Part 11

on the plan. This contains mainly German and Flemish pictures of the =transition=.

Right of the door, 338. Very Raphaelesque Holy Family by Bernard Van Orley, showing in the highest degree the Italian influence on this originally quite Flemish painter.

Above it, 92 and 92A. Portraits of the Micaul family.

105. J. Joest: St. Anne enthroned, Joseph, Our Lady, the Infant. Early transitional.

193. Jean Gossaert, Adam and Eve. Good later Flemish nude.

50. J. Bosch: Appalling Flemish Temptation of St. Anthony, with perhaps the silliest and most grotesquely repulsive devils ever painted.

2. Aertsen: *The Dutch Cook. A famous picture, showing well the earlier stages of Dutch _genre_ development.

217. Van Hemessen: _Genre_ piece, absurdly given the name of The Prodigal Son, by a sort of prescription, but really a Flemish tavern scene of the sort which afterwards appealed to Dutch artists. A characteristic work: transitional, but with good humorous faces, especially to the right. Painters still thought all pictures must pretend to be sacred.

591. German Adoration of the Magi. A fragment only.

603. Herri met de Bles: The Temptation of St. Anthony. Figures and landscape show Italian influence.

336. Transitional Adoration of the Shepherds. Observe the growing Renaissance feeling and Italian influence.

247, 248. Excellent portraits by Adrien Key.

41. Lancelot Blondeel: St. Peter enthroned as Pope: in one of his usual extravagant architectural frameworks. In circles above, his Imprisonment and Crucifixion.

Close by, unnumbered, two excellent portraits.

81. P. Brueghel the Younger: absurdly called The Census at Bethlehem. In reality a Flemish winter scene.

318. Sir Anthony More: *Portrait of the =Duke of Alva=, with the firm lips and cruel eyes of the ruthless Spaniard. One understands him.

359. Good portrait by Pourbus of a plump and well-fed Flemish gentleman.

80. P. Brueghel the Younger: Described as the Massacre of the Innocents. Flemish winter. The beginning of _genre_ painting.

Most of the pictures skied above these are of some interest for comparison with earlier examples of the same subjects.

565. Unknown French portrait of Edward VI. of England. Hard and dry and of little artistic value.

566. Tolerable Flemish portrait of Guillaume de Croy (Golden Fleece).

573. Good Flemish portrait of a woman, dated 1504.

555. Flemish school: Annunciation. Chiefly interesting for its conventional features, and its very quaint figure of St. Mary of Egypt, with her three loaves, in the R. panel.

124B. (Old number; no new number given.) Unusual combined picture of St. Jerome, uniting the subjects usually known as St. Jerome in the Desert and St. Jerome in his Study.

622. Fine German portrait of the early 17th century.

316. Good strong portrait, by Sir Anthony More, of Hubert Goltzius.

123. =Cranach= the Elder (German 16th cent.): *Adam and Eve. Fine specimens of the later northern nude of the early Renaissance, interesting for comparison with the cruder realism of Van Eyck. As yet, however, even the figure of Eve has relatively little idealism or beauty. Excellent stag in the background.

361. A good Pourbus. Beyond the door, 536, Flemish school: (Hugo Van der Goes?). Donor, a lady in a nun’s dress (?), with her name-saint, St. Barbara, bearing her palm as a martyr: in the background, her tower with the three windows. To balance it, 536, Her brother (?) or husband, with his patron, St. James. (Staff and scallop-shell.)

Above, 84, Triptych by Jan Coninxloo of the History of St. Nicholas. (The wings are misplaced.) _R. wing_ (it should be L.), St. Nicholas, three days old, stands up in his bath to thank God for having brought him into the world. _Central panel_, the young St. Nicholas enthroned as Bishop of Myra. _L. wing_ (should be R.), The Death of St. Nicholas, with angels standing by to convey his soul to Heaven. A good transitional Flemish picture. Beneath, tolerable portraits.

361A. A late Flemish Virgin, with portrait of the donor and St. Francis receiving the stigmata.

572. Sir Anthony More. Portrait. Above it, 595, an Entombment, where note again the conventional grouping.

337. Wings of a triptych by Bernard van Orley. The centre is missing. L., Martyrdom of St. Matthias. R., The Doubting Thomas. In the background, Lazarus and Dives, and other episodes. Renaissance architecture.

4. Van Alsloot: The Procession of the Body of St. Gudula at Brussels: of the Spanish period, with the guilds named. Interest purely archæological. Each guild carries its mace and symbol. (The second part comes later.)

