he painted with extraordinary
ardour notwithstanding his age.
Owing to the presence of Caspar De Craeyer,
there was a slight artistic movement in Chent which
produced a few painters of the secondary rank.
Chief among these were Nicholas de Liemaeckere,
called Roose (i 575-1646), a pupil of Otto Vsenius
and an occasional collaborator of Craeyer and
Craeyer's pupils; Anselmn Van Hulle (1594- 1665
or 8) ; Antoine Van den Henvele (1600- 1677) and
Jan Van Cleef (1646-17 16).
Van Cleef assimilated his master's style in com-
position, nobility and expression. The Infant Jesus
crowning St. Joseph in Ghent is one of his best
works.
Pieter Thys (16 16- 1683) shows the influence of
De Craeyer in his historical pictures. His colour
is fine and vigorous, and his drawing correct. His
architectural backgrounds are exceptionally well
executed.
" Towards the end of the Sixteenth Century there
arose in Flanders a whole generation of valiant and
64 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
robust painters, marked with the stamp of na-
tional genius, that again gave a Flemish character
to Flemish art. For about a hundred years, there
had not been a national painter in the country of
the great artist who had invented oil painting.
While the Brueghels, a race of peasants both simple
and humourous, were creating at the dictation of
Nature singular pictures which were undoubtedly
scorned by the ambitious followers of the ultramon-
tane style, a fantastic and violent man, Adam Van
Noort, gave full rein to his own caprices without
worrying over the strange importations from that
Italy that had become the necessary pilgrimage for
his forerunners and rivals. Living in the midst of
courtesans and smokers, his original manner, as ar-
dent and disordered as his life, is a great contrast
to the cold manner of his imitators. Youthful en-
thusiasm flooded his studio when the Italianized
Fleming, Otto Vaenius, also opened a school.
*' It was Van Noort's studio that Jacob Jordaens
entered when Rubens and Van Balen had already
left, and in the studio of Adam Van Noort, Jor-
daens was at home. His imagination accommo-
dated itself to the rude practice of the old master
whose studio had another attraction. Love which
plays such a large part in the life of the artist at-
tached him to Catherine, Van Noort's daughter.
" Rubens was then in his glory, and Jordaens
PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AND HIS FAMILY
CORNELIS Palais des
DE VOS Plate x Beaux- Arts
iSee page 332) Brussels
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OE LIBERAL ARTS
LIBRARY
fflemtsb painters an^ painting 65
entered his studio without leaving that of Van
Noort. He studied both masters at the same time,
copied the warm and vigorous paintings brought
home from Venice by Rubens and soon became a
consummate workman. At the age of twenty-five
he aided Rubens in a series of allegorical pictures
for Marie de Medicis, that were finished in Ant-
werp in 1623.
" Antwerp suited perfectly this ardent genius who
was not even equalled by Rubens in fire and exuber-
ance. If Rubens is the painter of Bacchus and sen-
sual nymphs, Jordaens is the painter of Silenus and
the lewd satyrs. If Rubens had not been the creator
of the supreme expression of the Flemish style, Jor-
daens would have had to invent that rich picture,
fleshy, full of muscle and vitality; for it should not
be said that Jordaens imitated Rubens. They are
of the same family and the same temperament; the
one more distinguished, more thoughtful and more
profound, the other, generally speaking, ruder and
coarser. However, when Jordaens constrains his
fervour and tempers his execution, he resembles his
master; just as Rubens when he is carried away
and roars might be taken for Jordaens. There are
Jordaens attributed to Rubens and Rubens to Jor-
daens. Rubens stands between Jordaens and Van
Dyck. Rubens is gold, Van Dyck, silver, and Jor-
daens is blood and fir^, But all three have run
66 XTbe Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
through the same gamut of colour from high to low
tones.
" Thus the fine and delicate Van Dyck reaches
the red of Jordaens in his Silenus and the satyrs in
the Brussels Museum and Rubens also in the picture
in the same museum of the Martyrdom of St. Lie-
vens where the executioner drags out the tongue
of the saint in the midst of a glory of angels that
descend from the sky to offer the palm of martyr-
dom.
" Jordaens loved freshness, fecundity, brilliancy
and energy. Every one of his pictures presents
these rare qualities. In six days, like God in the
Bible, he painted Pan and Syrinx, life-sized figures
in a dazzling landscape, — one of his masterpieces.
But on the seventh day he did not rest. His inde-
fatigable hand created ceaselessly new images and
gave life to new figures. Rubens painted about
three thousand pictures; Teniers about three hun-
dred and fifty pictures in a single year, and Jordaens
nearly equalled these prodigious producers. He
frequently executed at a single sitting a portrait or
a life-sized figure.
" And his fortune increased with his renown.
His house was as luxurious as that of a great lord.
Brueghel, Rubens, Van Dyck and Teniers had the
privilege of living in a palace amid all the magnifi-
cence of civilization, surrounded with masterpieces
yiemisb painters au& painting 67
of art, marvels of industry, and all the resources of
wealth. Van Dyck was carried away by alchemy
and Teniers ruined himself several times; but Jor-
daens, whose loyal and frank character attracted
everybody and to whom Rubens vowed brotherly
friendship, lived all his life in delightful abundance
and in undisturbed good luck, happy in his dappled
horses that he painted with so much fire after he had
ridden them, and his beautiful stuffs in which he
dressed his models after he had worn them himself.
From 1639 until his death he lived in Antwerp on
the southeast corner of the rue Renders.
" Although he collaborated with Rubens in sev-
eral important works, Jordaens often painted with
Snyders and Jan Fyt. The fat servants by Jordaens
accord very well with the shining game, silvery fish
and lobsters catching the light on their sharp points
of Snyders ; and the tawny hares, the pheasants,
ducks, boars and hunting dogs of Fyt could not be
in more appropriate company than those brave
trumpeters that Jordaens painted with such lusty
life, adding such a fine contrast to the still life.
But, while he lent his aid very willingly to others,
Jordaens never required help in his own work,
painting always with his own hand his horses,
dogs, cows, sheep, landscapes and sky. Nobody
could paint handsomer fat oxen than Jordaens;
nobody could depict stronger and more valiant
68 Ube Brt of tbe Belgian Galleries
horses and his panting dogs dispute the palm with
those of Snyders.
*' Jordaens was also superior in portraiture, as he
was in allegories, religious and mythological pic-
tures and subjects of caprice. In fact, his manner,
which does not lend itself to subjects of distinction,
is particularly appropriate to the translation of na-
ture required for portrait painting. His Silenuses,
his Satyrs, his cow lo and his Baccantes follow
mythological tradition and his Nativities and Ado-
rations of the Shepherds Roman Catholic tradition,
but do not lead Jordaens into delicacy and mysti-
cism. ^
" His early marriage and the intimate relation —
half friend, half assistant — in which he stood to
Rubens prevented him from visiting Italy as other
masters had done. He attained, however, to great
eminence in Antwerp, and executed a very large
number of pictures. Although these unmistakably
show the proximity of Rubens, yet his own artistic
nature is strongly expressed in them. This was so
vehemently realistic in character as to degenerate
occasionally into the rude and the vulgar. In his,
as compared with Rubens's far narrower sphere of
invention, the humourous takes a prominent place.
In sense of beauty also and distinctness of forms he
falls far short of his great model. On the other
^ Blanc.
fflemisb painters anb ipainttna 69
hand, in power and transparency of colouring, and
in mastery of general keeping, he may be placed
on the same level; and in a certain golden glow
and depth of chiaroscuro, he even excels him. Nor
in the power over his brush can he be considered
inferior to Rubens, though not to be compared with
him in equality of impasto. Indeed to his over use
of glazing, without the necessary foundation of
solid colour, are attributable his occasionally unsub-
stantial glassy effect, and monotonously luscious
tone. His works differ, therefore, in merit accord-
ing to the degree of their completion, and of his
sympathy with the subject. Seldom does he satisfy
us with his Biblical pictures." ^
Cornelis de Vos ( 1585-165 1) was an admirable
portrait painter, and excelled in compositions of a
half-historical, half-devotional character, in which
the personages are represented in contemporary
costume, and are largely portraits. Rubens admired
his work so much, that he used to send the over-
flow of his sitters to him. He was a brother-in-law
of Snyders, and a friend of Van Dyck. Burger
says that his portraits might be attributed to Ru-
bens. He may be ranked with Van Dyck and Gas-
par de Craeyer.
Peter Sna^^ers (1593- 1662) painted pictures of
large dimensions representing battle-fields, troops
' Crowe.
70 XTbe Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Ballertes
on the march, and besieged towns, in which land-
scape naturally plays an important part. He pos-
sessed the exactitude and patience of a topographer ;
and his military compositions are painted with great
spirit and freedom. The Thirty Years' War sup-
plied him W'ith plenty of material for his work.
Sometimes he painted scenes of Biblical history.
Gerard Seghers (1591-1651), a pupil of Abra-
ham Janssens and H. Van Balen, is notable for his
well-balanced compositions, elegant figures, broad
treatment, harmonious colouring and graceful ac-
tion.
Paul Mantz says of the last period of his art :
" While he was treating such subjects as the Ec-
stasy of St. Theresa, his brush began to forget its
ultramontane education and became Flemish again.
In his work we find certain pictures that we are
astonished to meet with and in which the influence
of Rubens is plainly and unhesitatingly inscribed.
His best work in this last manner is the great Ado-
ration of the Magi that decorates Notre Dame,
Bruges. How strange! Carried away by his sub-
ject, and fascinated by the element of luxury and
decoration inherent in it, Seghers spread upon this
canvas the luxuriant splendour and almost the very
tones of brilliance that the Antwerp master taught
us to love. Having once taken that road, the con-
verted artist did not again turn aside. The old
iflemtBb painters anb iPatntluQ 71
imitator of Caravaggio became one of the most
ardent disciples of Rubens."
Theodor Rombouts (i 597-1637) was a pupil of
Abraham Janssens, who was a strong opponent of
the teachings of Rubens. In Italy, he joined the
disciples of Caravaggio. Like them, he took de-
light in subjects in which the picturesque element
of costume and the caprices of chiaroscuro held the
first place; and, like Manfredi, Gerard Seghers and
Valentin, he painted tavern interiors, musicians
playing the lute and guitar, jovial drinkers at well
spread tables, and generally common subjects taken
from the least poetic reality but to which the capri-
cious play of light and shadow lent a fantastic ac-
cent and strange magic. He had the temerity to
try to rival Rubens in scenes from Biblical history.
He died in the flower of his age.
Rombouts painted happily all kinds of festivals,
debauches, charlatan games and a thousand other
sports of that nature, as Florent Lecomte informs
us. However, these are now so rare that it is prob-
able that most of the originals have been given to
Gerard Seghers.
Frans Snyders (i 579-1 657) -was apprenticed to
Hell Brueghel; and it is said that he also studied
under Van Balen.
" His whole treatment of the animal world, his
developed form of art, his clear and frequently
72 XTbe Hrt ot tbe ^Belgian Galleries
glowing colouring and his broad and masterly touch
were inspired by the example of Rubens, to whom
he stood not in the relation of a scholar but in that
of a thoroughly independent fellow-painter. This
appears from the human figures painted by Rubens
in Snyders's animal pieces, from the animals intro-
duced by Snyders into Rubens's hunts, as well as
from the flowers and vegetables executed by Sny-
ders in other works by the great master, and which
were so painted as not to mar the unity of the piece.
Next to Rubens, he is the greatest animal painter
of the time. Like him, he has the faculty of de-
picting his subjects in the agitated moments of com-
bat or chase. The artistic arrangement of his ani-
mals in the space allotted was probably owing to
his visit to Italy, when he resided principally in
Rome. Even in his large culinary subjects he is
not more remarkable for the treatment of single
objects than for the skill with which he places them
together. He w^as closely allied in friendship with
Rubens's two best scholars, Van Dyck and Jor-
daens ; and assisted the latter in the same way as he
did Rubens. His fame was so great that princes
and nobles vied with each other for his pictures." ^
Jan Fyt (1609-1661), so long neglected, is now
classed as one of the best painters of animals : he
apparently went straight to Nature for his instruc-
' Crowe,
a V
S
1— I
1)
Ho
a
CO
C/2 Ijq
Co
60ST0N UNIVERSITY
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iflemtsb patnters anb patntina 7S
tion. Fyt had no real need of collaborators. For
the composition of an interesting picture all he
needed was a hare hanging from a nail in a tree
trunk, a few dead birds with their rich plumage
contrasting with the verdure, and a guardian hound.
There is breadth even in his most finished works.
" Jan Fyt is, after Snyders, the greatest animal
painter of the Flemish school, and at the same time
quite independent of him in style. He laboured oc-
casionally in conjunction with Jordaens and Wille-
borts ; they painting the human, he the animal fig-
ures with the fruit and flowers. In subjects of
hunts, he approaches Snyders in composition, and
quite equals him in fire and animation. In drawing
he is often less accurate than Snyders, but by far
his superior in sunny effects of light, alternately in
a cool and warm scale of colour. He painted the
greyhound especially with such success as to be
approached by no other master. He renders the fur
of quadrupeds and the plumage of birds with ex-
quisite truth, and with more detail than Snyders.
What Potter is to cows, Jan Fyt is to hares. His
touch, in full marrowy colour, is as masterly as it
is original." ^
The Antwerp school was practically one large
family in the Seventeenth Century : the painters not
only knew each other, but were bound by ties of
* Crowe.
74 XTbe Htt ot tbe Belotan (Balledes
blood and marriage. They painted each other's
portraits and they worked for each other ; they wit-
nessed each other's marriages ; stood godfathers for
their children; and often at the death of one of
their number, were guardians of their children.
Snyders was the brother-in-law of De Vos;
Simon de Vos, of Van Utrecht ; and Rombouts, of
Van Thielen. Jan Brueghel I married the daugh-
ter of Jode ; Coques, the daughter of Ryckaert ; and
Teniers and Kessel, Velvet Brueghel's daughters.
Brueghel II married the daughter of Janssens;
Jordaens, the daughter of Van Noort; and Van
Thulden, the daughter of Van Balen.
Flowers had- been beautifully painted by the
Primitives enamelling the grassy swards. We find
in the works of Van Eyck, Memling, Roger Van
der Weyden and others the iris, the daisy, the violet
and the anemone painted with great affection and
delicacy. Van Mander mentions the names of some
specialists in flower painting, Jacques de Gheyn
(1565- 1 625) being one of these. Georges Hoef-
nagels (i 545-1 601) seems to have been the first to
have used garlands of flowers or fruits for the
frame of little landscapes and miniatures ; and after
him Velvet Brueghel and Daniel Seghers.
Daniel Seghers, (i 590-1661), who studied with
Velvet Brueghel and who also became a Jesuit
novitiate in Mechlin, soon returned to his flower
fflemt5b painters an^ painting 75
painting, and cultivated in his home in Antwerp
the roses, HHes, jasmines, marguerites, peonies and
honeysuckles that appear in his garlands that sur-
round busts, madonnas, saints or portraits in
camdieu, or grisaille. Many of the latter were
painted by Van Dyck, Rubens, Quellin, Van Thul-
den and Cornelis Schut. Seghers's renown ex-
tended throughout Europe; and soon every col-
lector wanted to possess one or more of his charac-
teristic pictures, which, to quote Wauters, have pre-
served their brilliant tonalities, their luminous
freshness and continue to envelop with their per-
fume and dew those swarms of bees, butterflies and
beetles that the painter delighted to place among
them.
Adriaen Van Utrecht (1599- 1652) travelled in
France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. He. contributed
the fruit to Rubens's Pythagoras and his Disciples
in Buckingham Palace, sometimes attributed to
Snyders. His large kitchen pieces are famous.
Fruits, flowers, living animals, particularly dogs and
monkeys, and all kinds of things to eat, he painted ;
and all objects of still life, besides domestic birds
and dead game. Crowe says : " He combined great
skill of arrangement, and a force and w^armth of
colour which sometimes approaches Rembrandt,
with great truth of detail, and in masterly and
marrowy treatment."
76 Zbc Hrt ot tbe JBclQian Oallertes
Teniers and Jordaens also worked with Van
Utrecht. He particularly excelled in depicting lob-
sters, crabs and oysters, the silvery scales of the
shad and mackerel, and the rosy flesh of the
salmon.
Frans Ykens (i 601-1693), a pupil of Osias
Beert, and who also studied in France, was an ex-
cellent painter of fruit, flowers and dead game,
worked in Antwerp and Brussels. He was an imi-
tator of Van Utrecht, as is shown in his Purchase
of Provisions, in the Hermitage at St. Petersburg;
and also painted garlands of flowers in the style of
Daniel Seghers.
With a broad soft brush and masterly style Alex-
ander Adriaenssen (i 587-1661), painted fruits and
flowers, and particularly fish, which he represented
with such freshness and glittering colour that per-
fect illusion is often produced. He grouped his
subjects with much taste. He studied under Artus
van Laeck, became a free member of the Guild
of Painters in Antwerp in 1610-11, and was a
great friend of Van Dyck, who painted his por-
trait.
Another Antwerp painter of fish, lobsters, and
other marine animals was Jacob Van Es, or Essen
(1606-1665 or 1666), who imitates nature with
a marvellous fidelity. The fish-market is his
favourite subject; but he painted also flowers.
fflemtsb ipainters an^ painting 77
fruit, dead game and other still life. The human
figures in his pictures were often contributed by
Jordaens.
Because he painted lobsters and oysters as well
as Van Utrecht and grapes and plums as well as
Abraham Brueghel and " desserts," or tables set
with oysters, lemons, cheese, wnne, fruits, nuts and
other accessories he has been called " the Flemish
Heda." His pupils include Cornehs Mahu (1613-
1689), Isaac Wigan (161 5- 1662 or 1663), and
Osias Beert (1622-1678).
Philip Van Thielen (i 618- 1667) was a gentle-
man of rank. After T. Rombouts had married his
sister, he took lessons from him. He had a passion
for flowers, and soon studied with Daniel Seghers,
delighting like him in weaving floral crowns around
medallions, and making insects swarm about the
blossoms. In the Seventeenth Century, his pictures
commanded high prices.
About this time Jan David de Heem established
himself in Antwerp; and inspired a great many
artists to become specialists in fruits, flowers and
desserts. Among these may be mentioned Clara
Peeters (painting in 161 1); Ambroise Brueghel
(1617-1675) ; Jean-Paul Gillemans (1618-1675?) ;
Georges Van Son (1623- 1667); Jan Van Son
(1658-1718?) ; Jerome Galle I (1625-1679?) ; Jan
Van Kessel (1626- 1679) ; Caspar Pieter Verbrug-
78 Ube Hrt ot tbe JSelgtan Galleries
ghen I (1635-1681); Nicholas Van Verendael
(1649-1691); Elie Van den Broeck (about 1653-
1711); Jan Baptiste Brueghel (1670- 17 10); and
Abraham Brueghel (1672- 1720).
Peter Boel (1622- 1674) came of a family of ar-
tists. His father, Jan (1592-?), was an engraver,
his brother Jan Baptist (1650- 1688 or 1689) was
an engraver and painter, and his brother Coryn
(1620-?) a famous engraver.
Peter Boel was a pupil of Snyders and his uncle
Cornelis de Wael in Genoa; and excelled in birds,
animals, flowers and fruits. His drawing is correct,
his touch spirited and his colour natural.
David de Coninck (1636- 1687), whose pictures
are rare, was a pupil of Jan Fyt, and resembles him
in colour drawing and general style.
Jan Miel (1599- 1664) fell under the influence of
Pieter Van Laer in Rome, and is still remembered
for his capricci rather than for his large religious
compositions. Lanzi says he was noble in his ideas,
grandiose, more elevated than the generality of his
compatriots, possessing great knowledge of perspec-
tive, remarkable for a vigour in chiaroscuro that in
no way excluded delicacy of colour, particularly in
cabinet pictures. He possessed a singular talent for
figures of medium proportions. He was a man of
superior mind who was applauded for his facetious
fflemisb painters an& painttuG 79
paintings in Rome, and for those of a severe genre
in Piedmont.
David Teniers the Elder (1582- 1649) was a
great artist of independent spirit ; but he is not well
known because many of his best works have been
attributed to his son. Soon after Rubens returned
from Italy, Teniers went there and studied under
Elzheimer, imitating his chiaroscuro and light ef-
fects. He still remained a Fleming, however, in the
type of his personages and especially in their spirit.
He liked to represent smokers seated in dark to-
bacco shops, alchemists seeking hidden secrets, mu-
sicians and beggars walking in the sunlight. So
that by the character of his essentially realistic in-
spiration, Teniers announces his son, and prepares
the way for his approaching triumph. He also
painted mythological scenes. He remained in Rome
for ten years. On his return, he soon found himself
eclipsed by Brouwer and Teniers the Younger, and
fell into neglect.
David Teniers the Younger (1610-1690) was
taught first by his father, and afterwards greatly
influenced by Rubens and Brouwer. Although per-
haps inferior to the best of the Little Dutch Mas-
ters, and even to Peter Brueghel and Brouwer, he
has never been surpassed in some qualities : the
justness of the physiognomies and attitudes of his
80 Ubc Hrt of tbe Belgian 6allertes
modest heroes, the restrained spirit of his execution,
the flower-Hke freshness of his hvely and dehcate
colouration, and the atmospheric clearness of his
landscapes with such fine skies.
Another merit in this master is the smiling phi-
losophy, the good nature and even the dash of dis-
tinction he manages to cast over the most common
scenes. His religious and heroic pictures have been
deservedly neglected by posterity.
He was an indefatigable worker, having left
more than 800 pictures. The principal subjects are
kermesses, inn interiors, hawking parties, drinkers,
bagpipe players and other musicians. Temptations
of St. Anthony, monkey scenes, conversations,
guardrooms, kitchens, bowling games and land-
scapes filled with little figures. His landscapes
were often painted by Jan Wildens; and his still
life was frequently the work of Jan Wildens and
others.
The most distinguished pupils of David Teniers
the Younger were Abshoven, who died very young,
David Ryckaert III, Frans Duchatel (1625- 1694?),
whom he loved as his own son, Arnoult Van Maas,
De Hont, Ertebout, Matheus Van Hellemont and
Gilles Van Tilborch.
" The qualities which most attract us in the
works of Teniers are his picturesque arrangement,
his delicately balanced general keeping, the exqui-
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iflemtsb painters ant) painting 8i
site harmony of colouring in his details, and that
light and sparkling touch in which the separate
strokes of the brush are left unbroken — a power
wherein no other genre-pd.mttv ever equalled him.
On the other hand all the charm of his humour can
hardly atone for a certain coldness of feeling, while
his figures and heads have a degree of monotony
which is especially obvious in scenes with numerous
figures. Occasionally, also, too decided an intention
is seen in his arrangement ; so that upon the whole
his greatest triumphs are attained in pictures of
few figures. The different periods of his long life
distinctly appear in his works. In those of his
earlier time a somew-hat heavy brown tone prevails ;
the figures are on a large scale — twelve to eighteen
inches high; the treatment is broad and somewhat
decorative. The influence of Brouwer may be per-
ceived here, though the idea that Teniers was a
scholar of his is quite erroneous. Towards 1640
his colouring becomes clearer, continuing in this
tendency up to 1644, when he had attained a very
luminous golden tone, and changing again from
that into a cool silverv hue. With this there also
ensued a more careful and very precise execution.
Pictures of this class up to the year 1660, though
occasionally we find him returning to his golden
colour, are prized as his finest and most character-
istic works, After this he again adopts a decided
82 XTbe Hrt ot tbe ^Belgian (Ballertes
golden tone, which is sometimes very powerful. In
his last years, the colouring becomes heavy and
brownish and the treatment is undecided and trem-
bling." 1
David Ryckaert (1612-1661) imitated David
Teniers and Coques, who married his sister. He
painted familiar scenes and peasant gatherings. He
was fond of representing cottage interiors with
peasants at table, taverns with drinkers quarrelling,
alchemists at their retorts, doctors in their surger-
ies, and artists in their studios. He was also fond
of lamplight effects.
Anthony Goubau (161 6- 1698) painted historical
pictures, genre, city scenes, markets, etc. Some of
his works are reminiscent of Ostade; but he more
particularly followed Jan Asselyn. His composi-
tion and chiaroscuro were excellent.
Gilles Van Tilborgh (1625-1678) also painted
tavern interiors, peasant festivals and kermesses in
the manner of Teniers, but in his warm and some-
times opaque colour he resembles Duchatel and
David Ryckaert.
Pieter Bout (1658-17 — ) was a genre painter in
the style of Teniers. His manner somewhat resem-
bles that of Velvet Brueghel but is not so stiff. He
adorned the landscapes of others, principally Bou-
dewyns, with his charming little figures.
' Crowe.
ff lemtsb painters anb painting 83
Frans Duchatel (1616-1694) was a cavalry of-
ficer, who gave up soldiering to become a painter.
Naturally, he painted military subjects, and genre
pictures after the style of Teniers the Younger, who
has consequently been credited as his teacher. His
manner, however, still more nearly approaches that
of Coques. His few pictures are highly prized.
Anthony van Dyck (i 599-1 641) at twelve years
of age entered the school of Henri van Balen, a
good historical painter, one of whose pupils was
Frans Snyders. Thence he soon went to Rubens,
who recognized his genius and employed him in
finishing the pictures he sketched, and making
finished drawings of pictures his engravers were to
reproduce. Even before his departure for Italy in
1 62 1, his pictures were esteemed by many almost
as highly as those of his master.
Van Dyck's industry was tireless : in the short
span of his life he painted nearly a thousand pic-
tures. He had three styles which are easily recog-
nizable. The pictures painted during his five years'
residence in Italy are distinguished by deep tone
and colour and marked dignity of character and ex-
pression. The Turin gallery contains many splen-
did examples of this period. His Flemish style
covers the period between his return in 1626 and
his departure for England in 1631. These works
are executed with much impasto in the lights and
84 UM Hrt ot tbe JBelgtan Galleries
transparency of colour in the shadows. His third
period is that of the last decade of his life spent in
England, — from 1631 to 1641. The pictures of
this period are distinguished by grace and elegance,
but show haste, and many are slight in execution
and were frequently finished by assistants.
In the second period of Van Dyck's artistic ca-
reer just before embarking for England, he painted
several pictures of sacred subjects. One of the last
was the Raising of the Cross, one of the treasures
of Courtrai. Another was the Passion, in St.
Michael's church, Ghent, which has been almost en-
tirely ruined by repaintings. Another, in a much
better state of preservation, adorns the Cathedral of
St. Rombaud, at Mechlin. This is a Crucifixion.
*' The most brilliant light illumines the magnificent
torso of the Saviour. The features are disfigured,
and the fat cheeks have a lymphatic and unhealthy
look. The head is consequently lacking in dignity,
which is a grave defect. The painter has given
energetic attitudes to the thieves, on whom he has
lavished all his skill. The repentant thief looks at
Christ with a gentle and pious expression, and the
impenitent thief turns away in a very dramatic man-
ner. The most beautiful figures are those of the
Virgin and St. John ; but excessive grief deprives
the latter of all nobility: his wild eyes roll about
under blood-shot lids. The Madonna, in gray
fflemtsb painters anb painttna 85
tones that recall Murillo, abandons herself to an
affecting grief; but it is also unfortunate that her
black lips surpass probability. At the foot of the
Cross, on the left, we see the heads of two men who
are ascending the hidden slope of the mountain,
exactly as in the picture by Rubens in the Antwerp
Museum, which represents the same subject. The
pupil, however, has not equalled the master." ^
" More noble than Rubens in his choice of form,
Van Dyck had fewxr faults than his master, but
perhaps also less grandeur. His colour was as
charming without being so splendid. His design
w^as learned, but without pedantry ; and his con-
tours were always governed by the sentiment of
grace, or the fire of genius. Very nearly the equal
of Titian in portraiture, Van Dyck has sometimes
risen to a great height in his historical compositions,
in which the beauty of the expression is often as
admirable as the excellence of the touch.'"'
Van Dyck's followers were numerous. The most
important included Thomas Willeboirts, called
Boschaerts (1614-1654), a pupil of Gerard Seghers,
and later an imitator of Van Dyck; Theodoor
Boeyermans (1620 1677 or 1678); and Pieter
Thys, or Typrus (1616-1677 or 1679).
Theodoor Boeyermans very closely approaches
Van Dyck, by his close study of that master's
* Michiels. ^ Blanc.
86 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
works. His facile imagination plays with great
compositions ; in his design he takes happy liberties ;
his palette, sometimes somewhat sombre, yet
abounds in rich and brilliant tones. In the manner
of Van Dyck, he paints luminous and living heads.
Thomas Willeboirts was also a pupil of G. Se-
ghers. He painted history and mythology. He tried
to imitate Van Dyck ; but his heads have little ani-
mation, his colour is cold, and composition weak.
He painted some fine portraits, however.
Justus Suttermans or Sustermans (1597-1681),
a pupil of Willem de Vos and Frans Pourbus the
Younger, was inferior to Van Dyck only in por-
traiture, and greatly admired by Van Dyck. Most
of his life was spent in Florence, where he was court
painter to Cosimo H and Cosimo HI.
Abraham Van Diepenbeeck (1607- 1675) was one
of Rubens's most brilliant pupils. His compositions
for windows were very famous. He also painted
pictures with historical, religious and mythological
subjects. His colour was fine and touch vigorous;
but he lacked expression.
Victor Wolfvoet (1612-1652) was a follower of
Rubens, of some reputation. His pictures are rare.
The Medusa's Head at Dresden is the work of his
father; but a picture by him in the Church of St.
Jacques, Antwerp, shows what lessons had formed
his manner. In this Visitation, imitation of Rubens
fflemtsb painters an^ patnttnG 87
is very evident; but the chiaroscuro is more
strongly accented, the colour softer and less brilliant
than on the canvases of the Master. ^' The Virgin
seems a type borrowed from the latter. St. Eliz-
abeth, bending the knee, leans towards Mary and
touches her abdomen with the finger of her left
hand as if she would say in veneration : ' There the
Son of God is preparing to save the world.' The
Virgin rests her right hand on the matron's shoul-
der in a familiar attitude. St. Joseph and St.
Joachim, painted in very dark colours, stand behind
the Jewesses of predestination. Two little angels,
with hands full of flowers, hover gaily above the
personages. Mary and Elizabeth are fat and heavy
women with flabby cheeks. Here again, distinction
lies with the men : by the elegance of their features,
St. Joachim and St. Joseph are much superior to
their wives. A peacock is pluming himself on top
of a stone vase on a pedestal behind Elizabeth. The
principal merit of the picture consists in the strength
and beauty of its colour, its vigorous and sombre
tints." 1
Jacques Fouquieres (1580- 1659) was one of
Rubens's aids for landscape settings for his sub-
jects. Contemporary critics h^d nothing but praise
for him. Mariette also praises his ability as a
painter of the depths of the woods, the shadows and
^ Michiels.
88 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
freshness that sleep under their branches, the poetic
effects of distance, the physiognomy of plants, rocks
and mountains, the tranquil mirror of sleeping
waters. He painted his own figures in his works.
At Brussels, he was the master of Philippe de
Champagne.
Lucas Van Uden (1595- 1660) was the painter on
whom Rubens most frequently called for the land-
scapes of pictures when he was too busy or too
weary to paint them himself. Rubens regarded his
pupil with paternal affection; and sometimes
painted striking figures in his landscapes, which
naturally rendered them salable, and Van Uden
famous. Teniers also sometimes contributed little
figures to his landscapes. He was particularly par-
tial to waterfalls.
Jan Wildens (1584- 165 5) also was sometimes
employed by Rubens to paint the landscape settings
of his pictures, notably the Lion Hunt, the Chaste
Susannah, and Llagar repudiated by Abraham.
He was an adherent of Josse de Momper. He
painted wide landscapes with rocks and woods that
gradually lose themselves in the blue distance. The
colour is weak ; but the landscape is enlivened with
pretty little figures. His pictures are very scarce.
Frans Wouters (1612-1650) was a good land-
scape painter who gained brilliant success in his life-
time. He treated the figure as well as landscape,
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BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIBRARY
If lemiBb iPatnters anb patnttna 89
and liked to decorate his sylvan scenes with nude
female forms, which he executed admirably. His
landscapes are particularly distinguished for their
excellent aerial perspective. His large works are
often heavy in colour, with prevailing yellow tones
that are far from pleasing.
Theodore van Thulden (1607- 1676) was a fol-
lower of the grand style of Rubens, if not a pupil
of his. He painted allegories, familiar scenes and
religious subjects; and designed glass windows,
and was an etcher besides.
Jacques Van Oost the Elder (1601-1670) be-
longed to the School of Rubens, being one of those
who did not receive lessons directly from the illus-
trious Antwerp master, but formed their style by
penetrating his spirit. Portraits by him were
greatly in demand by sitters, as good judges noticed
that his flesh tints were fresh, brilliant and natural.
He also painted Biblical scenes, and sometimes sub-
jects of real life. His son, Jacques the Younger
(1637- 1 713), went to Italy like the rest of his tribe
and remained there some years. The pictures of
father and son are so like that it is hard to
distinguish them. The son's work, however,
shows more Italian influence in colour and com-
position. He draped his figures with elegance and
nobility.
Cornelis Schut (1597-1655) was a bright star of
90 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
the second magnitude in the days of Rubens.
Though the feehng for grace and elegance was
denied him, he possessed in the highest degree that
of movement, force and health. The flesh is exalted
in his exuberant figures, his compositions have ac-
tion and bustle, his draperies float in eternal agita-
tion.
Pieter Van Mol (1599- 1660) was an ardent dis-
ciple of Rubens : he painted history and portraits ;
but his types were lacking in style, and eyes habitu-
ated to Italian elegances saw in them only heaviness
and triviality. But by his breadth of execution and
his pompous taste for rich robings Van Mol declares
himself a Fleming. Feeling his relative weakness
in Antwerp, he left and settled in Paris where he
was welcomed by the best artists of the day.
Among the disciples of Vouet he rendered the best
testimony of the power of the Antwerp school.
Gerard Van Herp (fl. 1604) was a pupil, or at
least an imitator, of Rubens in painting history and
genre. He displayed rich composition, fine colour
with great transparency, and good drawing.
Jan Van Hoeck (1598-1650) painted portraits,
and mythological and Biblical subjects. He prof-
ited so greatly by Rubens's lessons that he grew to
be his equal in some respects; and was greatly es-
teemed in Italy and Germany.
Lodewyck de Vadder (1600- 1660) followed Ru-
iFIemtsb painters an& patnttng 91
bens in general treatment as regards colouring, light
and shade and breadth.
Joost Van Egmont (1602- 1674) was a pupil of
Van den Hoecke. He went to Italy, and, on his
return, joined Rubens, afterwards going to Paris,
where he was a successful portrait painter in the
fashionable world. Mariette said : " Nobody was
more capable of painting a head well. I have seen
some that are worthy of Van Dyck, so freshly are
they painted ! "
Erasmus Quellin (1607- 1678) painted historical
and devotional subjects, and portraits.
Paul Mantz says : '* The manner of Rubens, that
fiery and dramatic master, being softened down
with three of his pupils, in their pictures assumed
an elegance and poetic charm the absence of which
is sometimes regretted in his own works. Van
Dyck, Erasmus Quellyn and Jan Van Hoek form
this graceful trinity. Although far less famous
than Van Dyck, the others were perhaps not infe-
rior to him; and therefore many of their pictures
are attributed to Charles the First's painter.
Quellyn possesses a delicacy of form, purity of taste,
harmony, brilliance, and suavity of colour that au-
thorize us to compare him with the princes of the
palette. What masterpieces could eclipse the St.
Roch of the Church of St. Jacques, or the Holy
Family of the Church of the St. Saviour, Ghent?
92 ui)e Hrt of tbe ^Belgian Galleries
If one could place them in a gallery beside the most
famous pictures, they would bear the hard test with-
out loss of credit. The latter picture represents a
halt in the Flight into Egypt; the three personages
have been surprised in the solitudes by the shades of
night. In order not to lose their way in the desert,
they have halted beside a fountain under a palm
tree. St. Joseph has taken the infant on his knees,
and the daughter of David stands in front of him
with crossed hands, while the nursling holds out
his arms to her in a burst of affection. Behind the
noble Israelite, two adult angels seem to be await-
ing his orders. The Biblical ass, cared for by other
celestial messengers, is reposing after his toil.
Little angels flutter in the sky and among the foli-
age. Such is the composition — so far as language
can explain it; but what words can not render is
the admirable type and majestic character of the
carpenter of Bethlehem, the exquisite beauty of the
Virgin and the profound sentiment that animates
her, the grace of the celestial envoyes, the affection-
ate expression of the Christ, and the perfect taste
of the general disposition. The entire work an-
nounces the imagination of a poet. The colour, at
once sombre and transparent, as is required by the
hour, and the necessities of the painting, astonishes
us by its vigour, fineness, splendour and softness,
all at the same time."
fflemtsb painters an& painting 93
Joos Van Craesbeeck (i 608-1661) was a baker,
a boon companion of Brouwer, from whom he
learned to paint. In some quaHties, he surpassed
his master. He painted the same subjects, but de-
lighted particularly in ugliness of the human face.
Many of his pictures have been attributed to Brou-
wer.
Gonzales Coques (1614-1684) is a painter of por-
traits and interiors of elegance, wealth, gaiety and
happy serenity. He is one of the best artists of the
second period of the Antwerp school. He liked to
represent truthfully well-to-do people in their daily
life out of doors and indoors. The distinction of
their attitudes and their poetic elegance, he bor-
rowed from the works of the defunct Van Dyck;
and he owed the boldness and strength of his colour
to a study of Rubens. However, in the dimen-
sions of his pictures, and their consequent mi-
nuteness of detail and finish, he reminds us rather
of the Dutch School, — especially Terburg and
Metsu.
" Coques studied under David Ryckaert, whose
daughter he married. He devoted himself largely
to portrait painting. The combined animation,
taste and elegance of portraiture which distinguish
the works of Van Dyck were obviously the objects
of this painter's ambition ; and in his best pictures,
representing families in whole length figures, he has
94 Ubc Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
attained these qualities in a high degree. At the
same time his drawing is good, his warm, brownish
flesh-tones clear and harmonious, and his touch,
though on so small a scale, broad and spirited.
Like Van Dyck, he often introduces greyhounds
and other dogs. His sitters are generally in the
open air. When his background is exclusively land-
scape, Artois became his assistant ; when the figures
are represented on the terrace of a stately mansion,
Ghering lent a hand in the architecture. The fruits
and flowers in his pieces are often the work of
Pieter Gysels; and in the few pictures by him
where a room forms the background, he was helped
by the younger Steenwyck. His portraits of single
individuals, which are numerous, are, as a rule, of
inferior merit." ^
Charles Emmanuel Biset (1633-1682) is one of
the last great masters of the century. His pictures
are very rare. His William Tell, which is a picture
of the members of the guild of St. Sebastian in
Antwerp, is one of the gems of the Brussels gal-
lery.
Jacques d^Arthois (161 3-1 68 5) as a rule painted
the thick woods, hollowed out roads and ponds of
the forest of Soignes. Teniers the Elder, G. de
Craeyer, Gerard Seghers, Van Herp and Pieter
Bout frequently animated his landscapes with peas-
^ Crowe.
fflemtsb painters an^ painting 95
ants leading cattle or sheep to market, beggars, or
merry-makers returning from a kermesse playing
upon their bagpipes. Sometimes the subject is
taken from the Bible or sacred legends. His model
was Vadder, whom, however, he does not equal in
clearness of colour.
His pupil, Cornelis Huysmans (1648- 1727), re-
sembles him in general style, though his pictures are
smaller in size and more ideal in character. His
colour is warm and glowing; and his works are
carefully finished. His brother, Jan Baptist (1654-
1716) was his pupil and imitator; and with these
the Rubens period closes.
Jan Siberechts (1627-1703?) was one of the first
to break away from the conventional treatment of
landscape and to anticipate the audacity of modern
realism in his colouring. He seems to have been
ignored by his contemporaries overshadowed by
Udens and Wildens. He was taken to England by
the Duke of Buckingham.
Frans Van Bloemen (1656-1748), curious to see
the enchanted landscape of Italy, left the green
fields of Flanders for a short visit while still almost
a child and never returned. He painted the en-
virons of the Eternal City ; and his talent in inter-
preting the luminous plains and distant mountains
gained for him the name Oriszonte. His forests
and meadows are often of a vernal green, his dis-
96 Ube art of tbe Belgian GallcxicB
tant hills delight the eye with their veils of blue
mist that are both true and poetic. His ground is
well modelled, and has vigour and relief; and his
foliage is broadly treated.
Adrian Boudewyns (1644-17 — ) was a landscape
painter of high reputation in his day. His works
show Italian influence, though it is not known that
he crossed the Alps.
Abraham Genoels (1640- 172 3) went to France
in 1659 and was employed by Lebrun to paint
landscape backgrounds in the Battles of Alex-
ander the Great. After a stay in Rome he re-
turned to Antwerp about 1682. He was a fol-
lower of Nicholas Poussin, and his works are
rare.
Another follower of the Poussins was Jean
Frangois Millet (1642-1680), who settled in Paris.
His figures and landscapes are always harmonious.
One of his pupils, Pieter Rysbraek (1655-1729),
studied with him in Paris but returned to Antwerp
in 1692. His works are rare, but " have a grandly
poetic and melancholy character. His trees and
w^ooded backgrounds are particularly well under-
stood and the form of his clouds fine ; his colouring
powerful, but inclined to be gloomy. His figures
taken from Biblical or m3^thological subjects are
well composed, and sometimes play an important
part; others are careless in execution, and disturb
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fflemtsb painters anD patnttno 97
the harmony of the picture by their monotonously
red flesh-tones. Most of them, however, are of
idylHc character." ^
Bertholet Flemael (i 614- 1675) imitated the
manner of Poussin, and executed his principal
works for Paris churches. His pupil, Gerard de
Lairesse (i 640-1 671), w^as also an imitator of
Poussin. He gained a great reputation and trans-
planted into Flanders the arcadian and academic
style. After him the Flemish school steadily went
from bad to worse.
Philippe de Champaigne (1602-1674) went to
Paris in 1620 and is generally classed as a French
painter. His chief master Jacques Fouquieres, the
landscape painter, (1580- 1659), however, was a
native of Antwerp. He was employed by Du
Chesne to work in the Luxembourg with Nicholas
Poussin and succeeded Du Chesne as superintendent
of Fontainebleau in 1627. His landscapes are
poetic and enriched with charming figures, and in
colour surpass those of Poussin. As a portrait
painter he holds high rank.
Jan Van Bredael (1683-1750) belonged to the
school of Velvet Brueghel, with its landscapes of
blue horizons, meadows sown with bright flowers,
pictures of rural life, in which we see innumerable
little people enjoying themselves, or at their various
* Crowe.
\
98 Ube Hrt ot tbe ^Belgian (Ballertes
avocations. However, he falls far behind the mas-
ters he imitated.
'' For the Flemish School, the Eighteenth Cen-
tury, is a long entr'acte during which the stage, so
nobly occupied of old, is sad and deserted. Here and
there an artist appears to remind us what Flanders
was in colour and decoration for two centuries.
France was triumphing in spirit and grace, Italy
though decadent was still ingenious and smiling,
England at last was producing original masters,
but Flanders was asleep. At the beginning of the
Eighteenth Century, the school that Rubens had
glorified was all astray : it was the period of the
great empty and pompous machines of Richard van
Orley (1652- 1732), the vapid inventions of Du-
venede (1674- 1730), that too assiduous pupil of
Carlo Maratta; it was also the time of Victor
Honore Janssens (1664-1739), that vapid and char-
acterless painter. After these come Frans Ver-
beeck (1686- 1755), Mathieu de Visch (1702- 1765)
and Gaeremyn (171 2- 1799), sad workers in an art
wandering farther and farther afield. Criticism
here would have to be sad and silent, if its attention
were not arrested for a moment by the name of
Verhaghen." ^
Pieter Joseph Verhaeghen or Verhaghen (1728-
181 1 ) occupies the same place in the Flemish
I Blanc.
fflemisb painters anb painting 99
School that Tiepolo holds in Italian, and Goya in
Spanish Art. He became court painter to Prince
Charles of Lorraine and was patronized by Maria
Theresa, who gave him means to travel through
France and Italy. Verhaeghen was the last fol-
lower of the Rubens school.
Balthasar Beschey (1708- 1776) first painted
landscapes in the style of Jan Brueghel and later
devoted himself to historical and portrait-painting.
Among his pupils is Andries Cornelis Lens.
Andries Lens (1739- 1822) was inflamed with
the Classical teachings of Winckelmann, and en-
deavoured to install in Antwerp the academic sys-
tem contrary to the theories proclaimed by Rubens
and his school. In all his works, his accessories,
costume, arms and architecture were historically
and geographically correct; but his tameness and
bloodlessness make us sigh for the anachronisms
of the old masters with their fire.
Pieter Thys (1749-1823) painted flowers.
Guillaume Jacques Herreyns (1743- 1827) is in
many respects the last of the Flemings. He saw
the extinction of the facile Eighteenth Century art,
assisted at the renaissance of the pseudo-antique in-
augurated by the school of David, and in a few
years would have seen Flemish painting again free
and regenerated. His work is a compromise be-
tween the diverse schools of his period. His design
100 Uhc Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
is correct, but cold and featureless. His colour is
brown and reddish of a tone that shows how low
the successors of Rubens had fallen.
It is only natural that French classicism should
take deep root in Belgium, particularly in Brussels
after 1815 when Jacques Louis David (1748- 1825),
the famous head of the modern French school, ban-
ished from France after the Restoration, established
himself in Brussels. Lambert Joseph Mathieu
(1804-1861), a pupil of M. L Van Bree was one
of those who fell under his influence ; but his pupil,
Frangois Joseph Navez (1787-1869), continued his
cold style and sculptural simplicity. He succeeded
particularly in portraiture and formed a whole gen-
eration of artists, such as Charles de Groux, Alfred
Stevens, Charles Hermans, Jos. Stallaert, Baron
and Smits, who forsook the paths of their master
for those of realism.
Navez's chief pupil, Jean Frangois Portaels
(18 1 8- 1 895), who became also a follower of P.
Delaroche in Paris, was one of the chief Belgian
painters of the early Nineteenth Century.
A great rival of Navez was Gustav Wappers
(1803-1874), the founder of Flemish Romanticism,
who expresses in his works the exuberant senti-
ment, violent colours and enthusiasm of the revolu-
tionary school of 1830. His Burgomaster Van der
Werf during the Siege of Leyden, painted in 1830,
fflemtsb ipatnters anb ipatntiuG loi
and Scene from the Belgian Revolution of 1830,
painted in 1834, were received with enthusiasm,
though they now seem somewhat theatrical. Ni-
caise de Keyser (1813-1887) adopted his style.
His Battle of the Spurs, now in Coutrai, painted in
1836, is very famous. Among his notable achieve-
ments are the paintings in the entrance hall of the
Antwerp Museum, representing the great masters
of Flemish Art.
Another historical painter of great reputation,
Louis Gallait (1810-1887), a follower of the cold
romantic school of Paul Delaroche and often com-
pared with Ary Scheffer, made a stir with his Ab-
dication of Charles V (Brussels) ; the Severed
Heads (Tournai) ; and The Last Moments of
Count Egmont, painted between 1840 and 1850,
works, which, according to the Belgian critic Wau-
ters, '^ will live, without any doubt, as the most
perfect specimens of historical painting during this
period of transition, when the study of the Middle
Ages and the Sixteenth Century was pursued with
an ardour almost equal to that w^hich marked the
study of the antique at the beginning of the Italian
Renaissance."
His pupil, Edouard de Biefve (1809-1882), also
devoted himself to historical works and made a
stir with his Compromise of the Belgian Nobles
(Brussels Museum), which, like Gallait's Abdi-
102 Ube Hrt ot tbe ^Belgian Oallertes
cation of Charles V, was greatly admired in Ger-
many.
Other historical painters include E. Slingeneyer
(1823-1894); Alexander Markelbach (b. 1824);
Jos. Stallaert (b. 1825) ; and the most influential
of all, however, Hendrik Leys (18 15- 1869),
founder of the Archaic School. Leys was a pupil
of Gustav Wappers and F. de Braekeleer. At first
he was attracted by the masters of the Seventeenth
Century, but changed his style to follow the early
Flemish and early German schools.
