Part 17

=A Fine Example of his Powers.=--The Lady at the Clavecin is a splendid example of the powers of this artist who was almost as fond of making musical instruments important features of his compositions as Slingelandt was. It was painted in 1637 as the signature shows, and therefore is full of the Hals influence. The lady and two children, whose amiable faces are turned with interested expression toward the spectator, are evidently portraits, probably of the artist's wife and children. The other picture, Grace before Meat, is also a fine study with Hals's technique. It is in the Van der Hoop Collection.

=Four Pictures by Metsu.=--Four Metsus hang in the Rijks: The Huntsman's Present, purchased in 1843 for 12,400 florins, The Old Drinker, purchased in 1827 for 2,960 florins, The Breakfast, acquired in 1809, and the Old Woman in Meditation, bought in 1880 for 6,170 florins.

=Description of The Huntsman's Present.=--For taste, depth, warm harmony, and careful execution, The Huntsman's Present is of the first order. In a room lighted by a window on the left, a lady is seated by the side of a table on which is a rich carpet. A large white apron of exquisite tone covers her lap, and on it lies a little green cushion on which she has been making lace, which she holds in her left hand. Her jacket, bordered with ermine, is of that flesh-color that Metsu loved. With her right hand she caresses a little King Charles spaniel perched on the table. On her right, an old gentleman is seated. He still wears his hunting clothes and holds his hat under his arm. Evidently he has just returned from the chase, for his dog is with him, and on the floor lie his game bag, gun, and a dead duck. To the lady he is presenting a partridge. On a handsome _kas_ stands a statuette of Cupid.

=The Old Drinker.=--The Old Drinker represents a man with gray hair and short gray beard, with a pipe in one hand and a mug in the other. He has on a gray coat and a red cap edged with brown fur. He is perfectly happy, as his joyous expression shows.

=The Breakfast.=--The Breakfast is a beautifully painted scene. At a table covered with a Persian carpet over which is thrown a linen cloth, a woman in a light pink bodice, a violet skirt, green apron, and white fichu, seated at the right in profile, is pouring wine from a jug into a tall glass. A man in a puce-colored vest is placing a dish of meat on the table, which is already set with plates, bread, knives, and a glass. On the left is a dark green curtain, and in the background a door is indicated.

=Johannes Verkolje.=--Johannes Verkolje (1650-93) is represented by The Family Concert (1673). He was the son of a locksmith in Amsterdam, and studied with Jan Lievensz, but later imitated the highly finished style of Gerard Pietersz Zijl (fl. 1655), whose works were in such favor. He produced portraits, historical subjects, and conversations, delicate and graceful in sentiment, charming in color, and excellent in drawing.

=Jan Victors's Pork Butcher.=--The Pork Butcher (1648) and The Dentist (1654) are by Jan Victors, an artist about whom so little has been known until recent years that he has been confused with two others of the same name. The pork butcher is seen in the centre of the picture, which represents a village street; the butcher is standing before his freshly butchered quarter of pork, and a boy, in a large hat and jacket, with yellow sleeves, with knife in hand, is helping his master, to whom a woman is bringing a drink in a glass. On the right, a little boy seated on a fence is blowing a bladder, while a little girl looks on and laughs. Behind, a man is ascending a ladder into a barn. On the right a little boy is washing a ham in a tub, and a woman is kneeling by him with a dish.

=The Dentist.=--The pendant shows a table over which a rose-colored umbrella is opened, and under it a charlatan is drawing the tooth of a peasant. A man and a woman witness the operation, and three children on the left, a peasant, and a woman with some vegetables on her head are laughing heartily. In the foreground two dogs are quarrelling over a bone; and in the background small figures and a village clock-tower are visible.

=The Religious Pictures.=--The religious pictures need not detain us long. Two or three in the style of Rembrandt: Isaac Blessing Jacob, by Govert Flinck; The Woman Taken in Adultery, by G. van der Eckhout, purchased in London in 1828 for 3,000 florins, and belonging to that artist's best period; and the picture of Herodias with the Head of John the Baptist are worth the student's attention. The latter is particularly interesting, because, although the catalogues give it to Cornelis Drost (1638-?), a pupil and imitator of Rembrandt, it is really by the hand of Karel Fabritius (1624?-54), also a pupil of Rembrandt and so close a follower that many of his pictures have passed for Rembrandt's. The artist met with a tragic death; for he was killed in Delft by the explosion of a powder magazine.

=Aertsen's Altarpieces.=--Of historic value are the altar wings by Pieter Aertsen (Long Peter), The Presentation at the Temple; on the reverse, King Balthasar, painted for the Delft church; and the Nativity of Jesus Christ, a fragment of a picture destroyed in the fire of the Town Hall in Amsterdam in 1652. On Dr. J. Six's authority, the rest of this picture is in the New Church in Amsterdam. Aertsen was particularly famous for his altarpieces, many of which were destroyed by the Iconoclasts in 1566.

=Other Painters of Biblical Scenes.=--Of other painters whose reputations are larger in other fields, but who are represented in this gallery by one or two Biblical works, we may mention Berchem, with Ruth and Boaz; Velvet Brueghel, Repose of the Holy Family, Christ Preaching in a Fisherman's Boat, and the Adoration of the Kings, in a winter landscape; Frans Francken II., Adoration of Jesus Christ, and The Prodigal Son; and Maerten van Heemskerck (1498-1574), The Resurrection of Christ. Benjamin Gerritsz Cuijp may be studied in Joseph Interpreting the Dreams of the Baker and Butler; Dirck van Hoogstraten (1595-1640), The Virgin, with Jesus and St. Anne; Eglon Hendrick van der Neer (1643-1703), Young Tobias with the Angel; and Rubens, Bearing of the Cross (a sketch for the picture in the Royal Museum in Brussels), and Ecce Homo and Meeting of Jacob and Esau (copies).