586. Above this, skied, are four good female saints, transitional, named on labels.

574. Portrait, of the school of Van Orley: lady with a pink, pleasing. Italian influence is obvious.

505. Portrait of a lady, by M. De Vos. Early 17th century, marking the latest transitional period. It belongs to a destroyed triptych.

79. Breughel the Elder: St. Michael the Archangel conquering the devils. A hideous nightmare of a morbid and disordered imagination.

627. Crucifixion, by an unknown German, with small figures of donors, and Rhine background.

597. German school. Tree of Jesse, of purely symbolical interest.

504. *Portrait by M. De Vos. Probably husband of (and pendant to) the previous one. It was the other wing of the same triptych.

5. Van Alsloot: Remainder of the Procession of St. Gudula, with a quaint dragon, and the Maison du Roi in the background. Observe, near the centre, the personification of the patron, St. Michael: elsewhere are St. Christopher, Ste. Gudule, etc.

561. Two panels from a triptych attributed to Van Orley. Centre, missing. L., The Birth of the Virgin. Note this for the conventional features: St. Anne in bed; attendant feeding her: bath for infant. In the background presentation of the Virgin in the Temple: Joachim and Anna below: the Virgin ascending: the High Priest welcoming her: the Virgins of the Lord by the side. R., Joachim’s offering rejected. In the background, the meeting of Joachim and Anna at the Golden Gate, and the angel foretelling the Birth of the Virgin. Compare this with the great Quentin Matsys, observing especially the money falling from the table.

76. Another example of a later Last Judgment.

584. Mostart: Two stories from the life of St. Benedict. (1) The miracle of his dinner. (2) As a youth, he mends by prayer the dish broken by his nurse. (See Mrs. Jameson’s _Monastic Orders_.)

Now pass through Room [VIII.], containing chiefly late Italian and French pictures (which neglect for the present) and go on into

CORRIDOR A,

to the L., overlooking the Sculpture Gallery. This takes us at once into the =Later Flemish school= of Rubens and his followers, whose works fill all these large corridors, which are admirably adapted for them. Begin to the R. of the door. (Remember that I do not attempt criticism, but confine myself to historical indications.)

230. Jordaens: Fine landscape, with city to the right. As yet, however, landscape dare not stand entirely on its own merits. Therefore, we have here in the foreground figures of Eleazar and Rebecca at the well, which retain the tradition that pictures must have some sort of sacred purpose.

194A. Unknown. Interior of a picture-gallery, with well-known pictures.

L. of the door. 465. Van Thulden: Flemish Wedding Feast. Landscape is beginning to triumph now; it gets rid of all pretence of sacredness, but still retains small figures in the foreground. Landscape for landscape’s sake is hardly yet dreamed of.

135. De Crayer, one of the best imitators of Rubens: *Adoration of the Shepherds, in the master’s manner.

179A. Good Still Life by Fyt.

379. =Rubens=: **Coronation of the Virgin by God the Father and the Son, the Holy Ghost hovering above in a glory. This altar-piece, for an altar of Our Lady, is a magnificent specimen of the master’s rich and luminous colouring. The crimson robe of the Christ, the blue and lilac harmony on the Madonna, and the faint yellow of the Father’s robe, are admirably contrasted. So are the darkness of the lower clouds and the luminosity of the upper region, recalling Titian’s famous Assumption at Venice. The little boy angels are sweet and characteristic. Here you may begin to appreciate the force, the dash, the lavish wealth of Rubens. (According to Rooses, however, the work of a pupil, touched up by the master.)

Then, unnumbered, Jordaens: *Susannah and the Elders: a very Flemish and matronly Susannah. The nude of Rubens, without the glorious touch of the master: but a good picture.

392. Study by the same for the ceiling in Whitehall.

386. Fine *portrait by Rubens of a fair man (J. C. de Cordes). “Inferior work.” (Fromentin.)

390. Rubens: **Charming little Madonna and Child (called “Our Lady of the Forget-me-not”), in a garden of roses (the landscape by J. Brueghel). One of his best small pictures, in a careful style.

387. Rubens: *Portrait: Wife of the last: in his finest and richest portrait manner, which contrasts in many ways with his larger and freer allegorical style. (Fromentin thinks poorly of it.)

389. In the corner, four Fine *Heads of Negroes, a study for the Magi, by Rubens. Not caricatured, but full of genuine negro character.

Above it, 219. An Adoration of the Magi by Herreyns: Interesting only as showing the persistence of the school into the 18th century.

235. Jordaens: *An Allegory of Abundance. Studies from the nude in the style of the school: meritorious.

Pass the door of the Dutch school. Beyond it, more Still Life, excellently painted.