Among his pupils are Jos. Lies ( 182 1- 1865);
V. Lagye (1825-1896); Fr. H. Vinck (b. 1827);
P. van Ouderaa (b. 1841); Alma Tadema (b.
1836) and Henri de Braekeleer (1840-1888), the
son of Ferdinand de Braekeleer; Felix de Vigne
(1806-1862).
Among the other early painters were M. L Van
Bree (1733-1839); J. B. Madou (1796-1877), a
genre painter who has much in common with the
Diisseldorf School; the eccentric Antoine Wiertz
(1806- 1 865); and F. de Braekeleer (i 792-1883).
The French realist, Courbet, had many followers
in Belgium. Chief among these was Charles de
Groux (1826-1870), who painted gloomy scenes
from the lives of the peasants and labouring classes ;
Constantin Meunier (b. 1831), who often depicts
miners and iron foundries in the " Black Country "
fflemlsb painters an^ painting 103
of Belgium; and Jan Stobbaerts (b. 1838), a
painter of labourers, landscapes and still-life.
Charles Verlat (1824-1890) is another who painted
in the style of Courbet. His Cart and Horses,
dated 1857 and now in the Antwerp Gallery, a large
street scene, gave him a reputation as an animal
painter. At a later period, he devoted himself to
religious subjects treated in a modern realistic
spirit.
Alfred Stevens (b. 1828) paints fashionable
ladies; Joseph Stevens (1822- 1892) is a clever
animal painter, particularly of dogs; Charles Her-
mans (b. 1839) was the first to paint street scenes
in Belgium in the style of the large historical paint-
ings, such as Daybreak in the Capital, painted in
1875 and now in the Brussels Gallery; Jan and
Frans Verhas, painters of children and child-life,
and Emile Wauters (b. 1846) a pupil of Portaels
and Gerome in Paris, a painter of historical pic-
tures, portraits and Oriental scenes, are among the
most celebrated Belgian artists.
Landscape painting for the sake of the landscape
itself begins in Belgium with Balthasar Paul Om-
meganck (175 5- 1826), a painter who was original
on account of the novelty of the subjects he chose
and by the charm of his colour. Camille Lemon-
nier calls him '' le doux Ommeganck " and the " hon
Dieu du paysage." Gentle is a good attribute for
104 Ube Hrt ot tbe BclQiarx Galleries
him, because he selected idylhc scenes and animated
them with shepherds and shepherdesses, sheep and
goats, enveloping all in a warm light that has now
become golden in tone on account of the numerous
layers of varnish he gave his pictures. Though not
so artificial as Watteau and Boucher, Ommeganck's
scenes are still very studied and conform to the
conventional idea of what was considered " pic-
turesque."
The picturesque prescribed the straight line and
the perfect curve : a tree had to appear convulsive
and distorted; a road had to sink or wind; a
stream to follow an incline over an irregular bed
so as to foam and fall in cascades, and melancholy
ruins had to be introduced. Stunted trees, or
giants of the forest struck by lightning, were fea-
tures of Dejonghe and Keelhoff; and, as roman-
ticism loved contrasts in the works of Dejonghe
and Kindermans, the minute attention to detail is
strikingly out of keeping with their immense pano-
ramas, almost epic in conception.
Eugene Joseph Verboeckhoven (i 798-1881),
Ommeganck's most renowned pupil, was possessed
of great industry ; and, as he painted for fifty years,
his works are numerous. Verboeckhoven was
neither a classicist nor a romantic; he was purely
conventional and his best quality is his correctness
of drawing. His grass and trees are too crude in
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colour, his skies lack fluidity and his rocks are
blocks of chocolate. His sheep, shepherds and dogs
are very conventional and monotonous. Van
Assche, greatly admired by Navez, and Roffiaen,
were painters of Swiss scenery at this period.
To the older school of landscape painters also
belong J. B. Kindermans (1805-1876) and J. P. F.
Lamoriniere, who has been called " the painter of
immobility."
In the contest between the classicists and roman-
tics between 1830 and 1840 the landscape painters
took little part; but insensibly they abandoned the
stiffness of the traditional classic school and began
to understand nature better, although they still in-
dulged their taste for artificial composition. In
treating landscape the subject had to accord with
certain preconceived ideas.
Theodore Fourmois (1814-1871), attracted at-
tention in 1840 with his Mill in the Ardennes. This
work, as well as his scene in the Campine near Ant-
werp, and his Pond in the Brussels Museum, show
the first step towards realism. In some respects
Fourmois resembles Hobbema. No Belgian before
him had dared to represent old w^orm-eaten planks,
muddy stones, dilapidated builcjings, or landscapes
under the mists and snows of winter. Until his
time. Nature had to be seen in the brilliant sun-
shine of a summer's day, or under conditions of
106 Ubc Htt Of tbe mclgian Gallettes
magnificent horror — either sublime or tragic : au-
tumn, winter and spring did not exist as far as the
painters were concerned.
Among the followers of Fourmois was Quinaux
( — 1895), who reached his climax in the Ford
on the Lesse (Brussels Museum).
Edmond de Schampheleer (1825-1899), who has
been called " the modern Rysdael," was a great
lover of Holland and was fond of representing the
canals with all the mysterious reflections of the
trees, mills and houses on their banks. With less
colour than Fourmois and more virtuosity than
Quinaux, De Schampheleer is a link between Four-
mois and Hippolyte Boulenger.
Hippolyte Boulenger (1838- 1874), a follower of
the French Courbet, represented Nature as he saw
her. To arrangement of subject, therefore, he
added the note of interpretation. Settling in Ter-
vueren, a beautiful corner of Brabant, he soon pro-
duced many admired works, such as the Allee des
Charmes (Brussels Museum), in which are com-
bined rich warm colours and atmospheric effects.
His rocks, grass, trees and water are also full of
life. Boulenger was chief of the Naturalists and
attracted a whole school of followers at Tervueren,
which became a sort of Belgian Barbizon.
Alfred de Knyff (1819-1886), educated in the
French school, brought into Belgium the mode gris
fflemtsb patntets anb ipatnttna 107
as applied to landscape. Because what critics are
pleased to call the '' rigidities " of nature, when she
is locked in the embrace of snow and ice or prepar-
ing for her wintry sleep, or in a mood of fog, mist
or rain, had been neglected, the dull tones of bistre
and grayish violet, ochres and siennas tempered
with gray had not been thought of. De Knyff was
followed in the mode gris by Theodore Baron,
Jacques Rosseels and Adrien Joseph Heymans.
Theodore Baron (1840- 1889), a somewhat aus-
tere painter, fond of melancholy landscapes, bare
boughs of autumnal and wintry trees, dark rocks
and ice and snow, was an ardent protagonist of the
mode gris. His pupil, Jacques Rosseels (b. 1828),
has more gaiety of temperament, which leads him
to more light and richer colour. To this group
belongs Adrien Joseph Heymans (b. 1839) who
settled in the village of Brasschaert, near Antwerp,
where a colony of artists gathered for many
years.
Contemporary with the School of Tervueren, an-
other at Termonde in Flanders, with practically the
same ideas, grouped around Frans Courtens (b.
1853), a distinguished '' Impressionist" and one of
the most famous of the modern Belgians, and
Jacques Rosseels.
One of Courbet's most energetic and healthful
followers and also a follower of Hippolyte Boulen-
108 XTbe Hrt of tbe JBelotan Galleries
ger is Louis Dubois (1830- 1880), a painter of land-
scape, figures and still life.
In 1876 the Cercle I'Essor was founded to
develop more fully the theories of the Schools of
Tervueren and Termonde Naturalism and Impres-
sionism. Among this group may be mentioned
Adolphe Hamesse, a painter of forest scenes, the
Campine and sand-dunes, Joseph Francois, who
loves the yellowish roads near Brussels, particularly
with their autumnal foliage; and Jean Degreef,
probably the best landscape painter of the Essor.
From the Essor was derived a group of painters
called ''XX" (1883-1893), including Vogels,
Toorop, Emile Claus, Rodolphe Wytsman, Anna
Boch and Theo. Van Rysselberhe; while a later
society called '' Pour I'Art " included Adolphe
Hamesse, Dardenne, Ottevaere and Coppens.
Among those who have worked individually are
the realist, Henri Van der Hecht, a nephew of the
romantic, G. Van der Hecht ; Denduyts, who affects
dark and dreary scenes of winter and autumn;
Binje, whose work is solid and sincere, Isidore
Verheyden (b. 1846), who likes orchards and
bright sunny landscapes; and Theodore Verstraete
(b. 185 1 ), w^ho paints sad scenes — men and
women of the fields broken by work and poverty
in landscapes that correspond in sentiment.
Nor must we forget Marie Collart (b. 1842), a
fflemisb painters anb ipatnting 109
lover of rustic scenes, hedge-rows, gardens, little
houses hidden under the trees, seen with sympathy
and beautifully executed, occasionally with an
archaic touch reminiscent of the elder Brueghel and
Van Ostade.
Alfred Verwee (1838- 1895) has been called " the
Belgian Tryon." He is a bold painter, a marvel-
lous colourist, and endowed with an exuberance
that links him to the line of Rubens and Jordaens.
In vast meadows with spongy emerald turf bor-
dered by far distant horizons his cows and bulls
and horses appear with grace and beauty and splen-
did form. Verwee's pupil, Frans Van Leemputten
(b. 1850), is a painter of peasant life and agricul-
tural labour, chiefly in the Campines. Another
pupil is Jean Degreef.
Among the more modern men are a number who
seek to represent luminous vibrations and sacrifice
richness of colour for the delicate play of rays and
the floating dust in the sunlit air. Conspicuous
among these '' Luminists " are Theodore Van Rys-
selberghe, Emile Claus, Rodolphe Wytsman, Anna
Boch, Lucien Frank and Joseph Heymans.
Rodolphe Wytsman paints very radiant works,
delicate and charming in colour and treatment ; and
his wife Juliette, a fine flower-painter, who paints
flowers blooming out of doors, has the same quali-
ties.
110 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Balleries
Albert Baertsoen, Maurice Blieck and Victor
Gilsoul also belong to this group.
Among the marine painters are P. J. Clays
(1819-1900), Louis Artan (1837-1890) and A.
Bouvier (b. 1837).
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LIBRARY
CHAPTER II
BRUGES: THE HOSPITAL OF ST. JOHN AND THE PIC-
TURE GALLERY OF THE ACADEMY
The Hospital of St. John
On arriving at Bruges, the visitor will soon find
his way to the Hospital of St. John, which has ex-
isted since the Twelfth Century and where the Sis-
ters of Charity still care for the sick. The entrance
gate is opposite the west side of Notre-Dame, and
not far away we may note some quaint sculpture
dating from the Thirteenth Century.
The Hospital is practically a Memling gallery.
Here we find two works ordered by Jan Floreins, a
brother of the Hospital of St. John : one for the
high altar of the church attached to St. John's Hos-
pital ; and the other a smaller triptych. Both were
finished in 1479, and the original frames still sur-
round the pictures. The great triptych, Memling's
masterpiece, is sometimes called The Marriage of
St. Catherine.
*' The central panel represents the Blessed Vir-
gin seated on a metal faldstool, with the Infant
111
112 XTbe Hrt ot tbe JSelglan 6allerie6
Jesus on her lap, surrounded by saints and angels,
in a spacious pillared portico, or open gallery. A
cloth of honour of rich brocade is suspended from
a canopy, immediately beneath which two graceful
angels hold a crown over her head. Two others
kneel beside her, on her right a little farther back,
in alb and tunic, playing a portable organ; the
other, on her left, in girded alb, holds the Book of
Wisdom, of which Our Lady is about to turn over
a leaf, whilst she supports with her right hand the
Infant Christ. He holds an apple in His left, and,
bending forward, places the bridal ring on the
fourth finger of the left hand of St. Catherine, who
is seated a little nearer the front; the sword and
wheel, emblematic of her martyrdom, lie on the
ground beside her. Opposite her, St. Barbara
seated, with the emblematic tower containing the
monstrance and Host behind her, is reading atten-
tively a book she holds with both hands. In the
background are the patrons of the hospital, both
standing; on the right, St. John the Baptist, with
the lamb at his side; and, on the left, St. John the
Evangelist, youthful, mild and pensive, making the
sign of the cross over the poisoned chalice which
he holds in his left hand. The carved capitals of
the pillars on the right represent the vision of
Zachary and the birth and naming of the Baptist.
Between these pillars is seen a lovely landscape con-
Bruges 113
tinued on the right shutter, the foreground of which
is occupied by Herod's palace and courtyard. In
the landscape the Baptist is represented praying in
a solitary forest, preaching on a rocky hill to a
group of seven persons, pointing out Our Lord to
his listeners, baptizing Him, pointing Him out to
Andrew and John and being led to prison. On the
extreme right of the shutter the daughter of Hero-
dias is dancing before the king to music played by
minstrels in the gallery of the banqueting-hall, and
in the immediate front she is holding out a dish,
on which the executioner is depositing the head of
St. John. The burning of his body at Sebaste, by
order of Julian the Apostate, depicted just to the
right of the centre, completes the series of scenes
from his legend. On the extreme left of the centre
panel beyond St. Barbara's tower, a brother of the
Hospital is represented looking on at a respectful
distance; the master of the community. Brother
Jodoc Willems, appears between the pillars to the
left of the Virgin's throne, superintending the
gauging of wine beside the town crane in the Flem-
ish street; the little Romanesque Church of St.
John is seen in the distance, and to the right, the
house known as Dinant at the corner of the Coorn-
blomme street, in course of construction. The land-
scape background on this side offers the following
scenes from the life of the beloved disciple: — his
114 Ube Hrt of tbe BclQian Galleries
immersion in the cauldron of boiling oil ; his being
led to a boat in which a soldier is waiting to trans-
port him to the isle of Patmos; his baptizing the
philosopher Crato, behind whom kneel his wife and
two disciples in a chapel with a rood-beam and
crucifix. The carved capitals of the pillars repre-
sent the restoration to life of Drusiana and St. John
drinking unharmed the poisoned wine, which proves
fatal to the priests of Diana." ^
The left shutter represents the saint seated in
the isle of Patmos, contemplating the Apocalyptic
vision, a composition of wonderful accuracy and
taste.
Four members of the community — the treas-
urer, the director, the mother-superior and a nun —
are represented on the outside shutters, kneeling
devoutly in prayer under the protection of their
patron saints.
The smaller triptych, ordered by Jan Floreins,
represents The Adoration of the Magi. Here the
Virgin is seated in the centre supporting with both
hands the Child on her lap. On the right, the oldest
of the three Kings is kneeling kissing the foot of
the Child ; behind him the negro King in gorgeous
brocade tunic advances with a costly cup. St.
Joseph, holding the cup offered by the first King,
stands on the Virgin's left; and at the window
« Weale.
JSruQes 115
near him a man's head is seen looking at the scene.
According to some critics this is Memhng himself.
On the Virgin's right, the third King is kneeling
with his rich chalice, and behind him the donor,
Jan Floreins, kneels, turning over the leaf of his
prayer-book which he rests on the old wall. Be-
hind him is the head of his brother, James.
Through the opening above the Virgin's head is
a sort of pen where the ox and ass are visible, and,
beyond, a long street bordered with houses and
with the town-gate in the distance, is delicately por-
trayed. By this road the suites of the Kings,
mounted on dromedaries and horses, are approach-
ing. The subjects of the wings are the Nativity
and the Presentation in the Temple; and on the
outside of each shutter there is a single seated figure
seen through a cusped arch. One represents John
the Baptist with the lamb at his side ; and the other
St. Veronica with the napkin bearing the imprint
of the Lord's face. These panels have landscape
backgrounds.
The small triptych, dated 1480, representing the
Dead Christ mourned by His Mother, St. John and
Mary Magdalen, was painted for Adrian Reyns,
who entered the community in 1479, and who is
represented on the interior shutter, protected by
St. Adrian in a suit of plate armour. On the oppo-
site panel, St. Barbara stands with her tower in her
116 XTbe Hct ot tbe Bel^tan (Balleries
hand. In the background of the central panel,
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus are busy
preparing the sepulchre at the foot of some
rocks.
On the wall hangs also a portrait of Mary
Moreel, daughter of William Moreel and Barbara
van Vlaenderberch, whose portraits are in the Brus-
sels Gallery. It is known as the " Persian Sibyl
Sambetha," and was painted in 1480. She wears
a crimson bodice over which is a brown robe
trimmed with white fur confined by a broad green
sash. Her hair is brushed back from her forehead
and over it is a conical black cap draped with a
gauze veil, which partly covers her face. A gold
chain with a jewelled pendant hangs round her neck
and rings ornament her hands. Her left is laid on
her right hand resting on a kind of parapet.
A more remarkable portrait, however, appears on
one panel of a diptych ordered by Martin Van Nieu-
wenhove, a member of an old Bruges family. His
portrait occupies the right panel, and a picture of
the Virgin and Child the other; but these make
practically one picture.
The Virgin stands in a room between two win-
dows, supporting with her right hand the Infant
Jesus who is seated on a cushion placed on a table
that is covered with an Oriental carpet. With her
left hand she offers Him an apple which He is about
Btuaes 117
to take. At the other end of the table, on the other
panel, kneels the donor, his hands folded in prayer
above a book of hours with a gold clasp on which
his arms are enamelled. The lower portion of both
windows is open, but on the upper pane of one is
represented in stained glass his patron, St. Martin,
on horseback dividing his cloak. Through the
lower window is seen a landscape, — a winding
stream with swans, a bridge with a tower at each
end and on the bridge three men and a woman. On
the lower part of the window behind the Virgin on
the left hangs a circular mirror in which the figures
and room are reflected and above it the donor's
arms in stained glass. On the window on her right
are circular medallions representing St. George and
St. Christopher ; and through the open panes below
is a beautiful landscape with a road winding among
trees to a distant town. On the road a peasant
woman is walking with a basket on her head,
and farther away a man on a white horse is
seen.
" This diptych is a remarkable example of Mem-
ling's skill in dealing with light, which is here even,
with but little shadow, producing peculiar clearness,
and imparting to this interior an impression of
space. The Virgin with her fair oval face and
broad forehead is quite one of his happiest crea-
tions, while the donor is one of the most interest-
118 Ubc Htt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
ing portraits he ever produced; the landscapes also
are exquisitely finished." ^
Last, but by no means least, is the marvellous
Reliquary of St. Ursula, ordered by the Hospital in
1480, to enclose some relics of St. Ursula and the
11,000 Virgins brought from the Holy Land. It is
a Gothic chapel in miniature, of carved oak with
gabled ends, two feet ten inches high, three feet
long and one foot one inch broad. Its slanting
roof is adorned with six medallions, cresting, finials
and statuettes of saints coloured and gilt. The
medallions represent the Coronation of the Virgin,
the glory of St. Ursula and four angels. The sides
are divided into six archings, three on each side,
in which an episode in St. Ursula's life is depicted.
The first panel represents the arrival of the pil-
grims at Cologne, where Ursula and her compan-
ions prepare to land; the second, their arrival at
Basle, where Ursula appears on the quay while her
suite is disembarking; the third, the Pope sur-
rounded by his court in Rome with Ursula kneeling
on the steps of the church; the fourth, the Pope
accompanying Ursula and her companions back to
Basle, he sitting, with his cardinals in the same
boat as Ursula; the fifth, the attack upon the Vir-
gins on a bank of the Rhine; and the sixth, the
martyrdom of St. Ursula herself with the walls of
3t Weale.
JSruges 119
the Cologne Cathedral in the background. On one
of the gable ends is represented St. Ursula with her
maidens gathered under her cloak and the other
depicts the Virgin standing with the Child on her
right arm and being worshipped by two of the
Hospital nuns.
'* The masterpiece of Memling's later years, a
shrine containing the relics of St. Ursula in the
hospital of Bruges, is fairly supposed to have been
ordered and finished in 1480 after the painter had
become acquainted with the scenery of the Rhine.
This shrine is one of the most interesting monu-
ments of Mediaeval art in Flanders, not only be-
cause it is beautifully executed, but because it re-
veals some part of the life of the painter who pro-
duced it, and illustrates the picturesque legend of
Ursula and her comrades. The delicacy of finish
in its minute figures, the variety of its landscapes
and costume, the marvellous patience with which its
details are given, are all matters of enjoyment to
the spectator." ^
The Picture Gallery of the Academy
The Museum containing the Picture Gallery of
the Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architec-
ture, founded in 1719, is situated in the Rue Saint
Catherine. Here we find many pictures by John
* Crowe,
120 Ube Hrt ot tbe JBclQian Galleries
Van Eyck, Memling, Gerard David, Pieter Pour-
bus and others, that will attract the casual traveller
and delight the student. In no other city can
Gerard David be so well understood, and so we
will first look at his works.
In 1488, Gerard David was commissioned to
paint for the town-hall two panels that would recall
to the magistrates that they should be honest and
just. Instead of painting the story of the judge
Pieter Lanchals and other members of the magis-
tracy who, accused of corruption and malversation,
had been tortured and put to death, David selected
the story of Cambyses as told by Herodotus. Si-
samnes, a royal judge of Egypt, having been bribed
to give an unjust verdict. King Cambyses had him
strangled and flayed and then he had the judge's
chair covered with his skin; and, naming the son
of Sisamnes judge in his father's place, charged
him to remember on whose seat he was placed to
administer justice.
" In the first panel, Cambyses, who, attended by
his court, has entered the hall of justice, is order-
ing the unjust judge to be seized. His corruption
is indicated in the background, where at the door
of his dwelling, he is receiving a bag of money
from a man. Cambyses, the first finger of his right
hand laid on the thumb of his left, is apparently in-
sisting on the truth of the accusation. Other judges
THE MYSTIC MARRIAGE OF ST. CATHERINE
MEMLING - Hospital of
Plate XVII St. John
{See page i ii) Bruges
r^OSTON UNIVLRSlTr
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIBRARY
Bruges 121
and persons of distinction stand around the king.
The unjust judge, laid hold of by a vulgar-looking
man has a terror-stricken countenance. He wears
a red fur-lined robe over a black underdress; in
his right hand he holds his head-cover of blue cloth
which he has taken off on the entrance of the king;
his left rests on the arm of his seat. Behind him is
stretched a cloth of honour, of brown bordered with
black, suspended by straps to rings in the wall. To
the right and left of the justice seat are two oval
medallions in cama'ieu with allegorical subjects, re-
markable as being the earliest instance of the occur-
rence, in Netherlandish pictures, of pagan sculpture.
Above the cloth of honour is the date 1498 and still
higher a bracket on which are seated two amorini
holding two wreaths of foliage and fruit. On the
wall above the garlands are escutcheons with the
arms of Philip the Handsome and Joan of Aragon.
The scene is represented as taking place in an open
gallery or portico looking on to a square, which
bears a general resemblance to the square of St.
John at Bruges.
" Cambyses wxars a robe of dark blue and gold
brocade lined with fur, and a mantle of blue velvet
with ermine collar and trimmings, white hose, san-
dals and a red velvet cap bordered with fur and
encircled with a rich gold crown." ^
» Weale.
122 XLbc Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Ballertes
Behind an officer in armour, there is seen the
head of a man of about thirty, which is the earhest
known portrait of the painter. In the foreground,
there is a white hound with a gold collar and a
poodle.
The second panel representing the Execution of
Sisamnes shows all the details of the horrible scene
surveyed by the King and his courtiers. One of the
ten noblemen has a hawk on his wrist and in the
foreground a poodle is indifferently scratching his
ear. In the background, on the left, the son of Si-
samnes is seen seated in his father's chair, behind
which hangs his father's skin in place of a cloth of
honour. He seems to be refusing the contents of
a purse which some people are offering. Beyond
a wall in the background the trees of a park are
visible.
*' Each panel measures 5 feet 1 1 inches by 4 feet
8 inches and is vigorously painted in a brownish
tone with wonderful finish. They are well com-
posed, though the foreground of the first picture
is a little overcharged. The backgrounds are ex-
cellent, and the form and foliage of the trees in
the park faithfully rendered. The figures are well
drawn, most of the heads having a great deal of
character and the hands being admirably mod-
elled." 1
I Weale.
:BruGe5 123
The triptych called the Baptism of Christ was
painted soon after the Judgment of Cambyses and
Execution of Sisamnes, ordered by John des
Trompes, a treasurer of Bruges.
" In the foreground our Lord is seen girt with
a loin cloth, standing in the Jordan, the water of
which comes up to His knees. His hands are
joined in prayer and His face wears an expression
of deep recollection. The Baptist kneeling on the
bank to the left is pouring water out of the hollow
of his hand on the Saviour's head. He wears a
tunic of camel's skin confined at the waist by a scarf
and over it a red mantle. To the right kneels an
angel in a cope of gold brocade edged with a red
fringe, and having an embroidered hood bordered
wnth pearls and precious stones, holding our Lord's
robe on his arms. The Holy Spirit coming down
as a dove from heaven in a glory of gold rays hov-
ers above Christ's head, whilst high up in the sky
is seen the Eternal Father surrounded by wingless
angels blessing His Son.
'' The scene of this picture is laid in a splendid
and highly-tinted mountainous and rocky landscape,
which is here a more important feature than in any
earlier representation of the subject. In the mid-
distance, on the right, is seen the Precursor, seated
on a moss-grown rock preaching to a group of
twenty-five persons; two others are drawing near
124 Ube Hrt ot tbe Beloian Galleries
to listen. On the left, in the shade beneath the
trees, S. John is pointing out the Messiah to three
of his disciples, one of whom is leaving to follow
Him. In the background are rocks and a city,
above and beyond which rises a mountain crowned
by a large castle. Nothing can well be finer than
this portion of the picture; the trees vigorously
painted and finished with wonderful minuteness,
have evidently been studied individually from na-
ture, as though of many different kinds they each
and all preserve the character of their respective
foliage and form. Between their trunks we get
glimpses of really distant landscape. The herbage,
lilies, mallows, violets and other flowers in the im-
mediate front have never been more admirably re-
produced by the art of the painter. The wavelets
of the water agitated by the wind in the broader
part of the river, and, in the less exposed inlet, the
concentric circles around the Saviour's legs expand-
ing and intersecting each other until they break
against the banks are another instance of careful
observation. The transparency of the water, the
reflections of surrounding objects and the shadows
on its surface are faithfully rendered. The bedding
of the rocks, too, is imitated with perfect truth.
The colouring of all this portion is so remarkably
bright and lovely that the faults of the composition
are not at first noticed. The principal group not
aBruges 125
only surcharges the foreground, but is somewhat
inharmonious in colour, this, however, being doubt-
less due to overcleaning — the picture was in 1579
daubed with black distemper on which were painted
the Ten Commandments, and thus escaped being
destroyed or stolen by the Calvinist iconoclasts." ^
On the right wing on the grass kneels the donor,
John des Trompes, in a fur-lined robe with his son,
Philip, by his side; and behind him his patron
saint, John the Evangelist. On the right wing ap-
pear the donor's first wife Elizabeth von der
Meersch and her four daughters protected by St.
Elizabeth of Hungary. On the exterior of the
wings, the artist painted at a later period the Virgin
and Child and Mary Magdalen Cordier, the donor's
second wife, with her daughter, Isabella, and St.
Mary Magdalen, behind whom through arches is
seen the courtvard of a house.
In 1436, John van Eyck painted the most impor-
tant of his religious compositions (after the Lamb),
the Madonna of the Canon Van der Paele. It is
signed and dated; and the words inscribed on the
frame, taken from the Book of Wisdom, are the
same as those in the Adoration of the Lamb over
the Virgin enthroned beside God the Father. The
Roman church to which the altarpiece of the Canon
Van der Paele introduces us is probably the basilica
' Weale.
126 Ube Hrt ot tbe ^Belgian Galleries
of St. Donatian, the Cathedral of Bruges, which
was formerly adorned with this masterpiece. Be-
yond the arcades opening on the ambulatory, len-
ticular windows, such as John van Eyck often
painted, admit a soft light that caressingly glides
over the squat and almost dwarf columns (if we
compare them with the stature of the personages).
" Seated under a green da'is, clothed with a purple
mantle, the Madonna, with her rounded forehead,
full cheeks and robust neck, repeats and achieves the
type announced in the Virgin of Chancellor Rolin.
The Infant Jesus plays with a parrot, and grasps at
flowers in his Mother's hand ; some people consider
him * without charm and without grace.' That
may be; but Van Eyck has represented all that
tender infancy, robust and Flemish even, possesses
of roguishness and knowingness. To the left of
the Virgin kneels the donor, George Van der Paele,
Canon of St. Donatian — elected in 14 lo, deceased
in 1444. With his square and chubby hands, he
holds his horn spectacles, his breviary and his
gloves. Bald, with a few sparse tufts over his ears,
his brow bony and hard under the fine skin, his eyes
underlined with flabby folds, his jaws and double
chin also covered with fat, — this canon is illustri-
ous in the art of portraiture. Behind him, stands
his patron St. George, a cuirassed youth with a
broad grin — a curious survival of mediaeval
Bruges 127
archaism. As a pendant to St. George stands St.
Donatian, the patron of the ancient cathedral of
Bruges, in splendid episcopal robes, the proces-
sional cross in one hand, and, in the other, the wheel
with five candles recalling his miraculous rescue.
" The throne, with its beautiful carved accesso-
ries, the Oriental carpet, the Virgin's golden hair,
the armour and pennon of St. George, the embroid-
ered cope of St. Donatian, the fluid light that sifts
through the windows into the ambulatory, all har-
monize on a golden woof, the materials sometimes
thickening in the shadows, and the modelling being
obtained by superpositions of lighter and lighter
and more and more transparent layers of colour,
so as to make the most of the under ones, and rein-
force the values without depriving them of their
brilliance. Translated into glittering colours of
enamel, this picture dictated the ordonnance of a
great number of Bruges pictures. Memling nota-
bly adopted the formula for his masterpiece, the
Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine." ^
On the top of the frame of the portrait of John
van Eyck's wife, we read : Conjtix mens lohes me
complevit ano 1439, 17 Jtinii; and, on the bottom :
Etas mea triginta trin anorn.^ Ah ik kan. " In
this young woman of thirty-three years, with deli-
cate white and rose complexion, blonde lashes
* Fierens-Gevaert.
128 Ube Hrt of the Belatan 6allerte0
and almost imperceptible golden eyebrows — only
blondes were beautiful in the eyes of the old Flem-
ings — people insist on seeing a stiff, disagreeable,
nun-like, ugly, middle-class woman, — and com-
plain of the Master. But how could anybody help
looking somewhat like a nun in that horned and
turned-up head-dress? It is true that the lips are
rather thin, but the features are fine, regular and
distinguished ; and the hand is exquisite. Is there
anything to shudder at? John van Eyck never put
more soul into his painting; his brush has marvel-
lous caresses for rendering the transparent and
fresh epidermis, and for painting the soft and warm
shadows in which the pretty ear is bathed; and the
microscopic sinuosities of the ruche that borders the
white coif are cut so finely that they never become
confused. John van Eyck reached the end of his
career without any failing, or the slightest diminu-
tion of his genius, and I imagine that he proudly
dedicated this marvellous ex-voto to his young
companion ; and that it was with legitimate pride
that he could inscribe on it his device : Als ik
kan:' 1
A Head of Christ, a reduced copy of a picture in
the Berlin Museum, is of the school of Van Eyck.
Memling's fine triptych, in its original frame
which bears the date 1484, was ordered by William
^ Fierens-Gevaert.
GERARD
DAVID
CAMBYSES CONDEMNING SISAMNES
Plate XVIII
{See page 120)
Academy
Bruges
SOSTDN UNiVERSiry
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ART»
LIBRARY \
i
JSruaes 129
Moreel for an altar-piece for the chantry chapel he
gave to the Church of St. Jacques in Bruges.
" In the centre is seen Saint Christopher bearing
the Infant Christ on his shoulder across a river.
He supports himself with the trunk of a young tree,
and is looking up with an expression of wonder, as
if seeking an explanation of the incomprehensible
burthen which is weighing him down. The Holy
Child, smiling graciously, enlightens and blesses
him. A hermit, leaning on a staff at the mouth of
a cave in one of the lofty rocks, between which the
river flows, holds up a lighted lantern. On the right
stands Saint Maur, reading attentively a book
which rests on his left arm ; he wears a white tunic,
black scapular and cowl, and holds a crosier in his
right hand. On the left, Saint Gilles, in black habit,
holding a closed book and caressing a fawn at his
side; an arrow aimed at it has lodged in the saint's
right sleeve. On the right shutter, with his five
sons grouped behind him, is the burgomaster Will-
iam Moreel, kneeling, with his hands joined at a
prayer-desk on which lies an open book. He is
protected by Saint William of Maleval, who wears
over his steel armour the black habit of the order
of hermits which he founded. The arms of the
order are blazoned on the pennon of his lance; at
his feet is a demon in the form of a wild beast. In
the background, to the right, a moated manor, pos-
130 Zbc Hrt of tbe JBelgtan Galleries
sibly Oost Cleyhem, and a farmhouse with a
church beyond it on the left; between them a
wooded landscape. On the left wing, Moreel's
wife, protected by Saint Barbara, kneels opposite
her husband, with her eleven daughters, the eldest
of whom is clothed in the habit of a Dominican
nun. In the background are a castle and trees.
The figures in this triptych are admirably grouped
and modelled. The refined and meditative figures
of Saint Maur and Saint Gilles contrast well with
that of Saint Christopher, which is full of life and
vigour." ^
" One of the most famous works in this gallery
is The Last Judgment by Jan Prevost, in which
Christ, clothed in red, is seated on a rainbow, with
his feet on the terrestrial globe. With his right
hand he indicates the wound on his thigh, and in
his left he holds a naked sword; upon his knees
rests an open book, inscribed with the words Bonum
et Malum. The Virgin, in rose coloured robe and
blue mantle, entreats for humanity on the right;
and, by her side, are St. Catherine, with a piece of
her wheel; St. Peter, with a key; St. Paul, with
a sword; St. Bartholomew with a knife; and
other saints. On the left we see John the Baptist,
with a lamb bearing the standard; David, with a
harp; Moses, with the Tables of the Law; St.
JSruoes i3i
Anthony; St. Stephen and others. Two angels,
supporting the Cross and sounding a trumpet, are
beneath Christ, and out of the trumpet issue two
legends : ' Appropinquate vos elccti ' and ' Ite
maledicti in aeternam.' In the lower part of the
picture is represented the Resurrection, with the
abode of the blessed on the right, the walls of which
are of gold studded with precious stones and hell
on the left, represented by a city of fire. In the
foreground, with a crown at her feet, a woman is
being offered a white robe by an angel ; behind her,
a monster is seizing a kneeling woman ; and an-
other monster is hurrying towards a soldier in a
lake. In the background, there is a sea on which
there are vessels, some of which are taken posses-
sion of by angels and others by demons. Some of
them have reached the shore, and are discharging
their passengers, who are being led by angels and
demons. This picture was once in the great hall
in the H6tel-de-Ville above the sculptured chimney-
piece. It is full of religious feeling and notwith-
standing some bizarre details it produces a striking
effect. The colour is also good. The upper part
is distinguished for the beauty, variety and senti-
ment expressed in the heads ; with the exception of
the Virgin and St. John all the saints are dressed in
white. The saint who receives the habit of the
elect and the angel who is giving it to her form
132 U\)c Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Ballertes
a charming little group. Some of the punished en-
gulfed in the lake of fire deserve notice on account
of their expression, and also the demons, some of
which are as fantastic as those of Brueghel and
Callot. The flowers in the foreground on the right
are faithfully painted."
The frame is a superb piece of carving dated
1525 in the upper part between the two lions sup-
porting the great golden shield with the double
black eagle of Charles V. On the sides are the pil-
lars of Hercules and the device ''Plus oiiltre." A
copy of Prevost's Last Judgment by Jacob Van den
Coornhuuse, with some variations, also hangs in
this gallery.
It is interesting to compare Prevost's work with
The Last Judgment by Pieter Pourbus, also in this
gallery. Here, in the upper part, Christ in a red
robe is also seated on a rainbow; at his feet are
two angels sounding trumpets and near them are
the heads of cherubs. On the left is the Virgin,
accompanied with saints and prophets; and, on the
right, John the Baptist with others. Below, the
Resurrection is depicted; the elect being escorted
to heaven by angels and the condemned to hell by
demons. Eve, responsible for everything, is in the
centre.
Pieter Pourbus is also represented by The De-
scent from the Cross (1570) and by portraits of
Bruges 133
John and Adrienne Fernagant. The Descent from
the Cross is an elaborate triptych where the faith-
ful are taking the body from the Cross and the
Virgin seated on the ground and surrounded by her
holy women gives herself up to grief. The Mag-
dalen is kneeling in front. In the background three
disciples are placing the body of the Saviour in the
sepulchre in the presence of the Virgin, St. John
and the three holy women. Jerusalem is seen on
the horizon. Bearing the Cross is depicted on the
left wing and the Resurrection on the left, and there
is a predella with the Adoration of the Shepherds
in the centre and the Annunciation and Circum-
cision on the left and right.
Jan Fernagant is in his room, through the open
window of which the Place de la Grue is visible.
The subject wears a black doublet with cherry col-
oured sleeves, one of his hands is gloved and two
fine rings are on the other. The portrait of
Adrienne de Buuck, his wife, was also painted in
1 55 1. She wears a black robe cut square in the
neck. The sleeves are dark red. A white cap is on
her head and she wears a gold chain around her
neck. In her right hand she holds a rosary and
gloves, and on the forefinger of her right she wears
a ring. There is a dog on the bench ; and through
the window you see the Maison du Coq in the rue
de Flandre, with its ornamental fagade, dated 1542,
134 Ube Hrt of tbe JBclQian (Balleries
and in the street are seen children playing with dice.
Farther away appears the chapel of St. Jean.
The Death of the Virgin, an unknown work of
the Brabant School of the Fifteenth Century, has
always been greatly admired, as is proved by the
number of copies that exist. The Virgin draped
in blue is lying on a bed also covered with blue
drapery. She is surrounded by saints and Jesus
appears in a glory above. The expression of the
Virgin's face has always attracted the praise of
critics.
Two works by Lancelot Blondeel also claim at-
tention.
In an oval surrounded with architectural orna-
ments in the Renaissance style, St. Luke in a green
robe and purple mantle is kneeling before his easel,
painting the Virgin w^ho is seated in an arm-chair
in a green dress and red mantle with the Child in
her lap. The latter regards the painter with a half-
frightened air. The mosaic pavement is partly cov-
ered with a rich rug. Above the frame, which is
ornamented with leaves, rams' heads, monkeys and
grotesque figures, are hung the arms granted by
the Emperor Maximilian to Albrecht Diirer and the
corporations of painter-artists — an azure shield
with three shields silver. The same arms are
painted on the window of the little inner room in
the background of the picture where a man is grind-
IBruGCS 135
ing colours. St. Luke is a portrait of Blondeel him-
self. The work is dated 1545.
Another work by the same painter is The Legend
of St. George, a picture divided into five parts by
rich architectural ornaments. The central panel
represents St. George, wearing a suit of armour and
a helmet with white plumes, mounted on a bay
horse covered with a red and gold cloth. The
knight turns towards the right, brandishing his
sword to kill the dragon already wounded by his
lance, the point of which is sticking in his throat.
Beyond is the princess, in a yellow skirt and gray
bodice with red sleeves. A dog is by her side, and
in the background there is a fortified city. The
other panels represent the saint's martyrdom.
Jacques Van Oost the Elder's various pictures
are St. Augustine washing the feet of Christ, who is
disguised as a pilgrim ; St. Anthony of Padua and
the Holy Child; St. Anthony resuscitating a dead
man ; portraits of two Arquebusiers ; and a Theo-
logian dictating to a young clerk, both of whom are
seated at a table in a study.
Two landscapes, or rather, river-views, by Jan
Van Goyen, are the only notable modern works.
CHAPTER III
ANTWERP : MUSEE ROYAL DES BEAUX - ARTS
The Musee Royal des Beaux-Arts owes its ori-
gin to David Teniers the Younger and his col-
leagues of the old Guild of St. Luke (founded in
1382), who obtained from Philip IV, in 1663, let-
ters patent authorizing the Corporation to establish
an Academy on the model of those of Paris and
Rome. For a time the members held their meet-
ings in a hall in the Bourse, but soon occupied the
old Franciscan monastery, still standing, on the Rue
du Fagot. For many years the two works now
described as the wings to Martin De Vos's Saint
Luke Painting the Virgin were used as interior
panels for the large double entrance door of the
salon d'honneur of the Academy. By 1765, the
Academy had collected forty paintings, twenty-six
of which are now in the Museum.
The present building was finished in 1890 from
plans by J. J. Winders and F. Van Dyck. It is a
handsome edifice in the Greek Renaissance style,
the main entrance a portico supported by four
Corinthian columns with lateral loggie on the upper
136
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Hntwerp 137
story and embellished with allegorical figures and
medallions. The massive rectangle encloses six
inner courts.
The great Vestibule de Keyser contains the large
staircase with marble w^alls, a great bronze vase by
Drake and C. Van der Stappen's marble statue of
David. On the landing is Daybreak, a high relief
by E. Jespers. The visitor will pause to look at
the striking paintings by Nicaise de Keyser, trans-
ferred from the old Academy and illustrating the
history of Flemish Art. The principal pictures are
over the entrance and on the right and left walls.
The one over the entrance contains fifty-two figures
and depicts Antwerpia on a throne in the centre
beneath which are represented Gothic and Renais-
sance Art. On the left, Quentin Massys is seated
and Frans Floris is standing; and above them are
the architects of the Cathedral of Antwerp ; on the
right, we see Rubens with Otto Vsenius, his teacher ;
Jordaens leaning over a balustrade; Cornelius
Schut on the steps wdth Van Dyck next, David
Teniers the Elder, G. de Craeyer, Jan Brueghel and
others. The picture on the right wall represents
forty-two painters and sculptors and that on the
left the same number of painters and engravers.
Twelve other pictures, describing the various de-
velopments of Flemish Art, also decorate this Ves-
tibule.
138 Ube Hrt of tbe BclQian Galleries
The left wing of the ground floor is devoted to
the Sculpture Gallery, in which there are some
paintings representing old Antwerp; and the left
wing, to the Rubens Collection. This was opened
in 1877, when the three hundredth anniversary of
Rubens's birth was celebrated in his native city.
It occupies nine rooms and two side halls, and con-
sists of engravings, etchings, woodcuts, photo-
graphs, etc., of most of Rubens's works. In the
anteroom, there is a marble bust of the great painter
by J. R. Pecher, placed there in 1877.
Passing up the staircase, we reach the first floor,
where are exhibited both the Old Masters and the
Modern Painters.
The former, comprising about eight hundred pic-
tures, are in the rooms in the centre and on the
right side of the building; and the modern works
(about three hundred) occupy the rooms on the
left.
When the French army carried away in 1797
many of the works that had been collected from the
old Academy of St. Luke and various churches and
corporations, Guillaume Jacques Herreyns, director
of the Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Archi-
tecture, used his influence and his money to save
the remaining pictures from the hands of the sans
culottes, often, indeed, at the risk of his own life.
The present Museum was established in 18 17 to
Hntwerp 139
house the works that were returned from France
in 18 1 5, consisting of pictures by Rubens, Van
Dyck, Jordaens, and others, to which were added
the twenty-seven pictures saved by Mr. Herreyns,
consisting of seventeen by Rubens, five by Van
Dyck, two by Cornehs de Vos, two by Van Thulden
and one by De Vriendt.
The first catalogue, pubhshed in 1826, numbered
two hundred and seven works by old masters and
eleven copies.
The gallery was enriched in 1840 by the bequest
of the Chevalier Florent Joseph Van Ertborn, a
burgomaster of Antwerp, whose collection of 136
masters, from the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Cen-
tury, contains many examples of the first order.
His bust, by J. Geefs, is in Room C.
This legacy was supplemented by another in
1859 from the Dowager Van den Hecke, nee
Baronne Baut de Rasmon. This consists of forty-
one pictures, chiefly of the Seventeenth Century.
The Antwerp Gallery is rich in examples of the
Primitives, of Rubens and his school, and of the
Little Dutch Masters.
The celebrated little St. Barbara is signed and
dated lohes de Eyck me fecit- 14^'/. It is only a
sketch. Karel Van Mander tells us that John's
sketches wxre more complete than the finished
works of other artists. In spite of its small dimen-
140 Ube Hrt ot tbe aselatan Galleries
sions the St. Barbara shows what dehght John took
in confining a vast space in a small frame. An im-
mense tower that proclaims the architectural genius
of the master mounts into the sky. At the foot of
this giant, workmen are busy pushing barrows,
transporting materials, and cutting, hammering and
rolling stones; while ladies and lords on horse-
back, and curious on-lookers circulate through the
busy scene, and on the top of the tower men are
setting blocks of stone hoisted by the crane. The
left background consists of a wide stretch of hilly
country, and in the right background is a fantastic
city terraced into a pyramid. St. Barbara is seated
in the centre of the foreground, spreading the mul-
tiple folds of her dress over the whole width of the
panel. Her pensive countenance, framed by lightly
frizzed hair, is marked with the spiritualization of
the feminine type announced by the Virgin in the
Church.
The original of the latter has disappeared, but
this museum owns one of the five known replicas
(catalogued merely as Bruges Master of 1499)
which forms part of a diptych formerly attributed
to Memling. If the copy is exact, it establishes a
tendency in John Van Eyck to refine his female
type. But the copyist has not the infallibly sure
touch of the master ; the little square tiles of the
pavement, decorated with lambs, are not drawn
Hntwetp 141
with great firmness. On the other hand, the artist
remedies these weaknesses by a very fine feeHng
for values and hghts.
The student will take great interest in examining
the methods of the reputed inventors of oil paint-
ing. The panel of St. Barbara is of oak, entirely
covered with a chalky ground : only the sky is
painted in azure, with a slight tint of purple. The
composition proper — people, landscape, tower —
is finely drawn with the brush in brown colour.
The shadows are indicated by hatchings, also
drawn. The foundation is doubtless a preparation
of gum, or white of tgg; the parts drawn are ex-
ecuted in tempera; the sky, not needing any draw-
ing, was painted directly in oil. It remained for
the master to lay upon the drawn parts his coloured
tones with bases of amber, mastic, perhaps also
sandarac, mixed with siccative, and, at the last
moment, reinforced with terebinth. Having thus
combined the colours with an oily varnish, John
Van Eyck doubtless proceeded with successive glaz-
ings, taking up the work of the modelling again
with each new coat, preserving for the lower ones
their sonority and laying on his materials so ad-
mirably that they have resisted the attacks of time ;
and the centuries have even added an inappreciable
patina to his tones of enamel, gold and gems.
The Madonna of the Fountain, and the portrait
142 Ube Htt of tbe JBelaian Galleries
of the painter's wife (Bruges), are the two last
works known of the master. The Madonna is
dated 1439. There are many rephcas of it; and
the work undoubtedly owed its popularity to its
exceptionally sweet character. Here we are no
longer in a church, but in the open air. The artist
has not changed his model for the Virgin, but the
affectionate bend of her head, the attitude of Jesus,
and the thick clumps of flowers in the background
are novelties that enrich the art of John Van Eyck,
and reanimate the noble maturity of the master with
a breath of juvenile mysticism. Stephan Lochner's
Rose Virgin (1435) was the inspiration of this
picture.
A magnificent replica of Van Eyck's Madonna of
the Canon Van der Paele, came from Watervliet.
It was executed in the course of the Fifteenth Cen-
tury. The size is rather smaller than the original,
but the technique is very sure and strong, particu-
larly in St. Donatian's blue cope, with its gold em-
broidery, and in the finely shadowed head of the
canon.
A beautiful little picture of the Virgin and Child
Jesus, the wing of a triptych has been attributed to
Memling. It is certainly of the school of Van Eyck.
The Virgin is standing in the nave of a Gothic
church wearing a green dress, red mantle, and a
superb crown that sparkles with jewels. On her
Hntwerp 143
right arm she holds the Child Jesus. On the border
of her dress are the words "' Salve Regina mundi.'*
In front of her stands a vase of flowers, and, in the
choir in the background, two angels are reading
a book.
The details are beautifully painted and the per-
spective is wonderful.
One of the panels of this picture is a portrait of
Christian de Hondt, Abbe of the Dunes, dressed in
the white habit of the Cistercian monks, kneeling in
prayer, his hands clasped over a rich missal; his
mitre in front of him and a little dog asleep by his
side. The room in which he kneels, says Henri
Hymans, " is one of the most delicate interiors of
its kind. Everything breathes calm and comfort.
In the high chimney-piece of white stone where
hangs the abbatial cross, on superb andirons a
bright fire burns. On the brackets of the chim-
ney-piece, within easy reach are some fruits.
Farther away on a credence are some metal jugs
of elegant form and some cups and also a bed
draped with blue curtains. On a shelf are books.
It would be hard to fancy that Van Eyck could
do better. The only work that can be compared
to this is the St. Jerome by.Antonello da Messina
that belonged to Lord Northbrook and is now
in the National Gallery of London."
The Nativity and the Benediction by Juste de
144 tlbe Hrt of tbe SSelatan Galleries
Gand, a pupil of Van Eyck, represents the Pope
in rich dalmatic and tiara, holding a monstrance
in his hands before the altar in a chapel. On
either side kneels an angel with outspread wings
dressed in bluish robes and swinging a censer.
Upon the altar stand two candles; and above it
is a polyptych, on which are represented the An-
nunciation and various scenes of the Nativity.
Banderoles with Latin inscriptions are seen below
the altar.
The Antwerp Museum has several pictures of the
period anterior to Van Eyck. The Coronation of
the Virgin is a Franco-Flemish work of the last
quarter of the Fourteenth Century; it has a gold
background; the seat and the folds of the robes
remind us of the miniatures of Beauneveu. The
dreadful repainting does not prevent us from feel-
ing the southern influence in the work. Another
early picture, of important dimensions, is a Calvary
on a figured gold ground, showing the donor,
Hendrick Van Ryn, kneeling before the cross. It
is dated 1363.
The suffering type of the Christ, the arch ele-
gance of the Virgin and the fluting of her mantle
would class the Calvary in the cycle of the composite
works if the spring of the figures and the length-
ened face of St. John did not announce the style of
the school of Haarlem, as fixed by Thierry Bouts.
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Hntwerp 145
Of Thierry Bouts himself, we find here his
famous St. Christopher, and a Virgin and Child.
St. Christopher, clad in a blue tunic and red mantle
and a piece of white drapery around his head, is
fording a river with the Child Jesus on his shoul-
der. The latter raises his right hand in blessing.
On the left, a hermit with a lantern issues from a
grotto and on the right is a landscape. The moon,
seen in the sky, is also reflected in the water.
In the picture of the Virgin and Child the figures
occupy nearly the whole canvas. Dressed in a blue
robe and red mantle, with her light hair falling over
her shoulders, the Virgin is seated with the Child
Jesus on her knees supporting him with her left
hand and holding his foot with her right. The
Child lifts his left hand in blessing. Behind theni
is a row of trees in thick foliage against a blue sky.
A Nativity and a Holy Family are good examples
of Albert Bouts. In the former, which is full of
animation, there is a resemblance to the works of
Hugo Van der Goes and the Maitre de Moulins, par-
ticularly in the garland of angels that hover over
the figures and the shepherds who are coming joy-
fully to see the wonder of which they have heard.
In the Holy Family the Virgin is very charming.
Beautifully painted is the book she is turning, held
by a radiant angel over whose head through the
open window we see a delightful landscape.
146 XTbe Hrt ot tbe BelGtan (Ballertes
Thierry Bouts had several followers. The gal-
lery has a number of paintings that show themselves
to have been more or less happily inspired by his
manner : St. Lienard Delivering Prisoners, a quaint
street scene ; the translation of the Body of St. Hu-
bert; and the "portrait" of St. Hubert. In the
latter, the accessories are very well painted; and
the saint's physiognomy has the characteristics of
the faces of Thierry Bouts. A Resurrection is also
painted under the influence of the Louvain portrait
painter.
A small Annunciation allows us to appreciate
with what ingenuously true grace Roger Van der
Weyden interpreted the initial mystery of the Re-
demption. It is a sort of miniature, very brilliant
with its bed of green dai's and scarlet covering, with
the pretty blue and white robes of the Virgin and
the Angel. The execution is lacking in strength,
in the heads particularly. Its authenticity has not
been conclusively established.
" The Seven Sacraments is one of the master-
pieces of this gallery. The central panel, the Eucha-
rist, introduces us into the open nave of a church in
which rises a lofty cross bearing the Christ. In the
foreground are grouped the holy women, and the
Virgin swooning in the arms of St. John. In the
background, with no figure to break the intermedi-
ary spaces, is an altar decorated with charming carv-
Hntwetp 147
ings. Before this altar, a priest, in a rich chasuble,
is elevating the Host. On the wings, where for
once the artist has made an effort to dispose his
groups in perspective, are represented Baptism,
Confirmation and Confession on the right; and Or-
dination, Marriage and Extreme Unction on the
left. The various scenes are displayed as taking
place simultaneously in the aisles of the church;
and above each of them an angel unfolds a phylac-
tery — while the central panel represents the deep-
est emotion, — with the striking depth of its open
decoration, the rigid lines of the cross springing
into the vault, the pathetic amplitude of the drama
evoked at the entrance of the church, and the im-
mense space figured behind the sublime Christ, a
Christ of infinite suffering and infinite protection,
— the side panels, about one-third smaller, affect
almost the feeling of genre pictures, — and, at all
events, introduce real human beings into the relig-
ious scenes, placing the symbolical work almost at
the service of representations of contemporary life.
Roger thus introduces an unknown element of ex-
pression and beauty into Flemish painting. Fa-
voured by the naturalistic tendencies of Flemish
mysticism of the Fifteenth Century, and without
abdicating in any degree his lyrism and piety, the
master materializes the great religious symbols by
showing us the vrhole life of one of his contempo-
148 Z\)c Hrt of tbe Belgian (3alleries
raries from the cradle to the grave. The genre
scenes assume great importance, and are neverthe-
less clothed with a clearly symbolic beauty. The
genius of Roger Van der Weyden was needed in
order to harmonize the realities of life and faith.
He was about fifty-five years of age when he painted
this triptych. It had travelled, and suffered many
hardships before it was rediscovered in 1826. Some
heads have been repainted (see the sacrament of
Baptism) and with their soft modelling and brown
tonalities are in strong contrast with the clean han-
dling and transparent colours of the faces that
have been respected. But, on the whole, the col-
our has preserved its original character, and it is
an endless delight to listen to the soft vibration
of the reds, blues, violets and whites of the man-
tles, chasubles and angelic robes, singing their pure
notes in the harmonic web of an immense silver
ground." ^
The Portrait of Nicolas Spinelli is one of the
earliest pictures that is correctly ascribed to Mem-
ling. " It is a bust," writes Weak, " the face in
three-quarters turned towards the left, is that of an
energetic full-blooded Italian, of from thirty-five to
forty years of age, with black hair escaping in long
thick curls from under a black cap. He wears a
black close-fitting dress, with white linen round the
^ Fierens-Gevaert.
Hntwerp 149
neck, and in his left hand holds, so as to show the
entire face, a coin with a profile head of the Em-
peror Nero with this inscription : ' Nero Claudius
Csesar Augustus Germanicus tribunicia potestati
imperator.' The background is a charming, well-
wooded, sunny landscape traversed by a stream on
which are two swans ; on the farther side is a man
on a white horse, and on the near bank to the left, a
palm tree, probably introduced to signify that the
person represented was an Italian."
This portrait was once thought to be the work
of Antonello da Messina.
Attributed also to Memling is the famous trip-
tych, Christ and the Angels, a rich composition.
The central panel shows Christ in the centre with a
golden crown and chasuble of brocade fastened with
a large jewelled clasp. His right hand is lifted in
blessing and his left rests on a globe surmounted
by a large cross. He is surrounded by six angels,
three on each side, who are singing from an open
book. The rays of light behind the head of Christ
form a star. Five angels are represented on the
right wing in rich dalmatics playing the lute, mono-
chord, cittern, trumpet and flute; and on the right
wing five other angels play the trumpet, horn, harp,
hurdy-gurdy and viellc.
To Memling some critics have attributed a Monk
of the Order of St. Norbert, turned three-quarters
150 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Ballerles
to the right, in white robe and mantle and with
folded hands.
A member of the Croy family is attributed to
Hugo Van der Goes. The subject, with shaven
face and chestnut hair falling over his forehead,
holds in his joined hands a rosary. He wears a
dark red doublet and a gold chain is wrapped sev-
eral times around his neck.
A fine painting by Jan Mostaert Deipara Virgo,
originally an altar-piece in the Rockox chapel in
the church of the Recollets, shows the Virgin and
Child surrounded by four Angels and below them
three Prophets and two Sybils carrying scrolls on
which are inscribed their prophecies regarding the
Incarnation. The faces seem to be portraits; and
in the whole work there is much that recalls Quen-
tin Massys.
Two portraits in this gallery distinguished by
their warmth, clearness and general softness of
treatment are also authentic works by Jan Mostaert.
From the armorial bearings on these canvases they
have been identified as Portrait of Jacqueline of
Bavaria and of her husband, Franck Van Borselen.
The former died, however, in 1436 and the latter
in 1470 while Mostaert was not born till 1474. The
man has a smooth shaven face, wears a yellow
doublet, white shirt and gray mantle, a large velvet
cap to which is attached a medal, and his left hand
Hntvverp 151
rests on the hilt of his sword. The woman is in
a black bodice ornamented with precious stones and
yellow sleeves trimmed with fur, a white cap and
white veil.
Engelbrechtsen, the master of Lucas Van Ley-
den, is represented by St. Leonard delivering Pris-
oners, and the Transfer of the Body of St. Hubert.
St. Leonard in a frieze robe is leading in a street
a prisoner and followed by three others who issue
from a tower. On the left a lord in gray with red
mantle lined with yellow and a steel helmet is
followed by two pages. On the top of the tower
St. Leonard is again seen among the prisoners.
On the right there is a street lined with brick
houses.
The Transfer of the Body of St. Hubert has
eight monks surrounding his coffin at the door of the
church of Andrain in the Ardennes, with a land-
scape through which a river runs in the background.
On the reverse St. Hubert is again depicted and
also the stag with a crucifix between his horns.
Nine pictures are attributed to Lucas Van Ley-
den : St. Luke, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. George,
two Adorations of the Magi, The Ring, and David
and Saul.
In The Ring, an old man wath his back to the
spectator and profile turned to the right places a
ring on the finger of a young girl who is dressed
152 Ube Btt of tbe Belgian (Galleries
in a white bodice and a red skirt with green border.
Around her neck is a chain.
In David and Saul, the latter is seated on his
throne in a pink robe and white turban. David in
gray and yellow doublet is playing the harp. The
ladies of Saul's harem are seen in the middle dis-
tance.
Massys was in the plenitude of his talents and
powers when he painted his masterpiece, The En-
tombment. This triptych, painted in 1508, as an
altarpiece for the Chapel of the Corporation of
Joiners in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Antwerp,
is a perfect poem of grief and suffering. The right
wing represents the Beheadal of John the Baptist,
with the daughter of Herodias bringing in the
bleeding head of the Forerunner on a silver dish.
The subject of the left wing is the Martyrdom of
St. John the Evangelist, showing him already
plunged into the boiling cauldron. These two
scenes, described with that dramatic and, at the
same time, familiar sentiment that renders the Fif-
teenth Century costumes additionally strange, are
pictures of rare interest from a historic point of
view, but nothing in comparison with the principal
painting, the Entombment.
On the highest point of a vast landscape that
occupies the background of the scene, rises Calvary
with its three crosses : two of the latter still bear
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COLLEGf:: OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIBRARY
Hntwerp 153
the corpses of the thieves ; but Christ has been taken
down from the fatal tree; and, in the foreground,
we see His pale corpse surrounded by the holy
women and pious personages preparing to entomb
Him. About the victim press the Virgin, kneehng,
speechless, and almost overwhelmed by a grief that
can never end ; Magdalen, wiping with her hair the
bleeding feet of Him who pardoned her sins ; St.
John, supporting the fainting Mother of Christ;
Joseph of Arimathea raising the blood-stained head
of his master, and gazing with pity at the hideous
wounds made by the Crown of Thorns on that noble
brow. St. Anne and two other holy women help
to complete the group. Certainly, we are far from
citing this composition of Massys as a model: it
abounds in absurdities ; the inexperience of the
drawing is glaring; and this singular work may be
quoted as one of those in which the ideal is most
at fault. It is even noticeable how far behind con-
temporary ideas the painter was. In 1508, Leo-
nardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo had already
astonished the world with their masterpieces, Ra-
phael had long been in full possession of his genius ;
but, for Quentin Massys, Italy did not exist; and
with his eyes still turned backward to the Middle
Ages, which for all others had just come to an end,
he ignored the great awakening, the Renaissance !
With regard to beauty of form and purity of
154 XTbe Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
type, the painter of the Entombment is still a bar-
barian, but, with regard to expression, what amount
of science would equal in value the touching sim-
plicity of this loyal artist who works not with his
school memories but with his heart! The general
impression gained from his picture is one of poign-
ancy. The personages introduced here are awk-
ward, ungraceful, grotesque even, if you like, but
they are moved to the very depths of their souls,
and have put on eternal mourning; and in this con-
sists the value of this work.
There is also much to be said about, and much to
be learned from a study of the picturesque quali-
ties that abound in it. Here we see Massys un-
trammelled, free, and at length master of himself;
and here, before the advent of the Great Masters,
he reveals to us the blossoming of a Flemish School,
or, rather, an Antwerp School. Massys is the vis-
ible and glorious transition between the colourists
of Bruges, who have just disappeared, and Rubens,
whose arrival at the end of the century is to be the
surprise and joy of Flanders. It is not that Massys,
in the Entombment, boldly plays with all the tones
of the palette, and knows the secrets of learned op-
positions, for at that date Venice alone could de-
cipher the enigma; but at least he has an exquisite
feeling for intense scales of colour, a profound re-
spect for the justness and propriety of local shades.
Hntwerp 155
and especially a warm and lively manner of ani-
mating his human carnations, an excellent method
in which we can foresee the genius of the colourists
to come.
The Head of Christ and Head of the Virgin are
beautiful examples of the first manner of Massys.
In these pictures, we recognize the work of a still
timid artist tied to the Fifteenth Century with the
closest bonds. In the shape of the faces and the
sentiment of the attitudes, Massys has invented
nothing new. Respectfully imitating the forms
raised to honour by his predecessors, he has relig-
iously given to Christ his known physiognomy, re-
presenting him as he was painted at Cologne and
Bruges at the beginning of the century. The head
is surrounded with a light aureole, and the body is
covered with a tunic of a reddish tone which is
clasped on the breast with a brooch curiously en-
riched with precious stones. On his left is seen a
cross of beautiful Fifteenth Century workmanship.
Christ is raising his right hand in blessing, with
a hieratic gesture. This effigy, which is somewhat
lacking in relief and which reveals a careful rather
than a bold brush, stands out coldly against a green
background. The Virgin, which serves as a pen-
dant to it, perhaps is more novel in character; the
type is marked with more individuality, it is almost
a portrait, and we recognize in it something more
156 Ube Hrt ot tbe JBelgtan Galleries
human and personal, with the feeling of that inter-
mediate school that was preparing the way for the
splendours of Flemish Art. As for the execution,
it is as timid in the Virgin as in the Christ. The
general colouring of these two pictures, that are so
remarkable for the patient simplicity in their ma-
king, is tender, soft, and even somewhat pale.
In Sir Joshua Reynolds's account of his visit to
Flanders, we read:
" The Chapel of the Circumcision where is the
famous work of Quentin Massys, the blacksmith.
The middle part is what the Italians call a Pieta;
a dead Christ on the knees of the Virgin, accom-
panied with the usual figures. On the door on one
side is the daughter of Herod bringing in St. John's
head at the banquet ; on the other, the Saint in the
cauldron. In the Pieta, the Christ appears as if
starved to death; in which manner it was the cus-
tom of the painters of that age always to represent
a dead Christ; but there are heads in this picture
not exceeded by Raffaelle, and indeed not unlike
his manner of painting portraits; hard and mi-
nutely finished. The head of Herod and that of a
fat man, near the Christ, are excellent. The paint-
er's own portrait is here introduced. In the ban-
quet the daughter is rather beautiful, but too skinny
and lean ; she is presenting the head to her mother,
who appears to be cutting it with a knife."
Hntwerp 157
The Magdalen is a charming figure, standing be-
neath a portico holding a vase of perfume, the cover
of which she is lifting. Her low-necked bodice is
brown, bordered with fur, and with violet sleeves.
Around her neck is a cross suspended on a cord and
on her hair a gauze veil. Through the arcade you
see a landscape with a house on the left and a castle
on the right.
The Accountant is a good example of a subject
which Massys was very fond of painting. There
are many variants of his Misers, male and female.
Sordid avarice and kindred expressions were ren-
dered by him with much sympathetic treatment, and
not a little exaggeration. The two figures in this
picture are painted with strong naturalism.
The Four Maries Returning from the Tomb
shows the influence of the early masters of the
Bruges school, an influence that constantly weak-
ened after the artist's departure for Italy.
Bernard Van Orley has several important works
here. There are three portraits : two male and one
female. An Infant Jesus lies on a green velvet
cushion with the right elbow leaning on a trans-
parent terrestrial globe: the right hand holds an
apple. A Virgin and Child shows Mary in a low
cut red bodice and blue mantle seated on a stone
pedestal, gazing at the Infant on her lap, holding
cherries in His hands. The fine landscape that
158 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
forms the background is attributed to Patenier. So
also is the landscape of the Adoration of the Magi.
The latter is the central panel of a triptych, the
wings of which were completed by A. de Rycker.
This was formerly attributed to Joost Van Cleef.
A triptych of the Last Judgment is a good ex-
ample of Van Orley's hasty work. He had the
whole ground gilded before laying on the colours
so as to render them more brilliant and durable, and
in order to give more transparency to the sky. The
terrestrial scene occupies less space than the firma-
ment and the Heavenly Beings. The Son of Man
seated on a rainbow with the terrestrial globe under
His feet is awkward in gesture : infinitely more
beautiful are the circle of cherubs and the six angels,
one bearing an olive branch, a second brandishing
a sword, and the four others sounding trumpets.
Below, the dead awakened by the voices of St.
Michael and the other archangels standing on a
cloud, with palms in their hands, start from their
graves. To the right, are the elect; to the left,
the condemned. The Last Trump that opens so
many tombs finds one not yet closed : a funeral is
in progress in the foreground, at which a priest,
accompanied by two deacons, is reading the prayers.
Innumerable bands of the resuscitated are visible,
some raising their hands towards Heaven and
others driven towards Hell by demons. A second
Hntwerp 159
zone, containing thousands of the Blessed, forms a
semi-circle above the first, and above this is a third
band, and higher still fly myriads of angels. The
wings of the triptych each show three works of
mercy, and the backs have scenes of saints distrib-
uting their goods to the poor. The faces of the
latter are eloquent of greed.
The Fall of the Rebel Angels is one of those
energetic motives in which Floris appears to the
best advantage. At the top of the picture the good
angels are fighting the demons; their ardour in the
holy cause is well expressed in their austere faces.
St. Michael and two others are attacking Satan in
the form of a crowned dragon, who is writhing his
monstrous folds in the midst of equally strange fol-
lowers with fantastic heads and tails. Some are
beaked like vultures, and some have the heads of
cats, monkeys, tigers, boars, and elephants. Only
the bodies are human. In displaying all his re-
sources of anatomy, design and perspective, the ar-
tist has here manifestly followed Michael Angelo,
reproducing all his violence; but the colour is bril-
liant and carefully managed, the whole being rich
and harmonious. It is generally considered Floris's
masterpiece. It is signed, and dated 1554.
Sir Joshua Reynolds saw this picture in the
Chapel of St. Michael in 1781, and wrote: "The
Fall of the Angels by F. Floris (1554) has some
160 XTbe Hrt of tbe Belgian (3allerte5
good parts, but without masses and dry. On the
thigh of one of the figures he has painted a fly for
the admiration of the vulgar; there is a fooHsh
story of this fly being painted by J. Massys and
that it had the honour of deceiving Floris."
St. Luke Painting the Virgin is the product of a
sober mood. In the centre, the EvangeHst, in an
ample rose-coloured mantle, with a gentle face of
regular features turned towards the spectator, is at
work, while a pupil with a jovial face is looking at
us as he grinds his master's colours. To the left
of the easel is the symbolic ox bearing on his brow
the arms of the brotherhood of painters. This pic-
ture has a historical interest because St. Luke is a
portrait of the painter Ryckaert Aertsz, and the
colour grinder is Floris himself.
The Adoration of the Shepherds was probably
the original Nativity painted for the Cathedral of
Notre Dame in 1559. The Infant Jesus is lying
in the cradle, while the kneeling Virgin adores her
God. On one side, shepherds are approaching bear-
ing their offerings ; and, on the other, male and fe-
male peasants, with faces of severe and charming
rusticity, throng about the new-bom child making
festival. This picture, which must be regarded as
one of the most important works of Floris, is par-
ticularly remarkable for facial expression : the
heads are fine and gentle; and the accessories and
F.
FLORIS
FALL OF THE REBEL ANGELS
Plate XXII
(See page 159)
Musee Royal
des Beaux-Arts
Antwerp
BOSTON UMIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIBRARY
Hntwerp i6i
animals are painted with fine breadth. Unfortu-
nately, like the Fall of the Rebel Angels, the colour
consists chiefly of reddish grays and neutral tones,
and therefore looks dull and faded. There is no
doubt that this sad colouring was one of Floris's
souvenirs of Michael Angelo's fresco. The ani-
mals are beautifully painted.
Martin de Vos has three triptychs in this gallery.
The central panel of the first represents Christ's
Victory over Death and Sin, symbolized by a skull
and a dragon. Lightly draped, Christ stands be-
tween St. Peter and St. Paul; behind the latter is
St. Margaret with her hands crossed over her
breast, and the lamb beside her. Behind St. Peter
is St. George in Roman armour and bearing his
pennon (red cross on white ground). Two angels
hover above in a glory, completing the pious mys-
tery of this mystic picture. St. Margaret is a por-
trait of the painter's wife, Jeanne Le Boucq. The
left wing shows Constantine Building a Church at
Constantinople in Honour of St. George; and the
right wing is a picture of the Baptism of Constan-
tine. It is signed, and dated 1580.
The subject of the central panel of a second trip-
tych is Caesar's Penny. In the middle, Christ in a
gray robe and red mantle stands with his left hand
raised and pointing to the sky. Facing him is a
Pharisee in a yellow robe and blue mantle, who
162 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
holds out the coin. Behind Christ stand his disci-
ples with women and children. In the left fore-
ground is a soldier leaning on his spear. Priests
and Elders are grouped behind him and the Phari-
see. The background shows a city square with
Flemish buildings. The subjects of the wings are
the Tribute Money and the Widow's Mite.
The third triptych shows St. Thomas touching
the Saviour's Wounds, in the centre; and the Bap-
tism of Christ and the Beheadal of St. John the
Baptist on the wings.
The central panel from another triptych has a
portrait of the painter's wife as the Virgin whom
St. Luke is painting.
Another picture is St. Francis d'Assisi receiving
the Stigmata.
Michiels strongly criticizes both the colour and
forms of these pictures. He says : " The forms are
generally elegant, but of too mincing and effemi-
nate an elegance. In the Baptism of Christ, the Mes-
siah has a foppish air; women will undoubtedly
say that he is a handsome fellow. The St. John
the Baptist has the look of a mawkish countryman.
The artist's calm is repeated in his personages : no
strong passion has taken hold of them, no tempest
agitates their hearts : they make us immediately
remember that the painter was of Dutch race. To
look at the imperturbable phlegm of the Messiah
Hntwerp 163
and His Apostles one would not think they were
in Judaea. Without the slightest doubt, they have
come out of the coffee-house, where they have been
gravely, slowly, peaceably smoking their pipes and
emptying several mugs of beer. That is where
Jesus harangues his disciples, between two puffs of
tobacco and two gulps of beer. Jews from Am-
sterdam and The Hague have come there to listen
to his parables; and the Son of David catechizes
them with an impassible air. In some pictures, we
even see the wife of Martin de Vos. In these, she
plays in turn the role of the Virgin, female saints,
and martyrs, like a good Frisian actress. On her
head, we look for the gold plaques and large lace
cap that are worth many a glance to the charming
daughters of the fogs."
Simon de Vos has a portrait of himself with
smiling face, disordered hair, light moustache and
beard. He is dressed in a black cloak and white
ruff; and one hand rests on his hip, while the other
holding a roll of paper is posed on the back of a
chair.
Michael Van Coxie seemed to have a special
fondness for dramatic subjects, as may be seen in
the two wings, also in this gallery, representing
episodes in the life of St. George. In one, the Saint
seems to have completely lost his heroic nerve; and
exhibits the most profound anguish and terror as
164 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Ballertes
he submits to the tortures of his executioners. In
the background is the statue of Hercules that St.
George has demoHshed. On the reverse, St. George
(a portrait of the painter) is represented in that
supreme moment of kilHng the dragon, standing in
all his glory with the vanquished dragon at his feet
and the broken lance in his hand. The other panel
shows us a scene of horrible torture where the saint
is being flayed alive with a novel instrument, while
one of the executioner's assistants brings a basket
of salt, and another, acids, etc., to aggravate the
wounds of the Christian martyr. On the reverse,
the saint appears kneeling with a cross in one hand,
and holding in the other a ribbon that is attached
to the neck of a lamb.
In these works, the nude figures are executed ac-
cording to Italian methods. They show a remark-
able knowledge and skill; and occasionally fore-
shortening occurs with bold and good effects; but
the School of Bruges makes itself felt. The mem-
bers of the tortured body are still intact : there is
no blood, nor gaping wounds, nor torn flesh.
The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian has suffered
from the ravages of time, but is admired for the
fine expression of the chief figure, its somewhat
original pose, its vivacious head and its noble fea-
tures. He has just received the first arrow; and
be it noted that the enormous bodies of the archers
Hntwerp 165
are out of all proportion to their heads. At the
side, on the left, a man is seated with his arm
around a hunting-dog ; and in the distance the Em-
peror Diocletian approaches on horseback with his
suite. This work is signed and dated 1575. Am-
brose Francken the Elder painted the wings.
Another interesting work is a St. Margaret; this
is supposed to be a portrait of the painter's first
wife, Ida Van Hasselt.
Sixteen pictures enable us to judge of the medi-
ocre abilities of Lambert, the father of the famous
Adam Van Noort. They are passable productions
in the prevailing style of the Sixteenth Century.
Perhaps the most noteworthy are the Calvary, and
the Entombment.
This gallery has a large number of pictures by
the Francken family, the members of which are so
confused, and the consequent attribution of their
individual works so uncertain.
The fight between Eteoclus and Polynices is by
Frans the Elder. Frans the Younger has six exam-
ples of his work; while Ambrose the Elder has
nearly a score. Of these works Michiels has this
to say :
" They do not give us a very- high idea of his
merit. Ambrose was certainly a mediocre man.
Examine any piece, the Multiplication of the
Loaves, for example, and look for eminent quali-
166 Ube Hrt ot tbe Bclginn Galleries
ties in it: you will be disappointed. The general
aspect of the picture is hard, the personages do not
stand out from the background, but seem to be ap-
plied like paper cuttings, — not at all an agreeable
effect! The Messiah is a fine baker's boy, heavy
and common, with big insignificant eyes. The
other actors are no better, an old man in admiration
shocks our eyes and mind by his air of profound
stupidity. The brilliant stuffs of the costumes are
the most successful part of the whole thing. The
work as a whole denotes a vulgar ability, without
inspiration, vigour, or originality.
The Martyrdom of St. Crispin and St. Crispin-
ian, which attests more verve, surprises one by the
strangeness of its subject and the manner of its
treatment. While the two propagators of the
Faith are being flayed, awls in the executioner's
hands and in a basket suddenly take life and dart
at the executioners and other terrified persecutors.
Farther away are depicted the various tortures that
have been ineffectually inflicted on the Christian
heroes : here, they are being cast into a river with
a millstone around their necks, and yet manage to
swim; there, they are being cooked in boiling
water, and a sudden spurt scalds the eyes of the
judge who has condemned them. The feelings of
the personages are rendered with a certain artless-
ness. The extreme precision of the contours, the
Hntwerp 167
enamel of the colouring, the somewhat hard firm-
ness of the touch, in short, the entire execution
carries us back to the Fifteenth Century. But the
complete absence of perspective spoils the effect of
the picture. Here also the colour is lacking in half
tones, and the brilliant costumes alone lend some
attraction of the imperfect image.
The Charity of St. Cosmus and St. Damian re-
veals the inferiority of this artist in another way,
by the lack of balance and good taste.
This lugubrious scene shows us the interior of
a hospital. In the foreground, St. Cosmus has just
finished amputating the leg of a patient. We see
the bleeding stump while the operator is getting
ready to adapt an artificial leg. The limb cut oflF
lies on the ground with the saw, a vase full of blood
and some soiled linen. It is a horrible spectacle.
The patient's face, contracted by intolerable agony,
produces an effect no less hideous. On the side of
a platform are aligned three copper basins full of
coagulated blood. x\t the back of the room, is an
unfortunate one of whose veins has just been
opened; also another lying on a bed. Before such
a frightful picture the most resolute man turns his
head away."
Frans Francken the Younger has an early pic-
ture dated 1608, called the Works of Mercy. In
the left foreground, the poor are having bread dis-
168 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Ballettes
tributed to them; in the middle distance, travellers
are being welcomed under the peristyle of a house;
in a room the sick are being cared for. In the upper
part, Christ in Glory rests on the symbols of the
four evangelists. Mantz says : " This painting
shows us the talent already characteristic of the
young master. It is executed without great show,
but not without conscience ; and his contemporaries
must have seen more than a promise in it."
The subject of the central panel of a triptych is
the Four Crowned Condemned to Martyrdom. In
a public square, the Emperor Diocletian, on the left,
surrounded by his court, orders four Christians to
abjure their faith : they are SS. Severus, Severin,
Carpophorus and Victorian. They stand on the
right, pointing to Heaven. In the middle distance
is a statue of ^^sculapius. The pictures on the
wings are the Flagellation, Summons, Death and
Condemnation to Work of the four crowned mar-
tyrs.
Jan Massys (15 10-1575) painted Biblical sub-
jects chiefly. His Hospitality Refused to the Vir-
gin and Jesus, represents an inn in Bethlehem
where a woman in a yellow dress and blue apron
refuses hospitality to the Virgin, who is dressed in
a gray robe and is accompanied by St. Joseph in
rose tunic. Two chickens are conspicuous in the
foreground. In the background, Flemish houses
A. VAN
DYCK
PORTRAIT OF A LITTLE GIRL
(With Dogs by Jan Fyt)
Plate XXIII
{See page i88)
Musee Royal
des Beaux- Arts
Antwerp
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ART8
LIBRARY
antwerp i69
border a square. Another good example of this
painter's style is the Story of Tobias.
Patenier's Flight into Egypt presents one of this
artist's characteristic landscapes. The Holy Fam-
ily journeys on a rocky road, where the statue of
a false god falls from its pedestal; on the right is
a wooded valley, where houses are seen near a lake
upon w^hich swans are floating. Mountains and the
sea appear in the distance.
It is interesting to compare this with a picture by
Herri de Bles, called The Repose in Egypt. Here
the Virgin is seated on a mound in a blue robe and
white gauze veil with the Child on her knees. The
latter has a coral rosary in his hand. A gourd,
a basket, some fruit and a stick lie on the ground.
In the middle distance St. Joseph is sleeping and
on the left is the ass. A castle appears in the distant
landscape, and on a tree is an owl, — the painter's
emblem and signature.
The pictures by Mabuse (Gossaert) are The
Four Maries Returning from the Sepulchre; the
Upright Judges; Ecce Homo; Virgin and Child
Jesus; Portrait of Margaret of Austria; and Por-
trait of a Woman.
The Four Maries is remarkable for the rich cos-
tumes of the women. The Virgin is clad in a robe
and mantle of blue with a white veil. She is sup-
ported by St. John. The Magdalen looks upon her
170 Zbc Hrt of tbe Belgian OallcvicB
with much emotion. The latter is dressed in a
yellow brocade with a violet mantle and holds a
vase of perfume in her right hand. The other two
women are on the right : one wears a blue dress
with yellow sleeves ; and the other, a blue robe and
green mantle. The background shows a landscape.
The Upright Judges are mounted, one on a white
and the other on a brown horse. They are richly
dressed, and are followed by soldiers and several
persons on foot.
Ecce Homo represents Christ seated by a column
and ridiculed by a man and a woman. A priest is
seen on the right. The background is architectural.
In the Virgin and Child, which some critics think
may be the work of Van Orley, the Virgin is
dressed in a blue robe embroidered with pearls.
Her sleeves are black, her mantle red and her black
veil is held by the Child Jesus who is standing on
a table where there are some cherries. On the left,
there is a lily in a vase; and in the background,
a window.
Margaret of Austria is dressed in a black robe
lined with ermine, a low-necked bodice and white
coif. Her left hand, resting on her breast, is orna-
mented with a ring.
The lady in the unnamed portrait wears a black
dress with red sleeves slashed with white; a pink
chemisette; a white belt with a jewelled clasp; a
Hntwerp i7i
diadem in her light hair; a chain around her neck;
and in her right hand she holds her gloves.
Two works by Gerard Seghers are interesting
because they show the painter's development. In
St. Louis de Gonzaga, he shows his Italian studies;
and in The Marriage of the Virgin the influence of
Rubens is felt, particularly in the head of the Vir-
gin. It is a fine and stately composition.
The historical paintings of Otho Vsenius are two
scenes from the life of St. Nicholas; the Calling of
St. Matthew ; St. Paul before Felix ; and Zacchaeus
in the fig-tree. In the latter Christ is the central
figure of a group in full light, wearing a gray robe
and pink mantle; he is followed by a crowd, and
looks up at Zacchaeus, who is in a fig-tree in blue
tunic and yellow mantle. In the foreground a
woman in dark red is holding a child by the hand.
The Foresight of St. Nicholas has in the fore-
ground a mother seated on the ground, surrounded
by her three children, thanking the saint who ad-
vances, followed by a large crowd, and slaves carry-
ing sacks. Among those present we note the ship-
master to whom the saint had appeared in a dream
and persuaded him to land his cargo at Myra where
the famine was severe.
The Antwerp gallery is particularly famous for
the number and beauty of its works by Rubens.
Among these is the celebrated Christ between Two
172 ubc Hrt ot tbe JBelgtan Galleries
Thieves, also known as the Coup de Lance, ordered
by Nicholas Rockox for the Church of the Recollets
in Antwerp. It was painted in 1620. Some critics
consider it Rubens's masterpiece. Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds admired it intensely when he saw it in its
original position and said :
'' The genius of Rubens nowhere appears to more
advantage than here: it is the most carefully fin-
ished picture of all his works. The whole is con-
ducted with the most consummate art; the compo-
sition is bold and uncommon, with circumstances
which no other painter had ever before thought of;
such as the breaking of the limbs, and the expres-
sion of the Magdalen, to which we may add the dis-
position of the three crosses, which are placed pro-
spectively in an uncommon picturesque manner :
the nearest bears the thief whose limbs are break-
ing; the next the Christ, whose figure is straighter
than ordinary, as a contrast to the others; and the
furthermost the penitent thief : this produces a
most picturesque effect, but it is what few but
such a daring genius as Rubens would have at-
tempted. . . .
'' In this picture the principal and the strongest
light is the body of Christ, which is of a remarkable
clear and bright colour; this is strongly opposed
by the very brown complexion of the thieves (per-
haps the opposition here is too violent) who make
Hntwerp 173
no great effect as light. The Virgin's outer dra-
pery is dark blue, and the inner a dark purple ; and
St. John is in dark, strong red; no part of these
two figures is light in the picture but the head and
hands of the Virgin."
Christ on the Cross, originally in the Church of
the Recollets, Antwerp, dates from about 1610; and
the letters N R on the cross under the feet of Christ
would seem to indicate that the work was ordered
by Nicholas Rockox. The figure of Christ is en-
tirely the work of Rubens; but the distant view
of Jerusalem is by a pupil. The eclipse of the sun
is to be noticed in the upper right hand corner.
The sky is filled with dark clouds.
The Incredulity of St. Thomas, representing
Christ in red drapery, showing his wounded left
hand to St. Thomas in blue drapery, while St. John,
clothed in violet, is seen in the foreground and St.
Peter in the background, is the central panel of a
triptych ordered by Nicholas Rockox for his mortu-
ary chapel in the Recollets Church in Antwerp.
Rubens painted this between 16 13 and 161 5. On
the left wing is the portrait of Nicholas Rockox
himself, and on the right wing that of his wife.
" Behind the great altar is the chapel of the
family of the Burgomaster Rockox, the altar of
which is St. Thomas's Incredulity by Rubens. The
head of the Christ is rather a good character, but
174 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
the body and arms are heavy : — it has been much
damaged. On the inside of the two folding doors
are portraits of the Burgomaster and his wife, half-
lengths : his is a fine portrait ; the ear is remark-
ably well painted, and the anatomy of the forehead
is well understood. Her portrait has no merit but
that of colour. Van Dyck likewise has painted a
portrait of Rockox, a print of which is in his book
of heads of eminent men. It should seem that he
was a great patron of the arts : he gave to this
church the picture of the great altar, which has
been already mentioned." ^
The Adoration of the Kings, painted in 1624 for
the high altar of the Abbey of St. Michael, is the
masterpiece that inaugurates Rubens's third man-
ner; and in this work the entire virtuosity of his
palette is exhibited. Moreover, it is entirely by his
own hand, and every part still preserves its extraor-
dinary transparency. Most beautifully is the light
arranged. The King kneeling in front is suffused
with brilliant light that gradually diminishes into
the shadowy background.
In the stable on the right stands the Virgin in
red robe and gray mantle holding the Child, who
is in the cradle at the foot of which an ox is lying.
St. Joseph stands behind this group. The Ethio-
pian King, in green robe, black mantle lined with
' Reynolds.
tlntweri) 175
fur and a white turban with red stripes, stands near
the Virgin with a cup in his right hand. In front
of her kneels a King in rich dahnatic and white
surphce, his page presenting the cup ; and the third
King, with long white beard, and draped in a red
mantle, faces the spectator and holds a cup in one
hand and the cover in the other. The followers of
the Magi occupy the background, and among them
should be noticed a knight on a chestnut horse on
the left, and two servants on camels in the centre.
Sir Joshua Reynolds described this work as fol-
lows:
" The great altar, the Adoration of the Magi ; a
large and magnificent composition of near twenty
figures in Rubens's best manner. Such subjects
seem to be more particularly adapted to the manner
and style of Rubens ; his excellence, his superiority,
is not seen in small compositions. One of the kings
who holds a cap in his hand is loaded with drapery;
his head appears too large, and upon the whole he
makes but an ungraceful figure. The head of the
ox is remarkably well painted."
The Christ a la Faille (of the Straw) was orig-
inally in the Cathedral of Antwerp, where Sir
Joshua Reynolds described it as " a Pieta by Rubens
which serves as a monument of the family of
Michielsens and is fixed on one of the pillars : this
is one of his most careful pictures; the characters
176 Ube Hrt of tbe ^Belgian 6allerlea
are of a higher style of beauty than usual, particu-
larly the Mary Magdalen, weeping with her hand
clenched. The colouring of the Christ and the Vir-
gin is of a most beautiful and delicate pearly tint,
opposed by the strong high colouring of St.
Joseph."
In this work, Christ is leaning against a stone,
on which is a truss of straw, and his body is sup-
ported by an old man in the background. In the
centre, the Virgin lifts her eyes to heaven as she
holds the corners of the winding-sheet. Behind
hers are the heads of St. John and the Magdalen.
Saint Theresa was painted in Rubens's last
period, between 1630 and 1635, for the altar of St.
Theresa in the Carmelite Church, Antwerp, where
Sir Joshua Reynolds saw it and noted :
" At an altar on the opposite little niche on the
left Christ relieving Souls out of purgatory by the
intercession of St. Theresa. The Christ is a better
character, has more beauty and grace, than is usual
with Rubens; the outline remarkably undulating,
smooth and flowing. The head of one of the
women in purgatory is beautiful in Rubens's way;
the whole has great harmony of colouring and free-
dom of pencil; it is in his best manner."
Christ is standing on a hillock, in red drapery,
and is turned towards St. Theresa, who in a brown
robe, white mantle and black veil, is kneeling. In
^ ^ <4,
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60ST0N UMIVEKSITY
COLLEGf-: OF LIBERAL ART?
LIBRARY
Bntvverp 177
the foreground St. Bernard of Mendoza, founder
of a convent in Valladolid, is being drawn from the
flames of purgatory into heaven by angels. In the
centre is a young woman; and on the right two
fishermen whose faces express suffering.
The Last Communion of St. Francis is entirely
the work of Rubens's own hand; and was painted
in 1619 for the altar of St. Francis in the Recollets.
It is inspired by the Last Communion of St. Jerome
by Domenichino; and the influence of Annibale
Carracci and that of Michael Angelo Caravaggio
are both seen in the picture.
The Holy Trinity was painted about 1620, after
Rubens's return from Italy, where he saw Mante-
gna's Dead Christ (now in the Brera), as he has
imitated the foreshortening of this work in the fig-
ure of Christ stretched out on the clouds with his
head on the knees of the Deity and lying on a piece
of linen held by God the Father. This Christ is
one of Rubens's most celebrated figures. The fig-
ures of God and the two angels are the w^ork of a
pupil.
This was one of the works carried to Paris in
1794 and which remained in the Louvre till 181 5.
The Education of the Virgin is supposed to date
from about 1625; and is a charming picture. St.
Anne is seated on a bench of stone, the back of
which forms a balustrade. The columns of a pa-
178 XTbe Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
vilion are seen on the right; and some dimbing
roses on a trellis on the left. The Virgin, dressed
in white silk with a blue scarf, is Helen Fourment,
the future wife of the painter, and St. Joachim w^ho
leans over St. Anne's shoulder is the same model,
only older, of St. Joseph in the Virgin of the Par-
rot. This work was returned from the Louvre in
1815.
When Sir Joshua Reynolds saw this picture, he
wrote :
" In a recess on the right, on entering the church,
is St. Anne and the Virgin with a book in her hand,
by Rubens. Behind St. Anne is a head of St.
Joachim; two angels in the air with a crown. This
picture is eminently well coloured, especially the an-
gels; the union of their colour with the sky is
wonderfully managed. It is remarkable that one
of the angels has Psyche's wings, which are like
those of a butterfly. This picture is improperly
called St. Anne teaching the Virgin to read, who
is represented about fourteen or fifteen years of age,
too old to begin to learn to read. The white silk
drapery of the Virgin is well painted, but not his-
torical; the silk is too particularly distinguished,
a fault of which Rubens is often guilty, in his fe-
male drapery; but by being of the same colour as
the sky it has a soft harmonious effect. The rest
of the picture is of a mellow tint."
Hntwetp 179
The Virgin with the Parrot belongs to the mas-
ter's first period and was executed about 1614, and
presented by him to the Guild of St. Luke. The
Virgin, in red robe and blue mantle, is seated on a
bench in front of a wall, caressing the Infant Jesus,
who is standing beside her with an apple in his
hand. In the shadows on the right, St. Joseph, in
a yellow cloak, looks at these two figures. On the
left there is a column overgrown with foliage ; and
on a pedestal a parrot that is biting a branch. The
figures are by Rubens, and the column, the land-
scape and the parrot are by another hand retouched
by the master.
The Virgin and the Infant Jesus is the wing of
a triptych. The Virgin, in a red robe with white
sleeves, is supporting the Child, who stands by a
marble pedestal. St. John writing the Gospel is on
another wing of a triptych. The saint is lifting his
eyes towards an eagle, and he holds an open book.
The Baptism of Christ was painted in 1604- 1606
for the Jesuits' Church in Mantua; and in some
respects resembles Raphael's work of the same sub-
ject in the Loggia of the Vatican. Christ is stand-
ing in the Jordan, baptized by St. John. Two an-
gels at his side are holding his red mantle. Men are
seen undressing on the right and in the background
women are bringing their infants.
The Dead Christ and the Weeping Women was
180 Ube Hrt of tbe JSelgtan (Ballertes
executed in 1614. Christ is lying on a bed of straw
in the centre, his head supported by the Virgin ; and
the Magdalen in violet silk kneels on the left. On
the right are St. John and three kneeling women;
and, on the ground, the sponge, a copper dish, a
broom and a hammer. In the background, the sep-
ulchre is seen in the midst of brushwood. The
figures are by Rubens, Christ being similar to that
in the Holy Trinity in the same gallery; and the
landscape is by Van Uden, or Wildens.
In Jupiter and Antiope, the latter, a nude figure,
is seated on the ground, her head leaning on her
right hand; on the left Cupid is crouching with
his quiver. In the middle distance, Jupiter, in the
guise of a satyr, is bringing fruits in a horn of
plenty to Antiope, who seems to be shivering with
cold. The background shows a landscape with a
waterfall. This picture dates from 16 14, and is en-
tirely by Rubens. It was formerly called Venus
refroidie and was purchased from the heirs of M.
Allard of Brussels in 1881 for 100,000 francs.
The Hunt, another work of Rubens (a sketch
in grisaille), was purchased in 1891 for 5,000
francs.
The Prodigal Son was acquired in 1894 for 45,-
000 francs. The scene is laid in a stable, where
grooms are feeding and tending their horses, and
where, in the foreground, a servant, in a gray skirt
Hntwerp i8i
and red bodice, is throwing the contents of a bucket
into a trough, where pigs are feeding. She looks
with pity on the kneehng figure of the prodigal son
whose face is bathed with tears. In the back of
the stable a peasant woman is going towards the
cows with a lighted candle. Outside is seen a hay
wagon and still farther away a groom bathing a
horse in a pond. Sir Joshua Reynolds, who saw
this work in Antwerp, considered its great charm
to lie in the dramatic and pathetic expression of
the prodigal son, whose attitude and face show the
repentance that fills his soul.
The Portrait of Gaspard Gevartius, secretary of
the town of Antwerp (1593-1666), is also a fine
work. The subject is seated in an arm-chair near
a table on which stands a bust of Marcus Aurelius.
His face is thin and pale; he has chestnut hair and
light moustache and goatee. He is dressed in black
with fluted ruff and white cufTs. In his right hand
is a pen and with his left he turns the leaves of
a register. In the background are books and a
shield.
Rich as this gallery is in examples of the best
work of Rubens, the Antwerp Cathedral possesses
two pictures, which are, perhaps, more famous than
any painting here. These, the student will un-
doubtedly wish to examine, and, therefore, they
may be appropriately described in this place. They
182 XTbe art ot tbe BelGtan Oailcvics
are: The Descent from the Cross; and The Ele-
vation of the Cross.
The Elevation of the Cross was painted in 1610
on Rubens's return from Italy. Some critics prefer
it to the more celebrated Descent from the Cross.
" The Elevation of the Cross is the first public
work which Rubens executed after he returned
from Italy. In the centre is Christ nailed to the
Cross, with a number of figures exerting them-
selves in different ways to raise it. One of the fig-
ures appears flushed, all the blood rising into his
face from his violent efforts; others in intricate at-
titudes, which at the same time that they show the
great energy with which the business is done, give
that opportunity which painters desire, of encoun-
tering the difficulties of the art, in foreshortening
and in representing momentary actions. This sub-
ject, which was probably of his own choosing, gave
him an admirable opportunity of exhibiting his
various abilities to his countrymen; and it is cer-
tainly one of his best and most animated composi-
tions. The bustle, which is in every part of the pic-
ture, makes a fine contrast to the character of resig-
nation in the crucified Saviour. The sway of the
body of Christ is extremely well imagined. The
taste of the form in the Christ, as well as in the
other figures, must be acknowledged to be a little
inclinable to the heavy ; but it has a noble, free and
Hntwcrp 183
flowing outline. The invention of throwing the
Cross obliquely from one corner of the picture to
the other is finely conceived ; something in the man-
ner of Tintoret : it gives a new and uncommon air
to his subject, and we may justly add that it is un-
commonly beautiful. The contrast of the body with
the legs is admirable, and not overdone.
" The doors are a continuation of the subject.
That on the right has a group of women and chil-
dren, who appear to feel the greatest emotion and
horror at the sight : the Virgin and St. John, who
are behind, appear very properly with more resig-
nation. On the other door are the officers on horse-
back ; attending behind them are the two thieves,
whom the executioners are nailing to the Cross.