240. Next door, Jordaens: *Nymph and Satyr. (This corridor is largely given up to works by Jordaens, who was a Protestant, and preferred heathen mythological subjects to Catholic Christian ones.

434. Snyders: 17th century: *Still Life, which now begins to be painted on its own merits. This last is by the great animal painter of the Flemish school.

238. Jordaens: Very Flemish *family group, with a somewhat superfluous satyr. (Subject nominally taken from the fable of the Satyr and the Wayfarer.)

302. Vandermeulen: View of Tournai and landscape, with the siege by Louis XIV. introduced for the sake of figures in the foreground.

Above it, 240 (? old number). De Crayer: St. Anthony and St. Paul the Hermit. Interesting for persistence of the typical figures.

The other pictures in this corridor are, I think, self-explanatory.

Now enter

ROOM III.

Right hand, further corner from door, Still Life by Snyders.

100. Good portrait by Philippe de Champaigne.

387A. Splendid *portrait by Rubens (according to Rooses, by Van Dyck).

This room also contains several fine pictures by Teniers (father or son) and other late Flemish painters, deserving of attention, but needing no explanation. (Portraits, etc.) Do not imagine because I pass them by that you need not look at them.

Now enter

CORRIDOR B.

L. of the door, good works by De Crayer and others.

166. =Van Dyck= (the greatest pupil of Rubens, leading us on to the later Dutch school). *St. Francis in ecstasy before the Crucifix. From the Franciscan Capuchin Church in Brussels.

288. P. Meert, good portraits.

165. Companion to 166. Another Franciscan picture by Van Dyck. *St. Anthony of Padua holding the Infant Jesus. (In neither is he seen to great advantage.)

In the centre, 378, Rubens: **Assumption, high altar-piece from the Carmelite Church in Brussels. A fine picture, of Ruben’s early period, smooth of surface and relatively careful, with the apostles looking into the empty tomb, whence women are picking roses (See _Legends of the Madonna_). To the R., the youthful figure of St. Thomas, stretching his hands. Observe the fine contrast of colour between the lower and upper portions. This is a noble specimen of the master’s bold and dramatic treatment, but without his later ease of execution.

503. *Good portraits, by C. De Vos, of himself and his family.

127. De Crayer: St. Anthony, with his pig and staff, and St. Paul the Hermit, in his robe of palm-leaves, fed by a raven. In the background, the Death of St. Paul; two lions dig his grave. R., below, late figure of donor, seldom so introduced at this period. Jay in the background. Good landscape.

Enter

ROOM IV.

with landscapes and still life of the later period. Left of the door, 381, Rubens: The Woman Taken in Adultery. 605. Good *family group of the Van Vilsteren household, attributed to Van Dyck.

466. Interior of a picture-gallery, Teniers.

The room also contains several pictures worthy of note, but too modern in tone to need explanation. Observe that landscape has now almost vindicated its right to be heard alone, though figures in the foreground are still considered more or less necessary.

Now enter

CORRIDOR C.

which contains good pictures of the =later Flemish school=. R. of door, 435, A. Van Utrecht: one of the favourite Dutch kitchen scenes, well painted.

L. of the door.

95. Philippe de Champaigne: Presentation in the Temple, with characteristic crude French colouring.

437. Stag Hunt by Snyders.

375. Rubens: *Martyrdom of the local Bishop, St. Lieven. His tongue is torn out and given to dogs. Very savage pagans; rearing horse; and characteristic angels, with celestial scene. In Rubens’ less pleasing “allegorical” manner. Plenty of force, but too fiercely bustling.

383. Rubens: Fine portrait of the Archduke Albert.

384. Rubens: companion portrait of the Infanta Isabella, wife of 383.

376. Rubens: *Painfully un-Christian subject: mainly by a pupil, re-touched by the master: The Saviour about to destroy the World, which is protected by St. Francis and Our Lady. A strange method by which a votary seeks to impress his devotion to his own patrons. Behind, burning towns, murder, etc.

374. Rubens: *The Way to Calvary. (Almost all these large Rubenses are from High Altars.) In the foreground, the two thieves; then Christ falling, and a very Flemish and high-born St. Veronica unconcernedly wiping his forehead. Our Lady faints close by, supported by St. John. St. Longinus mounted, and Roman soldiers. The composition somewhat sketchy, but immensely vigorous. A gorgeous pageant, it wholly lacks pathos.