** It is difficult to imagine a subject better adapted
for a painter to exhibit his art of composition than
the present; at least Rubens has had the skill to
make it serve, in an eminent degree, for that pur-
pose. In the naked figure of the Christ, and of the
executioners, he had ample room to show his knowl-
edge of the anatomy of the human body in different
characters. There are likewise women of different
ages, which is always considered as a necessary part
of every composition, in order to produce variety;
there are, besides, children and horsemen; and to
have the whole range of variety, he has even added
a dog, which he has introduced in an animated atti-
184 Ube Hrt ot tbe JSelgtan Galleries
tude, with his mouth open, as if panting: admirably
well painted. His animals are always to be ad-
mired : the horses here are perfect in their kind,
of a noble character, animated to the highest de-
gree. Rubens, conscious of his powers in painting
horses, introduced them in his pictures as often as
he could. This part of the work, where the horses
are represented, is by far the best in regard to col-
ouring; it has a freshness w^hich the other two pic-
tures want ; but those appear to have suffered from
the sun. This picture of the horsemen is situated
on the south-east side, whereas the others, being
east and south-east, are more exposed.
** The central picture, as well as that of the
group of women, does not, for whatever reason,
stand so high for colour as every other excellence.
There is a dryness in the tint; a yellow ochery
colour predominates over the whole, it has too much
the appearance of a yellow chalk drawing. I mean
only to compare Rubens with himself; they might
be thought excellent even in this respect, were they
the w^ork of almost any other painter. The flesh,
as well as the rest of the picture, seems to want
gray tints, which is not a general defect of Rubens ;
on the contrary, his mezzotints are often too gray.
'' The blue drapery, about the middle of the figure
at the bottom of the Cross, and the gray colour of
some armour, are nearly all the cold colours in
RUBENS
LE COUP DE LANCE
Plate XXV
{See page 172)
Musee Royal
des Beaux-Arts
Antwerp
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEOP OF LIBER.^' ARTS
LiPRARY
Hntwerp 1S5
the picture; which are certainly not enough to
quahfy so large a space of warm colours. The
principal mass of light is on the Christ's body; but
in order to enlarge it, and improve its shape, a
strong light comes on the shoulder of the figure
with the bald head : the form of this shoulder is
somewhat defective : it appears too round.
" Upon the whole, this picture must be consid-
ered as one of Rubens's principal works, and that
appearance of heaviness which it has, when seen
near, entirely vanishes when the picture is viewed
from the body of the church.
" On the other side of the two doors are likewise
two pictures : St. Catherine with a sword, and St.
Eloi with a female Saint and Angels, as usual finely
painted; but the figure of St. Eloi appears too
gigantic." ^
The Descent from the Cross was painted in
1611-12, at the order of the Guild of Arquebusiers
of Antwerp.
It is a sombre and austere picture with less colour
than is usual with Rubens, and more restraint of
emotion. The startling effect of the whiteness of
the winding-sheet, which produces a great central
light against a dark background, was suggested by
a similar work by Daniele da Volterra in Rome.
'^ When we remember the carnage with which Ru-
^ Sir Joshua Reynolds.
186 Zbc Htt of tbe Belgian ©allcries
bens's work is crimsoned, the massacres and the
executioners torturing their howhng victims, we
recognize that this is a noble execution. Every-
thing here is restrained, concise and laconic, as in
a page of Holy Writ. There are no gesticulations,
cries, horrors, or too many tears. Even the Virgin
is not sobbing and the intense suffering of this
drama is expressed by a slight gesture of incon-
solable motherhood and tearful eyes. The Christ
is one of the most elegant figures that Rubens ever
imagined for the painting of a God. He possesses
a peculiar extended, pliant and almost tapering
grace that gives it every natural delicacy and all
the distinction of a beautiful academic study." *
The Magdalen, who is kneeling at the foot of the
Cross, is one of Rubens's most admired female fig-
ures. On the inside of the wings are represented
the Salutation and the Presentation in the Temple;
and, on the outside, St. Christopher carrying the
Infant Saviour and a hermit. The Descent from
the Cross was taken to Paris in 1794.
The altar-piece of the Rubens Chapel in St.
Jacques, Antwerp, where Rubens is buried, is a late
work by the master representing the Madonna and
Child with Saints. The Virgin is seated in an ar-
bour with Jesus in her lap, being worshipped by
St. Bonaventura. St. George, with three holy
* Fromentin.
Hntwerp 187
women, and St. Jerome are also present. Tradi-
tion says that St. Jerome is a portrait of Rubens's
father; St. George is the painter himself; and the
three women, his two wives and Mademoiselle
Lunden, who is the original of the Chapeau de
Faille in the National Gallery, London.
Van Dyck's Crucifixion was painted for the chapel
of the Dominican Sisters. They had attended Van
Dyck's father in his last illness, who made his son
promise to paint them a picture as a debt of grati-
tude. This work was painted in 1629; and re-
mained in the church until 1785, when it was sold
to the Academy of Antwerp. St. Dominick is in-
troduced beneath the Cross, with upturned face and
extended arms. St. Catherine of Siena, crowned
with thorns, kisses the Saviour's feet. She is clad
in a gray robe, black mantle and white veil. At the
bottom of the Cross is a stone with an inscription,
and on this stone leans a child angel with a reversed
torch nearly extinguished. Angels hover above in
the clouds.
The Lamentation for Christ, or Pieta, was a
favourite subject with Van Dyck; and this gallery
contains one of the most famous examples in the
Entombment. Knackfuss writes :
" We see the sacred body stretched out long and
rigid, with head and shoulder resting on the
mother's lap. The Virgin leaning back against the
188 Ube Brt ot tbe JBelaian Oalleries
dark side of the rock, a cleft in which is about to
receive the departed, spreads out her arms in loud
lamentation. The disciple John has grasped the
Saviour's right hand and shows the bleeding
wounds to the angels who have drawn nigh and
who burst into tears at the sight. This group of
St. John and the Angels stands out in soft, warm
tones from the pale blue sky. The pallid flesh
colour of the body is shown up with a peculiar and
striking effect by this juxtaposition of a cool, light
tone and a warm, dark one on the one hand, and,
on the other hand, by the pure white of the linen
sheet and the bluish green of the drapery spread
over the Virgin's lap."
In a second Entombment the scene is also a
grotto, where Christ is placed on the winding-sheet,
his head against his mother's breast. On the right
kneels the Magdalen, in yellow skirt and dark red
bodice, kissing the Saviour's left hand. St. John,
in red mantle, is advancing from the middle dis-
tance. On the left, are the nails, the crown of
thorns, the inscription and the sponge in a yellow
basin. The style is full of grandeur and the heads
are noble.
A charming Portrait of a Little Girl represents
her standing in a landscape with a view of Antwerp
on the horizon. She wears a dress of blue damask,
a white collar and a black cap with plumes. She
Hntwetp 189
holds by a leash a spaniel and a greyhound, and on
her left wrist is perched a falcon. In her right
hand, she has also a little bag. The animals were
painted by Jan Fyt.
Jean Malderus, fifth bishop of Antwerp, is seated,
his two hands on the arm of his chair, his face
turned towards the right. He wears a white sur-
plice, violet camail, and black beretta; and a gold
cross is suspended on his neck. He holds a book
in his left hand.
Caesar Alexander Scaglia, Abbe of Staffarde,
standing with his right arm on a column, is dressed
in a black cassock and mantle, the folds of which
he holds in his left hand. On the right, a piece of
yellow drapery is gracefully looped. On the pedes-
tal are the Scaglia arms, an inscription in honour
of the prelate, and the date of his death, 1641.
The Family Concert was a favourite theme with
Jordaens; and the one in this gallery ranks among
the best examples. On a panel in the background
the proverb appears " Soo d'oiide songen, soo pepen
de jonge " (As the old ones sing, so the young ones
pipe). The people are grouped at a table where
a meal is served. On the left ah old man in a gray
robe bordered with fur, and a black hat, with spec-
tacles on his nose sings while beating time with his
right hand. He is also holding a music book in his
left hand from which a bagpipe player in white
190 Ubc art ot tbe IBelaian Galleries
shirt, blue vest and red cap is reading. A little
boy between the old man's knees is playing a pipe.
In the centre a handsome young woman (Jor-
daens's wife), richly dressed and wearing a blue
cap with yellow plumes and pearls around her neck,
holds in her arms a little child also blowing a pipe;
and on the right, an old woman in a high backed
willow chair dressed in gray with a white cap sings
from a sheet of music which she holds in her left
hand, adjusting meanwhile her spectacles with her
right. By her side stands a greyhound resting his
muzzle on the table.
The Adoration of the Shepherds was also a
favourite subject with Jordaens, and the one in this
gallery is his best. He liked to group around the
cradle male and female peasants bringing their
cows, goats, sheep and panting dogs, and their
children loaded with offerings of game, fruit, dairy-
products, and all things good to eat. This concep-
tion is far removed from Memling's mystic Na-
tivity. The head of the Virgin is unusually ele-
vated in character.
In the Last Supper, Christ is seated in the centre
of the table in gray robe and red mantle holding the
cup in his left and with his right hand offering
bread to Judas, who is seated in the foreground in
a gray tunic and yellow mantle and caressing a dog.
St. John stands on the right. The other disciples
Hntwerp i9i
are grouped variously. From the ceiling hangs a
ft
lamp with lighted candles ; a piece of drapery is
looped on the left, on the right is a door and in the
background a window.
The Sisters of Mercy of St. Elizabeth was
painted for St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Antwerp.
In this, the nuns are distributing food and clothing
to a crowd of beggars in the foreground, while in
the background the Mother Superior is ladling out
soup.
Commerce and Industry Protecting the Fine
Arts, and an Entombment, do not call for special
description; but the spectator's attention will be
attracted by the Portrait of a Woman seated in an
arm chair the back of which is ornamented with
lions' heads. She is beautifully dressed in a violet
robe trimmed with fur and sleeves and collar of
white. She wears a black hat and in one hand holds
a handkerchief and in the other a book. A red
curtain is looped up in the background.
Van Uden was very fond of rivers, and deep blue
skies with floating white clouds and slanting sun
rays. His trees are carefully studied; and their
species are easily recognized, wfiich is by no means
the case with some of his contemporaries. Two
pictures in this gallery exemplify these qualities.
*' One (No. 978) depicts a Flemish landscape, a
real and varied site, which the artist must have
192 Ube Hrt of tHe Belgian Galleries
painted from nature. Two big trees stand on a
knoll in the centre of the canvas, and reach to the
top of the frame. On the day on which the artist
observed and copied this idyl, the atmosphere, so
often obscure in the Low Countries, hung gray and
dull over the fields. Van Uden ingeniously repro-
duced what he saw; so there is no sunlight in his
picture, and the sombre uniformity of this great
page not only deprives it of all charm but also des-
troys all effect of perspective. The other picture
represents the Abbey of St. Barnard on the Scheldt.
It is a topographical view in the style of Snayers's
works, but much harder in tone and not so well
executed." ^
There are two pictures here that give a good idea
of the qualities of Snyders. The Eagle's Repast,
which was long attributed to Fyt, presents an excel-
lent motive with much verve and energy. Two
eagles that have just finished their chase are fight-
ing on the top of a rock. One is devouring a wild
duck, and has its wings displayed to defend its prey
against the attack of its less fortunate companion
which is about to dispute possession of the meal.
The bare peaks about them give an idea of pro-
found solitude, and a cloudy sky spreads its gray
veil over the mournful desert. Few pictures of an-
imal life are conceived in so poetic a manner.
' Michiels.
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BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGF OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIBRARY
Hntwerp i93
The second picture shows grouped at a park gate
several pieces of game, among which are a hare
and two partridges tied to a tree. Various imple-
ments of the chase lie on the ground, with two
quails and a snipe ; behind a block appears the head
of a dog. There is again a sort of poetry in this
rustic trophy dressed at the door of a lordly enclo-
sure. The dead animals and accessories are vigor-
ously painted, but the colour is too sombre and
monotonous.^
Jan Fyt's Two Harriers are full of life and the
spirit of sport. The two hounds, in leash, one white
marked with yellow and the other gray with white
markings, are lying down beside a tree, with heads
turned to the right; in the background pieces of
game are hung up.
Abraham Janssens painted The God of the
Scheldt for a chimney piece in the town hall. In
this emblematic figure, there is vigour both in
colour and design. The gigantic body of the river
god is a good piece of work in the grand style, and
bold in execution. The Adoration of the Magi,
and the Virgin and Child with St. John the Baptist,
by the same painter, are inferior to the above, and
do not worthily represent the painter's powers. The
types are vulgar and the work is hard.
Six pictures by Pieter Van Lint class him among
.' Michiels.
194 Ube Htt of tbe Belgian Galleries
the artists who submitted to the influence of Ru-
bens. The most remarkable of these paintings re-
presents a ford. A troop of pilgrims, soldiers and
women, grouped on the bank of a river, are pre-
paring to cross. The right background is a moun-
tainous region whence a cavalier with a young
woman en croup is urging his horse into the water.
On the margin of the river, lying in an elegant
attitude, a very pretty woman attracts the eye. On
her mischievous face, coquetry is mingled with ele-
gance. Above her stands a man with a black beard
who wears a singular costume. The influence of
Rubens and the imitation of the Italians are equally
balanced in this picture.
Like Quellin the Elder, Jan Van Hoeck liked to
concentrate his interest and emotion on a few actors
in a drama. In his Virgin, we can admire that
happy mixture of the style of Rubens and the Ital-
ian manner that forms such agreeable combinations
in the pictures of Van Dyck. The Virgin is stand-
ing in a Glory, and presenting her Infant to St.
Anthony of Padua, who is kneeling in adoration
before his Messiah.
The Tithe (a copy), Visit to the Farm, a Flem-
ish Kermesse and The Bearing of the Cross are
good examples of the phases of '' Hell fire " Brue-
ghel's art. The Visit to the Farm is an interesting
picture of a great living-room and workshop where
Hntwetp 195
various peasants are grouped. One man is seated
on a large settle working, another at a table drinks
from a bowl, two others are churning and another
receives a loaf of bread from the lord who is visit-
ing his tenants. His wife on the right is opening
her purse to the delight of a little boy at her side.
Another child sits on a chair and a woman on the
left beside a cradle. An enormous pot hangs in
the centre of the room.
The Kermesse is full of life and gaiety. In a
street in the middle distance a number of peasants
are dancing in couples. On the left several drink-
ers are seated at tw^o tables. On each side are low
houses where peasants are drinking and quarrel-
ling. In the background on the right a body of
archers follow a drummer and on the left a proces-
sion enters the church.
In the Bearing of the Cross Christ is carrying
the Cross with the help of Simon. In the fore-
ground St. Veronica in a green robe and brown
mantle offers her handkerchief to the Saviour. On
the right under a tree St. John and the holy w^omen
are seen; and in the background, soldiers, the two
thieves in a wagon with their confessors, and a
great crowd.
David Vinckboons has a characteristic Kermesse
on the outskirts of Antwerp. Peasants occupy the
foreground ; people are seated before an inn on the
196 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
right; ladies and gentlemen are grouped on the
left; there are booths in the middle distance; a
brawl occurs on the right ; and in the background is
seen a castle on the bank of a river. Mountains
appear on the horizon.
The cjualities of the old school that lingered in
Martin Pepyn may be advantageously studied in
the two triptychs from the Hospital of St. Eliza-
beth. " One is consecrated to St. Augustine and
narrates several episodes of his life. His Baptism
is a perfectly composed piece. The catechumen,
pale with emotion, kneels and raises towards
Heaven eyes that express the most fervent devo-
tion. A person standing behind him presents a con-
trasted character : this is a young deacon whose
features shine with frank benevolence. The other
figures approach still more closely to the world of
reality, and form a still more marked contrast to
the neophyte. The background of the left wing
introduces us frankly into ordinary life : the poor
who receive the alms of the holy preacher verge on
the comic. The same opposition is noticeable in
the scene between the other panel in which the Con-
fessor of the Faith is working his last miracle,
where his noble visage respires the calm strength
given by conviction, and the vulgar haste of the
people impatient to reach his abode.
" The second altarpiece is a sort of poem in which
Hntwerp 197
St. Elisabeth of Hungary appears with a legendary-
charm. In the central panel, she is distributing her
jewels to the poor; the right wing represents her
washing the feet of the sick; and then we see her
assisted to her deathbed by a Dominican monk. On
the left wing, a throng of the indigent are crowd-
ing to obtain a share of her gifts; desirous of
recompensing so many virtues, Christ at last wel-
comes her at the threshold of Paradise.
" The first scene is perfect in effect. The princess
occupies the centre of the panel and angels hover-
ing in the sky bring her a crown. Her charming
head expresses pity, gentleness, disinterestedness,
benevolence and modesty. A man holding a basket
full of presents, two women, and two young boys
holding a casket of jewels are excellent portraits
evidently : they are full of character, truth and
animation. A beggar woman with a naked child
on her lap sits on the lowest step and smiles at
her little ragged boy who, having received a gold
chain from Elisabeth, shows h to his mother, radi-
ant with joy. No one can look without pleasure
at the saint washing the feet of the poor. In her
humble attitude, she preserves all her grace and
dignity. The panel which represents her deathbed
equally attests poetic faculties of a superior order.
Assisted by a noble and grave monk, she listens to
an angel who reads her good deeds from the Judg-
198 Ube Hrt ot tbe BelGtan Galleries
ment Book. The most lively piety and the strong-
est faith are depicted on her features : her soul is
about to depart at the sound of the words that
promise eternal happiness. What enthusiasm and
happiness shine on her face! What suave beauty
the artist has given to the Son of Man! A little
angel in the clouds opens his arms in a transport
of admirable joy." ^
His Passage of the Red Sea, also in this gallery,
is signed and dated 1626.
The character of St. Luke Preaching is more
archaic than the above. It formerly adorned the
room where the Fraternity of St. Luke held its
sessions.
Christ the Pilgrim and St. Augustine is a subject
furnished by Christian legend. Christ on his jour-
ney of redemption through the world is seated be-
fore the holy bishop, who, in the robe of the her-
mits of his Order and accompanied by several
monks, is piously washing one of the feet of the
celestial pilgrim while the other foot is bathing in
a copper basin on which is the master's signature
and the date 1636. Above in the sky are God and
the Holy Spirit surrounded by angels. This was
the last picture Rombouts painted.
Pieter Van MoFs Adoration of the Magi gives
the student a very favourable impression of that
^ Michiels.
Hntwerp 199
painter's talent. The Infant Jesus is accepting the
gold offered to Him by an old monarch kneeling
before Him, who has a long white beard and wears
a brocade mantle, the ends of which are upheld by
three boys, also kneeling. The other two kings
with their suites, composed chiefly of well-armed
soldiers, form a circle around the principal group.
The background is closed by a clump of trees and
a ruin. The colour is clear and brilliant; and the
taste of Rubens prevails. The boys are particularly
charming.
Five panels, each representing one of the senses,
are by Gonzales Coques. A man in gray, lifting
something to his nose, is Smell; a man in gray cut-
ting a pen is Touch; another in gray, looking at a
glass which he will soon drain, is Taste; one in
black, playing a lute and singing, is Hearing; and
one in gray, with spectacles on his nose, looking at
a statue on which he is working is Sight.
Coques is also represented by a portrait of a lady
who is standing with her left arm leaning on a
column. A turned-back curtain shows the land-
scape background. She wears a low-necked black
dress, trimmed with lace, necklace and bracelets of
pearls, and holds a watch in her right hand.
David Teniers the Younger is well represented
here.
The Flemish Drinkers is an out-of-doors scene.
200 Ube Hut ot tbe JBelgtan (Balleries
where on the threshold of a house a woman is
standing with a jug in her hand, near several men
grouped round a cask. One of them is seated on
an upturned tub; and another is standing, amused
at a barking dog. On the opposite bank of a river
there is a castle among the trees.
Morning shows three peasants talking in the
foreground, and three others walking towards a
building.
After Dinner is a fishing scene. Three fisher-
men, having drawn their nets, show a comrade their
good luck, which they are packing in a barrel. In
the background, on the left a pedestrian is crossing
the bridge that leads to a castle.
The Old Woman in a gray dress and white cap
is cutting tobacco on a table on which are a jug and
a piece of chalk.
The Guitar Singer depicts a man in a violet
jacket with gray sleeves and a plumed red cap play-
ing a guitar and singing at the same time. A peas-
ant is listening and another is behind the door.
The Duet contains three figures. In the centre
a lady in a gray robe, yellow bodice and white ker-
chief and cap is playing the flute, accompanied by
a man in gray on the guitar. In the background a
servant is opening the door.
Teniers has here also a view of Valenciennes
with a bust of Philip IV in the foreground.
CLOUET
FRANCIS II
Dauphin of France
Plate XXVII
(5"^^ page 222)
Musee Royal
des Beaux- Arts
Antwerp
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ART?
LIBRAP^^
Hntwerp 201
Adriaen Key has a Last Supper, where Judas ap-
pears in the traditional yellow robe with purse in
hand. This work is dated 1575. His two por-
traits of the Smidt family were originally hung in
the Church of the RecoUets. In one, Gilles de
Smidt, a benefactor of the Convent of the RecoUets,
is kneeling before a Prie-Dieu covered with a gray
cloth on which his arms are embroidered. His six
sons kneel behind him, and, on his left, his daugh-
ter, Anne, in black, with white cap and ruff.
The other picture represents Smidt's second wife
and her daughter, Beatrix, kneeling before a Prie-
Dieu. They are both dressed in black with white
ruffs and caps.
Gilles Mostaert illustrates the period immediately
preceding Rubens with a Crucifixion, and The Last
Judgment, where Christ is on a rainbow draped in
a red mantle with the Virgin in blue and St. John
in green. Below the Saviour, the dead issue from
their tombs : the blessed are being received by St.
Peter into Paradise, and the damned are being cast
into hell by the archangels. Fourteen compart-
ments below represent the Seven Capital Sins and
the Seven Acts of Mercy.
Other religious pictures that deserve more than
a passing glance are Jan Van den Hoecke's Virgin
and Child and St. Francis d'Assisi ; Jerome Van
Aken's Passion (not satisfactorily attributed) ; Jan
202 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgtan Galleries
Schorel's Christ on the Cross; Hendrick Van Ba-
len's wings of a triptych, the subjects of which are
Concert of Angels, St. Anne and St. PhiHp, and
the central panel of another, the Preaching of John
the Baptist; Pieter Claessens's triptych, Calvary,
the Resurrection and Christ Bearing the Cross;
Theodore Van Loon's Assumption of the Virgin;
B. Spranger's Jesus Calling Little Children to Him ;
Erasmus Quellin's Holy Family; Lambert Van
Noort's Calvary, and Entombment; G. J. Her-
reyns's Christ's Last Sigh; Paul Bril's Prodigal
Son; Balthazar Cortbende's Good Samaritan;
Crispin Van den Broeck's Last Judgment ; Jan Van
Hemessen's Calling of St. Matthew; and several
works by Gerard Van der Meire, which include
Bearing the Cross, Christ Among the Doctors, the
Crucifixion, the Presentation in the Temple, the
Entombment, and the Mother of Sorrows.
Abraham J. Van Nuyssen has a Virgin and
Child and little St. John and an Adoration of the
Magi that also deserve notice.
Daniel Seghers has painted two beautiful floral
wreaths around the busts of St. Theresa and St.
Ignatius Loyola (painted by Cornelis Schut).
Josse Van Craesbeeck has an Interior of a Tav-
ern, where people are smoking, drinking and ma-
king merry; and a Brawl in a Tavern, in which
one man is defending himself against two others.
Hntwerp 203
A man and woman throw water upon the com-
batants and an old man is asleep in a chair.
Cards on the floor show what has occasioned
the trouble.
Cornells de Vos is represented by several por-
traits, the most celebrated being that of iVbraham
Grapheus, messenger of the Corporation of St.
Luke.
He has grayish hair, and a smooth-shaven face.
On the front of his black doublet he has displayed
medals and plaques. He wears a white fluted ruff
and a gray apron. In his right hand he holds a
mug, in his left a large drinking-cup which he is
about to place on the table where similar hanaps are
standing. These cups are interesting because they
are all masterpieces of goldsmith's work, prizes and
presents won by and made to the Guild of St. Luke,
and were melted to help pay a tax levied on Ant-
werp in 1794.
This master has also a picture of St. Norbert
receiving the Sacred Vessels hidden during the
Heresy of Tanchelin, formerly in the mortuary
chapel of the Schnoeck family at St. Michel's
Church. This church and the spire of Notre-Dame
are seen on the horizon; and among the figures
kneeling in the public square before the bishop are
members of the Schnoeck family.
Lambert Lombard (Susterman) has a Portrait
204 XLbc Hrt of tbe Belgian Galleries
of a Man in black doublet and brown mantle hold-
ing a letter in his right hand.
Pieter Pourbus is represented by a Portrait of
Gilles van Schoonbeke, with a book in his hand.
He wears a black doublet with brown sleeves, white
collar and cuffs and black cap. The picture is dated
1544. The portrait of his wife Elizabeth is dated
the same year. She is in black with a white cap and
her hands are joined at her belt.
Among many other portraits, we note Beschey's
Portrait of the Artist ; Abraham De Rycker's Louis
Clarys (the right wing of a triptych) and Marie
Lebatteur, wife of the above (left wing) ; Simon
de Vos's Portrait of the Painter; P. Van Lint's
Portrait of the Artist; Pieter Thys's Henry Van
Halmale, Burgomaster of Antwerp, and Maximin
Gerardi, Echevin of Antwerp; Van Veen's Jan
Miraeus, Echevin of Antwerp; Jacob Denys's
Gregory Martens; Otto Vsenius's Jan Miraeus; and
Valentin's Gamester.
Goubau's Study of the Arts in Rome represents
a landscape with an aqueduct in the plain, and a
fountain in the foreground ornamented with a
sculptured bas-relief. Here several artists are
working and an amateur in a black costume appears
to be examining a sketch. The scene is enlivened
by sheep and shepherds and groups of people
among the ruins.
Hntvverp 205
Genoels has a landscape in the Classic style,
where Minerva and the Muses are seen.
The Village Fete by David Ryckaert introduces
us into a large room full of merry-makers. The
father of the family, in red, has a ring in his hands ;
the grandmother is rising from her chair; a young
mother has a child on her knee; and among other
groups a man is embracing a servant, who is carry-
ing a dish; and a woman is trying to arouse her
drunken husband. In the background, a landscape
is seen with a farmhouse on the bank of a river.
The Serment, or the Archers' Brotherhood, gave
Schut the order to paint for the altar of their
chapel in the Antwerp Cathedral the Martyrdom of
St. George, which is now in the Antwerp Museum.
*' The saint is on his knees on the steps of a Classic
temple. He is about to submit to torture; but he
does not see the executioners with their swords, nor
the priest who is pointing to the statue of Apollo,
for he looks into the sky which has opened and
shows the angels coming with palms and crowns.
The picture as a whole has brilliancy and vitality;
the arrangement is broadly conceived; but, if
closely examined all the characters that take part
in this drama are of vulgar type, and, we are com-
pelled to say, of an ugliness that causes the lovers
of pure lines and beautiful forms to despair." ^
* Michiels.
206 Ube Hrt ot tbe ^Belgian (Balleries
Descamps considered it the best work of this mas-
ter, — a picturesque composition, full of genius, and
correctly drawn.
The Pool of Bethesda is one of Boeyerman's best
works. The sufferers are grouped around a stone
basin in the foreground; and, on a step above,
stands Christ, in violet robe and red mantle, ac-
companied by the Virgin. On the left in the fore-
ground, two men are bringing a cripple in a chair;
and, by a column on the right, kneels the donor,
Helen Fey, whose epitaph is inscribed on the pedes-
tal with the date, 1675. An open portico is shown
in the background and in the sky some angels un-
fold a banderole.
The Visit is also a valued picture, — a garden
scene, where a young man is receiving a priest who
is going towards an old lady dressed in black and
seated in an arm-chair. In the middle distance, a
young man in yellow giving his hand to a young
lady in blue and white affords a charming combi-
nation of colour. Children are hiding behind
some red drapery in the middle distance, and
in the background a page carries a glass and
a carafe to a fountain. There is a dog in the fore-
ground.
Hans Jordaens's Death of Pharaoh depicts the
Egyptians being swallowed by the Red Sea. In
the middle distance, Pharaoh and his chariot are
Bntwerp 207
being engulfed. On the right, the Hebrews are sur-
rounding Moses on a rock.
Pieter Bouts has a Village Fair, where in a public
square a peasant is buying some pigs on the left;
and, on the right, cavaliers are seen before a tower.
Cattle appear in the background and a street which
loses itself in a wood. This picture is signed and
dated 1686.
First among landscapes by foreign masters let
us look at Ruysdael's Waterfall in Norway, painted
in 1649, where a road climbs and turns towards the
right upon which a man and two women have
stopped. In the foreground, on the right, a large
tree stands in the centre of brushwood ; and, in the
background, we see a low-roofed hut, and, farther
away on the horizon, a steeple.
There are also two Landscapes by Wynants, one
representing a water course, a hill covered with
brushwood, a road on which a shepherd leads his
flock, and a grove of trees in the background where
a cavalier is seen. The figures are by Adriaen Van
de Velde.
Adriaen Van de Velde has a beautiful landscape
with a mountainous background; and, on the left,
in the middle distance, sheep and a shepherd and
shepherdess, — the latter asleep. In the foreground
we see a bull and a cow; and, on the right, on the
border of a pond, more sheep.
208 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belatan (Balleries
Another picture by Adriaen Van de Velde is the
bagpipe-player. On the left, near a hedge, a shep-
herd is playing the bagpipes to which a shepherdess
listens while the cows and sheep rest. In the mid-
dle distance, one cow is standing, and in the back-
ground we see a hut and a river.
Another by the same painter depicts The Pleas-
ures of Winter, where, on a frozen canal, people
are skating, and a sleigh, drawn by a richly capari-
soned white horse, carries a lord and lady, while
the coachman hangs on by the runners.
This should be compared with Isaak Van Os-
tade's Winter, where on a frozen canal skaters are
making merry. Children and peasants are also
drawing sleighs of various kinds, and some of the
skaters are gathered about a tent, where food and
drink are sold. In the middle distance, there is a
sled drawn by a white horse. On the right, peas-
ants and huts are seen.
There is also a Landscape by Jan Van Goyen, re-
presenting a farm near a river, a grove of trees in
the centre, a plain in the foreground, and a bell-
tower on the horizon. Many peasants enliven the
scene.
The Watermill by Hobbema is a characteristic
landscape in Guelderland. On the left, by a water
course, is a mill, the wheel facing the spectator. In
the centre, on the opposite bank, there is a grove
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TER
BORCH
THE MANDOLIN PLAYER
Plate XXVIII
{See page 212)
Musee Royal
des Beaux-Arts
Antwerp
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIBRARY
Hntwerp 209
of trees bordering a road, along which advance a
peasant and a boy towards a wooden foot-bridge on
the right in the foreground. The flat and wooded
landscape occupies the background and on the hori-
zon is seen a bell-tower. In no other landscape has
the artist given the lights and shadows of a golden
summer's day with more truth and beauty.
Two Italian landscapes are very interesting ex-
amples : one is Jan Baptist Weenix's View of an
Italian Port; and the other Jan Both's View of
Italy, showing a mountainous landscape with a lake
in the background and two peasants leading a mule
along the road. The figures are by Andreas Both.
Karel du Jardin's Italian Landscape, C. Van
Poelenburg's Landscape and Figures, and C. P.
Berchem's Landscape, Figures and Animals may all
be classed w^ith the above, being full of the Italian
taste.
Two Cavaliers by Aalbert Cuyp is interesting for
the figures as well as the landscape. Before an inn
on the left a gentleman in gray doublet and black
hat strides a white horse which a groom holds by
the bridle; in the centre, another in red and a felt
hat with yellow plumes is mounted on a bay horse.
The background, on the right, shows a river bank
and a castle on a mountain.
In a marine by Jan Van de Cappelle, a bark with
passengers on the right is approaching a fishing-
210 XTbe Hrt ot tbe ^Belgian (Ballertes
boat. On the left a barge and other boats at vari-
ous distances as far as the horizon. The clear sky
is lightly dotted with clouds.
Salomon Van Ruysdael has also a Marine in
which a sail boat is going away from the spectator
and in the middle distance is a row boat. Under
some trees on the left nets are drying on the bank
and on the right other boats are going towards the
sea.
The Ferry is full of life and animation. In a flat
boat moving to the right there are three cows with
a herdsman, a carriage drawn by a horse carrying
a family of six, and several other people seated in
the front. The ferryman is pulling on the rope to
make the boat cross ; on the left is the bank covered
with tall trees and the horizon has a church.
A Calm by Willem Van de Velde is in his best
manner. In the centre a Dutch ship seen from the
poop with swelling sail is about to fire a salute ; two
sailors are in a neighbouring barge. On the left
a boat advances, and other boats and ships are seen
on the horizon.
Simon de Vlieger is represented by a Calm Sea
under a luminous sky. In the foreground near a
buoy is a fishing-boat ; in the middle distance on the
right a three-masted Dutch sailing pavilion. On
the bank are windmills and trees.
A typical work by Aart Van der Neer is Moon-
Bntwerp 211
light in Holland. The moon is reflected in a canal
on the right, where boats are also visible. On the
bank, in the centre, two peasants are talking; and
on the left a miller in his wagon and a pedestrian
and his dog are seen on the road. In the middle
distance is a mill, and, farther away, a town.
Turning now to genre by foreign masters, there
is an interesting picture by Eglon Van der Neer of
a Visit to the Invalid, painted in 1664. The invaHd
is seated by a table on which is spread a red cloth
with designs of black and white. She is dressed
in a blue robe embroidered with silver, a white cap
and a red bow on her bodice. She holds the young
baby on her knees. A young man dressed in brown
and white leans over her. In the background on
the right is a canopy bed and a page is by a chair.
A young lady dressed in white silk and a pink plaid
bodice approaches the invalid.
A Village Wedding affords Jan Steen a chance to
depict various types, variously grouped. The scene
takes place in a hall. A cavalier, in gray and a
yellow mantle, is seated at a table, talking to a
w^oman dressed in gray and red. Between them the
head of the bride appears. Farther away a fiddler,
standing on a table, enlivens the company with
music, and several dancers appear in the centre.
Another cavalier stands on the left in slashed doub-
let and plumed hat. In the centre, a dog is lying
212 xibe Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
down beside a mug and a leafy branch hangs from
one of the beams of the ceihng.
A picture in Jan Steen's best manner is Samson
Insulted by the Philistines. In the vestibule of a
palace, Samson, whose feet are bound by cords,
which are being pulled by children, and whose
hands are chained, is being crowned with a fool's
cap by a man, who is also fastening the chains.
Samson is dressed in a yellow tunic, and his locks
are strewn over the floor, by the side of his turban.
A standard-bearer and a dwarf appear on the right ;
and, on the left, Delilah is seated, in a blue robe
with a dog at her side. She is being caressed by
an old man and is mocking at Samson at the same
time. A great number of other figures enliven the
scene; and in the foreground, on a piece of blue
drapery, are placed a copper dish, a flagon and the
scissors, with which Delilah cut Samson's hair. A
curtain is hung from the ceiling; and, on the bal-
cony and staircase in the background, musicians and
soldiers and many people are grouped.
Ter Borch's The Mandolin Player represents a
young girl with light hair, and dressed in a gray
skirt and pink bodice, seated on a red chair play-
ing a mandolin, and reading from a music-book
placed on a table covered with a blue and white
carpet. In the middle distance a young cavalier is
standing, in gray doublet and mantle and a wide
Hntwerp 213
baldrick across his breast. He carries his large
broad-brimmed black hat under his arm.
Adriaen Van Ostade's Smoker is seated in a hall
with pipe in hand, puffing smoke into the air. He
wears a brown vest, gray apron, and red cap, and
has a butcher's knife at his belt. On a round table
a match, some tobacco in a paper and a glass of
beer are placed conveniently. A window opens on
the left upon greenery.
A characteristic scene of rustic life is The Village
Wedding by Jan Victoors. The chief interest cen-
tres in the bride and groom, who are dancing and
holding each other by the hand. The groom is
dressed in brown, and the bride wears a brown
skirt , red waistcoat and white bodice. Behind
them, a table is served; in the background of the
room the guests are crowded together; and in the
foreground, on the right, two children are playing.
In Richard Brakenberg's Kermesse, everybody is
making merry in a hall. In the centre some guests
are at a table and on the left a cook stands by the
fireplace with three children at her side. Some
children are gathered round a barrel on the right
and a young man is teasing a servant. Another
servant is talking to a woman who is cutting bread,
and in the foreground a little girl is asleep on a
chair.
An Interior by Cornelis Dusart the Younger
214 TL\)C Htt ot tbe Belgian (3allertes
depicts a family gathering. The central group con-
sists of a peasant who is holding a piece of bread
to a child in the arms of the mother, who is seated.
Her green bodice, black skirt, violet apron and
white cap form a contrast to the man's blue trou-
sers, brown vest and gray cap. On a table in
the middle distance a man in gray is cutting bread
and looking at a little child. Three persons are at
a table in the background, a fourth is standing; on
a chair is a pot of beer; and on the left, a high
fireplace and a stairway.
The Fish Vendor, by Willem Van Mieris, The
Two Ages, by G. Schalken, and an Old Woman
with a Bottle, by Arie de Vois, should also be
noticed. The subject of the latter wears a red
dress, brown mantle and a black cap, and she leans
with her left hand on a balustrade and lifts a bottle
with her right.
Hondecoeter's treatment of birds is excellently
illustrated by a picture " Animals.'' In the centre,
a white duck and ducklings are in a pond; on the
left is a black duck; and in the middle distance,
another duck lifts its foot.
Philips Wouverman's splendid horses appear in
his Combat of Cavalry and Halt of Cavaliers.
Gerard Houckgeest, who was so fond of painting
the New Church in Delft, has a View of this inte-
rior, showing the tomb of William the Silent in
Hntwerp 215
the middle distance and a grave-digger at work
on the right and also the grille of a chapel. In the
foreground, on the left, a pillar and a dog are con-
spicuous.
One of Gerard Berckheyde's Views of Amster-
dam should also be noticed. It was painted in
1668; and shows the Dam with the Town-Hall, the
New Church on the right; and, on the left, in the
foreground a fruit-market and numerous figures.
Among the choice portraits is one of a Young
Girl by Bartolomeus Van der Heist. She is stand-
ing in a park holding with her left hand the collar
'of a white greyhound and in the right a hunting-
horn. She is dressed in yellow and wears a red
scarf. Pearls ornament her neck, ears and hair.
Another attractive work is Daniel Mytens's Por-
trait of a Young Woman, dressed in black, which
brings out the blonde of her hair. She holds the
folds of her dress in her right hand and in her left
some flowers which are attached to her belt. Her
plumed cap is ornamented with jewels and she
wears a necklace and earrings of pearls. A balus-
trade and column are seen in the background.
Mierevelt's Portrait of Prince Frederick Henry,
dressed in armour with a yellow scarf over his
cuirass from left to right, is another portrait that
deserves the visitor's attention.
Frans Hals has a notable Portrait of a Dutch
216 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Balleries
Lord, seated. His face is smooth-shaven; his hair
long and brown ; and he wears dark clothes slashed
with w^hite and braided with yellow; a flat collar;
and a black mantle. His bare right hand points to
the right and his gloved left hand holds the other
glove. His coat-of-arms appears in the back-
ground.
More famous, however, is Hals's Young Fisher
of Haarlem, a boy with arms crossed on his breast
carrying a basket on his back, who stands facing
the spectator, smiling and showing his teeth. He
wears a red vest and gray cloak and his unkempt
hair escapes from his red cap.
This should be compared with Rembrandt's
Young Fisherman, also in this gallery. The sub-
ject of this picture is three-quarters turned to the
left, with a smiling face and half-opened mouth.
He wears a red vest, white shirt and gray hat.
One of Rembrandt's many portraits of Saskia is
also here. According to Vosmaer, this represents
the painter's wife in the last period of her life ; and,
according to Bode, it is a copy, with alterations, of
the famous picture at Cassel. Saskia is seen in pro-
file against a gray background turned towards the
left wearing a brown mantle trimmed with fur
which she holds with both hands. Her large red
hat is adorned with plumes; and jewels sparkle on
her hat in her hair and on her neck and arms.
1 , ^/-
\ I
r -^*'^r#t-.
'^'V •!
■'^■•v^
FRANS
HALS
FISHER BOY
Plate XXIX
(5"^^ /Jag^ 2i6)
Musee Royal
des Beaux-Arts
Antwerp
V .- T' 'N uNlVhRSlTY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARU
LIBRARY
Hntwerp 21T
Two other Rembrandts remain to be noticed.
The Portrait of an Old Jew, with grayish beard and
moustache and right eye half-closed, is very strik-
ing. He wears a brown doublet, a carelessly tied
cravat and a red and white turban.
The Portrait of a Dutch Burgomaster, shows the
subject seated in an armchair, with one hand on the
arm and the other lifted. In the background, on
the left, a table with some books is seen in the
shadow.
Among Italian pictures there are several attrib-
uted to Simone Martini (or Memmi), pupil of
Duccio.
The Annunciation is an exquisite little work of
this painter's later period. On a golden back-
ground, with crossed hands and strong wings, the
angel Gabriel gracefully kneels clad in pink and
blue drapery. A diadem sparkles in his hair and
he holds a slender lily. Three other works depict
The Virgin; The Crucifixion; and the Descent
from the Cross. The Virgin is seated on a marble
throne covered with rose-coloured drapery, and
wears a blue mantle bordered with gold. Her right
hand is raised and her left hand rests on an open
book on her knees. She seems to be afraid of the
apparition of the Angel. Above on the left the
Holy Spirit descends in a ray of light. On the
steps of the throne stands a lily in a vase. The
218 Zbc Hrt of tbe Belgian Galleries
background is gold. This is similar to the picture
of the Annunciation by the same master in the
Uffizi.
The Crucifixion represents the centurion piercing
the side of Christ with the lance. The Virgin is
fainting in the foreground in the arms of the other
holy women. The Magdalen, in a red robe, em-
braces the foot of the cross; and there are soldiers
on the right, a standard bearer, and a child who
points out the Saviour to his father. Angels are in
the sky.
The Descent from the Cross shows the disciples
on two ladders taking the body from the Cross,
while the Virgin, Mary Magdalen, and others wait
to receive it. A child stands by holding the
winding-sheet and a vase of perfumes. In the
centre, a man, whose back is turned to the spectator,
has the nails; and, in the foreground, a bishop is
kneeling by a skull.
The Antwerp gallery is fortunate in possessing
two works by Giotto — St. Paul and St. Nicholas
of Myra.
On a gold background St. Paul, seen full face,
stands in a green robe embroidered with gold and
a red mantle embroidered with gold and lined with
blue. In his right hand he holds a sword, and in
his left a red book.
St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, is also standing
Bntwerp 219
against a gold background. He wears a white sur-
plice and a green dalmatic lined with red and em-
broidered with gold. His right hand rests on the
head of a kneeling man, and his left holds three
purses.
Another valuable Italian picture is by Fra Ange-
lico (Giovanni da Fiesole), representing St. Romu-
ald reproaching the Emperor Otho HI for the
murder of Crescentius, the senator. In front of
the door of a convent, St. Romuald stands in blue
and gold vestments with a golden verge in his right
hand, and with the left repulsing the Emperor in
rose-coloured robes and golden crown, who not-
withstanding his promises has put to death the
Roman senator Crescentius and carried off his wife.
Beside the Emperor stands his favourite, Tham;
and, in the foreground in front of the bishop, and
seen from behind, a dwarf leans on a golden sword.
Monks appear in the rocky background.
The Crucifixion by Antonello da Messina, the
first Italian painter who followed Van Eyck's
method of painting in oil, is a remarkable picture,
uniting the characteristics of the Italian and Flem-
ish schools. In the centre is erected a very tall
cross, to which Christ is nailed; and, on slender
trees on either side, are bound the thieves in curious
attitudes, — contortions that suggest Michael An-
gelo. On the right, St. John is kneeling in gray
220 XTbe Hrt ot tbe Belgian 6allertes
robe, red mantle and black shoes, his profile turned
to the left; and, on the left, the Virgin is seated in
a deep red gown and blue mantle, with her hands
crossed on her lap. In the foreground, we see an
owl, bones, a skull, out of which creeps a serpent,
and a rabbit. The scene is enacted in a beautiful
landscape where the green valley sinks between
hills, one of which is crowned by a castle, enclosing
an arm of the sea. The sky is clear and the atmos-
phere bright and springlike. The precision of the
Flemish school is strikingly exhibited.
Here we also find a work by Titian, representing
St. Peter in a red robe and brown mantle seated on
a throne on the left of a terrace, overlooking the
sea where several vessels are seen. The base of
the throne is ornamented with bas-reliefs and on it
lie the keys. Alexander VI, in green dalmatic and
tiara, majestically presents the kneeling Jean
Sforza, lord of Pesaro, who bears the standard
with the arms of Borgia in his hand. He is dressed
in a black robe with white sleeves and his helmet
lies at his side. The figures are three-quarters
natural size. This is an early work, dating before
1503-
" It was probably painted at the very moment
when the favour of Alexander the Sixth enabled
Sforza to take command of a squadron against the
Hntwerp 221
Turks. He caused Titian to paint his likeness in
adoration before the majesty of St. Peter. During
the reign of Charles the First of England this pic-
ture was part of the furniture of a private room in
the palace of Whitehall. It passed after the revolu-
tion with many other works of art into Spain. At
Villa Viciosa, in San Pasquale and in the Palace of
Madrid, it was seen at various times by Conca and
Mengs. William the First, King of the Nether-
lands, presented it in 1825 to the municipality of
Antwerp. Though soiled by travel and skinned by
cleaning, it has survived a very thorough process
of repainting, which seriously affects the harmony
of the colours ; but we may still discern beneath
the scrumbling of the restorer the primitive beauty
of the design and the clever facility of the hand-
ling. ^ Baffo ' kneels with the banner of the
Borgias in his hand before the throne of St. Peter.
His dress is that of a Dominican, but the helmet of
a knight lies before him, and proclaims his promo-
tion to a military command. The figure of Alex-
ander the Sixth in full pontificals, bending to rec-
ommend him to the apostle, tells of the protection
to which he owed his appointment and the favour
of the Holy See is suggested by St. Peter, who
sits on a throne to the left and gives the suppliant
his blessing. In the distance to the right, the
222 Ube Hrt ot tbe JSelgtan Galleries
waters and forts of a military harbour in which
galleys are at anchor complete the subject." ^
Part of an altar-piece by Jehan Fouquet (1415-
1483) court painter to Louis XI, represents the
Virgin and Child Jesus, which is of historical in-
terest owing to the fact that the Virgin is a portrait
of Agnes Sorel, mistress of Charles VII, King of
France, who died in 1450. It was given to the
Cathedral of Melun by Etienne Chevalier, one of
the executors of Agnes Sorel. As Agnes Sorel had
no children, it is supposed that Fouquet's own son
was the model for the Holy Infant. The Virgin
is seated in an arm-chair, the back and arms of
which are of marquetry enriched with pearls. She
wears a gray dress, very low in the neck, and a
white mantle lined with ermine. On her head is a
superb crown studded with gems and pearls and
beneath which falls a gauze veil. The Child is
seated on her left knee. Three red angels, one
above the other, stand on either side of the chair,
and the blue background is filled with cherubim of
the same colour.
One of Clouet's most celebrated portraits is that
of Francis II. The subject is turned three-quarters
to the right, one hand upon another posed upon a
rail, wears a yellow doublet slashed with white,
red sleeves with black edging and white shirt. A
' Crowe and Cavalcaselle.
Hntwerp 223
medal is suspended by a black cord around his neck
on which the letter M is engraved, and above his
white linen cap beneath which his blonde hair falls
is a black hat with white feathers and a medal repre-
senting St. Francis kneeling before Christ.
A Holy Family by Victor and Heinrich Diin-
wege, brothers and painters of the school of West-
phalia, is an altarpiece formerly in the Church of
Calcar. In the centre on a high throne is seated
St. Anne in a green robe, dark red mantle and white
veil. In her left hand, she holds an open book and
her right is placed on the shoulder of the Virgin,
who is seated at her feet. She is in a blue robe and
her long unbound hair is adorned with a golden
crown. In her arms, she holds the Child Jesus.
On the left, in the foreground, Mary the wife of
Alpheus, in a blue robe, red mantle and white veil,
holds two of her children on her knees, while the
others play at her feet. Behind her stands Alpheus,
who is counting on his fingers, and an assistant.
St. Joseph in a blue doublet with green sleeves and
red mantle is handing a basket of cherries to St.
Anne. Mary Salome sits on ^the right in a yellow
skirt lined with blue, a green mantle and white
veil. She holds two children on her knees. Her
husband Zebedee stands behind her, dressed in red,
wearing a turban and reading a book. St. Joachim
is against the throne looking at St. Anne with a
224 TLbc Hrt ot tbe Belatan (Ballertes
hat and a cane in his hands. The background con-
sists of a landscape where a city is seen on the bank
of a river. The name of each child is in golden
letters.
A Portrait of Frederick III, Elector of Saxony,
is by Albrecht Diirer, seen full face long beard and
moustache, black clothes, fur collar, white shirt and
cap covering his ears. On the left a coat-of-arms.
Conrad Fyoll has a fine triptych, the central panel
representing the Adoration of the Magi and the two
wings The Nativity and The Circumcision. The
King with the Order of the Golden Fleece around
his neck is supposed to be Philip the Good.
Lucas Cranach has a characteristic Adam and
Eve. By the apple tree laden with fruit Eve stands
holding a bough with her left hand and offering
an apple to Adam with her right. The serpent is
coiled around the tree.
Charity is another picture by this master. In a
landscape where there is a house on the rocks in
the background, and a hedge in the middle distance,
is seated a young woman nursing a child. Other
children are variously grouped around her.
A Portrait of Erasmus in his Study is by Hans
Holbein the Younger. The scholar wears a black
hoiippelande bordered with fur and a black cap. In
his left hand he has a roll of paper. His right hand
rests on a book resting on a table beside a porcelain
ANTONELLO
DA MESSINA
CALVARY
Plate XXX
{See page 219)
Musee Royal
des Beaux-Arts
Antwerp
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
rpusr^- ^p LIBERAL ARTS
ijMRARY
Hntwerp 225
hour-glass. On the shelves in the background are
volumes and a golden cup.
A Portrait of a Man with blonde beard and
moustache, also dressed in a black houppelande and
black cap and white collar, is also attributed to
Diirer.
The Gallery of Modern Paintings contains many-
good examples of Belgian paintings since 1830, al-
though it is not, on the whole, as fine a collection
as the Brussels gallery. Historical pictures, por-
traits, genre and landscape are all represented, land-
scape, perhaps, occupying the greater number of the
frames. The Antwerp painters are well repre-
sented. Hendrik Leys is seen in a Flemish Wed-
ding in the Seventeenth Century, — an early work ;
Rubens at a fete in Antwerp, painted in 185 1 ; Pif-
ferari, painted in 1856; a portrait of his wife and
daughter; and studies of portraits and costumes
for the frescoes in the H6tel-de-Ville.
Nicaise de Keyser may be studied in an Easter
Procession in Seville; Charles V liberating Chris-
tian Slaves on the Capture of Tunis, painted in
1873; ^^^ ^ ^^^1 Fight, dated 1881. His pupil,
Charles Verlat, by a number of works that show
his versatility: a Pieta; Vox Dei, a triptych,
painted in 1877; Buffalo and Lion Fighting
(1878) ; Madonna and Child with the Evangelist,
a triptych (1873); Oriental Studies; portrait of
226 Ube Hrt of tbe BelGtan (Ballertes
J. Lies, the artist; the Rising in Antwerp on Aug.
24, 1577, when the shattered statue of the Duke of
Alva was dragged through the streets; and his
celebrated Cart and Horses, painted in Paris in
1857-
Ferdinand de Braekeleer is represented by Plun-
dering of Antwerp by the Spaniards in 1576; and
The Village-School, painted in 1852; his son,
Henri de Braekeleer, by The Gardener and a Tav-
ern in Antwerp.
Among the earliest pictures are The Death of
Rubens, painted by Mattheus Ignatius Van Bree in
1827 ; and the Holy Family painted by F. J. Navez
in 1848.
The historical subjects include:
Gustav Wappers's Brothers de Witt awaiting in
their prison in The Hague the entrance of the mob ;
A. de Vriendt's Pope Paul III before the Portrait
of Luther, painted in 1883; Battle of Trafalgar by
H. Schaefels, painted in 1879, and the British Fleet
before Flushing in 1809, painted in 1889; Ch.
Ooms's Philip II paying the last honours to Don
Juan of Austria; and J. Lies's Prisoners of War,
The Foe is Coming, and Albrecht Diirer travelling
on the Rhine, painted in 1855.
Edouard de Biefve's Banquet of the Gueux, rep-
resents the gathering of several hundred of the
Netherland noblemen on April 6, 1566, when they
Hntwerp 227
drank success to the Gueux, the day after they had
presented their request to Margaret of Parma for
the aboHtion of inquisitorial courts. The scene is
Count Kuilemburg's palace in the Rue des Petits-
Carmes in Brussels. There is also a copy of Louis
Gallait's picture in Tournai, representing the guilds
of Brussels paying the last honours to the bodies of
Count Egmont and Count Hoorn.
Among the classical subjects is J. Stallaert's Im-
molation of Polyxena on the funeral pile of Achilles ;
and there is a copy of Wiertz's Contest for the body
of Patroclus. A popular picture of legendary sub-
ject is Lady Godiva riding through the streets of
Coventry, painted in 1870, by J. Van Lerius.
Among religious pictures we find J. de Vriendt's
Raising of Jairus's Daughter; Constantin Meu-
nier's St. Stephen, painted in 1867; ^^^ The
Shulamite Maiden, painted by Wappers in 1870.
Wappers's Mother and Child (1854) is also in
this collection; and turning to the portraits the
most notable are : Jan van Beers's two of Benoit
the composer and Henri Rochefort and his famous
Lady in White; J. F. Portaels's Hendrik Con-
science; E. de Latour's Portrait of a Painter
(1855); and a group of artists by H. Luyten,
painted in 1886. J. L. David has a study of a head;
and there is a likeness of Constantin Van der Nest,
by Wiertz.
228 XEbe Hrt ot tbe 3Belcitan (Balleries
The Coffee Roaster by Charles de Groux is one
of the most highly prized modern works. The vis-
itor should also notice Victor Lagye's Gipsy
(1875); Verstraete's House of Death; L. Abry's
Barrack-yard (1887); J- P- Van Regemorter's
Quarrel over Cards; G. Portielje's Lost (1894);
Van Engelen's Belgian Emigrants (1890); A.
Stevens's Despair; E. Slingeneyer's Martyrs; J.
Lies's Contrasts; Van Leemputten's Distribution
of Bread in a Flemish Village (1892); J. Geer-
aert's Interior of St. Paul's Church, Antwerp; P.
Van der Ouderaa's Judicial Reconciliation in St.
Joseph's chapel, Antwerp Cathedral (1879); Jan
Van de Roye's Fruit; and E. Farasyn's Old Fish
Market at Antwerp.
Animals and landscapes with cattle are numer-
ous. Jean Baptiste Stobbaerts has a picture of
Dogs, and another called Leaving the Stable; J.
L. Van Kuyck has a Stable; Marie Collart, a
Farm- Yard, painted in 1890; A. J. Verwee,
Horses; Verboeckhoven, Going to Market, painted
in 1854, and a picture of Cattle, life-size; and Th.
de Bock, a Landscape with Cattle (1898).
Isidore Verheyden's Pilgrims in the Antwerp
Campine; J. T. Coosemans's Winter in the Cam-
pine; Isidore Meyers's On the Banks of the
Scheldt ; J. B. Kindermans's Landscape ; Theodore
Fourmois's Scene in the Ardennes near Dinant;
Hntwerp 229
Frans Courtens's Avenue of Trees (1894); P.
Clays's River Scene near Dort ; L. Fr. Van Kuyck's
Wood cutter (1882); J. P. F. Lamoriniere's Pine
Wood; B. C. Koekkoek's Scene near Cleves
(1882); H. Source's Return from Flushing
(1878); L. Douzette's Winter Scene by Moon-
light; E. de Schampheleer's View of Gouda
(1878) ; A. de Knyff's Village of Chaslepont; L.
Munthe's Winter Scene; A. Alphonse Asselberg's
Sunset; Jacques Rosseels's Landscape; and Neigh-
bourhood of Waasmijnster ; Van Luppen's Autumn
Scene (1878); L. Artan's Sea-Piece; J. F. Ver-
has's Beach at Heyst (1884) ; E. Leemans's Sum-
mer Evening on the Sea; and E. Wauters's On the
Kasr-en-Nil in Cairo are illustrative of the devel-
opment of landscape and marine pictures in the last
half of the Nineteenth Century.
There are few foreign painters represented; but
the visitor should notice A. Achenbach's Stormy
Weather in Ostend harbour (1875) ; Bouguereau's
Women at the Sepulchre (1876); and Cabanel's
Cleopatra testing Poisons on Criminals.
V.
CHAPTER IV
antwerp — the hotel -de - ville and the
musee plantin - moretus ; ghent the mu-
seum ; tournai — the municipal picture
gallery; ypres — the museum; and mech-
LIN THE CIVIC museum
The Hotel-de-Ville
The H6tel-de-Ville deserves a visit. It was
built in 1561-65 by Cornelis de Vriendt in the Re-
naissance style; and was restored in 1581 after it
was damaged by the Spaniards. The figure of the
Virgin, the patron saint of Antwerp, was placed in
the niche above the central portion of the building
in 1585. On her right and left are figures of Wis-
dom and Justice.
Mural paintings adorn many of the halls and
rooms. The subjects naturally deal with Ant-
werp's history. Chief of all is the Salle Leys, which
was decorated in 1864- 1869, ^7 Hendrik Leys, "to
glorify the ancient rights of the city of Antwerp
and to relate by examples taken from history, how,
230
dOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIBRARY
Hntwerp 231
in exercising these privileges, the written law lives
in deeds." These pictures exemplify: Indepen-
dence, or Solemn Entry of Charles V, who swears
to respect the privileges of the city (15 14) ; Self-
Defence, or the Burgomaster Van Ursele giving
the magistrate Van Spanghen command of the
municipal guard for the defence of the city (1541) ;
Municipal Rights, or Batt. Palavicini of Genoa re-
ceiving the rights of citizenship in 1541 ; and Self-
Government, or Margaret of Palma giving the keys
of the city to the Burgomaster during the troubles
of 1566. These works are in Leys's third manner.
Paul Mantz considers them the painter's crowning
work. He says :
" By these you can best appreciate the maturity
of his talent, the sureness of his style, his art of
grouping people in great scenes and of individual-
izing types, and finally that retrospective intuition
which he possessed in such a high degree that he
makes history live again."
Above the doors are portraits of the twelve
princes who governed Antwerp from Henry I of
Lorraine (1220) to Philippe le Bel (1491). The
arms of the city and guilds are on the ceiling.
Mural paintings also by Leys adorn the walls of
the ante-room leading to the Salle des Marriages,
which were taken from the painter's house in the
rue Leys, when it was pulled down in 1898.
232 XTbe Hrt ot tbe JSelglan Galleries
The Salle des Marriages contains five frescoes
by Lagye (1885-1891) : I. A Druidical Marriage;
11. A Roman Marriage; III. First Christian Mar-
riage in Antwerp, in 650 ; the Marriage of Philippe
le Bel and Jeanne de Castile in 1497; and IV. the
first Civil Marriage celebrated in Antwerp in 1796.
In this room, the visitor should note a fine Re-
naissance chimney-piece of the Sixteenth Century
in black and wdiite marble.
A chimney-piece by Cornelis de Vriendt, with a
relief representing the Judgment of Solomon, orna-
ments the antechamber of the Salle du Conseil Com-
munal. A finer chimney-piece, however, decorates
the Burgomaster's Room, a splendid example of
Renaissance sculpture, representing the Last Sup-
per, the Raising of the Serpent, the Crucifixion, and
Abraham's Sacrifice. This came from the old
Abbey of Tongerloo in Belgium.
The great staircase is ornamented with Belgian
marbles.
Musee Plantin-Morctus
Lovers of old furniture will find much to interest
them in the Musee Plantin-Moretus, in the Marche
du Vendredi, the house of the celebrated printer,
Christopher Plantin (15 14- 1589), a native of
Tours, who, after spending several years in Paris,
established a printing business in Antwerp in 1549.
Hntwcrp - 233
Here he kept twenty-two presses at work. From
1576 until 1876, when the city purchased the house
for a Museum, the family had carried on the busi-
ness, Plantin having been succeeded by his son-in-
law, Moretus and the latter by his descendants.
The house and its contents offer a rare example of
the dwelling of a Flemish man of wealth at the
end of the Sixteenth Century. In addition to the
fine old furniture, tapestry, gilt leather hangings,
rare books, old bindings, etc., there are ninety por-
traits of interest, fifteen of which are by Rubens ;
and there are also many drawings, title-pages,
vignettes by this versatile master, who frequently
designed for printers. There are also other designs
by Erasmus Ouellin, Martin de Vos, Jan Van Or-
ley, A. Van Noort and others.
Ghent: The Museum
The Museum of Ghent was created by the French
deputy Citoyen Hopsomer in the year VI and was
housed in Church of St. Pierre; but about 1809
it was removed to its present home in the old Con-
vent of the Augustines in the rue Sainte-Margue-
rite.
Though not ranking with the galleries of Ant-
werp and Brussels, Ghent possesses many valuable
and interesting w^orks.
234 XTbe art of tbe ^Belatan (Balleries
Burgher wrote:
" The Ghent Museum contains several fine paint-
ings, among which are those of De Craeyer ; a great
Rubens — St. Francis receiving the Stigmata,
painted in 1632; a Van Utrecht of the first order;
a Last Judgment by Van Coxie ; a Martin De Vos,
signed and dated; several works by Nicholas Lie-
maeckere (called Roose), a strange colour ist whom
we seldom see in the Flemish churches; and some
rare pictures, such as a Peter Boel of Antwerp —
Dead Game ; and an excellent Heda — a table set
with fruit and drinking-glasses and with a back-
ground of sky."
Caspar De Craeyer, who removed from Brussels
to Ghent about 1664 and was responsible for a
slight artistic movement in this city, is largely rep-
resented in this gallery. Moreover, many of his
works gathered here are masterpieces.
Let us first examine The Judgment of Solomon.
Fine of type and commanding in attitude, the new
king, seated on his throne and crowned, extends
his sceptre bidding the soldier, who has a sword,
to divide the child in half. The gestures and faces
of the two mothers, the true one kneeling and ar-
resting the soldier's action, are eloquent. The dead
child lies on the steps of the throne. Many specta-
tors are on the right, and soldiers stand on the left.
The shadows are very heavy.
Hntwerp 235
The Coronation of St. Rosalie shows her grace-
ful figure kneeling before the Virgin, who is en-
throned with the Infant Jesus in her lap. At her
side are two angels with roses; and a third, above
the group, holds a curtain. St. Rosalie is in white
satin with gold-embroidered mantle ; her hair is un-
bound ; and she holds a rosary in one hand, while
the other rests on her breast. A branch of lilies,
some books and a skull are by her side; and an
archangel also beside her is handing the crown to
the Child Jesus, who will place it upon St. Rosalie's
head. A mountainous landscape appears in the dis-
tance on the left.
The Martyrdom of St. Blaisius is the last work
painted by Craeyer. In the excessive agitation of
the attitudes, the freedom of the design and the ex-
aggerated warmth of the colour one would rather
recognize the ardour of youth than the chill of old
age.
The painter was eighty-six when he signed this
work, a copy of which is in the Brussels Museum.
Another fine picture is called St. John in the
Island of Patmos. The sain,t is seated on a rock
and gazing into the sky. By his side is an inkstand,
and, in his right hand, a pen. On the left is an
eagle's head.
In Tobias and the Angel, the latter stands on the
left watching Tobias, who is extracting the gall
236 U\)c Hrt Of tbe Belgian Galleries
bladder from a fish. Behind him his dog is drink-
ing from the river that flows through the fore-
ground. Only the trunks of the trees are repre-
sented and mountains are seen in the background.
Among De Craeyer's other pictures are : The Vir-
gin Delivering Souls from Purgatory upon the In-
tercession of St. Simon Stock; St. vSimon Stock
Receiving the Scapulary from the Virgin ; the Mar-
tyrdom of St. Laurence and a series of pictures that
decorated the triumphal arches erected in the
Marche du Vendredi in Ghent on the entrance of
Ferdinand, cardinal infant of Spain.
De Craeyer's pupil. Van Cleef, is represented by
four pictures. The Manna is, perhaps, the most
original. Here Moses, with a rod in his hand, lifts
his eyes to Heaven while the Children of Israel
gather the manna in a rocky and verdurous land-
scape. St. Joseph crowned by Jesus is also con-
sidered a masterpiece. The subjects of the two
other works are a Holy Family and a Crucifixion.
Theodor Rombouts's Five Senses is one of the
most famous pictures in the gallery. Every one of
the figures around the table is splendidly treated:
the old man on the right adjusting his spectacles
and holding a mirror is sight; a young man beside
him, beautifully dressed and playing the guitar, is
hearing; a sort of Bacchus, with tiger skin thrown
over his body, a glass in one hand and a bottle of
Hntwerp 237
wine In the other, is taste; a blind old man feeling
a marble bust is touch; and a young man standing
with a pipe in one hand and a clove of garlic in
the other is svicll. In the foreground, are melons,
onions, bread, musical instruments ; and a building
with columns, partly covered by a curtain, occupies
the background. On the left, is a tree trunk.
Like his master Janssens, and fellow-pupil Se-
ghers, Rombouts was behind the times : he strug-
gled against the tendencies inaugurated by Rubens,
and yet sometimes he was influenced in spite of
himself by the methods he professed to combat.
The Dream of St. Joseph, when closely studied,
shows that this master was hesitating and weak in
his art faith. The angel that appears to the sleep-
ing saint to warn him that it is time to flee from the
persecution of Herod is inspired by the Itahan in-
fluence; it has dash, and shines with a vital and
agitated grace. The lower part of the composition
is more vulgar, and the style is that of the common
Antwerp school. However, the painting is quite
broadly and freely done. Descamps says in his
Voyage pittoresqiie, that it is correct in drawing,
well composed, well coloured and has ease and
strength in its execution. Sir Joshua Reynolds,
who saw this picture when it was the altar-piece of
the Dominican church in Ghent, wrote in his note-
book:
238 Ubc Hrt of tbe Belgian (Galleries
" St. Joseph Advertised by an Angel, by Rom-
bouts. The Angel is an upright figure and treads
on the air with great grace ; his countenance is like-
wise beautiful, as is that also of the Virgin."
In this picture, the St. Joseph has fallen asleep
and before him stands an angel in white satin robes
bidding him take flight into Egypt. On the left,
the Virgin is seated with the Holy Child on her
lap and angels with baskets of flowers bear them
company. Other angels scatter flowers from the
sky.
A curious work by the same painter shows the
bust of a man whose right shoulder is bare. He
wears a rose-coloured silk cap adorned with a blue
plume and in one hand holds a lighted pipe and in
the other a glass of beer.
Rombouts's mythological pictures are rare. His
Themis, or Allegory of Justice, was painted for the
decoration of the Hall of Justice of the Hotel de
Ville, Ghent, in 1635. Themis is seated on a
throne surrounded by judges whose decisions she
inspires. Four figures, representing the four quar-
ters of the world, and other symbolic personages,
respectfully listen to her decrees and seem to render
homage to her infallible wisdom. It is warm in
colour and broad in drawing and composition.
Nicholas de Liemaeckere (called Roose) is rep-
resented here by eight works: The Trinity; a
G. DE
CRAEYER
ASSUMPTION OF ST. CATHERINE
Plate XXXII
{See page 302)
Palais des
Beaux-Arts
Brussels
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
nOLLEGF OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIBRARY
Hntwerp 239
Bust of Christ with the Cross on his shoulder; a
Bust of Christ Crowned with Thorns ; the Apotheo-
sis of the Virgin; St. Bernard praying before a
Crucifix ; St. Norbert, with a cross in one hand and
a ring in the other; and two Holy Families.
The scene of one Holy Family is laid in a land-
scape. St. Anne is presenting an apple to the Child
and little St. John has a parrot for him. St. Joseph
is near the latter. Two angels on the right scatter
flowers on the Holy Child.
The other Holy Family represents the Virgin as
seated on the left with Jesus in her arms. With
her right hand she offers him a bunch of grapes
from a dish of fruit on the edge of which a parrot
is perched. The dish rests on a basket of fruit and
around it are melons, grapes and pears. In the
centre an angel with his arms full of flowers is
running to offer a lily to Jesus, and St. Joseph
hands a pear to Him across the Virgin's shoulder.
A pear-tree and a rose-hedge are decorative ob-
jects behind the group, and in the background we
see a church and houses. In the foreground there
is a flower bed in which tulips are conspicuous.
Rubens's St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata
shows the- ecstatic saint kneeling full face by a rock
and receiving the stigmata from a winged cross,
which appears in the clouds on the left. Behind the
rocks, a monk lifts his right hand and regards the
240 Ube Hrt of tbe BelGtan (Ballertes
cross. In the foreground plants creep over the
rocks and around the trunk of a tree; and before
the saint are an open book and a death's head.
Mountains are seen in the distance.
The Holy Family by Martin de Vos the Elder is
dated 1585. The Holy Child is seated on His
mother's lap and holds in one hand a grape from a
bunch held by the Virgin. He seems to want to
hand it through St. Anne to little St. John, by
whose side a lamb is lying. The picture is filled
with a number of other figures and incidents, and
far away in the distance the Visit to Elizabeth is
represented.
St. Sebastian Consoled by Angels after his Mar-
tyrdom by Peter Thys the Elder shows the Saint
lying under a tree. Angels are beside him untying
the cords and withdrawing the arrows. Two an-
gels are bringing from the sky the crown and palm
of martyrdom.
The same painter may be studied in a Temptation
of St. Anthony and a Conversion of St. Hubert.
The latter contemplates the stag with the crucifix
between his horns.
Passing to another conversion, we find a very
different work in the Conversion of St. Matthew
by Jan Van Hemissen. St. Matthew is standing
behind a counter in a splendid hall. Turned
towards the left, he has crossed his hands on his
antwerp 241
breast and is looking at Christ, who is in the fore-
ground among a group of men. A scribe is busy
near St. Matthew; and other people are counting
money and occupied with papers.
The visitor cannot fail to notice Frans Pourbus
the Elder's large triptych with twenty-two scenes
from the life of Christ, and which contains on the
back a representation of the Last Supper. The
same artist has another large work, Isaiah Predict-
ing to Hezekiah his Recovery, with the miracle of
the sun for the central panel; and, on the wings, a
Crucifixion and the Donor, the Abbot del Rio. The
Raising of Lazarus is represented on the reverse in
grisaille.
Of Jordaens's three works, St. Ambrose, The
Reconciliation, and Woman Taken in Adultery, the
second is the only one hard to understand. The
subject is taken from the fifth chapter of St. Mat-
thew. Two men are embracing before they ap-
proach the altar, on which is burning a lamp and
where the High Priest stands with censer in hand
to bless them. An acolyte with a taper stands on
either side of the altar. Many people are bringing
offerings of pigeons, chickens and sheep.
Another religious work of importance is the
Vision of St. Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi, by Theo-
door Boeyermans. The saint is kneeling in ecstasy,
supported by an angel, and receiving a heart from
242 Ubc Hrt ot tbe JBelgtan Oallertes
Christ, who is descending from a cloud. On the
right, is a kneehng CarmeHte martyr, and behind
him St. Theresa with a crucifix in one hand and a
heart in the other hand. God the Father, the Holy
Spirit, a group of angels and the Virgin are
above.
The Last Judgment by Raphael Van Coxie
shows Christ seated on a rainbow, extending his
right arm. On His left is the Virgin, on His right,
St. John and around them are many saints. Below
the rainbow, two angels are each holding an open
book. On the left, are the Elect looking to Christ;
on the right, the Damned being strangled by ser-
pents and demons. St. Michael is seen in the back-
ground. It is said that the painter has depicted
himself in the midst of the Elect, wearing a green
hat, with his profile turned to the right.
The characteristics of Verhaegen — bold execu-
tion and brilliant colour — ■ are shown in his Pres-
entation in the Temple, painted in 1767. Simon,
in pontifical robes, at the left of the altar offers the
Infant Jesus to God. Mary and Joseph are in front
of him and Anne and Joachim a little to the left.
An old scribe is writing the name of the Child in
a book supported by another old man. Choir-boys
with lighted candles, two women, one carrying a
child, and children playing with pigeons, are to be
noted among the groups. In the background are
Hntwerp 243
seen rich columns, the temple walls, golden vessels
and a green curtain.
Among the other devotional pictures we should
note:
Martin Van Heemskerk's Calvary and a Christ
Crowned with Thorns and attended by two angels ;
Van Den Avont's Holy Family in a landscape, with
rocks and distant mountains and angels bringing
fruits and a lamb ; Van den Heuvel's Adoration of
the Shepherds; Jan Janssens's Annunciation; and
Gossaert's Ecce Homo.
Two interesting works in which Nature is of
more importance than the incidents are by Lucas
Achtschelling, an early painter of landscapes. One
represents a mountainous background and a sunken
road where Christ and two disciples are walking
to Emmaus. On the left by a river two shepherds
tend their flocks. A mountainous background, a
river and a grotto furnish the setting for the other
in which the kneeling St. Benoit receives a basket,
which is lowered to him by a rope from another
monk. Near St. Benoit a demon is seen, taking
flight.
Pieter Neeffs's talent for depicting the reflection
of artificial light is seen to advantage in The De-
liverance of Peter, in a subterranean prison with
heavy pillars, lighted by lamps and by a fire on the
left. Among the sleeping prisoners attached to the
244 XTbe Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Ballertes
columns by chains is St. Peter, who is being de-
livered by an angel. Lances and arms are placed
against the walls and columns, and two soldiers on
the right are asleep at a table.
An interesting work by the now rare Wouter
Knyf, a native of Haarlem, and famous for his
views of towns, is a view of a town on the border
of a river. Houses and castles with towers and
drawbridges are represented and also boats of vari-
ous kinds. Many figures enliven the scene.
Here we also find the masterpiece of Frans
Duchatel. Every one who has seen this picture is
at a loss to explain how it is that its painter holds
so small a place in the books devoted to Flemish
art. It is an enormous picture, about twenty feet,
depicting with perfect accuracy the ceremony of the
Inauguration of the King of Spain, Charles II, as
Count of Flanders and Duke of Brabant. This
festival took place in Ghent on the Place du Ven-
dredi on May 2, 1666. Charles, who was only a
child, does not appear in Duchatel's picture. He is
represented by the Marquis Francesco of Castel-
Rodrigo, governor and captain-general of the Neth-
erlands and Burgundy. After the Marquis come
the bishops of Bruges and Ypres, the high clergy
of the good cities of Flanders, the kings of arms,
the flower of the nobility, the chiefs of the city
guards and the burgomasters, bailiffs, aldermen and
Hntwetp 245
recorders of those old municipal associations, which
even in the Seventeenth Century preserved so much
vitality and importance. Around these personages,
who are nearly all historical portraits, and among
the doyens of these guilds and corporations of
workmen and artists is grouped a crowd of the
curious attracted by the solemnity of the spectacle.
In the midst of these is a modest painter, Frans
Duchatel himself, holding in his hand a roll of
paper on which you can read his name and the date
1668, a valuable detail, because it proves that this
work, whose execution might easily have taken ten
years of work, was accomplished in less than twenty
months.
*' This great picture is one of the cleverest works
of the Flemish school. In the arrangement of
these groups, collected without confusion and com-
bined without disorder, you feel the natural swarm-
ing of an active and joyous crowd. Each person
separately considered is a portrait and it is evident
that Duchatel painted from models. The heads
softly-lighted have character; the horses, the arms,
the clothes, the accessories, the platform decorated
with bright colours for the ceremony, and even the
houses with their peaked gables that surround the
scene, all are treated with great spirit and with a
brush that is purely Flemish. The colours are
vigorous and warm and, whether studied as a whole
246 Ube Hrt ot tbe JSelgtan (Galleries
or in detail, whether examined from far or near,
the vital picture impresses the eye as a free, virile
and striking work." ^
Among the portraits of interest is one by Frans
Hals, dated 1640, and Van Dyck's Portrait of a
Man in mantle and ruff with a beautifully painted
ring on his little finger.
■ Pieter Brueghel's Wedding Feast is an interest-
ing picture of contemporary manners and customs.
In a country house a group of guests are seated
around a table, the bride in the centre, dressed in
black with a yellow collar. Behind her, on a gray
curtain, two crowns are hung. The scene is en-
livened by musicians and servants in more or less
bright costumes.
Two interiors of a church by Henri Van der
Vliet are interesting studies of their class. A View
of a Garden with Animals, cocks, rabbits, a par-
rot and a peacock, by David De Koninck, and a
Landscape by Asselyn should be noticed and also
two mythological works by Richard Van Orley.
One of these represents the Transformation of the
Pierides — the nine sisters who defied the Muses
— into magpies. In this there is an allegorical
figure of the river that falls into cascades in the
foreground. The other work depicts Juno placing
the eyes of Argus in the tail of a peacock. The
* Paul Mantz.
A. MORO
THE DUKE OF ALVA
Plate XXXIII
iSee page 336)
Palais des
Beaux-Arts
Brussels
c^OSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGf-: OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIPRARY
Hntwerp 247
goddess is seated in a beautiful landscape with her
nymphs; Iris descends from the sky; the dead
body of Argus lies in the foreground; Mercury
takes flight to Olympus ; and the cow lo escapes on
the left.
The Ghent gallery is rich in still-life. Of the
first order is Adriaen van Utrecht's Fishmonger's
Shop, which appropriately ornamented the chim-
ney-piece in the kitchen of the Abbey of St. Pierre,
Ghent.
The shop is filled with fish of many kinds — on
the walls, on the tables, in baskets and in kegs.
Towards the left is the shopkeeper, with a knife
in one hand and a slice of fish in the other, talking
to his wife. A young thief takes advantage of this
moment to run away with the purse. The sea is
seen in the distance.
** This picture is a masterpiece," says Paul
Mantz. " The Flemish brush has never rendered
with more sympathy, and, at the same time, breadth,
the rude envelope of the lobster, the amusing de-
formity of the crab and the silvery scales of the
fish. And what solid and faithful execution!
What care in every detail! What masterly free-
dom in the whole ! "
From this picture, we may turn to a splendid
still life group by J. Van Es (or Van Essen), who
very nearly equalled Van Utrecht in depicting lob-
248 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
sters, oysters and other shell-fish, while his exquis-
ite treatment of fruits gave hiin the name of the
*' Flemish Heda." The table is temptingly set with
a dish of oysters with two lemons by its side; a
pepper-cruet; a terra cotta jug; a glass with a gold
foot; a dish of white and red grapes; a golden
vase; a bowl of pears, apricots, plums and hazel-
nuts; a plate of olives; and two enormous dishes
of pastry and cakes.
The fine example of Heda here, so much admired
by Burger, represents a table covered with pewter
plates, glasses and a pewter mug, which is upset.
On the plates are olives, the remains of some pies,
a lemon and some hazel-nuts. In the background,
you see a landscape, with buildings, a waterfall and
distant mountains.
Very similar is the picture by Cornelis Mahy (or
Mahu), in which the same objects are arranged on
the table, in nearly the same order.
Another appetizing table by Frans Ykens is
spread with a w^hite cloth and dishes containing the
remains of a dessert. On one plate are two lemons
and a knife, and behind it a glass half filled with
wine ; there are also a pew^ter mug ; a bowl of nuts ;
and a dish with cheese standing in front of a Vene-
tian glass.
Peter Boel's Dead Game is an excellent example
of the work of Snyders's favourite pupil. In a
Bntwerp 249
lovely landscape, with mountains in the distance, is
a grove of trees on the left, and on one of these is
suspended a dead hare. Beside it a heron is lying
and scattered about the ground are partridges,
woodcocks, a duck, and some little birds.
Among the other still life pictures let us glance
at one by J. Speeckaert, representing some peaches,
plums, cherries, etc., and a basket of flowers on the
rail of a balustrade ; Fruits and Flowers by Joseph-
ine de Noter, also containing a bird's nest; Flowers
and Fruits by Adrienne Jeanne Haanen; Flowers
by Henri Robbe, consisting of six roses, two lilies
and a peony; and a very elaborate picture by Jan
Robie, showing a table set with fish, lobsters, arti-
chokes, a plate with lemons (one partly peeled),
and, on a carved sideboard, a dish of strawberries
and a vase of flowers.
Among the works of the Eighteenth and Nine-
teenth Centuries we may cite J. B. De Roy's Sun-
rise, a landscape with animals; Joseph Paelinck's
Judgment of Paris and his Juno ; another Juno by
J. B. Maes-Canini; a Landscape by P. L. Kindt;
a winter scene by Josse Sacre.; a view of Ghent in
winter, by P. F. De Noter; a landscape near Cour-
trai and a Landscape in Stormy Weather by J. B.
De Jonghe; two Italian landscapes by Edouard
Devigne; a landscape with animals by E. Ver-
boeckhoven; Fishermen Casting their Nets by
250 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belalan Galleries
Moonlight, by L. De Winter; a landscape by
Lamoriniere ; the Morning after a Shipwreck by
P. J. Clays; Nicaise de Keyser's Massacre of the
Innocents; Landscape with Animals by P. X. De
Cock; the Fisherman's Widow by H. J. Bource;
F. De Braekeleer's Bats, where the whole house-
hold is in a state of excitement because two bats
have managed to get in; La Queteuse by G. L. De
Jonghe; Hermaphroditus and the Nymph Salma-
cis, the latter crowned with flowers and kneeling
on the border of a stream with her right hand on
the shoulder of the young man, by Navez, who is
also represented by Virgil reading the ^neid in
the presence of Augustus; the Harp Lesson, by
Joseph Geirnaert; Chess, by J. J. Eeckhout; Hebe,
by Charles Picque; Flora, by Victor De La Croix;
The Saviour and the Pharisees, by Louis Gallait;
a Landscape, by H. D. Verbeeck ; Noah Leaving the
Ark, by Jean Bataille; Landscape, by Rosseels;
Mother Bathing her Child in the Sea, by Zorn ; The
Little Painter, by Verhas; Bulls Fighting, by A.
Verwee; and Cows by Xavier de Cock.
Louvain — The Museum
The H6tel-de-Ville of Louvain is one of the most
beautiful town-halls in Belgium, a rich example of
late Gothic architecture built by Matthew de Lay-
ens between 1447 and 1463. The fagades are lav-
Bntwerp 251
ishly embellished with statues of persons prominent
in the history of Louvain, and decorated with carv-
ings from the Old and New Testament.
The interior is somewhat disappointing; but the
Salle Gothique has a finely carved ceiling and is
adorned with pictures representing local events and
portraits of eminent citizens.
The Museum on the second floor contains civic
antiquities and a few paintings.
Of the Flemish School of the Fifteenth Century
there is one representing Christ in the Arms of God
the Father. The latter, in a red robe and crowned,
holds the naked Christ. Below, two angels in
white hold the ends of the winding sheet and two
others hover above with the instruments of the
passion.
Cornelis de Vos's two wings of a triptych show
on the left the donor, Kinschodt, in a black costume,
kneeling before a Prie-Dieu, accompanied by his
four sons ; and on the right a similar picture of
his wife, kneeling with her five daughters.
There is also here a picture by De Craeyer of an
Angel presenting to Christ two little boys and a
little girl.
The works of Jan Van Rillaert seen here are
somewhat in the style of Bernard Van Orley. The
chief of these are two wings of a triptych — the
Fall of Simon the Magician and The Defeat of the
252 Ube Hrt ot tbe 3Bel(3lan Galleries
Mohammedans (or, rather, The Conversion of St.
Paul). The first depicts an assemblage of lords in
a landscape, all in brilliant costumes, some standing
and some sitting, looking at the magician and
demon in the air. In the middle distance there are
ladies on white horses with pages holding the
bridles. On the reverse is a picture of St. Margaret,
who is seated in a church turned three-quarters
towards the dragon coiled at her feet. The saint
is attired in a green robe with pink sleeves. Christ
appears to her in a cloud.
In the second picture, St. Paul is lying under his
horse; and Christ appears above in a cloud. On
the purse of a man conspicuous on account of his
red cap, the painter's monogram appears. On the
reverse is the Deliverance of St. Peter, who is in
the prison where the soldiers are sleeping on the
right in the background, and the angel in a rose
coloured tunic stands in the centre.
The Beheading of St. Catherine, with Calvary
on the reverse, and The Miracle of the Fish and
On the Way to Calvary on the reverse are two other
panels by this famous Louvain painter.
Here we find three works by Verhaegen : Moses
brought before the daughter of Pharaoh, a Trans-
figuration, and an Adoration of the Magi. The
latter was painted in 1780, for Maria Theresa, and
is one of the most important works of this artist.
Hntwerp 253
Tournai — The Municipal Picture Gallery
In the centre of the town, on the triangular
Grand' Place, is situated the old Cloth Hall (Halle
aiix Draps), a Renaissance building of 1710, which
has been restored. In 1890, the Municipal Picture
Gallery, containing more than 400 works of art,
was placed in the first floor.
The works attributed to the early masters are not
satisfactorily authenticated; but there are several
interesting works of masters of the Seventeenth
and Eighteenth Centuries.
Attributed to Hugo Van der Goes is St. John
Preaching, in which the saint, in a violet tunic and
aureole over his head, stands in a pulpit in a land-
scape, surrounded by numerous hearers grouped on
the right.
Another work is attributed to Mabuse, represent-
ing St. Donatian, clothed in a rich dalmatic and
carrying a cross in his hand. Before him is his
symbol, a wheel with lighted candles.
A Descent from the Cross is attributed to Roger
Van der Weyden. The background is gold. The
body of Christ is supported on the left by Joseph
of Arimathea; the Virgin, in gray, stands in the
middle distance, with St. John in a red cloak; and
a saintly woman is on the right.
A portrait of John, Duke of Burgundy, is of the
254 XTbe Hrt ot tbe JSelgtan (Galleries
French School of the Sixteenth Century. His eyes
are lowered and he wears a black costume with fur
collar and a black cap. The background is green.
Among the other notable works are a Crucifixion
by Velvet Brueghel; three portraits by Van Oost;
Interior of an Inn, by Adriaen Van Ostade; a
Tavern Scene, by Adriaen Brouwer; a still life by
Jan Van Son; another still life by Adriaenssens,
painted in 1642; a family scene, by Van Dalen,
where a lady is playing the clavecin while her hus-
band turns the music for her, and a little girl and
a little boy amuse themselves in the foreground
with a caged bird.
Another family scene by Theodore Van Thulden
represents a group on a fine portico : a young
woman in a red skirt and black bodice with a little
girl in white by her side; an old lady in a green
dress and yellow cloak with jewels in her hands;
and near her a man who holds the hand of a little
boy in gray.
Among the portraits, that of the Archbishop of
Cambrai, by Hyacinthe Rigaud y Ros deserves
notice. The subject is seated, and wears a blue sur-
plice lined with red and a blue collar. His right
hand holds a book, and his left is placed on his
breast. A yellow drapery is looped on the right.
An equestrian portrait of Louis XIV by Lebrun
shows the King on a light yellow horse that rears
REMBRANDT
PORTRAIT OF AN OLD WOMAN
Plate XXXIV
iSee page 335)
Palais des
Beaux-Arts
Brussels
boston university
cjollegf: of liberal arts
LIBRARY
Hntwerp 255
towards the right. He wears a doublet of blue
trimmed with red braid, a hat ornamented with red
plumes, long black boots, and holds a whip in his
right hand. Horsemen are seen on the right of
the landscape background.
A Proposal of Love is in Watteau's characteristic
style. A charmingly dressed young woman is
seated under a tree and by her side a young man
in brown. Cupid hovers over their heads regard-
ing them with interest. There are groups of other
lovers in the shrubbery of the background.
Louis Watteau's Flemish Kermesse, Inn Scene
and Dispute of Soldiers are also interesting pic-
tures.
One of Louis Gallait's most famous works, The
Severed Heads, hangs here, called also the Last
Honours Paid to the Remains of Count Egmont
and Count Horn by the Grand Serment of Brus-
sels. The two bodies are lying on a stretcher,
covered with a black velvet pall, on which is placed
a silver crucifix. The heads are lying on a white
pillow stained with blood, and clots of blood hang
on the beards and hair. On the right stands a
lord, in black velvet doublet with yellow sleeves,
a red scarf across his breast, an arrow in his
left hand, and a hat in his right, who is look-
ing at the martyrs with bowed head. He is
followed by soldiers in red uniforms, carrying
256 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Ballertes
standards and pikes. Behind the bodies stands a
soldier in armour with a yellow scarf across his
breast and his two hands resting on the hilt of his
sword ; and on the left, at the head of the stretcher,
are placed on an altar a crucifix and candles, which
a monk is lighting. The work is signed and dated
1 83 1. A reduced copy hangs in the Antwerp
Museum.
Gallait is also represented by the Portrait of his
Mother and Sister; portraits of Louis and Charles
Haghe, painters of Tournai; and a Portrait of
Galileo.
The visitor wnll also be interested in Van Sever-
donck's Defence of Tournay by the Princesse
d'Epinoy, whose statue in bronze armour and
wielding a battle-axe, by Dutrieux, stands in the
Grand' Place in front of this building.
The archaeological museum is arranged in the
east and west galleries ; and here we find interesting
collections of coins, faience, metal-work, ivory carv-
ings and several illuminated manuscripts, including
a Roman of the Rose (Fourteenth Century), a
Book of Hours (Fifteenth Century) and a psalter
that belonged to Henry VHI of England.
Ypres — The Museum
The Museum of Ypres is housed in the Halle de
la boucherie (Meat Market) in the Marche au
Hntvverp 257
beurre nearly opposite the old Cloth Hall. It com-
prises a collection of antiquities and a gallery of
old and modern pictures. The most noteworthy
are the Miracles of St. Benoit by Rubens, and also
a sketch for a Landscape; a Bacchus by Jordaens;
some portraits by Van Dyck; a copy of Brueghel's
Kermesse in Antwerp; a copy of Leonardo da
Vinci's Christ among the Doctors; and a Conver-
sion of the Fisherman by Jan Thomas. In this
work, the painter, who was a native of Ypres, shows
his love of colour. The Child Jesus is standing on
a rock held by the Virgin in red and St. Joseph in
gray, and being adored by the converted fisher-
men who are gathering around him. Here are also
a young woman in a black dress and dark red cloak
and pearls in her light hair, and a lord in a red
tunic and yellow cloak. In the middle distance are
seen a young man and the head of an old man.
On the left in the foreground we see angels, and on
the right a hedge of roses.
The Broken Bow, painted by Louis Gallait in
1850, is perhaps the most famous of the modern
pictures.
Mechlin — The Civic Museum
In the main building of an old Gothic house,
built in 1529 by Rombout Keldermans for the
Great Council and situated near the Grand Place
258 Xlbe Hrt of tbe Belotan Galleries
the Civic Museum of Mechlin is stored. Here are
civic antiquities, historical relics of Margaret of
Austria and a few pictures. The most valuable
work is a Christ on the Cross by Rubens, especially
valuable because it is solely the work of his hand.
It was painted between 1613 and 161 5 at the order
of The Oratorians of MechHn. The work is re-
markable for the bluish tints that appear on the
rosy flesh and the brown shadows around the out-
lines. Two other works of value are St. Francis
and a Holy Woman, of the Sienese school, and St.
Peter with the Keys, an Italian picture of the Six-
teenth Century.
Liege — The Municipal Museum
The Picture-gallery of Liege, consisting of about
two hundred paintings, is situated in the old Cloth
Hall, built in 1788, in the Rue Feronstree. Most
of the works are modern; but there is an interest-
ing Last Supper by Lambert Lombard. We may
also note : Orpheus in Hades, by G. de Lairesse ;
The First Child, by C. Verlat; Landscape by J.
Rosseels; Landscape by I. Verheyden; Cattle by
A. Verwee; La Barrier e Noire, by A. D. Knyff;
Mary of Burgundy entreating the citizens of Ghent
to Pardon her Ministers in 1477, by E. Wauters;
a Sad Home Coming, by H. Bource; Murder of
Burgomaster Larnelle of Liege by the Spaniards,
Hntwerp 259
by B. Viellevoye; Washing Turnips, by E. Carpen-
tier; Cobbler by L. Bokelmann; Pasture by J. H.
L. De Haas; Landscape in Guelders, by P. J. Ga-
briel ; and Reading Aloud, by F. Willems.
Modern French painting is well represented by
Ingres, Corot, Diaz, Daubigny, Delaroche and
others ; and there is a good Interior by F. Ziem. A
copy of Wiertz's Contest for the Body of Patroclus,
signed Rome, 1836, is also here.
CHAPTER V
BRUSSELS PALAIS DES BEAUX-ARTS
In the year VIII, when France decided to found
fifteen departmental museums, Brussels was one of
the towns selected. The painter, Boschaert, was
sent to Paris to make a selection of some of the
pictures that had been carried off by the French
army; and when the Brussels Museum was opened
in 1807, the catalogue, arranged by him, numbered
five hundred works. In 181 1, thirty-one more pic-
tures were sent from the Louvre, including St.
Martin, by Jordaens ; June bestowing her Treas-
ures on Venice, by Paul Veronese; and the Vene-
tian Senator b}^ Tintoret. Since 1845, when the
city purchased the gallery, it has grown in impor-
tance and is now one of the most brilliant chapters
in the interesting book of Flemish Art. In 1880
the collection was housed in the new Palais des
Beaux-Arts, designed by Ballat, an edifice origi-
nally intended for musical performances as well
as a gallery for paintings and sculpture ; but which
260
Brussels 26i
is now devoted exclusively to these two branches of
art.
The style of architecture is classical: the en-
trance is adorned with four massive granite col-^
umns, on the top of which are four colossal statues,
— Music by Degroot ; Architecture by Samain ;
Sculpture by W. Geefs; and Painting by Melot.
Above the three portals are three bronze busts :
Rubens, by Van Rasbourgh ; Jean de Boulogne, by
Cuypers; and Jean Van Ruysbroeck, by Boure.
Two marble bas-reliefs — Industrial Art, by Bru-
nin, and Music, by Vin(;otte — are placed over the
windows. In front of each of the wings stands an
allegorical group in bronze : on the left. Instruction
in Art, by P. R. Van der Stappen ; and on the right,
Coronation of x\rt, by P. de Vigne. The Vestibule
contains bronze busts of the principal Flemish ar-
tists. The door in the centre leads into the main
hall, which is devoted to modern Sculpture.
Passing up the left stairway, at the foot of which
is a marble group representing the Fall of Babylon,
by J. A. Ducaju, we reach the Gallery of Old Pic-
tures that occupies twelve rooms.
The visitor can study the Primitives and their
immediate followers to great advantage in this gal-
lery, which contains some very choice examples of
their works.
The two panels of Adam and Eve were the two
262 ube Hrt ot tbc Belgian Galleries
extreme wings of Van Eyck's Adoration of the
Lamb, in St. Baron, Ghent, and were acquired by
the State in i860. Of these Crowe says :
^' The attempt to paint the nude figure of the size
of Hfe, with the most careful attention to minute
detail, is eminently successful, with the exception of
a certain degree of hardness in the drawing. Eve
holds in her right hand the forbidden fruit. In the
filling up which the shape of the altarpiece made
necessary over these panels there are small subjects
in chiaroscuro: over Adam the sacrifice of Cain
and Abel ; over Eve, the death of Abel — death,
therefore, as the immediate consequence of original
sin."
Fetis accords to John van Eyck a famous Adora-
tion of the Magi, which Wauters considers the
work of Jan Mostaert, and others accord to Gerard
David.
Under a rude shed, supported by pillars, where
an ox and ass are conspicuous, the Virgin is seated
with the Infant on her lap. On her right kneels the
Magus from the Orient kissing the right arm of the
child; behind him is St. Joseph, a portly figure.