377. Rubens: **Adoration of the Magi (Altar-piece of the Capuchin Church at Tournai). One of his noblest works, magnificently and opulently coloured. The subject was one he often painted. Note still the Three Kings, representing the three ages and continents, but, oh, how transfigured! In their suite are Moors and other Orientals. Behind, St. Joseph with flambeaux, representing the earlier candle. This is a painting in Rubens’s best Grand Seigneur manner—vast, throbbing, concentrated. He thinks of a Nativity as taking place with all the pomp and ceremony of the courts which he frequented. Charming pages in the foreground.

382. Rubens: Venus in the Forge of Vulcan. A made-up picture. Splendid studies of the exuberant nude by Rubens; with effects of light and shade in a smithy, added in the late 17th century to make up for a lost portion.

380. Rubens (much restored): *Christ on the knees of Our Lady. A noble composition, greatly injured. In the foreground kneels the Magdalen (her hair falling ungracefully), with the nails and Crown of Thorns. Notice always her abundant locks. To the R., St. Francis, with the Stigmata, bends over in adoration (a Franciscan picture). To the L., very fleshy angels (Antwerp models) hold the instruments of the Passion. White sheet and dead flesh in their usual strong combination. (Painted for the Franciscan Capuchins of Brussels.)

The De Crayers, close by, contrast in the comparative crudity of their colour with the splendid harmonies of the master.

507. Paul de Vos: Horse and Wolves. Full of spirit.

129. De Crayer. The Martyrdom of St. Blaise. Shows him combed with a wool-carder.

Then flowers, hunting scenes, etc., requiring no comment.

Now pass through Room VII. (with Italian pictures to be considered later) and enter

CORRIDOR D.

Right of door, nothing that requires comment.

Left of door, 231, Janssens: Our Lady appearing to St. Bruno.

125. De Crayer: *Assumption of St. Catherine, with her wheel and sword. A fine picture, in which De Crayer approaches very near Rubens. In the foreground are St. Augustine with the flaming heart; St. Gregory, habited as Pope; St. Ambrose, and St. Jerome,—the four Doctors of the Church, with other saints, contemplating devoutly the glory of St. Catherine.

R. and L. of central door, 136, 137, good saints, by De Crayer. Beneath them, excellent landscapes.

The remaining pictures in this room can be inspected by the visitor without need for explanation.

It is interesting to stand by the =balustrade=, here, above the sculpture gallery, not only for the general outlook upon the handsome hall, but also to note how the colour of the Rubenses stands out at a distance among the other pictures.

Now, go on through Room VIII. to Corridor A., reaching on the L.,

ROOM V.

containing the =Dutch Masters=. On these, for the most part, I shall have little to say. Their landscapes, flower-pieces, and portraits are admirable, indeed, but they are of the sort which explain themselves at sight, and need rather for their appreciation critical faculty than external knowledge. Begin on the L. =of the door=.

282. Nicolas Maes: Good portrait of a 17th century lady.

263. Leerman’s Crucifixion, finely executed.

Near it, good landscape or flower-pieces, etc., by Cuyp, De Heem, and Isaac van Ostade.

448. St. Pierre at Louvain.

525. Good hunting scene by Wouwerman.

279. **Admirable figure of an old woman fallen asleep over her reading, by Nicolas Maes.

Above it, 284. *Good portrait by Nicolas Maes.

278. *Fine portrait by Luttichuys.

304. Van Mieris: Susannah and the Elders. Frankly anachronistic.

233 is a fine *landscape with cattle, by Karel du Jardin.

147. Van Delen: Excellent architectural piece, with good *portraits in the foreground, painted in later by Emmanuel Biset.

=End Wall.=

44. Admirable *portrait by Bol.

45. Bol: *Portrait of a lady, probably wife of the last. On either side 310, 311, characteristic tavern scenes by Molinaer.

=Right Wall.=

398. One of Jacob Ruysdael’s finest landscapes, with ruined tower.

399. Excellent *sea piece by Jacob Ruysdael, representing the Lake of Haarlem in a storm. Good foam.

I pass by, on the same wall, many meritorious Dutch works which cannot fail to strike the observer.

141. Albert Cuyp: *Cows. Excellent.

232. *Delicately luminous piece by Karel du Jardin, “L’Avant-garde du Convoi.”

153. Gerard Dou: **The artist drawing a Cupid by lamplight. One of his finest studies in light and shade. It should be looked at long and carefully.

On either side of it, delicate small pieces by Steen, A. van Ostade and Dietrich.

47. *Good portrait by Bol.

281. *Portrait by Maes. Fine and audacious in colouring. Above it, 403, good Ruysdael.

Do not imagine because I give little space to the pictures in this room that they are not therefore important. As works of art, many of them are of the first value; but they do not require that kind of explanation which it is the particular province of these Guides to afford.

Now, pass through the small passage to

ROOM VI.

containing works also by the =Dutch masters=, the finest of which are here exhibited.

=Left of the door.=

364. Van Ravestein, capital portrait.

280. Maes: **Old woman reading.

206. Fruit piece by De Heem. One of his finest.

490. Van der Velde, junior: Shipping on the Zuyder Zee. The Dutch interest in the sea begins to make itself felt.

345. Portraits by Palamedes, arranged as a musical party.

352 (old number, no new number given). Molyn the Elder: Town fête by night. Good effect of light.

333. Admirable *portrait by Nicolas Maes.

251 and 250. De Keyser: Two fine portraits of women.

46. Bol: **Excellent portrait of Saskia, wife of Rembrandt.

463. **Exquisite miniature portrait by Ter Burg, which should be inspected closely.

328. Van der Neer: The Burning of Dordrecht. A lurid small piece.

501. A. de Voys: The Jolly Drinker. Highly characteristic of Dutch sentiment.

528. Landscape by Wynants.

The other still life and fruit or flower pieces on this wall need no comment.

=End wall.=

616. Weenix: Dutch lady dressing, with good effects of light and colour.

203. Frans Hals: **Portrait of W. van Heythuysen. One of his finest works. Broadly executed, and full of dash and bravado.

496. Excellent still life by Jan Weenix.

522. De Witte: Fine architectural church interior.

222. Above it, *peacock and other birds by Hondecoeter, who painted almost exclusively similar subjects. The solitary feather in the foreground recalls his famous masterpiece at the Hague.

On each side of this, tolerable portraits by Van der Helst.

36. Fruit and still life by Van Beyeren.

444. *One of Jan Steen’s most characteristic pieces of Batavian humour. A Dutch lover offering affection’s gift, in the shape of a herring and two leeks, to a lady no longer in her first youth. Behind, her unconscious husband. The painting of every detail is full of the best Dutch merits, and the tone of the whole frankly repulsive.

=Right wall.=

221. Hobbema: *The Wood at Haarlem. Characteristic Dutch landscape.

202. Frans Hals: **Splendid portrait of Professor Hoornebeck of Leyden. Extremely vivacious and rapidly handled.

220. *One of Hobbema’s most famous mills.

Above this, 19, Storm at Sea, by Backhuysen.

368. Excellent **portrait by Rembrandt.

216. Portrait by Van der Helst. Not in his best manner.

445. A very characteristic and excellent Jan Steen, known as *The Rhetoricians—that is to say, members of a Literary Club or Debating Society, one of whom is engaged in reading his prize verses to a not too appreciative audience outside. Even here, however, Jan cannot omit his favourite touch of coarse Dutch love-making, with a tavern-girl introduced out of pure perversity.

357. Paul Potter: *Pigs. Admirably piggy.

=End wall.=

223. More of Hondecoeter’s unimpeachable *poultry.

48. Bol: *Portrait of a Mathematician and Anatomist. One of the painter’s masterpieces.

367. **Splendid portrait by Rembrandt (“L’Homme au grand chapeau”). An excellent and characteristic example of his art. The light and shade, the painting of the hair, and the masterly handling of the robe are all in the great painter’s noblest manner.

402. Capital *water scene by S. van Ruysdael: a ferry on the Meuse.

224. Hondecoeter. More poultry, this time dead, with realistic nails, and other little tricks to catch the great public.

=Left wall= (R. of door).

88. Van der Capelle: Calm sea, with excellent fishing boats.

Now, return through Corridors A. and D. to

ROOM VII.

containing the =early Italian pictures=. Few of these are of much value, and as they are not connected with Flanders or Brabant, I will not enlarge upon them. Right of door,

631. An early Italian Adoration of the Magi, where you may compare the Three Kings, Joseph with the gift, the ox and ass, etc., with Flemish examples.

631 (left) is a characteristic example of St. Francis receiving the stigmata. Study it for comparison with the Rubens at Ghent, and others.

628. Above is a set of panels containing events in the History of Our Lady. I give the subjects, running along the top row first, with necessary brevity: Joachim expelled from the Temple: Warned by the Angel: Anna warned by the Angel: Meeting of Joachim and Anna at the Golden Gate: Birth of the Virgin: Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple: The Nativity: Adoration of the Magi: Christ found in the Temple: Miracle at Cana: Raising of Lazarus: Death of the Virgin, with Christ receiving her soul as a new-born baby. All these may be studied as early examples of the subjects they represent. Above them, 629 and 630: two Crucifixions of various ages.

140. Good characteristic Carlo Crivelli of *St. Francis with the stigmata.

3. Adam and Eve. Albani.