Opposite the Virgin kneels the European King in
a robe of green and red mantle bordered with er-
mine fastened with an agrafe on his shoulder. He
is presenting a rich golden vase and behind him
stands the Ethiopian Magus in green robe and white
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turban and holding a vase of carved ivory. Behind
them stand numerous other persons and in the back-
ground others are seen on camels or horseback and
bearing banners. A shepherd and his flock are on
the eminence beyond the wall and stairs, and a dis-
tant city and blue mountains are seen in the land-
scape background, while high in the sky shines the
star that has guided the travellers.
The Head of a Weeping Woman is an excellent
replica of the holy woman, who, in Van der Wey-
den's masterpiece in the Escorial, sobs beside St.
John, partly covering her face with her coif. This
head is a summary of the master's dramatic genius,
and of his extraordinary power of expression. This
copy must date from the end of the Fifteenth Cen-
tury. Moreover, the Virgin with closed eyes, and
face harmoniously turbaned, who is being supported
by St. John and Mary Cleophas, is to be recognized
with the same clothes and in the same fainting con-
dition in the admirable Descent from the Cross at-,
tributed to Petrus Christus.
Let us look at this picture, which is still a bone
of contention among modern critics. '' The Flem-
ish Fifteenth Century can count few works so noble
and harmoniously moving as this. The lovely, un-
dulating landscape is particularly noteworthy.
Here we find no violence, nothing startling, no ex-
cessive effects. The simplicity of the composition,
264 Ubc Htt ot tbe Belgian Oallertes
the individual importance of the types, the rhyth-
mic sweetness of the landscape bring the painter
into close relations with certain Italian masters —
the female figure on the left evokes the Orientalism
of Gentile Bellini. The fainting Virgin was surely
inspired by the Mary created by Roger Van der
Weyden for his Descent from the Cross. The
whole work seems to be that of a master who had
profited by the teachings of Roger, and especially
of Thierry Bouts uniting the two by the charm of
a genius full of nobility, gentleness and rhythm, and
one would be tempted to think of some Italian or
French disciple of these masters, if in the folds of
the hills in the background between St. John and
the man shaved in the Burgundian style we did not
discover a Flemish village, with pointed roofs,
massed together, near a crenellated castle." ^
The little Pieta, so dramatic and so precious, may
well have been painted while Memling was working
in Roger's studio. Four personages are grouped at
the foot of the cross standing up against a sky il-
lumined with the setting sun ; their gestures are
rather angular, but nothing could be more dramatic
than the attitude of St. John supporting the body
of Jesus with one hand, and with the other pushing
away the Virgin to keep her from again kissing her
Son's face, and thus get fresh food for her grief.
Brussels 265
The contours are softer and more bathed in atmos-
phere than is usual with Roger Van der Weyden.
The two large pictures by Thierry Bouts, repre-
senting the Legend of Otho, are of rare interest to
the student of the Primitives. Critics find fault
with their dimensions, the Gothic tracery added at
the top after the picture was finished, the lanky
forms, bony heads and wooden bodies of all the
personages. But a great spirit conceived the whole ;
real sentiments are expressed in the two scenes;
types of absolute verity are represented in them;
and they sum up the physiognomy of a whole
period. With this Legend of Otho, historical and
monumental painting appear at the same moment
in Flanders. In the first picture, the Emperor,
Otho, on his wife's denunciation, has an innocent
noble decapitated. Behind the wall that encloses
the royal grounds, the accuser and her husband
look on at the execution. Flowers spring from the
blood of the innocent victim, but originally the
blood flowed from the neck over the ground.
Plants that hide the bleeding trunk were not painted
in till early in the Nineteenth Gentury. It is the
expression of the principal actors that is admirable.
Although the Emperor is listening to his wife's ac-
cusations, he is evidently troubled by doubts. The
Empress is striving to dissipate this disquiet, and
closely watches Otho's face to mark the effect of
266 Ubc Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
her lies. The noble marches resolutely to his death,
turning his back on the sovereign whose advances
he has repulsed, and exhorting his wife to bear her
trials courageously. A Franciscan monk accom-
panying him seems more moved even than the con-
demned. In the foreground, the work is accom-
plished. The executioner lays the head in a cloth
in the hands of the kneeling widow, whose sobs and
tears have given way to an expression of immutable
resolution.
In the second panel, the widow undergoes the
Trial by Fire (with red hot iron), and establishes
her husband's innocence. As reparation for his un-
just sentence, Otho condemns the Empress to the
flames. The Emperor, irresolute, kind and full of
remorse, forms a fine contrast with the energetic
woman kneeling before him.
" The courtiers manifest their astonishment and
emotion, whilst in the first panel, the magistrates
assembled at the execution show no feeling. But
how real and significant these bourgeois of Lou-
vain are; and how everything of their period and
their race is expressed in them ! The same may be
said of the nobles and ascetic chancellors assembled
in the second panel. Even the grouping of these
lords and bourgeois is new in character, and re-
minds us of the figure disposition of certain quat-
trocentist frescoes. As for the stake scene in the
Brussels 267
second panel, in its minute proportions it is treated
with a lightness, one might be almost tempted to
say a humour, that comes as a charming surprise
in this austere work of art : it is almost Nineteenth
Century genre painting. The colouring of these
pictures merits close attention, — the second espe-
cially, where the king's scarlet robe, the green sur-
coat and red hose of the youth leaning on his cane,
the carmine robe of the widow, the rich clothes of
the courtier behind her, the beautiful pavement, the
sombre marbles of the throne, and the clear land-
scape of the background form a rich and grave
harmony not quite so strong as that of John Van
Eyck, but perhaps more subtle and more penetrated
with vivid and expressive light." ^
To see Memling adequately, we must go to
Bruges and Antwerp, for in this gallery we have
a few comparatively unimportant works.
Two panel portraits of William Moreel, grocer
and burgomaster of Bruges in 1478 and 1483, and
of his wife, Barbara Van Vlaenderberch, face each
other with their hands joined in prayer; and be-
tween the columns of each picture a beautiful land-
scape is seen. The hands in each portrait are par-
ticularly fine.
The hands are also noticeable in the portrait of
a man said to be Nicholas Strozzi.
' Fierens-Gevaert.
268 Zbc Hrt of tbe ^Belgian (Balleries
The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, supposed by
Wauters to have been executed for the Guild of
Archers in Bruges, is also attributed to Thierry
Bouts. The saint is tied to a tree in the foreground
and two archers are aiming at him from the front.
The landscape background is very fine.
To Jan Joest, or the Master of the Death of the
Virgin, is attributed a Holy Family which is sin-
gular in the fact that St. Anne occupies the place
of honour and holds the Child on her lap. On her
left sits the Virgin, and on her right St. Joseph, and
on either side of the porphyry columns of her
throne a delicate landscape is seen. On one side
there is a castle on the bank of a river and on the
other a simpler house with a tower on the hills.
The great triptych. The Legend of St. Anne,
ordered by the Brotherhood of St. Anne of Lou-
vain for their chapel in St. Peter's church, was
carried off to Paris in 1794 and restored to St.
Peter's in 181 5. In 1879, the Brussels Gallery pur-
chased it for 200,000 francs.
In the central picture, the characters are grouped
at the entrance of a portico through the three
arches of which is seen the distant landscape.
In the centre, are sitting the Virgin and St. Anne
with the Infant Jesus between them, the latter
holding a bullfinch by a red string. St. Anne is
offering some grapes to the Child. On the Vir-
Brussels 269
gin's right is seated Mary Cleophas with her chil-
dren; and on the left of St. Anne Mary Salome
with her two sons; leaning over the balustrade, in
the left compartment, are St. Joseph and Alpheus;
and in the corresponding one are Joachim and Zeb-
edee.
The left wing has for its subject the Annuncia-
tion of the birth of the Virgin ; and, on the reverse,
the offerings and donations of St. Anne and
Joachim at the entrance of the temple; the right
wing depicts the death of St. Anne, and on the
reverse the refusal of Joachim's offering, in which
the donor of the picture is represented in the cos-
tume of the period.
This is the earliest known work of the artist and
was painted two years before the famous triptych
in the Antwerp Gallery. It is supposed that
Joachim Patenier aided with the landscape back-
ground in the central panel. When the picture was
restored in 1864, it was discovered that it was
painted in distemper, touched with oil in the shad-
ows, and the whole covered with a varnish of white
copal.
The Last Judgment by Floris is a triptych in
which the terrors are displayed in a similar manner
to those of other masters. Christ, surrounded by
cherubs, is seated on the animal tetramorph that
represents the Four Evangelists. Above Him, an-
270 TLbc Btt Of tbe Belgian (Ballertes
gels bear the instruments of the Passion; to right
and left the Patriarchs are ranged on the clouds,
like a celestial conclave. Lower down, God's mes-
sengers sound their trumpets, the dead spring from
the tomb, and the earth is covered with their innu-
merable ranks.
*' This painting is well co-ordinated ; the space
is harmoniously filled with the various personages,
but there is no feature nor striking merit to chain
the attention and reveal a superior man. The cen-
tral picture contains only two interesting groups;
the subject of one is the painter's own resurrection.
Time raises the stone of his tomb, and Floris mounts
from the bosom of the abyss, looking at the spec-
tator. It is an excellent portrait, with facial char-
acteristics that betray the brutal passions that ruined
his life. Facing these two figures are a devil and a
condemned soul : the devil has chained together the
hands of the latter; and, lifting him by the chain
and one leg, is casting him head downwards into the
everlasting gulf. Horror is well depicted on the
sufferer's face. The condemned about him are ter-
rified at his punishment, and the agony expressed in
their faces renders the scene more dramatic. The
right wing presents a similar spectacle, showing the
vestibule of Hell. Those banished from Heaven are
falling into it in strange postures learnedly con-
ceived. The strength of design and vigour of ex-
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pression denote uncommon ability. The principal
group contains a lost soul suspended by an iron
chain by the neck, to which he clings to lessen the
weight of his body; a demon holds one end of
the chain while another demon lifts the criminal by
the feet and balances him over the dreadful open-
ing.
" The left wing, which represents the ascension of
the elect, satisfies neither the mind nor the eyes.
In order to treat this well, gentle, poetic and con-
templative feelings were requisite, and these the
painter did not possess : calm and grace were lack-
ing in a coarse drunkard. Heaven appeared to him
in crimson waves of old wine, and he sought hap-
piness in the dreams of drunkenness," ^
The art of Albert Bouts can be studied here in
its different aspects — in two Assumptions, the Last
Supper, Jesus at the House of Simon the Pharisee
and St. Jerome. In the Assumption the bluish
tones dominate and the heads are unpleasing, but
the painting of the wings is more sympathetic and
in a higher key. The landscape, with its combina-
tion of local elements and bluish- distances in which
the influence of the south is felt, is truly remark-
able. The painter has depicted the donor kneeling
in the left wing with his wife Elizabeth of Nau-
snydere. The kneeling figure in the other wing
^ Michiels.
272 xibe Hrt of tbe JSelaian Oallertes
is supposed to be the painter's maternal uncle Henri
Van der Bruggen, called Mettengelde, who was also
his tutor. The second Assumption is a replica.
On comparing the Last Supper with the Last
Supper of Thierry Bouts (probably a reduced copy
of his picture in St. Peter's Louvain), the distance
that separated father from son will be appreciated.
The arrangement of the apostles at the table is the
same, but there are grimaces on the faces. In
every other respect the faces conform to the con-
ventional type. The accessories are finely treated
and also the clothing and w^e must note the novel
arrangement of the folds of the table cloth. An-
other feature that should be observed is the chim-
ney-piece in the background : in place of the funnel
shaped chimney-piece of the ancient Flemish type
that occurs in his father's work Albert has a carved
one that proves his admiration for the new style of
decoration that was being introduced from Italy.
The small picture of Jesus in the House of
Simon the Pharisee is painted with a surer touch.
The flesh is well modelled and the young man
standing on the left is very Italian in appearance
and costume. The landscape seen in the distance
between the columns on the right under the light
of dawn or sunset is indicated wnth delicacy. In
St. Jerome there is a suggestion of the Van Eyck
manner.
JStUSSelS 273
Note the little crucifix painted with such delicacy
of touch.
Lancelot Blondeel's St. Peter is seated in pontif-
ical robes on a golden throne, holding the cross in
his right and the keys in his left hand, while behind
the throne a fine landscape is visible with rocks on
one side and a feudal manor house on the other.
" The Brussels Gallery makes us acquainted with
a much neglected painter of uncertain name, desig-
nated by sobriquets — in Flanders as Herri de
Bles or de Blesse, the " man with the tuft " on ac-
count of the tuft of white hair he wore in front of
his head, and, in Italy, as '' Civetta/ because he used
the emblem of an owl instead of his signature. The
Temptation of St. Anthony by this Herri de Bles
is a most unexpected work with its bottle green and
blackish green landscape, its bituminous earth, its
high mountains on the horizon, its sky of light Prus-
sian blue, its audacious and ingenious masses of
colour, the terrible black that shadows the nude
figures and its chiaroscuro so boldly obtained from
the clear sky. This enigmatical picture, which
smells of Italy and announces the landscapes of
Breughel and Rubens, reveals a skilful painter and
a man impatiently in advance of his time." ^ St.
Anthony is seated on a mound at the entrance of
a rude hut built between two trees; two naked fe-
^ Fromentin,
274 XTbe Hrt of tbe Belgian Oallertes
male figures on his left present him with a dish on
which is a fantastic little figure; and near them is
an old sorceress dressed in red. The whole work
is filled with indescribable monsters. In the back-
ground there is a chapel between a high rock and
a river where there are some bathers.
The Last Supper formerly attributed to Lambert
Lombard is now given to Peter Coeck of Alost. It
bears the date of 1531, and represents Christ in a
gray robe and seated in the centre of the table be-
fore an open window showing a charming land-
scape supposed to represent Jesus entering Jerusa-
lem. In the foreground, Judas in yellow robe and
green mantle, rises from his stool, with a purse in
his left hand. A basket of fruit stands on a table
on the right and one on the floor on the left and
two dogs are noticeable in the foreground. On the
wall are two medallions in grisaille and above the
window a delicate painting on glass representing
Adam and Eve in Paradise.
The works of Michael Coxie in the Brussels
Gallery give the spectator perhaps a higher opinion
of him than those in Antwerp. In the Crown of
Thorns Christ seated in the centre and draped with
much elegance endures the tortures of his enemies,
with an expression of deepest grief. His persecu-
tors are grouped around him in an ingenious man-
ner, offering him the crown of thorns and the bur-
Brussels 275
lesque sceptre, with jests, grimaces and laughter,
and one of the four is about to slap his face.
Through the arch is seen the sky from which the
moon slipping through the clouds sheds a melan-
choly sadness over the scene, and here we also see
an apparition of God the Father.
The Last Supper is fortunately, like the above,
in a state of excellent preservation w4th all its orig-
inal brightness of colour. The great table is placed
diagonally in a hall of rich Italian architecture or-
namented with marble columns, and on the right is
a dressoir of several stages on which stand splen-
did articles for the table service and by which stand
two persons in Sixteenth Century costumes, and
before it a young boy is pouring wine from a golden
vase. Christ has a noble and serious head, but his
nose is peculiar. The four apostles in the right
hand corner are greatly admired by connoisseurs,
for the character, nobility and vitality they express.
The wings of this triptych represent Christ washing
the Feet of his Apostles and Jesus on the Mount
of Olives. The picture originally ornamented the
altar of St. Gudule, Brussels.
Another triptych was painted like that of De
Craeyer for the Grand-Serment de I'Arbalete of
Brussels for their chapel in the Church of the
Sablon, and on the reverse of the wings devoted to
the Assumption of the Virgin and the Descent of
276 Ube Hrt ot the Belgian Galleries
the Holy Spirit are portraits of the great dignitaries
of the Corporation. The Virgin is lying on a very
low couch in a magnificent Italian palace, her hands
joined and her eyes raised towards the sky. On
the right is an angel with a palm branch, and around
her stand the apostles, John on the left being dis-
tinguished by a head of great originality and vi-
vacity. Mara, Elizabeth's niece, with a book on
her knees is praying. At the foot of the bed is a
little table on which stand a lighted candle, a flagon
and a basket of fruit.
Joachim de Patenier, whom Albrecht Diirer
called such a good painter of landscape, exhibits
this quality strongly in his Mater Dolorosa, in
which the Virgin is seated by the cross in the centre
of the picture, supporting the body of Christ on
her knees and holding a fragment of the crown of
thorns. On each side are three medallions repre-
senting various episodes of sacred history. Mos-
taert is supposed to have painted the figures. It
is the landscape, however, with Jerusalem in the
distance, that claims the chief interest. This is also
the case with Patenier's other works — St. Jerome,
kneeling In front of a crucifix with his cardi-
nal's hat and a lion at his feet while the landscape
shows a lake and a town ; and the Repose in Egypt,
a subject that Patenier and his pupils were very fond
of representing. In the latter, we see Patenier's
JSrussels 277
peculiar taste for fantastic hollowed out rocks and
uneven ground, broken by streams, trees, and moun-
tains crowned with castles. The Virgin is seated
with her child in the foreground on the trunk of
a tree, and in the distance wander the ass and St.
Joseph, the latter to gather fruit.
Of Bernard Van Orley there are several works,
including tw^o wings of an altar-piece representing
scenes from the life and martyrdom of St. Matthew
and St. Thomas, the central panel of which is in
the Imperial Gallery of Vienna. The whole altar-
piece was originally in the Church of the Sablon of
Brussels. It is interesting to note that the young
man behind the executioner of St. Matthew is a
portrait of Van Orley himself.
Two pictures of his middle period are the Birth
of Mary and Joachim in the Temple in which the
architecture shows much advance and the woman
with the fine oval face with heavy dark hair parted
in the middle proves that the painter had been in
Italy.
The Trials of Job is painted in the artist's second
manner, when he was Court Painter to Margaret
of Austria. The central panel represents a great
feast of Job's children which takes place in a hall
of rich architecture with splendidly sculptured col-
umns of marble and a view of the country is seen
beyond. The hall is collapsing; the columns are
278 XTbe Hrt of tbe JSelgtan Galleries
falling; the people are seeking flight; and at the
summit are the malicious devils who are presiding
over the destruction of the hall. On a pillar in the
foreground is the date 1521 and the painter's name
with his favourite device : " Elx sijne tijt "
(" Every one has his day ").
On the right Job is seen naked and seated on a
stone, receiving the news of the disaster, and in the
background we see his house in flames. The left
wing represents the theft of Job's flocks by the
Sabeans and the Deity giving Satan permission to
tempt Job. The right wing depicts Job's three
friends. The story of Lazarus is described on the
reverse of these two shutters.
In his representation of hell in this work
Van Orley has equalled Bosch and Breughel w^here
the rich man lying on his death bed has a vision
of his future punishment and a touch of humour is
added by a devil in the form of a pig presenting
to the Rich Man a plate of toads and serpents and
this butler from Hell has also a napkin over his
shoulder.
This great work was ordered by Margaret of
Austria and sent to the Count of Hoogstraeten
w^ith orders to place it over the chimney in the
room she occupied when at the Castle of Hoog-
straeten.
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^Brussels 279
Van Orley. One represents the Birth of the Vir-
gin with the Marriage of St. Anne on the reverse
and the other the Offering of Joachim Refused,
with an apparition of Christ to the kneehng Virgin
on the opposite side. These were once attributed
to John van Eyck.
His George de Zelle, a physician, and Guillaume
de Norman, captain of the whole of Burgundy, vice
admiral and envoy of Maximilian of Austria and
of King Philip, are interesting portraits. An un-
known portrait called the Lady with the Pink, once
attributed to Garofalo, and now given to Van Or-
ley, or to his school, will attract the spectator. Her
light hair is surmounted by a diadem of gold and
pearls and a kind of black velvet bonnet. Her bod-
ice is black ornamented with gold embroidery; her
sleeves blue ; and across her breast is a red drapery.
On the table before her stands a golden vase into
which she is about to place a red pink. She is near
a window, opening upon a landscape in which a
belfry, a river and mountains appear.
Modern study and research by great critics daily
results in changes in the attributed authorship of
many works of the early masters. Thus the latest
researches give many pictures to Van Orley that
were formerly given to others. Among others
are :
The Human Calamities, once attributed to Lam-
280 XTbe Htt ot tbe ^Belgian (Ballertes
bert Lombard, a Martyrdom of St. Catherine at-
tributed to the Master of Giistrow; head of an old
man, attributed to Quentin Massys; a Pieta, with
Phihppe Haneton, secretary of Charles V, and Mar-
guerite Numan his wife, with their twelve children
under the protection of their patron saints, on the
wings; and the portrait of Dr. George de Zelle;
the Adoration of the Shepherds (No. 336) and
the Adoration of the Magi with its wings, once
attributed to Jan Swart. This picture shows the
Virgin seated on a stone bench, above which rise
red marble columns at the side of a ruined arch
above which is the Star that has guided the kings.
She holds on her lap the Child before whom the
kneeling King from Europe presents a golden vase;
behind him is the Magus from Asia, who also brings
a golden vase, and on the other side of the picture
the Ethiopian approaches with a golden vase and
sceptre with his page holding his robe. Behind the
Virgin two spectators are contemplating the scene;
and in the distance is a castle and landscape ani-
mated by the suite of the Magi.
The Adoration of the Shepherds (No. 51), long
attributed to the German School, is now given to
Jerome Bosch.
Five works by Conlnxloo are the Birth of St.
Nicholas, Death of St. Nicholas, Jesus among the
Doctors, the Marriage of Cana with the Miracle of
Brussels 28i
the Loaves on the reverse, and the Apostolic An-
cestry of St. Anne.
Another work probably painted by this master is
a Virgin Enthroned with the Child in her lap, two
accompanying female saints, and God among clouds
above the tracery of her superb seat.
By its style and colours the Parentage of the
Virgin given to Coninxloo belongs to the School
of Gossaert and Blondeel.
The general characteristics of this master — the
large heavy hands, the oblong ears strongly planted
upon the cheeks, and the thick full mouth, are also
found in the legends of St. Benedict, formerly at-
tributed to Jan Mostaert, and now to the Flemish
School.
These two panels depict episodes in the life of
St. Benoit. In a delicately painted landscape St.
Benoit and the cure of Monte-Preclaro are seated
before the repast w^hich the latter was ordered by
heaven to bring to the saint in his retreat. The
story is told in various episodes in the background.
In the second panel the various episodes of the
broken sieve are told, the interior of the kitchen
with the weeping woman and St. Benoit kneeling
forming the chief incident and affording a fine pic-
ture of a Mediaeval kitchen.
The reverse of these panels represents the Mass
of St. Gregory; and it is noticeable that the carpet
282 Ube Hrt ot tbe 3BelGian (Balledes
of the altar steps is sprinkled with violets and mar-
guerites, the emblems of Margaret of Austria, to
whose court the painter was attached.
The Fall of the Rebel Angels, long attributed to
" Hell fire " Brueghel then given to Jerome Bosch,
and now again attributed to Brueghel, represents
St. Michael and two other angels armed with long
swords and disguised so that they would not be
recognized descending into hell and pursuing the
rebel angels. The whole work is a mingling of
hideous and grotesque monsters, producing a fan-
tastic effect.
Pieter Brueghel the Elder is represented by the
Census of Bethlehem (of which there is a copy in
the Antwerp Museum).
The Massacre of the Innocents by Pieter Brue-
ghel (called Peasant and also the Droll) is repre-
sented in a singular manner as taking place in a
Flemish village in the depths of winter. The
ground and the pointed roofs of the houses are
covered with snow, and a small pond in the fore-
ground is coated with ice. In the centre, a group
of armed horsemen preside over the bloody execu-
tion. Soldiers are forcing the doors and climbing
through the windows ; parents entreating mercy, or
attempting flight with their children; and, on the
right, is an inn with a great star for its sign, with
^Brussels 283
the inscription '' De is in de Ster," alluding to the
star that guided the Magi to the Holy Child.
This is supposed by some authorities to be a copy
by him of the original by his father in the gallery
of Vienna.
Jan Brueghel the Younger (son of Velvet) has
a fine work entitled Autumn. In the centre before
a grove of trees Autumn, represented as a young
girl, is seated. Her hair is blonde, she wears
a rose coloured tunic clasped with gold, and she
holds a horn of plenty from which fruits are falling
upon the ground. Before her stands Diana in a
blue tunic with her crescent on her head, her quiver
on her back, her left hand on the head of a grey-
hound, and a dead hare in her right. On the right
of Autumn is a child carrying bunches of grapes on
his shoulders and followed by a goat. The sward
is brilliant with flowers and the landscape extends
far in the background revealing the towers of a
castle among the trees and still farther a vast plain
traversed by a river. Birds and animals enliven the
scene.
Very different in style is St. 'Norbert, preaching
against heresy in Antwerp. The saint is standing
in front of the porch of St. Michael's Church and
behind him are several monks of the order of Pre-
montres led by the Archbishop of Magdeburg. St.
284 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
Norbert is surrounded by a circle of auditors, and
in the background are seen the Cathedral of Ant-
werp and several streets.
Fetis and other authorities give these two pic-
tures to *' Velvet " Brueghel.
Although Rubens is not so well represented in
this gallery as in Antwerp, there are many exam-
ples of the master that illustrate his versatility. Of
his early period, we have one of his best versions of
the Adoration of the Magi; The Madonna of the
Forget-me-not; The Assumption of the Virgin;
the Coronation of the Virgin; the Dead Christ;
and Christ about to Strike the World with Light-
ning. Ten years later come The Martrydom of St.
Lievin and Christ Carrying the Cross. Of mytho-
logical subject we find Juno arranging Argus's eyes
in the tail of her peacock ; Meleager and Atalanta ;
and the mutilated Venus at the Forge of Vulcan.
Among several sketches and studies, Four Heads
of Negroes is of great importance ; and in portrait-
ure, the Archduke Albert; Isabella; Jean Charles
de Cordes; one of the latter's wife; and Portrait
of a Man.
The Adoration of the Magi was painted about
1615 for the altar of the Church of the Capuchins
in Tournai, and during the last siege of Tournai
was pierced by a bullet. Carried off to Paris in
1794, it was returned to Brussels in 1802. Though
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGK OP LIBERAL ARTS
LiPRARY
^Brussels 285
some of the unimportant work was done by a pupil,
the hand of Rubens is evident everywhere. The
outlines are firm, the tones brilliant and the colours
laid on in great masses. The introduction of a
stairway in the stable is somewhat forced; but it
is very effective. Perhaps the most striking figure
is that of the kneeling King, upon whose bald head
the little hand of Jesus, who is held by his mother,
tenderly rests. This King wears a magnificent
mantle of gold, an ermine cape and a blue robe.
The charming Madonna of the Forget-me-not
dates between 1620 and 1624, and is painted with
the greatest tenderness and care. The Virgin, in
scarlet robe and blue mantle, holds the Holy Child
on her knees by the linen that drapes Him. In one
hand He holds a forget-me-not and grasps His
mother's veil with the other. The Virgin's hair is
brown, while the Child has those blonde curls that
Rubens was so fond of at this period. Near the
Virgin is a rose bush, and on one of its flowers
a fly is conspicuous. A bird is perched on a neigh-
bouring tree. The flowers and landscape back-
ground are supposed to have been painted by Velvet
Brueghel; but the figures, with their lovely tints,
are by the hand of Rubens solely.
When Sir Joshua Reynolds saw The Assumption
in the Carmelite Church of Brussels, he wrote :
" The principal figure, the Virgin, is the worst
286 Ube Hrt of tbe Belgian Oallertes
in the composition, both in regard to the character
of the countenance, the drawing of the figure and
even its colour; for she is dressed, not in what is
the fixed dress of the Virgin, blue and red, but en-
tirely in a colour between blue and gray heightened
with white; and this coming on a white Glory,
gives a deadness to that part of the picture. The
Apostles and the two women are in Rubens's best
manner; the angels are beautifully coloured and
unite with the sky in perfect harmony; the masses
of light and shade are conducted with the greatest
judgment, and excepting the upper part where the
Virgin is, it is one of Rubens's rich pictures."
This picture dates from about 1619 or 1620, and
C. Schut is thought to have had a hand in the work.
Fromentin's criticism is worth attention. He
says:
** The Assumption belongs to Rubens's first
period ; it has been greatly repainted ; and its orig-
inal qualities have suffered. It is brilliant and cold
at the same time; inspired in the intent, and
methodical and prudent in the execution. Like his
other pictures of that date, the surface is clean,
polished, and somewhat vitrified. The mediocre
types are lacking in naturalness ; the palette already
sounds the dominant notes of red, yellow, black and
gray with splendour, but with crudity. As for the
qualities already grained, they are here applied in
Brussels 287
a masterly manner. Tall figures leaning over the
empty tomb, all colours vibrating over a black hole,
— the light disposed around a central mass, power-
ful, sonorous, undulous, dying in the softer half-
tones, — to right and left, nothing but weaknesses,
except two accidental strokes, two horizontal forces
that connect the scene with the frame half-way up
the picture. Below, the gray tones; above, a sky
of Venetian blue wn'th gray clouds and flying
vapours; and in this shaded azure, Her feet
plunged in bluish clouds. Her head in a glory, the
Virgin, robed in pale blue with a dark blue mantle,
and the three accompanying groups of winged
angels all radiating with rosy and silvery mother-
of-pearl. In the upper angle, already touching the
zenith, a little agile cherub, beating his wings and
glittering like a butterfly in the light, mounts di-
rectly into the sky, like a messenger more rapid
than the others. Suppleness, breadth, thickness of
the groups, marvellous grasp of the picturesque in
grandeur, — with a few imperfections, all Rubens
is here more than merely in germ. There is noth-
ing more tender, frank and striking. As an im-
provisation of a happy task, as life and harmony
for the eyes, it is accomplished : a Summer festi-
val."
To the same period belongs the Coronation of
the Virgin, painted for the Recollets in Antwerp
288 Ubc Hrt of tbe Belgian (Ballertes
about 1625. Rubens had little hand in this except
retouching; but the two heads of the angels in the
clouds are his. The circle of angels below the Vir-
gin, who rests on a crescent, are very graceful.
In the Dead Christ, the Saviour is lying on a
stone near a grotto with His head on the Virgin's
knees. On the left at the entrance stand two angels
with outspread wings, one holding the lance, the
other lifting the linen that covers the Saviour to
show his wounds. Behind the Virgin is St. John;
in the foreground, the prostrated Magdalen with
dishevelled hair, looking attentively at one of the
nails, with the crown of thorns and the inscription
before her; and on the right are two holy women
in black and St. Francis. The latter is said to be
a portrait of Charles d'Arenberg, who gave this
work to the Church of the Capuchins, Brussels, in
1620.
Fromentin tells us that '' Christ about to Strike
the World with Lightning belongs to a species of
declamatory eloquence that is false, but very mov-
ing. The world is a prey to vices, crimes, arson,
assassination and violence; we gain an idea of
human perversity from a corner of animated land-
scape such as Rubens alone can paint. Christ ap-
pears armed with lightning, half walking, half fly-
ing; and while He is preparing to punish this
abominable world, a poor monk in his frieze robe
IBrussels 289
prays for pardon, and with his arms covers an
azure sphere, around which a serpent is wound.
This saintly intercession not being sufficient, the
Virgin, a tall woman in widow's robes, casts Her-
self before Christ and halts Him. She neither im-
plores nor commands. She is before Her God, but
She speaks to Her Son. She opens Her black robe,
displays Her ample Immaculate Breast, lays Her
hand upon it, and shows it to Him whom She
nourished. The apostrophe is irresistible. One
may criticize everything in this picture of pure pas-
sion and of early effort as art, — Christ who is
merely ridiculous, St. Francis who is only a scared
monk, the Virgin who resembles a Hecuba under
the features of Helene Fourment : Her gesture
even is not lacking in boldness, if we think of the
taste of Raphael, or even of Racine. It is none
the less true that so many pathetic effects of such
vigour and novelty are not to be found on the stage,
or in the tribune, or even in painting, which is his
real domain." The landscape is by Van Uden.
This picture was painted for the high altar of the
Recollets in Ghent, where Sir Joshua Reynolds saw
it. He called it '' a profane allegorical picture," and
describes it as follows : " Christ with Jupiter's
thunder and lightning in his hand denouncing ven-
geance on a wicked world represented by a globe
lying on the ground with the serpent twined round
290 Ubc Hrt ot tbe Belgian Galleries
it: this globe St. Francis appears to be covering
and defending with his mantle. The Virgin is hold-
ing Christ's hand and showing her breasts; im-
plying, as I suppose, the right she has to intercede
and have an interest with Him whom she suckled.
The Christ, which is ill drawn, in an attitude af-
fectedly contrasted, is the most ungracious figure
that can be imagined : the best part of the figure is
the head of St. Francis."
The Martyrdom of St. Lievin was painted about
1635 for the high altar of the Jesuits' Church in
Ghent. Fromentin advises the spectator to look at
this great work critically and to forget if possible
the terrible and savage scene of murder, with the
saint dying in convulsions and the frightful assas-
sins, the one with his bloody knife between his teeth
and the other giving the tongue to the dogs, and to
look at the white horse rearing under the blue sky,
the bishop's golden cope, the black and white dogs,
the expressive faces, and all the azure, gray silvery
and sombre tones of this picture; and, notwith-
standing the horror of the scene, he will soon be
convinced that it is one of the most radiant and har-
monious of Rubens's works. The animals have
been attributed to Paul de Vos.
Christ Carrying the Cross was painted for the
Abbey of Afflighem in 1637 and is entirely the work
pf Rubens. In the centre Christ is falling under
JSrUS6el6 291
the weight of the Cross; two men come to his
rescue; and St. Veronica is wiping his face. Ru-
bens seems to have taken more interest in the bril-
liancy and movement of the procession ascending
Golgotha, — the guards with floating banners,
gleaming cuirasses and splendid horses, whose skins
glisten in the sunlight, than in the sombre group
that forms the subject of the picture. " I look for
a note of grief in the brilliant climb to Calvary,"
says Paul Mantz ; " but I cannot find it."
Fromentin writes : " When Rubens painted the
Road to Calvary, he had already produced the ma-
jority of his great works. Here we have move-
ment, tumult and agitation in the forms, gestures,
faces, disposition of groups, and in oblique, diagonal
and symmetrical folds of drapery, going from bot-
tom to top and from right to left. Christ fallen
beneath His Cross, the cavalry escort, the two
thieves held and pushed on by their executioners, all
move along the same line and seem to scale the
narrow slope that leads to the place of execution.
Christ is fainting w^ith fatigue, St. Veronica is wip-
ing his brow; the weeping Virgin rushes towards
Him and holds out her arms; Simon the Cyrenian
supports the gibbet; and — notwithstanding this
wood of infamy, these women in tears and mourn-
ing, this victim crawling on his knees, with panting
lips, humid temples, staring eyes that inspire com-
292 xibe Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Ballertes
passion, notwithstanding the terror, the cries, the
death so close, it is clear to him who knows how to
observe that this equestrian pomp, these banners
waving in the wind, that cuirassed centurion who
turns around on his horse with graceful action, and
in whom we recognize the features of Rubens, all
this makes us forget the execution, and gives the
most manifest idea of a triumph. One would say
that the scene w^as melodramatic, without gravity,
majesty, beauty or anything august, — theatrical
almost. The picturesque, which might have ruined
it, is what saves it. Imagination takes possession
of it and elevates it. A gleam of true sensibility
flashes through and ennobles it. Something very
like eloquence elevates the style. In fact, I know
not what happy force, what inspired outburst made
of this picture what it was destined to become, —
a picture of trivial death, and of apotheosis."
Soon after his return from Italy, after 1611,
Rubens painted Juno arranging in a peacock's tail
the eyes of Argus, who has just been killed by Mer-
cury, a splendid picture, rich in colour and showing
memories of Titian. Juno is of the Italian type,
wath hair as black as ebony. The corpse of Argus
is strongly modelled and of a type much used by
the master. The peacocks were painted by an as-
sistant.
A magnificent landscape representing the Cale-
Brussels 293
donian boar hunt belongs to the master*s last period,
1639 or 1640, and is entirely by him. The landscape
is superb and the dark forest trees are illuminated
by the light of the setting sun with fantastic effect.
In the foreground, Atalanta, surrounded by a dozen
dogs, one of which is biting the ear of the furious
boar, is drawing her bow. Behind her gallop two
horsemen, and, on the left, Meleager is about to
attack the boar with his lance.
In Venus at the Forge of Vulcan w^e see Vulcan
busy at his forge in a dark grotto, and Venus in
red drapery holding Cupid by the hand advancing
towards him, but turning her head to look at Pan,
who is offering her some grapes, figs, apricots, ap-
ples and pomegranates. Behind Pan, Pomona ad-
vances with a basket of fruit on her shoulder,
accompanied by Ceres, crowned with wheat. The
w^ork is much mutilated and dates from about 1622.
The fruits are by Snyders. It is interesting to note
that Vulcan and his Forge were painted in at the
end of the Seventeenth Century to replace an old
woman who was warming herself at a fire. This
part of the w^ork w^as cut out, and is now in the
Dresden Museum.
The Four Heads of Negroes was acquired in 1890
for 80,000 francs. Its lightness and suret}^ of touch
prove it to be the work of Rubens's own hand.
Very striking are the gray and blue reflections that
294 Ubc Hrt of tbe BclQian (Ballertes
play on the chocolate colour of the skin, and the
reddish tones of the nose and ears show the char-
acteristic execution of Rubens. These heads were
studies for an Adoration of the Magi.
Anthony Van Dyck is represented only by The
Martyrdom of St. Peter; Drunken Silenus; Por-
trait of Alexander Dellafaille; and the Van Vil-
steren Family, a work much admired for the natural
grouping of the seven individuals. The father of
the family, in black, is playing the lute, his left arm
resting on the back of the chair on which his wife
is seated. The latter, dressed in green and white,
holds a baby in her arms. On her right, we see one
son holding a flag; a little daughter is playing the
clavecin; a second daughter is standing at her
mother's knee; and, in the foreground, a little boy
is beating a drum.
Two pictures are by Jan Massys — The Chaste
Susannah and Lot and his Daughters. The figures
in both are life size. Susannah is seated in a beau-
tiful garden near a fountain, and the Elders are
hidden behind a piece of architecture. In the dis-
tance are temples, palaces and mountains.
Lot and his Daughters, signed and dated 1565,
is one of those curious works that describes several
episodes on one canvas. In the background, we see
the burning of Sodom; Lot and his family led by
the angel; and the metamorphosis of Lot's wife.
JESUS IN THE HOUSE OF SIMON THE PHARISEE
M ABUSE Palais des
Plate XXXIX Beaux-Arts
{See page 295) Brussels
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEGF OF LIBERAL ARTS
LIRRARV
^Brussels 295
In the foreground, Lot is seated on a rock under
the trees with one daughter on his knee, while the
other, seated on his left, offers him a basket of fruit
with one hand and a golden cup with the other.
Both daughters are richly dressed and the latter
wears a fine necklace and earrings of pearls.
In the famous triptych by Jean de Mabuse, or
Jan Gossaert, the central panel represents Jesus in
the house of Simon the Pharisee, with the Resur-
rection of Lazarus on the left W'ing and the As-
sumption of Mary Magdalen on the right. This
w^ork displays the style acquired in Italy by Ma-
buse. The central picture is highly decorative.
The first object that strikes the eye is the superb
double staircase carved in the Renaissance style that
occupies the centre of the hall where Christ is seated
at a table on the left wath one of his apostles beside
him and Simon, in a rich brocade robe, at the head,
facing the spectator. Beneath the table Mary Mag-
dalen kneels, kissing the feet of the Saviour, and
beside her is a vase of perfume. On the right, stand
two Pharisees. A squirrel is seated in the middle
of the hall eating an apple, and ih the background
there is another table at which people are feasting.
This great work long attributed to Mabuse (or
Jan Gossaert) is now supposed to be the masterpiece
of Herri Met de Bles. It is supposed that the kneel-
ing figure in the wing representing the Assumption
296 Ube Hrt of tbe ^Belgian (Balleries
of the Magdalen is a portrait of the donor. The
mitre at his feet is wonderfully painted. The other
wing depicts the Resurrection of Lazarus.
The Prodigal Son by Jan Hemessen bears the
date 1556 and is a picture of episodes. The fore-
ground is occupied by the prodigal son in his days
of pleasure, rioting at a table with gay companions ;
in the middle distance, he is being chased away;
and in the background, behind the portico, we see
him tending swine; and, on the right, his return.
Several pictures by Van Coxie in this gallery are
not dated, but belong probably to his last period.
They inspire a very high opinion of his powers.
One of these is the Crown of Thorns. In the centre
of the panel, Christ, seated in a noble attitude and
draped with unusual elegance, endures the out-
rages of his enemies. One persecutor is making
one of those malignant grimaces full of impatient
fury which nothing can appease; another presses
the odious crown down on his head with infernal
joy, the joy of a coward who torments a defenceless
man. A third brutally raises his hand to strike the
calm face of the Redeemer. A fourth mockingly
presents him with the derisive palm, the reed scep-
tre. The artist has ably grouped them around their
victim. The Saviour's features express poignant
grief. Above Him is an open arcade through which
the sky is visible. The moonlight lends to the scene
^Brussels 297
a character of gentle sadness and poetic melancholy.
The colour of this picture is beautiful and vivacious ;
and the nudes reveal the knowledge and strength
of a great master.
Unlike many pictures of the same subject, the
Last Supper does not suffer any diminution of in-
terest by imitating Leonardo da Vinci. The action
passes in a great hall of Italian style and rich archi-
tecture. The table is placed aslant, so that all those
present are visible without any one of the sides
being unoccupied. On the right is a dressoir of
several stages garnished with precious vases. The
setting of the table attests the best taste, and the
general harmony of the composition charms at first
sight. Christ's head is dignified and serious, but
the effect is slightly marred by the singular form
of the nose. The finest part of the work is four
figures of apostles, three at the right corner, and
one a little towards the left. The last figure is
standing up in order to hear Christ better. Dis-
tinction and truth, nobility and strength, life and
character, are all united here with rare happiness,
and I doubt if any one has eclipsed them. The
type of the young slave in the foreground pouring
out wine is again ably chosen. These two pictures
are in perfect preservation : the gradations of col-
our have lost none of their vitality. The wings of
the triptych, Christ Washing His Disciples' Feet,
298 XTbe Htt of tbe IBclatan (Galleries
and Christ in the Garden of Olives are of less im-
portance.^
Two portraits in this gallery show how closely
Martin de Vos followed Nature in rendering the
human face. They adorn the wings of an altar-
piece the centre of which is missing. One is the
donor, an old man with white and thin hair and
white beard. He wears a black pelisse trimmed
with fur, and a ruff. In his right hand, he holds a
prayerbook, and lays his left on his breast. The
execution of this is of astonishing minuteness and
prodigious verity; in the head and hands, the
delicacy of the work almost rivals that of Denner.
The eye is watching, and the lips are about to speak.
These merits are so much the more striking because
the figure is almost natural size, and the image is in
a condition of perfect preservation.
The other effigy, that of the donatrix, shows less
care and attention. The lady, dressed in a black
robe trimmed with fur, wnth a gold chain around
her neck, has her hands folded. A prie-dieu cov-
ered with black-flowered red tapestry is on her left.
The face lacks surfaces and details; the artist's
brush has lagged heavily over the wood. The
hands, so beautifully rendered in the above paint-
ing, are negligently treated in this one (Nos. 488
and 489). It is none the less true that this painter,
' Michiels.
^Brussels 299
when he took the pains, became the equal of the
best painters of portraits.
The portrait of a young woman with her arms
on a table on which stands a vase of flowers of
brilliant hues is attributed by some authorities to
Martin de Vos. It is dated 1564.
Three works by Rubens's master, Otto Vsenius,
will attract the student, — a triptych representing
the Crucifixion the central panel and Christ on the
Mount of Olives and the Entombment on the
wings; Christ bearing the Cross; and, more par-
ticularly, the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine,
painted when the artist was thirty-three, and on
his return from Italy, when he was architect and
painter to Prince Alexander of Parma. Fromentin
was greatly struck by this picture. In his note-
book he wrote:
" At first glance it seems Roman, but it is rich
and more supple. On account of a certain tender-
ness in the types, an arbitrary crumpling of the
draperies and a little mannerism in the hands, you
feel Correggio infused into Raphael. The angels
in the sky form a beautiful mass, a half tinted and
sombre drapery of yellow is thrown like a tent with
turned back folds across the boughs of the trees.
The Christ is charming ; and the young and slender
St. Catherine is adorable. With lowered glance,
a chaste and infantile profile and a firmly set neck,
300 Ubc Hrt ot tbe :B5elgtan (Ballcries
she has the candid appearance of Raphael's Virgins
humanized by the inspiration of Correggio and also
by a very marked individuality. The blonde hair
that merges into the blonde flesh, the grayish white
linen, the colours that blend or contrast very capri-
ciously after new laws and according to the indi-
vidual fancy of the painter, — all this is pure Italian
blood transfused into veins that are capable of turn-
ing it into new blood. This work prepares the way
for Rubens, announces him and will also show him
the way.'*
This gallery owns several striking works by
Caspar De Craeyer.
The Dead Christ on the Knees of the Virgin
shows the influence of his first master, Raphael
Coxie. The work is painted on wood, according to
the custom of the old school. The kneeling figures
and the heads are greatly admired. The Miracu-
lous Draught of Fishes, on the other hand, shows
the painter's obligations to Rubens. The vast sky
that spreads over the figures, and the sea extending
behind them and on the right, are, however, unlike
Rubens's compositions. The work is remarkable
for its brilliancy of colour, the correctness of the
attitudes, the elegance of the types and the general
harmony of the whole. The Saviour, in violet robe
and purple mantle, is painted in such bold relief
that it seems as if He might walk out of the frame
PORTRAIT OF A LADY
MARTIN
Palais des
DE VOS
Plate XL
Beaux-Arts
iSee page 299)
Brussels
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLF.GK OF LIBERAL ARTt'
• LIPRARV
^Brussels 30i
at any moment. The small blonde sailor in pink,
who, with others, is examining the net, is one of
the master's best creations. " Indeed," writes
Michiels, " this picture is so briUiant that it might
be attributed to Jordaens : its tones even surpass
Rubens's scale."
The Adoration of the Shepherds is also admired
for its beautiful modulations of colour and general
air of tranquillity. Above the group, consisting of
the Virgin and Child, Joseph and five shepherds, as
well as the ox and ass, angels hover in a cloud with
the banderole of '' Gloria in Excelsis."
The Triumph of St. Apollonia is also a fine work.
The saint wears a superb costume and holds with
one hand the folds of her mantle, while in the other
she carries the instruments of her torture, — a pair
of pincers. She is surrounded by angels, one of
whom offers her a metal basin with a bloody piece
of linen, and another crowns her.
The Virgin as Protectress of the Grand-Serment
de I'Arbalete of Brussels is one of the Antwerp
painter's most famous works, particularly as re-
gards portraiture. In the upper part of the picture,
the Virgin, with folded hands and surrounded by
angels, some of whom carry palms, protects the
members of the corporation, the archers who are
kneeling with their rosaries and prayer-books in
their hands. The Doyen is to be distinguished by
302 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Galleries
his rich costume and his hat ornamented by a rich
jewel.
De Craeyer was also fond of painting the Con-
version of St. Hubert. Here we find a picture sim-
ilar to that in St. Jacques, Louvain, but smaller.
St. Hubert is kneeling before a pillar on the top
of which appears the miraculous stag. Two dogs
are by the side of the saint, and the head of a third
appears in the thicket on the left. On the right, is
a groom with the huntsman's horse. The open
country on the one side is well contrasted with the
grove of trees on the other, where the action takes
place. In an old catalogue the landscape is accorded
to Jacques d'Arthois and the animals to Snyders.
Fetis gives the latter, however, to Gerard Seghers.
We should also note St. Paul and St. Anthony the
Hermit; the Assumption of St. Catherine; St.
Anthony and St. Paul in the Desert; the Virgin
adorned by the Angels; St. Florian; St. Agapit;
the Apparition of Christ to St. Julian; and the
Martyrdom of St. Blasius, representing the saint
suspended from a tree, submitting to torture, a copy
of his last work now in Ghent.
Jordaens appears in various pictures that show
his skill in depicting religious, historical, allegorical,
fabulous and mythological subjects.
First, let us look at the great St. Martin Exorcis-
ing a Demon, painted for the altar of St. Martin's
Brussels 303
at Tournai. It is a very striking work in both con-
ception and treatment. The scene is arranged on-
the stairs of a wide portico. The sufferer, with
naked body and head thrown back, is being held
by four persons. St. Martin, in golden dalmatic
and mitre, advances, with his right hand elevated
to exorcise the demon that escapes from the mouth
of the possessed one. By St. Martin's side, a young
priest carries the cross and behind him are two dea-
cons ; on the right, a child and a dog are seen ; and,
in the background, leaning on a balustrade, beneath
an arch, is the Roman Proconsul, in a Flemish
costume of red and black, and accompanied by a
black slave with a bird on his wrist.
Rebecca and Eleazer is an elaborate work. The
chief figure is offering a drink to Eleazer from a
flagon of chiselled metal. On the right, a servant
holds a white horse, and from the well in the centre,
Rebecca's companions are filling their jugs. Elea-
zer's servants are busy unloading the camels. The
great landscape, which contains a road leading to a
distant town, along which advance shepherds and
shepherdesses, was painted by Jan Wildens.
Susannah and the Elders was purchased in 1895.
In addition to the three principal figures, there is a
peacock on a balustrade near a statue of Cupid ; and
a little dog, in front of Susannah, barks at one of
the Elders.
304 tlbe Hrt of tbe ^Belgian (Balleries
The Triumph of Prince Frederick Henry of
Nassau is the sketch for the artist's masterpiece in
the House in the Wood at The Hague, one of the
series of historical pictures ordered in 1652, by
AmaHa of Solms, widow of Prince Frederick
Henry. The Prince stands in a chariot drawn by
four white horses, two of which are led by Mars
and Hercules. The others, mounted by Time and
Mercury, trample under foot Hate and Envy.
Victory crowns the hero; Renown publishes his
exploits ; and Abundance scatters riches. Lions,
warriors and women surround the triumphal car.
The Allegory of the Vanity of the World repre-
sents a child blowing bubbles, a parrot, and on a
table a number of objects, — arms, musical instru-
ments, packages of pens, a terrestrial globe, a
wrought metal dish full of fruit, a perfume-vase,
a death's head and a large lantern, typical of life,
the light of which Time is extinguishing.
One of Jordaens's many representations of
vF^sop's fable of the Satyr and Peasant is composed
of five life-sized figures. The Satyr, crowned with
ivy, is rising from the table at which the Peasant
still sits blowing in the spoon that he has just lifted
from his bowl of smoking soup. On the right, a
woman in a yellow dress holds on her lap a little
child clothed in red, who sticks out his tongue at
the Satyr. Before this group is a dog. Behind,
^Brussels 305
in the middle distance, an old woman holds a glass
with one hand and with the other a mug of beer,
which she is about to stand on the table. A plate
containing a fish's head and a sausage stands before
the Satyr. Trees occupy the background.
Pan and Syrinx, acquired in 1895, shows Pan
crowned with ivy, standing among the reeds and
contemplating the young and almost naked nymph,
by whose side is a child with a lighted torch. On
the right, a satyr is sitting on the ground, with a
little girl in red drapery.
In no branch of art was Jordaens more successful
than in mythological subjects, which allowed him to
bring together in vast landscapes fruit, flowers,
nymphs, satyrs and bacchantes; for his brush de-
lighted in combining all the splendid colours of
leaves and petals and velvety fruits with the satin
skin of the flaxen-haired Flemish women that he
knew and the shaggy flanks of the goat-hoofed
satyrs that he imagined.
Fecundity is one of his best works of this class.
Here we have a nymph standing with her back to
us and holding a white draper}^; another nymph is
gracefully posed on the ground, leaning on her left
elbow and holding a bunch of grapes in her right
hand; behind her a child is seen in profile and also
a third nymph, dressed in a red robe, in the folds
of which she is holding some grapes. On the right,
306 XTbe Hrt of tbe JSelotan Galleries
are two satyrs, one of whom has a child on his
shoulders, and on the left are two fauns, one kneel-
ing under the burden of an immense horn of plenty,
filled with fruits of many kinds.
It is interesting to compare with this a somewhat
similar picture of the same title, the figures of
which were painted by H. van Balen and the flowers
and landscape by Velvet Brueghel. Fecundity is
seated on a mound, holding in her right hand a
horn of plenty from which fruits and flowers are
falling. Cupid, standing beside her, overturns a
basket of flowers ; at her feet, on the left, a monkey
is seen. The background is filled with trees, and,
through an opening on the left, a swan is seen float-
ing on a pond.
Another Fecundity is the work of Lambrechts
and De Heem. The former is the author of the
medallion, representing an allegorical figure of
Fecundity with two children by her side in grisaille,
and J. D. de Heem of the surrounding garland of
fruits and vegetables. This picture was once in the
famous gallery of Cardinal Fesch, and was bought
in Rome in 1862. Here we may also see Jan D.
de Heem's charming Bouquet of Flowers, repre-
senting a glass vase holding tulips, roses, a peony
and bluets. This vase is standing on a marble table,
where a snail and a caterpillar are crawling.
His elaborate Vanitas shows us a large table
Brussels 307
under a column upon which are placed some roses,
cherries, and grain; a skull crowned with ivy; a
flute ; some books ; a compass ; a shell ; some
spurs ; and a bottle with the label — aqua vitcB.
On one of the books is written Rekening (ac-
counts) ; on another, Biblia (Bible) ; on the third,
Navolging Christi (Imitation of Christ), and, on
an open register, the painter's signature. On the
right of the landscape background, is seen on the
summit of a hill, surrounded by water, a representa-
tion of Calvary; and, farther away, Antwerp with
the spire of its cathedral; on the left, below a
lifted curtain, the ground undulates in the distance.
David Teniers the Elder's treatment of rural life,
in which his son afterwards surpassed him, appears
in only one picture. On the left, against the wall
of a farmhouse, a peasant leans with his back to
the spectator; a second peasant with a pot of beer
and a pipe is near an overturned barrel on which
stands a jug. In the centre are household utensils ;
on the right is a water course bordered with trees
and a house; in the background a peasant dressed
in red with a straw hat is going- towards a village.
Five typical works of this school make us famil-
iar with Jacques d'Arthois, who loved to paint the
landscapes of Brabant with their dark forests and
deep roads, animated with peasants returning from
or going to market, or kermesse, beggars and
308 Ube Hrt ot tbe JBelatan (Balleries
huntsmen, which were contributed by Teniers the
Elder, Gerard Zegers, or Peter Bout. These are
two Landscapes; the Border of a Forest; Winter,
where the snow covers the ground and merry skat-
ers are exercising on a pond to the right, while
peasants warm themselves by a fire and down a
winding road comes a chariot preceded by a horse-
man ; and the Return from the Kennesse where sev-
eral groups of peasants, some with cows and others
dancing to the bagpipe, advance along the road that
leads through the trees. The figures are the work
of David Teniers the Elder.
The Promenade of the Boeuf-Gras is the subject
of a w^ork by Mathieu Schoevaerts. Here preceded
by fife and drum advances the garlanded ox of the
carnival. On the left is an inn where the sign of
the Swan hangs and peasants are eating, drinking
and dancing. The picture is full of life and move-
ment and is crowded with figures.
Another animated crowd is shown in a Great
Festival, by J. L. de Marne, where the cattle market
has attracted a large number of buyers and sellers
around a fountain surmounted by a statue of the
Virgin. A lively Dutch kennesse by Cornelis
Dusart should also be noticed. The people are
grouped outside of a tavern and the work is signed
and dated 1695.
A Night Festival by Peter Molyn the Elder rep-
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^Brussels 309
resents a street with a crowd in the distance, and
in the foreground a merchant before his shop which
is Hghted by a lantern. Two children are near him
and five persons a little farther away. Towards
the centre children are circling around a big fire.
This picture is dated 1625.
An episode of the Carnival by the Walls of Ant-
werp by Adrian Van Nieulant shows four couples
in disguise and wearing skates executing a quad-
rille on the ice. Other masquers are coming from
the left and the crowd of spectators includes all
classes of people. Carriages are also waiting in the
distance. The ramparts are filled with spectators
and a bridge crosses the moat to one of the city
gates.
The works of Daniel Van Heil, about whom noth-
ing is known except that he was born in Brussels
in 1604 ^rid died about 1662, are rarely to be met
with. He devoted himself to conflagration and
winter scenes. One of the latter in the Brussels
gallery is very interesting. In the centre there is
an enormous pond of ice where many skaters are
enjoying themselves while people, and carriages cir-
culate around this pleasure ground. On the right
there are some houses, the roofs of which are cov-
ered with snow, and in the background are more
houses and church spires.
The Pleasures of Winter are also represented by
310 Ube Hrt ot tbe JSelatan Galleries
Aart Van der Neer, where on the outskirts of a
village people are enjoying themselves on the ice;
some are skating, some are playing pall-mall and
others are spectators. A man, a woman, a child
and a dog form an interesting group. In the middle
distance there is a sleigh drawn by a gray horse
with a blue blanket, led by the coachman. This
painter is also represented by a landscape seen at
moonrise ; and on the canal that crosses the country
a boat filled with people is drawn by a horse on
the bank. Among the trees are seen a number of
houses. The Yssel at Moonlight represents the
banks of the river, cows in the meadow, groves of
trees, houses, windmills and fishermen in their boats,
or busy with their nets.
Two pictures by Denis Van Alsloot, of whom
little or nothing is known except that he was the
son of a Brussels painter, are of much historical
interest. They represent the Procession of St.
Gudule, the origin of which is lost in tradition.
In the first picture the procession is passing the
H6tel-de-Ville, which is decorated with garlands.
The windows and street are crowded with specta-
tors. The trade guilds open the march, and at the
head of each the youngest master walks with the
keerse, or pole, surmounted by a painted, or gilt,
ornament, to which are suspended the attributes of
the profession.
Brussels 3ii
The second picture represents the rest of the pro-
cession : giants, allegorical figures and cars, and
various corporations with their patron saints. Here
is St. Gudule with her lantern, the light of which
a malicious little devil is trying to blow out; St.
Michael in his courtier's costume v/arring against
the Evil Spirit; St. Christopher carrying the Child
Jesus; St. George and the Dragon; St. Anthony
on a sled drawn by two horses ; and many others.
Members of the Guilds carry their banners and
soldiers, their armis. In this picture, the view is
taken from the H6tel-de-Ville, so that the Maison-
du-Roi faces the spectator. The fagade is deco-
rated with flags and garlands, and hundreds of
heads look from the windows.
The great Dutch landscape painters have some
beautiful works here. Jacob Van Ruysdael is rep-
resented by a Landscape; the Lake of Haarlem;
the Ruined Tower; and Landscape with Figures
and Animals, the latter by A. Van de Velde. Sol-
omon Van Ruysdael has two delightful works, one
a river, where fishermen are busy; and the other a
Bark crossing the Meuse, where a boat is ferrying
across the river a carriage to which four horses are
attached. On the right, a house appears under the
trees, on the left trees and bell-towers are seen;
and on the river stretching into the horizon many
boats.
312 TLbc Hrt of tbe Belgian Galleries
There are also two characteristic works by Hob-
bema; one a Mill, and the other the Haarlem
Wood, with a road winding under the trees, along
which horsemen and peasants are advancing, the
figures of which are attributed to Barent Gael.
Other landscapes here include a beautiful view
of Dordrecht by Jan Van Goyen in which Albert
Cuyp painted the figures; several charming land-
scapes by Wynants; Landscape with Ruins (twi-
light effect), by Nicholas Berchem; Italian Land-
scape, by Jan Both; Italian Landscape with Mer-
cury and Argus and Cows, by Gaspard Dughet;
Rocky Landscape by C. Huysmans; Landscape
with Animals, by J. B. Huysmans; Landscape and
Farm, by Albert Klomp; Dutch Landscape, by J.
Koning; Italian Landscape, by Francois Millet;
Deer Hunt in a Landscape, by F. Moucheron, who
has also a Rocky Landscape; Italian Landscape,
by Nicholas Pimont; and two episodes of the Chase
by Wouwermans.
An early picture of the dunes of Scheveningen
which have attracted so many painters is by Ko-
ninck. The dunes are seen in the distance, as well
as harvest fields, a cottage surrounded by trees, two
farms, and a long palisade on which a man is lean-
ing; on the left, in the foreground a woman is
riding an ass with a man by her side, and on the
right is a peasant woman with her flock of sheep.
Brussels 313
The Beach at Scheveningen, by Benjamin Cuyp,
should also be noticed.
Of the few marines one of the most striking is
Backhuysen's Tempest on the Coast of Norway,
where black clouds are chased by the wind across
an orange sky and the waves are breaking with
fury on the rocky coast, while the sea violently agi-
tated tosses the ships about unmercifully. The sun
is setting and on a piece of wood floating in the
foreground the painter has signed his name.
Another stormy sea is by J. T. Blankhof. Here
an English ship is driven by the wind upon a tem-
pestuous sea, and followed by a large boat in full
sail. Other boats and ships are seen to the right
and left; and the coast in the background affords
a view of a town with its spires, windmills and
houses. The sky is stormy and on a floating plank
covered with foam the painter has signed his name.
Bonaventure Peeters has also a storm at sea where
the waves are violently agitated. Several boats and
ships driven by the tempest are trying to gain the
shore, where people appear on the rocks to render
aid.
William Van der Velde's View of the Zuiderzee
shows boats and ships at different distances with
sails shining in the sunlight. On the left two sailors
are trying to float a shallop.
The historical pictures include : Croesus showing
314 Ube Hrt ot tbe JBelatan Galleries
his treasures to Solon by Francken the Younger;
the Army of Louis XIV encamped before Tournai,
by A. F. Van der Meulen; the Battle of Prague
(1620), Battle of Wimpfen (1622), Battle of Hal-
berstadt (1622) and Siege of Coutrai (1648), by
Peter Snayers; the Princes of Ligne, Chimay,
Rubempre, de la Tour and Taxis and the Duke of
Arenberg coming out of the Palace of the Duke
of Brabant, Brussels, in the costumes of the Golden
Fleece, by Gilles Van Tilborgh, and Maximilian I
hunting in the Tyrol, by Tobie Veraeght, the only
known work by this painter. It is dated 161 5.
An interesting historical picture that needs ex-
planation is that representing the triumph of the
Infanta Isabella, who on May 15, 161 5, took part in
the archery contest of the Grand-Serment and
brought down the bird at the height of the bell-
tower of the church of the Sablon, Brussels. In this
picture, she is receiving by the side of the Arch-
duke Albert the congratulations of the dignitaries
of the Corporation of Archers. She is again seen
on a balcony in the foreground bowing to the crowd,
while her attendants scatter money from the win-
dows, and again in a chariot drawn by six horses
in a big procession.
This work and its companion — the Procession
of the Young Maidens of the Sablon — were long
in the Sablon church in Brussels. The latter is also
JSrussels 3i5
represented in the background of the last named
picture in which march the six young girls dowered
by the Infanta followed by men in white, the mem-
bers of the Grand Serment and then the Archduke
Albert and Isabella with a taper in her hand. Cour-
tiers and attendants bring up the rear. It is inter-
esting to compare this with Rubens's portrait where
Isabella is in black with ruff and pearls, a golden
diadem in her hair, a cross and image of the Virgin
on her breast and a blue fan in her hand. The
companion portrait shows the Archduke Albert in
black velvet with ruff and the order of the Golden
Fleece on his neck. He holds a plumed hat in one
hand and rests the other on his sword.
William Tell is considered the masterpiece of
Charles Emmanuel Biset, whose works are so rare.
He was supposed to be a pupil of Gonzales Coques
and was director of the Antwerp Academy in 1674.
Ordered by the syndics of the brotherhood of St.
Sebastian of Antwerp to unite all the members of
the corporation together, he selected a scene in which
he thought he could make them interested specta-
tors. The action takes place on a long terrace behind
which is a wall ornamented with the shields of the
Brotherhood of St. Sebastian. The doyen is seated
and around him are grouped the standard bearer,
drummer and other members, dressed in black with
the inevitable white band. In the centre of the fore-
316 Ube Hrt of tbe JBelgtan Galleries
ground William Tell is about to draw, not the fam-
ous cross-bow, but an arrow in compliment to the
Guild of St. Sebastian. On the left Tell's son
stands with his back turned and an apple on his
head. On the left are also some buildings of fine
architecture and upon a balustrade leans Gessler in
the costume of a Turk and near him on a pole the
hat that Tell refused to salute. In the background
the rocky landscape and snow-capped mountains
inform the spectator that he looks upon Switzer-
land. The architecture was painted by William
Van Ehrenberg or Hardenberg and the landscape
by Emelraet.
In addition to the mythological works by Rubens,
we find several others of this character that are
deserving of attention. One of these is Carlo
Maratta's Apollo Pursuing Daphne.
This work was painted at the order of Louis XIV
and was in the Royal Collection until 1802, when
it was sent to Brussels. Apollo running on the
right has nearly caught Daphne, whose hands show
that the metamorphosis has begun. On the left are
a nymph and also a young man who is trying to
arrest Apollo. Above the Peneus that crosses the
landscape is the figure of the river-god with his
urn, and near him two nymphs in a shady grove.
Diana and Endymion, by Jean-Baptiste Van Loo,
represents Endymion on the ground sleeping with
3Bru5sel6 317
one of his dogs beside him, while Diana, accom-
panied by Love, is borne towards him on a cloud.
^neas hunting the Stag on the Coast of Lybia
allows us to see a typical work of Claude Lorrain,
in which beautiful scenery is depicted in the fresh
clear sunlight of early morning. The incident of
the hunt is subordinate, where the Trojan warrior
has just captured his sixth stag, and Achates is at
his side with a quiver full of arrows and leaning on
a javelin. It is the harbour that we notice, where
the seven vessels are riding at anchor, and the great
rocks that have been hollowed out by the sea, and
the rich verdure of the charming landscape that
reaches to the breaking waves.
Other notable works are: Van Dyck's Drunken
Silenus; G. de Lairesse's Death of Pyrrhus; Van-
nuchi's Jupiter and Leda; and Dido Building
Carthage and the Forecasting of Lavinia's Future,
by Janssens; and Hecuba Blinding the King of
Thrace. The latter, a much disputed work, is attri-
buted to Mattia Preti (il Calabrese), and represents
a crowned woman in robes of white, pink and yel-
low, rushing impetuously upon ihe king and thrust-
ing her fingers into his eyes. Another woman holds
the king so that he cannot escape.
There are in this gallery several fine examples of
interiors of churches in which peculiar branch of art
the Dutch and Flemish masters excelled. Steen-
318 Ube Hrt ot tbe JSelgian Oalleries
wyck the Elder has painted the Interior of St.
Peter's, Louvain, from the entrance of the great
nave with a chapel on the left where a priest is
officiating to several kneeling figures. On the same
side are other chapels ornamented with altars and
pictures, and on the right we note a lady accom-
panied by a child that is playing with a dog. On
the same side, a beggar is seated by a column. The
choir and the jube are seen in the background.
The Interior of a church by Steenwyck the
younger should also be noticed.
There are also three by Peter Neefs the Elder,
two especially fine ones being interiors of the Cathe-
dral of Antwerp. One of these is seen during the
day. On the left we see a priest carrying the sacra-
ment and also a brother distributing bread to the
poor. The other is more interesting on account of
the light from the wax tapers and torches that dis-
pel the gloom. A baptism is taking place. The
third represents a church during a sermon. Fr.
Francken is the author of the figures that make up
the congregation.
In this connection we may also notice the interior
of a church by Emmanuel de Witte, where in the
distance is seen the preacher in the pulpit and here
and there numerous listeners standing and seated,
great lustres, the organ people standing by the
columns on which coats-of-arms are suspended, and
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Brussels 3i9
in the distance windows whose painted panes allow
the light to fall through in lovely hues. The same
artist has here an interior of the Delft church.
Isaac Van Nickele or Nikkelen has also led the
spectator through the great entrance of the Haar-
lem church, to give him an extended view of the
interior lighted by a copper chandelier hung from
the vault. We also see the organ on the right and
many groups of figures.
It is interesting to compare these works with that
of Guardi representing the Interior of St. Mark's
with the newly-elected Doge receiving the acclama-
tions of the people.
The Portico of a Palace, by Dirk Van Delen, was
painted in 1642. The portico supported by columns
in the centre on the right is the palace where several
persons are listening to music. In the foreground
are a cavalier and a lady accompanied by a grey-
hound ; and walking down the steps are five persons
and a child. People are also walking on the left in
front of a monumental fountain. Splendid build-
ings fill in the background.
Fruits, by Jan de Heem, consists of a reddish
marble table on which is a pewter plate with two
opened oysters and a quarter of a lemon; a bunch
of grapes ; also a large glass, around the base of
which are some ears of wheat ; a mulberry bough ;
another half-filled glass; more oysters; some oys-
320 TLbc Hrt ot tbe JBelaian (Balleries
ter shells; and, on the right, a butterfly uncertain
where to alight.
Another picture by this artist represents a table
with a brown cover where stands a basket of
peaches, grapes and a melon ; an upset pewter mug ;
a large glass half filled with white wine; a pewter
plate on which is a cut lemon; a whole lemon; a
cut pomegranate; a pipe and some tobacco in a
little piece of paper.
Cornelis de Heem's Fruits and Flowers shows
a blue and white porcelain bowl, filled with peaches,
plums and grapes and decorated with convolvulus,
stands on a stone table, where also lie some plums
and grapes, a melon, a cut pomegranate, a branch
of a mulberry-tree with its fruit, and a tall Vene-
tian glass with a cover.
Jan Fyt's Fruits and Flowers in a Landscape
shows in the foreground near a rock a great vase
of flowers and a bunch of pinks thrown on the edge
of the basin of a fountain; some melons, figs,
plums, peaches and grapes on the ground ; a
guinea-pig rooting among the vine-leaves; and, on
the left, some pumpkins and a vigorous artichoke
plant. Through a vista, there is a glimpse of ruins
around which are grouped several persons. Moun-
tains rise in the distance.
A Wagon of Game drawn by Dogs, by Jan Fyt,
always attracts attention. In the foreground of a
Brussels 321
landscape of great extent, where the distant moun-
tains are lighted by the setting sun, stands a httle
country wagon across which a board is placed
transversely. Upon it is piled a heap of game and
birds, — among which we note a hare, a peacock
whose long tail sweeps the ground, a cock, some
chickens, partridges, and, on the ground, near the
wheels, a duck. A cat is watching her chance to
attack the game ; but the two dogs, of strong limbs
and rough skin, are on the watch : one is resting
and the other stands guarding the game. The deep
ruts that the wagon has made in the road should
be noticed.
Remarkable for its grouping, as well as for the
individual treatment of each object is Snyders's
Game and Fruits. On a long table covered with a
brown cloth are arranged a kid, a swan, a pheasant,
some quails, some little birds, a boar's head, a lob-
ster, a basket of fruit, a dish of strawberries, some
oranges and asparagus. A man is approaching
with a basket of oranges and fresh figs; a crouch-
ing cat eyes the game greedily; and a squirrel
nibbles an apple.
Beautifully painted are the animals in Albert
Cuyp's Interior of a Stable. A brown ox spotted
w^ith white is standing in the centre lighted by a
window that gives a view of the country. Near
him a black ox is lying. In the middle of the stable
322 zbc Hrt ot tbe ^Belgian (Ballertes
is a partition, on the top of which a cock is perched ;
a sitting hen is seen in a basket; and in the left-
hand corner, a wooden tub.
Melchior d'Hondecoeter is well represented by
a Dead Cock hanging by a nail on a board ; a splen-
did Crowing Cock, standing on a wall with two
hens in front of him, two ducks and five ducklings
near a pond in the foreground and the trunk of a
dead tree on the left; and the Entrance to a Park,
where, on a w^all ending with a column on which
stands a stone vase, a peacock and peahen are
perched. Below them we see a turkey hen, five
ducks, and, on the right, a guinea fowl and a par-
tridge pursued by a spaniel. Still farther back are
a turkey and two ostriches. Some one is coming
through a distant portico, w-here there are two
statues on pedestals, and above the building the
trees of the park lift their heads.
Of equal interest is an elaborate Dead Game and
Fruits by Jan Weenix, where on the bough of a
tree hang a hare and a turkey, while some par-
tridges lie on the ground. The trunk of the tree is
brightened with climbing convolvulus and poppies;
and, on the left, stands a basket of peaches, grapes
and other fruit. In the middle distance, we see a
little temple and a statue. An obelisk rises in the
distant landscape.
Mignon shows his genius in painting flowers and
Brussels 323
the meaner creatures that love to lurk among them,
in his Flowers, Animals and Insects. At the en-
trance to a grotto stands a tree in whose branches
birds have made their nests, and at its gnarled roots
blossom marguerites, poppies and bluets. On the
left is a clump of large mushrooms. Two serpents
are gliding among the fallen leaves; snails and in-
sects creep about ; here and there flutter butterflies ;
and, near a big stone at the foot of the tree, we
note a squirrel.
Nor should the visitor fail to examine the fol-
lowing: Dead Game in a Landscape by Pieter
Gysels, consisting of a swan, a hare and various
birds, also the gun and other attributes of the chase;
Still Life by the Spanish Pereda, where are spread
near a rock on a little mound a melon, pomegranate,
peaches, grapes, figs, plums and a cauliflower.
Rachel Ruysch's bouquet of flowers in a vase on a
table where plums are also lying and a large butter-
fly hovers; a bouquet or rather a garland of flow-
ers tied with two knots of blue ribbon, by Daniel
Seghers ; Fruits, by J. Van Son, consisting of white
and red grapes, peaches and cherries, with a white
butterfly hovering over them ; a table with a brown
velvet cover, on which are offered an orange, a
peeled lemon, some nuts and a Venetian glass filled
with white wine, by J. Van de Velde.
The rare Adriaen Van Utrecht appears at his
324 Zbc Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Ballertes
best in the Interior of a Kitchen, where in the
foreground is placed a table partly covered with a
white cloth, on which stand a chicken and some
meat, a large pheasant pie, jugs and wine glasses.
In front of the table, to the right, is a wooden block,
on which are placed a cabbage, a cauliflower and
some carrots, and near it is a basket of grapes. An
elegantly dressed lady is sitting at the table, so at-
tentively regarding the pie that she does not see
a gentleman with brown beard and long hair trying
to embrace the cook, who holds a chicken in one
hand and a spit in the other.
A more homely kitchen is depicted in Pieter
Aertsen's Dutch Cook, in which the chief figure,
of natural size, stands before a fireplace, where she
is roasting a duck on the spit. She rests her right
hand on one of the andirons and holds a cabbage
under her left arm. In the foreground, a young
boy, holding a dog on his knee, is turning the spit ;
and, in the background, a woman is placing a red
vase on a buffet.
David Ryckaert's Alchemist in his Laboratory is
famous. The old white bearded alchemist is seated
before the furnace, a retort in one hand and a pair
of tongs in the other, to stir the fire. He is turning
towards his wnfe, who is pointing out a passage in
a book on her knees. In the background an appren-
tice is mixing something in a mortar. Utensils
Brussels 325
stand on a table on the right, and some copper
saucepans on the floor. This work was painted in
1648. Three years later, his Rustic Repast was
finished, where we see a family group at the table.
Schalcken, that Dutch master who was happiest
when painting the lighted candle and its effects
through the dark shadows, may be seen here by the
picture of a boy holding a lighted candle in his left
hand and applying a stick of wax to its flame. He
is smiling, and so is the little girl at his side who
is watching the performance with interest. At first
glance one might take this for a Gerard Dow.
In a Musical Party by Palamedes, a gentleman
dressed in black with slashed sleeves sits carelessly
in the foreground, with one hand on his hip and a
pipe in the other ; a lady in a rich red dress is play-
ing a lute ; behind her a violinist ; and in the back-
ground a lady and gentleman sitting at a table.
Music is also the motive of Ostade's celebrated
Flemish Trio, where in front of a rude house,
shadowed by a beautifully painted vine, three peas-
ants are probably making most inharmonious
sounds. One sings and plays the violin at the same
time; another sings from the music; and the third
is struggling with a flute. A jug, pipe and tobacco-
box stand on the table in front to refresh the per-
formers after their exertions.
Very cleverly treated is Ostade's Herring-eater,
326 Ubc Htt Of tbe ^Belgian Galleries
seated at a table before the door of his house, on
which we see a plate of herrings, a piece of black
bread, a pot of beer and a napkin. He holds a her-
ring in his left hand, and with- the other is about to
cut off a piece, which seems to be intended for the
dog at his side.
Inn scenes with travellers halting, stables and
farm scenes that permit the painter to represent
landscapes and groups of figures and animals are
plentiful in the Brussels gallery.
Among works of this class two by Isaac Van
Ostade — Halt of Travellers and the Reeler —
should be mentioned. The latter shows a farm
scene, where a peasant woman is sitting at the door
of a stable, turning a reel, while she holds a spindle
in the other hand. A man is talking to her and a
boy is grooming a horse in the stable, near the door
of which a pig is lying. Very beautifully painted
is the vine that festoons the door with the sunlight
falling on the leaves.
Another farm scene by Siberechts shows how
little life has changed in the Low Countries since
this picture was painted in 1660. A landscape, tree
and farmhouse occupy the background, and peas-
ants, busy at various occupations, are grouped in
the foreground. From the stable on the right, a
shepherd is leading a flock of sheep, which is re-
garded with much interest by a dog.
JAN
STEEN
THE GALLANT OFFERING
Plate XLiii
{See page 330)
Palais des
Beaux-Arts
Brussels
rn,^^^^^^ UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
LISRARy
Brussels 327
Saftleven's Interior of a Grange is full of charm-
ing details, such as household utensils, vegetables,
children playing at ball, and an owl perched on a
cabinet. A woman feeding chickens also contrib-
utes an interesting episode.
Another Dutch Interior, by Egbert Van der Poel,
shows us a Dutch housewife plucking ducks by the
side of a table, on which are placed kitchen utensils
and vegetables. Other wooden and copper vessels
lie on the floor. In the background, a peasant in
a red bodice descends the staircase holding by the
rail.
Pierre de Bloot shows an interior where five
peasants smoke, drink, and play cards, unmindful
of the two pigs at their trough. Adriaen Brouwer
has a characteristic Quarrel over Cards; and also
a more quiet scene where the peasants are smoking
and drinking.
Two Dutch interiors by Molenaer demand at-
tention. In one, five persons are seated at a table
and a sixth, standing with his back towards us and
dressed in red, is cutting a ham. Other persons are
variously grouped and one man is^ asleep.
Very famous is t^ie Flemish Interior by Koedyck,
representing a brightly lighted room with a high
ceiling. Here we see, on the left, a chimney-piece
on which are ranged porcelain plates and a copper
candlestick; on the right a bed over which is bal-
328 Ube Hrt ot tbc Belgian Galleries
ustrade with open shutters above, through which
peeps the head of a child. By the fire is a tall
wooden settle. A woman, seated at a table, ap-
pears to be rubbing it and by her side stands a boy
who is looking out of the window. An interesting
object is a cat resting on a foot-warmer.
A charming work attributed to J. B. Weenix is
that of a Dutch Lady at her toilet. She sits before
her dressing-table and mirror in a chair of carved
oak, dressed in a red bodice and a striped skirt of
green, violet and white beneath which peeps a white
satin slipper. She is adjusting her veil. There is
a window on the left. Another picture of the same
class is by Philip Van Dyck, but the lady is younger
and has powdered hair, and on her dressing-table
stand many toilet articles. This bears the date
1726.
Teniers is one of the heroes of the Brussels Gal-
lery. His chief works are the Five Senses, The Vil-
lage Doctor, a Kermesse, a Flemish Landscape,
Temptation of St. Anthony, Interior of the Arch-
duke Leopold William's Gallery and Portrait of a
Man in Black. In the first picture, Teniers shows
how well he can paint people of high life as well
as peasants, and of all his many representations of
this subject, this is considered the best. It gains
additional interest from the fact that the cavalier
Brussels 329
playing the guitar is Teniers himself, and the lady
in blue who is smelling a lemon is his wife.
The other characters represent the other senses.
In the foreground on a chair lie a red mantle and a
gray hat with plumes, and at the foot of the table
stands a bread basket. Also to be noticed is a mon-
key with chain and ball. The Village Doctor is a
splendid picture of a contemporary laboratory.
The doctor is seated at a table with an open book
before him, examining a bottle. An old woman is
seen in the middle distance and also three men. All
the utensils of the laboratory are wonderfully
treated. The Kermesse in this gallery is one of
the best representations of its class, and was painted
in 1652. Various classes and types appear. On
the right in front of an inn ten persons are eating
and drinking. Other groups are busy drinking,
eating, flirting, love-making, and dancing. On the
left, a cavalier supposed to be Teniers dressed in
black advances, holding by the hand a lady dressed
in yellow wath fan in hand whose train is borne by
a page. They are followed by two young girls and
in the distance the carriage waits their pleasure.
In the background on the left the chateau of Dey
Thoren is seen. The Flemish Landscape is a pretty
scene where a river bordered with trees and build-
ings crosses obliquely towards the background; on
330 Ube Hrt of tbe Belatan ealleries
the right, a bridge and a garden with open gate;
and on the left peasant woman milking a cow with
a man talking to her. The Temptation of St.
Anthony was one of Teniers' favourite subjects. In
this version, the saint sits in a grotto with an open
book in his hands, and an old woman with her hand
on his shoulder points out the monsters by which
he is surrounded. A lady in black silk with won-
derful bluish reflections offers him a diabolical
beverage. Terrible noises must proceed from the
animal musicians; one singer has birds' claws, a
fiddler the head of a fish, and an oboist the head
of an animal. In the background among the rocks
are seated St. Paul and St. Anthony the Hermit,
to whom a raven is bringing bread. The gallery
of the Archduke Leopold William represents the
Archduke with a flower in his hand examining a
drawing that Teniers is showing him. Two per-
sons stand behind the prince, one of whom holds
a bronze figurine. The walls are covered with
pictures. The Portrait shows a man in black with
yellow gloves, behind whom is a landscape.
A Gallant Offering is typical of Jan Steen's
humour. It takes place in a room with a window
and curtained bed in the background, and an open
door on the right, through which a young man,
dressed in gray with a red cap enters with a dancing
step, holding a herring in one hand and two onions
3Bru56el0 331
in the other, which he wishes to present to a stout
woman seated in the centre of the room, and who
smilingly regards the present. Opposite sits her
husband, so absorbed in the grave business of
cracking nuts that he does not see the young man
nor the glances exchanged between him and his
better half. A servant woman, who is bringing in
the coffee pot, is laughing heartily at the joke, while
a man behind her, also enjoying the fun, puts his
thumb to his nose and points derisively to the hus-
band. A little dog in the foreground barks at the
gallant.
Steen's other pictures are the Recruiting Officers,
once called the Rhetoricians, an inn scene; the
Operator, in which a quack is operating upon the
ear of a child ; and the Fete des Rois.
In the latter we see the King astride of a barrel
in disordered costume and wearing a paper crown.
Harlequin and a woman are on his right, and sev-
eral other persons are variously grouped. One car-
ries a death's head on a dish.
The Flemish Wedding by Theodore Van Thulden
is one of the most valued pictures of familiar life.
Here we have a merry wedding scene graced by
the presence of the lord of the castle, who with his
wife is seated on a mound while another couple are
standing in the foreground. Their servants ac-
company them and the carriage waits in the dis-
332 XTbc Hrt ot tbe JSelgtan Galleries
tance. The peasants are full of joy. The bride is
seated in the centre of a long table with a floral
crown suspended over her head, her companions are
eating and drinking, groups of dancers are making
merry on the green, and the bagpipe player is stand-
ing on a barrel.
Among portrait painters Cornelis de Vos occu-
pies a high place. It is said that Rubens, who
could not undertake all the offers that came to him,
frequently sent his patrons to this artist with the
words : " Go to Cornelis de Vos ; he is my second
self." The Portrait of the Artist and his Family
in this gallery is his masterpiece. De Vos is seated
in the centre in the middle distance, seen full face,
his black costume bringing out the blonde of his
hair, moustache and beard; his right arm rests on
the back of a chair, on which a child is seated, wear-
ing a green dress with white stripes, a white cap
and lace cuffs, and handing some grapes to its
father from a bowl of fruit in its lap. Directly in
front is a little girl in white with a green apron, and
a white cap on her blonde hair. She wears a fine
necklace and bracelets, and rests her hand on her
mother's dress, as she looks at the spectator with
the frank curiosity of her years. The artist's wife
is seated in an arm-chair near a table covered with
an Oriental cloth. She wears a black dress and a
white waistcoat embroidered with gold, beautiful
Brussels 333
lace cuffs and a round plaited ruff of enormous
size.
A highly interesting portrait that has been the
subject of much controversy of late years is one
that was described in the inventory of Margaret
of Austria as '' a portrait of the son of Philip the
Good," by Van der Weyden. It represents the
famous Charles the Bold in black doublet, with red
cap on his brown hair and the Order of the Golden
Fleece around his neck, while in his hand he holds
an arrow. Mr. Wauters thinks that this arrow
signifies Charles's devotion to St. Sebastian, to
whom he made a vow during a serious illness in
July, 1467, and therefore could not be the work of
Roger Van der Weyden, who was then dead, and
he therefore accords it to Hugo Van der Goes.
Still, Charles the Bold may have been a devotee
of St. Sebastian or a member of some archery guild
before this date.
Two extraordinary portraits, both dated 1425,
may be mentioned, supposed to be the work of the
Maitre de Flemalle. One represents Barthelemy
Alatruye, councillor of the Chambre des comptes in
Lille, and who died at The Hague in 1446; and
the other, his wife, Marie Pacy, who died in the
same year. Their arms appear on the backgrounds
of these pictures, which are dated 1425. Though
they have suffered much from repainting, they are
334 Ube Hrt of tbe JSelgtan Galleries
striking works. Not only are the faces full of char-
acter, but the details of the costumes are remarkable.
Note the pins that hold the great folded head-dress
of the lady, her jewelled necklace and her furred
collar and sleeves; and note the rings on the coun-
cillor's fingers, and the fur of his costume; but
more particularly the wrinkles around his bright,
keen eyes.
Hals's splendid Portrait of Willem Van Hey-
thuysen, founder of a hospital in Haarlem, shows
him seated at a table dressed in olive doublet with
white collar and cuffs, broad-brimmed hat of black
felt and great yellow leather boots with silver spurs.
In his hands he is holding a riding-whip. A book
lies on the table and on the right is a greenish cur-
tain. A landscape is discerned in the background.
A portrait of a professor of the University of
Leyden, Jan Hoornebeek, in the black gown of his
office, is dated 1645.
Probably the last work by the skilful and delight-
ful brush of Paul Moreelse hangs here, dated 1638,
the year of his death. It represents a young man
dressed in a red coat, the sleeves of which are
lined with green, holding a beautiful apple in his
hand. Fetis thinks this may be a Dutch Paris of-
fering the apple to some Utrecht beauty.
Philippe de Champaigne's famous likeness of
himself presents him with his right hand on his
FLEMISH SCHOOL PO«™AIT OF MARIE PACY
FIFTEENTH CENTURY Plate xliv
(See page 333)
Palais des
Beaux-Arts
Brussels
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEOF OF LIBERAL ARTl
LIBRARY
Brussels S35
breast and in his left a roll on which is the date
1668. The head stands out from a background of
trees. In the distance is a view of Brussels where
the towers of St. Gudule and the spire of the Hotel-
de-Ville may be distinguished. This is a copy of
the one in the Louvre.
There is also a portrait of the artist by Gerard
Dou seated at a table and drawing by the light of
a lamp. He is about thirty years of age, and wears
a kind of yellow dressing-gown and a close cap.
Three Portraits by Ferdinand Bol are of inter-
est : one, a distinguished looking man in black, who
is putting on his left glove; the second a young
lady in black with rich pearls, and the third one of
Rembrandt's wife, Saskia, in red velvet and diadem,
necklace and earrings of pearls.
Rembrandt has two portraits, one of a man in
black with lace collar and cuffs, holding a glove in
his left hand, signed and dated 1641 ; and one of
a woman signed and dated 1654, purchased in 1886
for 100,000 francs.
Pieter Pourbus, one of the greatest portrait-
painters of his time, and whose studio in Bruges
was the most beautiful one Van Mander had ever
seen, is represented by what was probably his last
work, a Portrait of J. Van der Gheenste, mayor
and counsellor of Bruges, in black with a large
ruff. It is signed and dated 1583.
336 Ubc art ot tbc Belgian (Balleries
His son and pupil Frans has the Portrait of a
Man with short hair and reddish beard, dressed in
black.
There is also a Portrait of B. Van der Heist by
himself. The picture is dated 1664. The artist
is dressed in black, with band trimmed with lace,
his long hair falling over his shoulders, and short
moustache. He holds his gloves in his left hand.
A large red curtain furnishes the background. An
accompanying work that passes for his wife has
also a red curtain for a background. Her dress is
black over a white satin petticoat; she has sleeves
clasped with gold buttons and necklace and brace-
lets of pearls. In her right hand she holds a fan,
and rosettes of gray ribbon ornament her hair.
This picture is also dated 1664, but it does not jus-
tify the beauty of Constantia Reinst, w^ho was said
to unite the beauty and wit of Venus and Minerva.
Antonio Moro's Portrait of the Duke of Alva,
standing three-quarters to the right, with short hair
and grayish beard and moustache, is a strong work.
He is in armour and across his shoulder a red scarf
is thrown, and around his neck is hung the order
of the Golden Fleece. He wears his mailed gaunt-
lets, and rests one hand on a table and holds a baton
of command.
Fromentin calls him a tragic and sombre angular
and severe personage imprisoned in his armour and
J5rU0Sel6 337
stiff as an automaton, so black and hard and cold
that it seems as if the light of heaven could never
pierce his coat-of-mail.
There is also a Portrait of Sir Thomas More by
Holbein.
Other notable portraits here are: Two interest-
ing portraits of sisters, by Thomas de Keyser, each
representing a Dutch lady in an arm-chair; Por-
trait of the artist, by Pierre Van Lint; Portrait of
a Man by Nicholas Maes ; The Syndics of the F'ish-
mongers' Guild of Brussels by Pieter Meert; Michel-
Angelo Cambiaso, by Raphael Mengs; Hubert
Goltzius and Portrait of a Man by A. Mor; Por-
trait of a Man by Jacques Van Oost; Portrait of
an Old Woman and Portrait of Young Woman
by J. Van Ravestein; Portrait of a Woman by
Jan de Reyn; Portrait of a Man by Strozzi (de
Cappuccino) ; Portrait of a Man by Van der Vliet;
Portrait of a Man by Jan de Baen; a Man, by G.
B. Castiglione; Portrait of C. Danckerts de Ry
and another of his wife by Pieter Danckerts de Ry
supposed to be their son; a Man, by J. W. Delff;
Portrait of the artist by C. W. E. Dietrich; Chil-
dren supposed to be by F. Du Chatel ; an Old Lady
by G. Flinck; two portraits, by Titian, one of an
old man with white beard and one of a young man
with black hair and short black beard; three strik-
ing works by Coello of the daughters of Charles V. :
338 Zbc Hrt ot tbe Belgian Callertes
Jeanne of Austria, standing by a column with
gloves and fan in one hand while she rests the
other on the head of a little negro. She is dressed
in black and her hair and bodice glitter with jewels
and pearls. Margaret of Parma has a bridle and
bit in her hand, is dressed in black and white and a
black velvet cap with plumes on the side. Marie
of Austria stands by a table covered with a red
cloth. She wears a black dress ornamented with
white bows, a great enamelled cross on her breast,
a golden belt and pearls and jewels in her hair.
Van Dyck's Portrait of Alexander Dellafaille,
magistrate of Antwerp, shows him in a doublet of
black damask with large ruff, and holding a fold
of his black cloak in his right hand.
Among the foreign works and subjects is one
supposed to be by a French artist representing
young Edward VI of England seen full face, wear-
ing a black cap with gold border and a red plume,
black doublet with red sleeves, white collar and
cuffs embroidered with black flowers. He rests his
left hand on the hilt of his sword.
Philippe de Champaigne is well represented in
his native city. His works include an interesting
series of episodes in the life of St. Benoit, which
once ornamented the oratory of Anne of Austria at
Val-de-Grace ; St. Genevieve; St. Joseph; St. Am-
broise ; and St. Stephen ; and a Portrait of himself.
Brussels 339
There is no collection of pictures in Europe that
presents more enigmas than this gallery. About
nine-tenths of the works of the old Netherland and
German Schools — many of which are important
altar-pieces with wings — are attributed simply to
the '' Flemish School." M. Fetis laboured dili-
gently to discover the authors of many of these;
but the Wauters Catalogue (1900, 2d ed. 1905)
shows many changes and discoveries.
A quaint old German work depicts Noah and his
family about to enter the ark which is moored at
the border of a canal in a smiling landscape. The
animals must have been already taken aboard, for
there is not a trace of them. Nor is there the slight-
est suggestion of approaching cataclysm.
Jesus at the House of Simon the Pharisee orig-
inally belonged to the old collection of the French
Kings : it is attributed to the School of Titian.
Five guests are seated around a table under a
portico; on the left Christ is seated in red robe and
blue mantle and turns to the kneeling Magdalen,
who, in brown robe and white kerchief, wipes his
feet with her blonde hair. Beside her stands the
pot of ointment. On the right a little boy in dark
red with his left hand on the hilt of his sword,
stands beside a friend in a yellow doublet with
green sleeves, a violet cloak, a white turban under
his helmet, who in turn is talking to a bare-headed
340 XTbe Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Ballertes
neighbour in red with a green cloak. Two Other
guests are talking in the background where a serv-
ant is going away with a dish in his hand. On the
right two other servants in Turkish costume. One
is carving on a table. A kneeling negro is filling
a flagon, and in the foreground there is a black
dog. Beyond the portico is a terrace overlooking
a garden.
The graceful Albani is seen here in Adam and
Eve in Paradise after the Fall. Adam on the
ground leans on one hand and holds in the other
the apple that Eve has given him. Eve stands
under the tree around which is wound the serpent.
Cranach the Elder's portrait of Dr. Scheuring
(dated 1528) is one of the most important in this
collection; and is recognized in spite of its ugli-
ness as one of the strongest and most characteristic
works of the great German master. It is full face;
the hair and beard are black, long and dishevelled.
The loose upper coat is of a reddish brown and
faced with fur. The hands are crossed. The colour
of the background is bright blue.
A very splendid Virgin Enthroned is by Vit-
torio Crivelli. The Virgin, crowned and dressed
in a green and gold mantle over a red dress with
gold border is seated on a marble throne. The
Child stands on her knees held by her hands, which
are very large. The background is gold; and di-
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SIR THOMAS MORE
Plate XLv
{See page 337)
Palais des
Beaux-Arts
Brussels
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
COLLEC^F. OF LIBERAL AMI
LIBRARY
JSrussels 34i
rectly behind the Virgin is a white watered silk
hanging. The steps of the throne are sculptured.
A wing of the same altarpiece depicts St. Fran-
cis opening his habit to show his wounds, also on
a gold background.
Juno bestowing her treasures upon Venice, for-
merly a part of the ceiling in the hall of the Council
of Ten in the Doges' Palace, carried to Paris in
1797 and given to Brussels in 181 1, is a superb
fragment in Veronese's best manner. The great
Venetian has here also a Holy Family in which St.
Theresa and St. Catherine are conspicuous.
CHAPTER VI
BRUSSELS MUSEE ROYAL DE PEINTURE MODERN E;
HOTEL -DE-VILLE; MUSEE COMMUNAL; MUSEE
WIERTZ
The Collection of Modern Pictures numbering
about 300 paintings and 50 water colours and draw-
ings is situated in L'Ancienne Cour, a building ad-
joining the Royal Library, which was the residence
of the Austrian Stadholders of the Netherlands
after 1731. The entrance is at the end of the Place
du Musee. Passing through a glass door, we reach
the marble stairway, at the foot of which is a fine
statue of Hercules, by Delvaux. The lower part
of the walls of the stairway is lined with marble
and the upper part and the upper portion with plas-
tic ornaments in the Louis Seize style, while the
frescoes of the ceiling represent the Four Seasons
by Joseph Stallaert.
On reaching the top we come to a rotunda and
a door to the left admits us into the gallery, which
consists of sixteen rooms.
Here we find a complete record of modern paint-
342
Brussels 343
ing in Belgium from 1830 to the present time and
also some works by the classicists, David Mathieu
and Navez. We may recall to the reader that Louis
Gallait, Edouard de Biefve, J. F. Portaels, Wiertz,
Alexander Markelbach, J. Stallaert, J. B. Madou,
Alfred Stevens, J. Stevens, E. Verboeckhoven,
Theodore Fourmois, Edmond de Schampheleer, P.
J. Clays, Hippolyte Boulenger, Theodore Baron, J.
Rosseels, Victor Gilsoul, Frans Courtens, Isidore
Verheyden, Alfred Verwee, A. Bouvier, Louis
Artan, Charles de Groux, Louis Dubois, Constantin
Meunier, Charles Hermans, Jan Verhas, Frans
Verhas, and fimile Wauters are identified with
Brussels painting.
One of the most important works in this gallery
is Gallait's Abdication of the Emperor Charles V
in 1555. It was painted in 1841. Charles V is on
the throne. At his feet kneels his son, Philip II;
on his right, is his sister, Maria of Hungary,
seated in an arm-chair; and on his left, William
of Orange. This work is very fine in colour.
Ranking with it is The Compromise by Edmond
de Biefve, also painted in 1841, Tepresenting the
petition of the Netherland nobles in 1556. Count
Hoorn is signing the document; Egmont is seated
in an arm-chair; Philip de Marnix is in a suit of
armour ; William of Orange is in dark blue ; Mar-
tigny jn white §atin, and behind him is the Count
344 Ube Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Ballettes
d'Arenberg. The Count Brederode is under the
portico.
Among other historical pictures we must notice
The Widow of Jacques Van Artevelde Giving up
her Jewels for the State, by F. Pauwels ; the Begin-
ning of the Revolution of 1830 at the H6tel-dc-
Ville in Brussels by G. Wappers; the Emperor
Henry IV at Canossa in 1077, by A. Claysenaar;
the Citizens of Ghent doing homage at the Cradle
of Charles V, by A. de Vriendt, and also by
the same artist, Excommunication of Bouchard
d'Avesnes on account of his interdicted marriage
with Margaret of Flanders; a Funeral Mass for
Berthal de Haze by H. Leys, and, by the same
painter. The Sermon (in the Reformation Period)
and Restoration of the Roman Catholic Service in
the Antwerp Cathedral in 1566.
Another famous work is the Prior of the Au-
gustine Monastery trying to cure the madness of
Hugo Van der Goes by means of Music, by E. Wau-
ters; the Cuirassiers of Waterloo by A. Hubert;
Belgium Crowning her Famous Sons, by H. de
Caisne; Battle of Lepanto in 1571, by E. Slinge-
neyer; Erasmus, by J. Van Lerius; Siegfried of
Westerburg, Archbishop of Cologne, before his
captors, Duke John of Brabant and Count Adolph
of Berg, by ISf. de Keyser; and several by L. Gal-
lait, including the Violinist (art and liberty),
Brussels 345
painted in 1849, and The Plague in Tournai
(1092), one of the painter's last works. Nor must
we forget to pause before G. Wappers's Charles I
of England on his way to the scaffold and Charles
de Groux's Junius preaching the Reformation in
a house at Antwerp with the light from the stake
shining through the window, painted in i860.
Landscape forms the subject of a great number
of pictures, from the style of Verboeckhoven and
Kindermans to the more modern examples of the
Barbizon and Tervueren schools and to the still
more modern impressionist painters.
The great animal painter, Alfred Verwee, has
many fine works in this gallery, including Cattle by
a River; Zealand Team (1873) > Pasture in Flan-
ders (1884) and Cattle at Pasture (1888). Cattle
at Pasture in Picardy and Cattle beside the Scheldt
by J. H. L. de Haas should also be noticed. L.
Robbe's Landscape with Cattle in the Campines of
Antwerp and Cattle at Pasture near Courtrai;
Cows in an Avenue, by Em. Claus and a Cattle-
Market in the Slaughter House at Brussels, by E.
de Pratere, and Cattle in the Roman Campagna, by
E. Verboeckhoven, are all of high excellence. A
characteristic work of the last-named painter is his
Flock of Sheep in a Thunderstorm, painted in
1839.
A Stable by J. Stobbaerts is a good work and
846 Ube Hrt of tbe Belatan 6allerie5
also a Shepherd Dog Fighting an Eagle by Charles
Verlat. Horses in Winter, by J. L. Montigny
(1890) ; a Cat Playing, by E. Van der Bosch; and
J. Stevens's Dog before a Mirror and Dog Market
in Paris are excellent examples of his style.
J. Stevens's Morning in the Streets of Brussels
should be compared with Daybreak in the Capital
by Charles Hermans.
There is a very decorative Landscape by J. B.
Kindermans and also a Scene in the Ambleve Val-
ley; a Scene in the Campines near Antwerp
(i860); and a Landscape near Edeghem by F.
Lamoriniere and also a Landscape painted in
1879.
H. Boulenger's Forest-Scene, Sylvan Landscape
(1865), Avenue des Charmes at Tervueren, Au-
tumn Morning and View of Dinant are among this
painter's best productions.
Theodore Fourmois's Scene in the Campine near
Antwerp is also one of his most famous works.
Then, too, we should note Victor Gilsoul's Calm
and November Evening; Frans Courtens's cele-
brated Milkmaid, painted in 1896, and also his Re-
turn from Church and Shower of Gold; A. J.
Heymans's Heath; E. Beernaert's Landscape with
Ponds (1886) and Edge of a Wood in Zealand
(1878); Theodore Baron's Winter Landscape; A.
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J5rU8Sel5 347
J. Hamesse's Evening in the Campines of Antwerp
(1883) ; E. de Schampheleer's The Old Rhine near
Gouda (1875),; Marie CoUart's Fruit-Garden in
Flanders; Isidore Verheyden's Trees (1898) and
Woman Gathering Wood; J. Rosseels's Heath and
Landscape in the Campines; Joseph Theodore
Coosemans's Chestnut Woods in the Campines of
Antwerp; F. Crabeels's Hay Harvest; F. van
Leemputten's Peat-Cutters; J. de Greef's Fond at
Anderghem; and A. de Knyff's The Forest of
Stolen and The Deserted Gravel Pit.
In connection with the latter we may look at
Alfred Stevens's picture of the Studio of A. Knyff.
The versatile Stevens is also represented by Men-
tone (road to Cap Martin), 1894; Portrait of a
Lady, called ''The Lady Bird" (1880); The
Young Widow (1883) ; In the Studio; and Lady
in a light Pink Dress.
H. Leys's Portrait of Himself hangs here; and
there are several fine portraits in the room devoted
to the foreign schools by Goya; G. Courbet of
Alfred Stevens, the painter; Sir Thomas Law-
rence; Sir Henry Raeburn; and. Sir Joshua Rey-
nolds's Portrait of W. Chambers, the architect.
Among the best pictures in this part of the gal-
lery we may cite E. Fromentin's Thirsty Land, a
caravan in the Sahara, painted in 1869; Goya's
348 Zbc Htt ot tbe jBelgtan (Ballettes
Scene from the Inquisition and G. Courbet's ^' La
Manolla," a Spanish dancer, and Torrent; and H.
W. Mesdag's Sunset at Sea painted in 1895.
Among marines the best are : Coast near Ostend
by P. J. Clays, who also has a notable Roads
of Antwerp (1869) and a Calm on the Scheldt;
Sunblink on a Rough Sea by A. Bouvier, who
has also a Sea Piece; and a Sea Piece by Louis
Artan.
Turning to genre we find F. de Braekeleer's The
Golden Wedding, painted in 1839, and Distribution
of Fruit at a School ; and Henri de Braekeleer's The
Waterhuis at Antwerp; The Geographer; Stall;
and Spinner; Florent Willems's The Bride's Toi-
let; Alfred Cluysenaar's The Infant Painter; J.
B. Madou's Fortune-Teller ; Village Politicians,
and Mischief-Maker, a Flemish scene in the Eigh-
teenth Century; V. Lagye's Sorceress; Joost Im-
pens's Flemish Tavern ; Jul. de Vriendt's Christmas
Carol (1894); J. Ensor's Lamp Cleaner; Charles
de Groux's Departure of the Recruit; Saying
Grace; Drunkard by the Corpse of his Neglected
Wife; and A Funeral; C. Meunier's Tobacco Fac-
tory at Seville; E. de Block's Reading in the Bible;
G. de Jonghe's The Young Mother; H. Bource's
Bad News ; and J. Verhas's Review of the Schools,
on the occasion of the silver wedding of the King
and Queen of the Belgians in 1878. The procession
^Brussels 349
is passing the Palace in front of which are the King
and Queen and other persons of importance.
Hotel-de-Ville
One could pause a long while in the Grande
Place, one of the finest Mediaeval squares in exist-
ence, to describe its architectural features and its
historical associations. There was not an incident
in the city's history, not a revolt, nor an execution,
nor a festival, nor a ceremony, of which it was not
the scene; and here tilts and tournaments took
place and the entries of sovereigns were brilliantly
and joyously celebrated. Our destination, however,
is the H6tel-de-Ville, the most interesting building
in Brussels. The principal fagade facing the square
is Gothic and was built in 1402-1443, and the
light and graceful spire, 370 feet high, was finished
in 1454 and is surmounted by a gilded figure of the
Archangel Michael, made by Martin Van Rode in
1454. The architects of the building were Jacob
Van Thienen and Jan Van Ruysbroeck. A statue
of the latter occupies the first niche in the tower.
The whole facade is adorned with niches and
statues.
Entering the building by the " Lions' Staircase,"
restored in the style of the Fifteenth Century, we
reach the great Salle des Fetes, a magnificent hall
adorned with oak carvings after designs by Jamaer,
350 Ube Hrt ot tbe JSelotan (Balleties
the city architect, and hung with superb tapestries
representing the guilds, executed at Mechhn from
designs by W. Geefs.
From this hall, we enter the Salle des Marriages,
lined with oak panelling and adorned with allegor-
ical frescoes. Through an ante-room, the visitor
passes into the Council Hall, where Egmont and
Hoorn were condemned to death. The decorations
date from the end of the Seventeenth Century, and
here we find splendid tapestries of this period re-
presenting the entrance of Philip the Good of Bur-
gundy, the Abdication of Charles V, etc., from the
designs by Victor Janssens, the author of the ceil-
ing painting, depicting Olympus and its gods.
In addition to portraits of former sovereigns,
Maria Theresa, Francis II, Joseph II, Charles VI,
Charles V, Philip III of Spain, Charles II of Spain,
Philip IV, Philip II in Robe of the Golden Fleece,
and the Archduke Albert and Isabella, his wife,
there are portraits, busts and statues of famous
burgomasters and several wall and ceiling paintings
representing civic and allegorical subjects, by Count
J. de Lalaing, Cardon and Em. Wauters. At the
foot of the stairway in the corridor is a large pic-
ture by Stallaert, representing the Death of Eber-
hard T'Serclaes, a magistrate of Brussels, painted
in 1883, and also the Assyrians Pillaging a Moa^'
bitish Town, by Ernest Vandenkerckhoven.
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COLLF-Cf" ^^r LIBERAL ARTS
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Brussels 351
Views of Old Brussels before 1873, by J. B. Van
Moer, are in the Salle d'Attente; two pictures by
F. A. Bossuet of Old Brussels, painted when the
artist was ninety years old, are in the Cabinet de
Techevin de Tetat civil; and there is an interesting
altar-piece in the Salle de Maximilien, by a Belgian
painter of the Fifteenth Century, representing epi-
sodes in the Virgin's life. Portraits of Maximilian
and his wife, Maria of Burgundy, by Cluysenaar,
hang over the chimney-piece in this room.
In the ante-chamber there are ten decorative
panels representing kermesses and landscapes of the
Flemish school of the Eighteenth Century, which
formerly decorated a brewery in Brussels.
Musee Communal
La Maison du Roi, on the Grande Place, also
known as the Halle au Pain, contains a small col-
lection of pictures quite worth a visit. The building
itself is one of the most charming specimens of
Belgian civic architecture of the Sixteenth Century.
It was erected in 15 14-1525 in the transition style
from Gothic to Renaissance and was restored in
1 876- 1 895 according to the plans of the original
architect, Louis Van Bodeghem (or Van Beu-
ghem). The interior fittings are also in the style of
the period. It was in the great saloon on the second
floor that Counts Egmont and Hoorn passed the
352 xibe Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Ballertes
night before their execution (5 June, 1568) and
from it passed to the block by means of a scaffold
especially erected. On the second floor is the Musee
Communal, or Municipal Museum, established in
1887 (entrance Rue du P'oivre), where are pre-
served models and views of old Brussels buildings,
banner, sculpture, the clothes with which the Man-
nikin Fountain has occasionally been dressed, and
treasures in china, faience, and metal, as well as
prints and coins. The picture gallery contains ex-
amples of Snyders, A. Moro, Goltzius, Bol, Cuyp
and Mierevelt, and a few works by German and
Italian masters.
Musee Wiertz
Among the show-places of Brussels that the trav-
eller rarely fails to visit is the Wiertz Museum,
situated in the rue Vautier, near the Zoological
Gardens. It was originally the studio of the eccen-
tric painter, Antoine Joseph Wiertz, whose chief
works were gathered here, and now belongs to the
Belgian nation.
The building is in the form of an ancient temple
to which Wiertz was about to add two wings at
the time of his death.
On entering the stranger's first feeling is one of
surprise. The pictures are arranged in a long hall.
The upper tier consists of colossal works some of
Brussels 353
which are thirty feet high, and are, for the most
part, sombre in colour and lugubrious in subject,
representing, as a visitor remarked, " awful specta-
cles of woe and of suffering, masses of figures
blended together, dead or dying; flight and per-
plexity, together with forms of mighty genii of
sorrowful and pitiful countenances with hands
bringing comfort and blessing to perishing worlds
— and all floating, ascending, descending, in be-
wildering multitudes. '' Lower down a second tier
of paintings. These, many of them, if not all, en
peinture mate, richer 'in colour, and mostly episodes
out of the earth-life and modern-life, and frequently
very humble life, but none the less tragic — it may
even be all the more tragic. Here and there a bit
of whimsical drollery — here and there a bit of
weird witchcraft, or magic — here and there, but
very rarely, a little, a very little bit of sunshine
and of peace, of rich bright landscape and peaceful
idyllic life. The impression made upon the mind
is firstly, surprise; secondly, the conviction that
Wiertz was a man possessed of no ordinary powers
of imagination and of no ordinary powers of exe-
cution."
Every subject seems to have attracted this mad
genius who has been described as having the heavy
tread of an elephant, an imagination dark as a thun-
der cloud and a brush broad as a besom.
354 Ube Hrt ot tbe JBelgtan (Ballcries
Subjects drawn from Homer, Scriptural, Chris-
tian, symbolic, romantic, weird, satirical, humour-
ous, pathetic and philosophical themes are here
treated with a savage force and fury. The strange
individuality of Wiertz is best exhibited in those
works that contain a philosophical idea, such as the
Genius of War, the Civilization of the Nineteenth
Century, A Blow from the Hand of a Belgian
Woman, the Orphans, the Last Cannon and the
Things of the Past regarded by the Men of the
Future.
The Genius of War is typified by Napoleon
Buonaparte, who is standing in Hell, in his white
coat, cocked hat drawn over his forehead, folded
arms, lips compressed as with pain and livid face.
Thin Hvid and lurid flames issue from his vitals;
and, encircling him and pressing upon him, is a
crowd of phantoms — widows, orphans and parents
who have been bereft through him of their loved
ones. They bring him reeking members of bodies
and ofifer him with curses a cup of blood.
The Genius of Civilization destroying the Last
Cannon represents an enormous battle field, where
dead and dying men and horses are lying in the twi-
light. In a sort of aurora-like glow, the Genius of
Civilization, in purple and gold, is breaking asunder
a cannon, and behind her are the figures of Wisdom,
Science, Labour, Industry and Agriculture, with
JSrussels 355
brows wreathed with the olive, corn and vine —
bringing the blessings of peace.
The Things of the Past regarded by the Men of
the Future represents a cannon, a sceptre, a crown
and an arch of triumph in the palm of an enormous
hand. Through the clouds the faces of a man, a
woman and a child look with pity and amusement
upon these curiosities.
The Contest for the Body of Patroclus painted
in 1839 and The Triumph of Christ painted in
1848 are considered his best works. Patroclus is
a fine study of the nude. The figure lies in the cen-
tre horizontally and Greeks and Trojans are con-
tending for the possession of it, while, in the back-
ground, Jupiter is about to throw a great rock at
the Trojans.
The Triumph of Christ is an original, imaginative
and reverential conception. Here the Saviour in
the character of a judge, hiding his face and clos-
ing his eyes on a scene of violence, points the hand
upwards to the light and a kingdom eternal. The
chiaroscuro is worthy of Rembrandt, the idea is
Dantesque.
Among the other Scriptural pictures of special
note are : The Flight into Egypt ; The Education
of the Virgin ; The Sleep of the Infant Jesus ; The
Descent of the Rebel Angels; and The Beacon of
Golgotha.
356 Ubc Hrt ot tbe Belgian (Ballertes
Among '' the wild nightmares of the brain " are :
Thoughts and Visions of a Head Cut Off; A Sec-
ond After Death ; Hunger, Madness and Crime ; A
Scene in Hell; The Birth of the Passions; The
Burned Child; The Suicide; The Novel Reader,
and Precipitate Inhumation, — all of which are in-
tended to convey lessons.
The Artist's Mother, too, should be noticed, — a
peasant seated at her spinning-wheel, before the
chimney, and wearing a red dress, a black apron,
a plaid fichu of blue and yellow, and a white cap.
As a specimen of Wiertz's lighter vein, there is
a picture of a young girl in a garden admiring a
rose bush from which unseen by her a little Cupid
aims at her breast a fatal arrow. The spectator
will be amused at a representation of the old story
of the three wishes, where a magnificently dressed
fairy waves her wand over the heads of the old
peasant and his wife, she having wished for a sau-
sage and he that it would stick to her nose. The
old man is jumping in terror to see that this has
occurred. Forge of Vulcan is also a notable
work.
Before leaving the Wiertz Museum, we must
note a number of terra cotta and plaster groups of
sculpture, also by Wiertz, which he intended to
execute on a colossal scale ; and also several " sur-
prises," painted upon the corners of the walls and
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3BrU96el6 357
hidden behind screens. If the visitor's curiosity is
excited, and he looks to see what is concealed, in
the one case a chained dog is ready to attack him,
or a Calabrian brigand points his loaded carabine
at the intruder. In another place, through a half
opened window, a young girl offers a rose.
The general impression produced by this strange
gallery is well described by J. Beavington Atkin-
son, who writes:
'' The Musee Wiertz presents pictorial and men-
tal phenomena without parallel in Europe : the in-
congruous creations here collected reach the grand
and then descend into the grotesque; rise to the
sublime and then fall into the ridiculous. The gal-
lery is as a pictorial pandemonium, wherein rages
the perpetual conflict between good and evil, God
and devil, the carnal consuming the spiritual, and
blasphemy raising its voice against religion. The
artist has portrayed his character in his pictures;
indeed, he may almost be said to have written his
autobiography in the tumultuous composition of
The Revolt of Hell against Heaven. Here demons
are in mortal combat with angels, dragons belch out
fire in the face of heaven, lightnings rend rocks
asunder, the crack of doom has come.
" In the way of ultra-naturalism I recall a brutal
scene, wherein the mother cuts off the leg of her
child and places it in a pot on the fire; likewise
358 Ube Hrt of tbe :Belatan Galleries
another repulsive composition of a woman depicted
in two characters placed side by side : in the one
she is gaily dressed, in the other she appears abso-
lutely naked. In a third picture, a woman is seen
bursting alive from a coffin. There are, also, some
poor and childish monstrosities from the story of
Gulliver. The Museum is likewise furnished with
a series of peep-shows, after the manner of country-
fairs, and further attraction is sought by sundry pic-
torial tricks. Thus, a man is seen asleep at an open
window, and in order to enhance the illusion, an
actual shutter is hung on hinges against the wall.
These examples may suffice to show that the paint-
er's naturalism was of a low order."
THE END.
Ifnbei;
Abdication of Charles V,
Gallait, loi, 343
Abshoven, 80
Accountant, The, Massys,
157
Achtschelling, Lucas, 243
Adam and Eve, Cranach,
224; Van Eyck, 4, 261-2
Adoration of the Lamb,
The, Van Eyck, 2-8
Adoration of the Kings,
Rubens, 174-5
Adoration of the Magi,
Bosch, 280; Van Eyck,
262-3; MemHng, 1 14-15;
P. Van Mol, 198-9; Ru-
bens, 284-5; Seghers, 70;
Swart, 280
Adoration of the Shep-
herds, De Craeyer, 301 ;
Floris, 160-1 ; Jordaens,
190
Adriaensen, Alexander, 76
Aertszen, P., 44, 324
Aken, Jerome Van. See
Bosch
Alchemist, Ryckaert, 324
Allegory, Jordaens, 304
Allegory of Justice, Rom-
bouts, 238
Alsloot, Denis Van, 51, 310
Angels, Fall of the Rebel,
Floris, 159-160
Animals, Hondecoeter, 214
Annunciation, S. Martini,
217-18; R. Van der Wey-
den, 146
Antonello da Messina, 9,
149, 219-220
Archers' Brotherhood, The,
205
Artan, L,, no
Arthois, Jacques d', 94-95,
307-8
Architectural pictures, 49,
214-15, 317-19
Assche, Van, 105
Assumption of the Virgin,
A. Bouts, 271-2; M. Van
Coxie, 275-6; Rubens,
285-7
Autumn, Brueghel, 283
Baertsoen, A., no
Balen, H. Van, 70, 71, 83,
306
Baptism of Christ, David,
123-5; Rubens, 179; M.
de Vos, 162-3
" Barbizon, The Belgian,"
106
Baron, Th., 107
Bats, F. de Braekeleer, 250
Bellegambe, Jean, 19, 26, 28,
29
Berckheyde, G., 215
359
360
1[nt)ex
Beschey, B., 99
Bethesda, Pool of, Boeyer-
maiis, 206
Biefoe, E. de, loi, 226, 343
Biloque, Hospice de la,
Ghent, i
Binje, 108
Birds, Pictures of, 322
Biset, Charles E., 94, 315
Bles, Herri Met de, 25, 169,
273, 295
Blieck, M., no
Bloemen, Frans Van, 95
Blondell, Lancelot, 19, 24,
28, 30, 134-135, 273
Boch, Anna, 108, 109
Boeyermans, T., 85-86, 206,
241
Boel, Peter, 248
Bol, F, 335
Bol, Hans, 48
Bosch, Jerome, 19, 21, 27,
282
Boudewyns, A., 96
Boulenger, H., 106
Bout, Pieter, 82, 207
Bouts, Albert, 18, 271
Bouts, Thierry, 15-18, 145-
146, 265-7
, Bouvier, A., no
Braekeleer, F. de, 102, 226,
250
Braekeleer, H. de, 102, 226
Brakenberg, Richard, 213
Bredael, J. Van, 97
Bree, M. I. Van, 102
Bril, Matthys, 47
Bril, Paul, 47-8
Broeck. Elie Van den, 78
Broederlain, Melchior, i
Brueghel, Abraham, 'j'j, 78
Brueghel, Ambroise, yy
Brueghel, Droll. See Pieter
Brueghel, "Hell fire," 42,
71, 194-195, 282
Brueghel, Jan B., 78, 283
Brueghel, Peasant. See
Pieter
Brueghel, Pieter, 41-2, 78,
246, 282
Brueghel, Velvet, 42, 74, 306
Bruges, Academy, 1 19-135
Bueckelaer, Joachim, 44
Caesar's Penny, M. de Vos,
162
Caledonian Boar Hunt, Ru-
bens, 293
Cambyses, Judgment of,
David, 120-122
Capelle, J. Van de, 209
Cavaliers, Two, Cuyp, 209
Cercle I'Essor, 108
Champaigne, P. de, 97, 334,
338
Charles the Bold, 333
Christ about to Strike the
World, Rubens, 288-90
Christ and the Angels,
Memling, 149
Christ in the Arms of God,
Flemish School, 251
Christ Carrying the Cross,
Rubens, 290-2
Christ on the Cross, Ru-
bens, 173, 258
Christ the Pilgrim, M.
Pepyn, 198
Christ, Triumph of, Wiertz,
.355
Circumcision, The, Coxie,
35
Claessens, Antoine, 40
Classicism, French, 100
Classists, 105
Clays, P. J., no
Cleef, Jan Van, 63, 236
Cleef, Josse, 36
Cleef, Martin Van, 37
Coeck, Peter of Alost, 33,
274
Collart, Marie, 108, 228
Compromise, The, E. de
Biefve, loi, 343
Concert, The Family, Jor-
daens, 189-190
ITn^ex
361
Coninck, David de, 78
Coninxloo, Gilles Van, 30
Coninxloo, Jan Van, 30,
280-1
Coninxloo, Pieter Van, 30
Coques, Gonzales, 93, 199
Coronation of St. Rosalie,
De Craeyer, 235
Coronation of the Virgin,
Fourteenth Century, 144;
Rubens, 287-8
Coup de Lance, Rubens,
172-3
Courtens, Frans, 107
Coxie, Michael Van, 27, 34,
163-4, 274-5, 296
Coxie, Raphael Van, 62,
242
Craesbeeck, J. Van, 93,
202-3
Craeyer, Caspar de, 62-63,
234-6, 300-2
Cranach, 340
Crivelli, 340
Cross, Bearing of the,
Brueghel, 195
Cross, Descent from the, S.
Martini, 218; P. Pourbus,
132-3; Rubens, 185-186;
R. Van der Weyden, 253
Crown of Thorns, Van
Coxie, 296
Crucifixion, Van Dyck, 84,
187; A. da Messina, 219-
20; S. Martini, 218
Cross, Elevation of the,
Rubens, 182-185
Cuyp, A., 209
Daret, Jacques, 11
David, Gerard, 19, 22-23,
31, 120-125
David, J. L., 100
Dead Christ, De Craeyer,
300; Memling, 115-116;
Rubens, 179-180, 288
Degreef, J., 108, 109
Deipara Virgo, J. Mos-
taert, 150
Dejonghe, 104
Denduyts, 108
Delen, D. Van, 319
'' Desserts," ';;^
Diepenbeeck, Abraham Van,
86
Don, G., 335
Dream of St. Joseph, Rom-
bouts, 237-8
Dubois, Louis, 108
Duchatel, Frans, 80, 83, 244
Diinwege, V. and H., 223-4
Dusart, C. the Younger, 213
Dutch Cook, Aertsen, 324
Duvenede, 98
Dyck, Anthony Van, 83-85,
187-9, 246, 294, 338
Eagles' Repast, Snyders,
192
Ecce Homo, Mabuse, 170
Egmont and Horn, Last
Honours to, Gallait, loi,
255-6
Egmont, Joost Van, 91
Ehrenberg, W. Van, 51
Engelbrechtsen, 151
Entombment, Massys, 152-6;
Van Dyck, 187-8.
See Pieta
Ertborn, F. J. Van, Collec-
tion of, 139
Es, Jacob Van, 'jd, 247-8
Essen. See Es
Eyck, Hubert Van, 1-8
Eyck, John Van, 1-9, 125-
128,^ 139-142, 262
Farm, Visit to the, Brue-
ghel, 194-5
Fecundity, Jordaens, 305
Fish. Painters of, 76-77,
247
Fisher, Young, Hals, 216
Fisherman, Young, Rem-
brandt, 216
362
tnt>cx
Fishermen, Conversion of
the, Jan Thomas, 257
Fishes, Miraculous Draught
of, De Craeyer, 300-1
Fishmonger's Shop, A. Van
Utrecht, 247
Flemael, B., 97
Flemalle, Abbey of, 11
Flemish Art, 31
Flemish Drinkers, The,
Teniers, 199-200
"Flemish Heda, The," 77,
248
" Flemish Raphael, The,"
37
Flemish Renaissance, 13-15,
24
Flight into Egypt, Patenier,
169
Floris, Frans, 24, 27, 36,
159-61, 269
Flower-painters, 74-6
Flowers, 109, 249, 320-1,
322-3
" Fool, The." See Cleef, J.
Van
Fouquet, Jehan, 222
Fouquieres, J., 87-88
Fourment, Helen, 178
Fourmois, T., 105
Fra Angelico, 219
Francken, Ambrose, 40,
165-7
Francken, Frans the Elder,
40. 165
Francken, Frans the
Younger, 165, 167-8
Francken, Jerome, 40
Frangois, Joseph, 108
Fruit, 75-76, 319-21, 322
Fyt, Jan, 67, 72-3, 193, 320-1
Gaeremyn, 98
Gallait, Louis, loi, 227,
255-6, 257, 343, 344
Galle, Jerome I, 77
Geldorp. See Gortzius
Genoels, A., 96, 205
Gerard, Mark, 47
Gevartius, Portrait of, Ru-
bens, 181
Ghent, Museum of, 233
Ghering, Anthony, 51, 94
Gheyn, Jacques de, 74
Gillemans, J. P., 77
Gilsoul, v., no
Giotto, 218-19
Glaeszone, Martin, 27
Goes, Hugo van der, 20, 22,
150, 253
Gortzius, Gualdorp, 46-7
Gossaert, 19, 24, 29, 295.
See Mabuse
Goubau, Anthony, 82, 204
Goyen, J. Van, 208
Groux, Charles de, 102, 228
Guild of St. Luke, 136, 203
Gysels, Pieter, 323
Hals, Frans, 52-53, 246
Hamesse, A., 108
Harriers, Two, Fyt, 193
Hecht, H. Van der, 108
Heda, 248
Heem, Jan David de, 77,
306-7, 319
Heere, Lucas de, 37, 40
Heil, Daniel Van, 309
Heist, B. van der, 336
Hemessen, Jan Van, 35-36,
240, 296
Henvele, Antoine Van, 63
Hermans, Charles, 103
Herodias, Daughter of
Massys, 152, 156
Herp, Gerard Van, 90
Herreyns, G. J., 99, 138
Herri Met de Bles. See
Bles
Heymans, A. J., 107
Historical Pictures, 314-16,
344
Hobbema, 208
Hoeck, Jan Van, 90
Hoefnagels, Georges, 74
Holy Family, A. Bouts, 145;
irn^ex
363
Diinwege, 223-4 ; Lie-
maeckere, 239 ; Quellin,
91-2; M. de Vos, 240
Hondecoeter, M. d', 214,
322
Hospital of St. John,
Bruges, 111-119
Hotel-de-Ville, Antwerp,
230-232; Brussels, 349-51 ;
Louvain, 25O-2
Houckgeest, G., 214-5
HuUe, Anselmn Van, 63
Human Calamities, L. Lom-
bard, 280
Hunt, The, Rubens, 180
Huysmans, Cornells, 95
Huysmans, Jan B., 95
Impressionism, 108
Impressionists, 107-108
Inauguration of King of
Spain, Duchatel, 244-6
Interiors, 213-214, 326-8
Invalid, Visit to the, E.
Van der Neer, 211
Italian influence, 28
Italian landscapes, 209
Janssens, Abraham, 54, 70,
71, 193
Janssens, V. H., 98
Jesus in the House of
Simon the Pharisee, A.
Bouts, 272; Mabuse, 29,
295
Joest, Jan, 268
Jordaens, Hans, 206
Jordaens, Jacob, 64-69, 189-
91, 241, 326-8
Jordaens, wife of, 190
Judgment of Solomon, De
Craeyer, 234
Jupiter and Antiope, Ru-
bens, 180
Keelhof, 103
Kermesse, Brakenberg, 213
Kermesse, " Hell fire "
Brueghel, 195
Kermesse, D. Vinckboons,
195-6
Kessel, Jan Van, ^^
Key, Adriaen, 201
Key, Willem, 46
Keyser, Nicaise de, loi, 137,
225
Kindermans, J. B., 105
Knyf, Wouter, 244
Knyff, A. de, 106-107
Koedyck, 327
Lady with the Pink, School
of Van Orley, 279
Lagye, V., 102, 232
Lairesse, Gerard de, 97
Lamoriniere, J. P. F., 105
Landscapes, 2, 25, 32, 39,
103-9, 207-11, 243, 311-13,
345-7
Landscape, Classic, 204, 205
Last Judgment, The, R.
Van Coxie, 242; Floris,
269-71 ; G. Mostaert, 201 ;
Van Orley, 32-33, 158-9;
Prevost, 130-132; Pour-
bus, 132
Last Supper, The, A. Bouts,
272; T. Bouts, 17; Peter
Coeck, 274; M. Van
Coxie, 275, 297; Jor-
daens, 190-191 ; Key, 201
Leemputten, F. Van, 109
Lens, Andries, 99
Leyden, Lucas Van, 26, 30,
151-2
Leys,- Hendrik, 102, 225,
230-1, 344, 347
Liemaeckere, Nicholas de,
56-57, 63, 238
Lies, J., 102
Lint, Peter Van, 193- 194
Lombard, Lambert, 24, 28,
36, 203 . ^ ,
Lot and His Daughters,
Massys, 294
364
•ffn^ex
Lucidel. See Neuchatel, 46
Luminists, 109
Mabuse, 26, 28, 29, 169-70,
253, 295
Madonna of the Canon
Van der Paele, Van
Eyck, 125-7, 142
Madonna of the Forget-me-
not, Rubens, 285
Madonna of the Fountain,
Van Eyck, 141-142
Madonna and Child with
Saints, Rubens, 186-187
Madou, J. B., 102
Magdalen, Massys, 157
Mahu (or Mahy), Corne-
lls, 248
Maitre de Flemalle, 10, 18
Maitre a la Souriciere, 11
Mander, Karel Van, 26, 52,
53
Mandolin Player, Ter
Borch, 212
Margaret of Austria, 11,
170, 258, 277, 278, 282
Massacre of the Innocents,
L. Brueghel, 282
Massys, Jan, 168, 294
Massys, Quentin, 26-28,
152-7
Mostaert, Jan, 281
Maries Returning from
Sepulchre, Mabuse, 169-
70
Maries Returning from the
Tomb, Massys, 157
Master of the Assumption,
24
Master of the Death of
Mary, 10, 24
Master of the Death of the
Virgin, 268
Master of the Mater Dolo-
rosa, 24
Master of the Mousetrap, 11
Master of the Owl, 25
Mathieu, L. J., 100
Markelbach, A., 102
Marines, 48-49, no, 209-11,
313,. 348
Marmion, Simon, 21
Marriage of St. Catherine,
Memling, 111-114; Vae-
nius, 299
Martini, Simone, 217-18
Martyrdom of Saint Bla-
sius, De Craeyer, 235
Martyrdom, Four Crowned
Condemned to, Francken,
167, 168
Martyrdom of St. Cosmos
and Damian, Francken,
167
Martyrdom of St. Crispin
and St. Crispinian,
Francken, 166-7
Martyrdom of St. George,
Schut, 205
Martyrdom of St. Hypoli-
tus, 16
Martyrdom of St. Lievens,
Rubens, 66, 290
Martyrdom of St. Por-
phyria, 53
Martyrdom of St. Sebas-
tian, ]\L Van Coxie,
164-5; Memling, 268
Meire, Gerard Van der, 19
Memling, Hans, 9, 11-12,
28, 111-119, 128-130, 148-
50, 265
Memmi ; see Martini
Mercury and Argus, Ru-
bens, 292
Meunier, C, 102
Miel, Jan, 78
Millet, J. F., 96
Mode gris, 106-7
Modern Paintings, Gallery
of, Antwerp, 225-229
Mol, Pieter Van, 90, 198-9
Momper, Josse de, 48
Moro, Antonio, 27, 336
Musical Party, Palamedes,
32s
ITnbex
365
Mostaert, Gilles, 30, 201
Mostaert, Jan, 19, 24, 28,
1 50- 1
Multiplication of the
Loaves, A. Francken,
165-6
Municipal Museum, Liege,
Picture gallery, 258-9
Museum, Mechlin, 257-8 ;
Ypres, 256-7
Musee, Communal, Brus-
sels, 351-2
Musee, Royal des, Tournai,
253-6
Musee, Beaux-Arts, Brus-
sels, 136
Musee de Peinture Mod-
erne, Brussels, 342-9
Musee Wiertz, 352-8
Mythological Pictures, 316-
17
Nativity, A. Bouts, 145 "
Naturalism, 108
Navez, F. J., 100, 250
Neeffs (or Neefs), Peter,
51, 243, 318
Neeffs, Pieter the Younger,
51
Neer, A. Van der, 210-11,
310
Neer, Eglon Van der, 211
Negroes, Heads of, Rubens,
293-4
Neuchatel, Nicholas, 46
New Church, Delft, Houck-
geest, 214-5
Noort, Adam Van, 51-52,
57, 64.
Noort, Catherine Van, 64
Noort, Lambert Van, 165
Oil Painting, Invention of,
2
Offering, The Gallant, J.
Steen, 330
Ommeganck, B. P., 103
Oost, Jacques Van, the El-
der, 89, 135
Oost, Jacques Van, the
Younger, 89
Orizzonte, 95
Orley, B. Van, 24, 26, 28,
30-33, 157-9, 277
Orley, Richard Van, 98, 246
Ostade, A., 325
Ostade, Isaak Van, 208, 326
Otho, Legend of, 265-7
Ouderaa, P. van, 102
Painters, Fifteenth Cen-
tury, 19-20
Painters, Sixteenth Cen-
tury, 26-27, 41, 64, 74
Painters, Eighteenth Cen-
tury, 98
Pan and Syrinx, Jordaens,
305
Palais des Beaux-Arts,
Brussels, 260-341
Palamedes, 325
Patenier, Joachim, 19, 23,
25, 169, 269, 276-7
Patinir. See Patenier
Patroclus, Body of, Wiertz,
355
Peeters, Bonaventura, 49
Peeters, Clara, 77
Peeters, Jan, 49
Pepyn, Martin, 56, 196-8
Peter, Deliverance of,
Neeffs, 243
Philip the Good, 2
Pierides, Transformation
of the, R. Van Orley, 246
Pieta, Memling, 264
Plantin, Christopher, 232-3
Plantin-Moretus Museum,
232-3
Portaels, J. F., 100
Portrait of Agnes Sorel,
222
Portrait of Erasmus, Hol-
bein, 224-5
366
lln^ex
Portrait of Francis II,
Clouet, 222-3
Portrait of Frederick III,
Diirer, 224
Portrait of Prince Freder-
ick Henry, Mierevelt, 215
Portrait Young Girl, B.
Van der Heist, 215
Portrait of A. Grapheus, C.
De Vos, 203
Portrait of a Woman, Jor-
daens, 191
Portrait of a Young
Woman, Mytens, 215
Portraits, 204, 215-17, 332-8
Portraits by F. Bol, 335 ; P.
de Champaigne, 334; G.
Dou, 335; Van Dyck,
188-9, 246, 294, 338;
H. Van der Goes, 150; F.
Hals, 215-17, 334; B. Van
der Heist, 215, 336; ]\Ia-
buse, 170-1 ; Memling,
148-9, 150, 267; Moreelse,
334; Moro, 336; Mos-
taert, 150; B. Van Orley,
279-80; F. Pourbus, 336;
P. Pourbns, 335; Rem-
brandt, 216-17, 335; Ru-
bens, 173; C. de Vos,
332; M. de Vos, 298-9
Pourbus, Frans, 46, 241,
336
Pourbus, Pieter, 27, 45-46,
132-133, 204, 335
Pour I'Art, 108
Presentation in the Temple,
Verhaegen, 242
Prevost, Jan, 130-132
Primitives, 11, 17, 25, 31, 74
Prodigal Son, The, Hemes-
sen, 296; Rubens, 180-181
Quellin, Erasmus, 91
Quinaux, 106
Rebecca and Eleazer, Jor-
daens, 303
Reconciliation, The, Jor-
daens, 241
Religious pictures, 201-202
Reliquary of St. Ursula,
118-119
Rembrandt, 335
Renaissance, 28, 36-8
Resurrection of Lazarus,
The, Vsenius, 52
Repose in Egypt, H. de
Bles, 169
Rillaert, Jan Van, 51, 251
Ring, The, Lucas van Ley-
den, 151
Rockox and wife, Nicholas,
Rubens, 173-4
Roffiaen, 105
Romantics, 105
Romanticism, 100
Rombouts, Theodor, 62, 71,
236-8
Roose. See Liemaeckere
Rosseels, J., 107
Rubens, Peter Paul, 57-62,
64, 67, 68, 171-87, 225, 233,
258, 284-94
Rubens Chapel, 186
Rubens, Death of. Van
Bree, 226
Ryckaert, David, 80, 82, 93,
205, 324
Rysbraek, P., 96
Ruysdael, Jacob, 207
Ruysdael, S. Van, 210
Rysdael, The Modern, 106
Saint Anne, Legend of,
268-9
Saint Augustine, M. Pepyn,
196
Saint Barbara, Van Eyck,
139-141
Saint Bavon, Cathedral of,
4
Saint Benoit, Legend of,
Achtschelling, 243; Flem-
ish school, 281
Saint Christopher, Bouts,
145; Memling, 129-130
Hn^ejc
367
Saint Elizabeth of Hun-
gary, Pepyn, 197-8
Saint Francis, Rubens, 239
Saint Francis, Last Com-
munion of, Rubens, 177
Saint George, Legend of,
Blondeel, 135
Saint George, Martyrdom
of, Van Coxie, 34-35
Saint Gudule, Procession
of, Van Alsloot, 310
Saint Hubert, De Craeyer,
302; Englebrechtsen, 151
Saint John in Patmos, De
Craeyer, 235
Saint John Preaching, H.
Van der Goes, 253
Saint Luke, Guild of, 136
Saint Luke Painting the
Virgin, Blondeel, 134-
135; Floris, 160; Jans-
sens, 54-6; Martin De
Vos, 136
Saint Martin, Jordaens,
302-3
Saint Mary Magdalen de
Pazzi, Boeyermans, 241-2
Saint Matthew, Hemissen,
240; B. Van Orley, 277
Saint Nicholas, Giotto, 219
Saint Nicholas, Foresight
of, Vaenius, 171
Saint Norleert, Brueghel,
283; C. de Vos, 203
Saint Paul, Giotto, 218
Saint Paul, Conversion of,
J. Van Rillaert, 252
Saint Peter, Blondeel, 273 ;
Titian, 220
Saint Pierre, Church of,
Louvain, 15
Saint Romuald, Fra Ange-
lico, 219
Saint Sauveur, Church of,
Bruges, 16
Saint Sebastian, Van
Coxie, 35 ; Thys, 240
Saint Theresa, Rubens,
176-7
Saint Thomas, Incredulity
of, Rubens, 173-4
Samson, J. Steen, 212
Satyr and Peasant, Jor-
daens, 304
Savery, Jakob, 48
Savery, Roelandt, 48
Schalcken, 325
Schampheleer, E. de, 106
Schoevaerts, M., 308
Schongauer, Martin, 9
Schoorel, Jan, 28
School, Archaic, 102
School, Flemish, 3, 19
School of Antwerp, 28, 52,
154
School of Bruges, 19, 20,
21, 164
School of Clouet, 45
School of Cologne, 9
School of Van Eyck, 22
School of Frans Floris, 56
School of Fontainebleau, 43
School of Liege, 36
School of Louvain, 19
School of Termonde, 107
School of Tervueren, 106,
107, 345
School of Tours, 9
School, Venetian, 23
Schut, Cornelis, 89-90
Seghers, Daniel, 74-75, 17,
202
Seghers, Gerard, 70, 171
Senses, The Five, Coques,
199 ; Rombouts, 2^(^-7 ',
Teniers, 328-30
Seven Sacraments, The,
146-148
Serment, The Grand, 205,
301, 314, 315
Severed Heads, The, Gal-
lait, 255-6
Siberechts, Jan, 95, 326
Simon the Magician, J. Van
Rillaert, 251-2
Sisters of Mercy, Jordaens,
191
Slingeneyer, E., 102
36S
fn^ei:
Snayers, Peter, 69-70
Snellinck, John, 54
Snyders, Frans, 62, 67, 71-
72, 192-3, 293, 321
Somer, Bernard Van, 47
Somer, Paul Van, 47
Son, Jan Van, ^y
Son, Georges Van, ^^
Spinelli, Nicholas, Mem-
ling, 148
Stallaert, J., 102
Steenwyck, Hendrik van, 50
Steen, Jan, 211-12, 330-1
Stevens, A., 103, 347
Stevens, J., 103, 346
Still Life, Pictures of,
247-9, 323-4
Stobbaerts, J., 103
Sustermans, Justus, 86
Suttermans, J., 86
Susannah, Jordaens, 303; J-
Massys, 294
Tadema, Alma, 102
Teniers, David the Elder,
79> 307 ^ .^ .
Teniers, David the
Younger, 79-82, 199-200,
328-9
Ter Borch, 212
Thielen, P. Van, ^^
Thomas, Jan, 257
Thulden, Theodore Van,
89, 254, 331-2 ^
Thys, Pieter, 63, 85, 99
Thys, P. the Elder, 240
Tilborch, Gilles Van, 80, 82
Titian, 220-1
Tobias and the Angel,
Craeyer, 255-6
Trials of Job, B. van Orley,
277-8
Trinity, The Holy, Rubens,
177
"Tryon, the Belgian," 109
Uden, Lucas Van, 88, 180,
191-2
Utrecht, Adriaen Van, 75.
247, 323-4
Vadder, L. de, 90
Vaenius, Otho, 43, 52, 57,
63, 64, 299
Valckenburg, Lucas Van,
45
Veen, Otto van. See Vae-
nius
Velde, A. Van de, 207-8
Velde, Willem Van de, 210
Venus at the Forge of Vul-
can, 293
Verbeeck, Frans, 98
Verboeckhoven, E. J., 104-
105
Verbrugghen, G. P., ^^
Verendael, Nicholas Van,
78
Verhagen (or Verhaeg-
hen), P. J., 98-9, 242, 252
Verhas, F., 103
Verhas, J., 103, 348
Verlat, Charles, 103, 225
Verheyden, L, 108, 228
Veronese, 341
Verstraete, T., 108
Verwee, A., 109, 228, 250,
345
Victoors, J., 213
Vigne, F. de, 102
Village Fete, Ryckaert, 205
Village Wedding, J. Steen,
211 ; J. Victoors, 213
Vilsteren Family, Van
Dyck, 294
Vinck, F. H., 102
VincklDOons, David, 44-45,
19s
Virgin and Child, Van
Eyck School, 144; Ma-
buse, 170; Memling, 116-
117
Virgin as Protectress, De
Craeyer, 301-2
Virgin, Death of the, 134
Virgin, Education of the,
Rubens, 177-8
Virgin Enthroned, Crivelli,
340
irnbex
369
Virgin, Hospitality Refused
to, Jan Massys, i68
Virgin with the Parrot,
Rubens, 179
Visit, The, Boeyermans, 206
Visitation, Wolfvoet, 87
VHeger, Simon de, 210
Vos, Cornelis de, 62, 69,
203, 251, 332
Vos, Martin de, zi, 38-40,
136, 161, 240, 298-9
Vos, Simon de, 163
Vredemann, Jan, 35
Vriendt, De. See Floris
Vriendt, C. de, 230, 232
Vries, Vriedeman de, 50
Van Hoeck, Jan, 194
Wappers, Gustav, 100, 226,
227
Watermill, Hobbema, 208-9
Watteau, 255
Wauters, E., 103
Wedding Feast, Brueghel,
246
Wedding, Flemish, 331-2
Weeping Woman, Head of,
263-4
Weenix, J., 322
Weyden, Roger Van der, 9-
10, 22, 146-148, 253, 263,
333
Wiertz, A. J., 102, 352-8
Wigan. Isaac, 'J'J
Wildens, Jan, 80, 88, 180
Willaerts, Adam, 48
Willeboirts, T., 85, 86
William Tell, Biset, 94, 315
Winter Landscapes, 208,
319-20
Wolfvoet, Victor, 86-87
Works of Mercy, Francken
the Younger, 167-8
Wouters, Frans, 88
Wynants, 207
Wytsman, Juliette, 109
Wytsman, Rodolphe, 108,
109
XX, The, 108
Ykens, Frans, 'j^, 248
Zacchaeus in the Fig-Tree,
Vaenius, 171
Date Loaned
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