In addition to several Biblical pictures in the Italian, Flemish, and German schools, there are, by Francois Joseph Navez (1787-1839), Isaac and Rebecca and the Resurrection of the Widow's Son; by A. van Dijck, The Repentant Magdalen; (School of Van Dijck) The Holy Family; one by Bronzino, Judith with the head of Holofernes; one of the School of Palma Vecchio, The Holy Family; and Spain is represented by The Annunciation to the Virgin, by Murillo (1618-82), and The Glorification of the Virgin, by Antolines (1639-76). Hans Rottenhammer (1564-1623) has a Virgin with the Infant Jesus (1604); Nicholas Bertin (1667-1736), Joseph Fleeing from Potiphar's Wife, and Susannah at the Bath; Sebastian Bourdon (1616-71), the Mystical Marriage of St. Catherine; copy after Hieronymus van Aeken, surnamed Bosch (1462?-1516), Adoration of the Magi; Leonard Bramer (1595-1674), a Biblical Subject(?) and King Solomon Sacrificing to Idols; Mechior Brassauw (1709-57?), The Prodigal Son; Peter Codde (1599?-1678), Adoration of the Shepherds; Jacob Cornelissen, Saul and the Witch of Endor; Gasper de Craeyer (1584-1669), The Adoration of the Shepherds and Descent from the Cross; Geertgen van St. Jans (fifteenth century), Allegory on the Death of Jesus Christ; Barend Graat (1628-1709), The Prodigal Son (1661); Nicolaes de Gijselaer (1590-95-1644?), The Angel Gabriel Appearing to Zacharias in the Temple (1625); Cornelis van Haerlem (1562-1638), Massacre of the Innocents, and Adam and Eve in the Terrestrial Paradise; Pieter van Hanselaere, Chaste Susannah; Frans Haseleer (1804-?), Esther before Ahasuerus; Isaac Isacsz (1599-1648), Abimelech Giving Sarah to Abraham (1640); Cornelis Kruseman (1797-1857), The Burial of Christ; J. A. Kruseman (1804-62), Elisha and the Shunammite; Pieter Pietersz Lastman (1583-1633), The Sacrifice of Abraham; Willem de Poorter (?-1645?), Solomon Sacrificing to Idols; Joris van Schooten (1587-1651), The Adoration of the Kings (1646); Jan van Scorel (1495-1562), St. Madeleine, Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, and David and Bathsheba; Gerard Seghers (1591-1651), Christ and the Penitents; Benvenuto Tisi (the Garofalo) (1481-1559), Holy Family, and Adoration of the Magi; Tiziano Vecelli (1477-1576), Repentant Magdalen (copy); Jan Victors (1620-82?), Joseph Interpreting Dreams (1648); Jacob de Wet (1610?-71?), Christ Blessing the Children; Rogier van der Weyden (1399?-1464), Descent from the Cross; and Joachim A. Wttewael (1566-1638), David and Abigail (1597).

=Mythological Pictures combined with Landscape.=--It is noticeable that in mythological pictures landscape forms a prominent feature. Rubens was, doubtless, responsible for much of the popularity of this class of art, and the vogue that the Italian landscape also enjoyed aided the taste. Nymphs and satyrs and gods and goddesses were more appropriate figures to introduce into the classic scenes of Italy than Dutch peasants and cattle. We, therefore, find two classes of mythological pictures: one in which the landscape is more important than the figures; and one in which the figures take precedence.

Born more than half a century after Poelenburg, Gerard de Lairesse (1641-1711), the most important Flemish painter of historical and mythological subjects in the generation succeeding Rubens, followed Poelenburg in his taste for Italian settings for his figures, although he had never been to Italy. He is represented in the Rijks by Mars, Venus, and Cupid; another of the same title, Seleucus Abdicating in Favor of his Son Antiochus; Diana and Endymion; Virtue, an Allegory; and two in _grisaille_,--The Revolution and Legitimate Power.

=G. de Lairesse, Portrait-painter.=--Gerard de Lairesse was the son of an artist of some celebrity, studied under Bertholet Flemalle, and by the age of sixteen had become known as a portrait-painter. Some historical works for the Electors of Cologne and Brandenburg established his reputation, and when he settled in Amsterdam he was regarded as the greatest historical painter of his time. At the age of fifty he lost his eyesight. His style is grand and poetical, and his background enriched with architecture.

=More Mythological Pictures in the Rijks.=--The other mythological pictures in this gallery are: Hendrick van Balen (1575-1632), Bacchus's Homage to Diana; Jan Brueghel le Vieux (Velvet) (1568-1625), Latona in Caria; Caravaggio (1569-1609), The Death of Orion; Johannes Glauber (1646-1726), Mercury and Io, and Diana Bathing; Henricus Goltzius (1558-1616), The Dying Adonis (1603); Hendrick Heerschop (1620 or 21-72?), Erechthonius Found by the Daughters of Cecrops; Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678), A Satyr; Hendrik van Limborgh (1680-1759), Cupid and Psyche; W. Ossenbeeck (?-1678), Mercury and Io (1632); Hans Rottenhammer (1564-1623), Mars and Venus (1604); Adriaan van der Werff (1659-1722), Cupid Embracing Venus; Pieter van der Werff (1665-after 1721), Cupid Adorned with Flowers (1713), Young Hercules and Young Bacchus; Thomas Willeborts (1614-54), Mars Armed by Venus; Flemish School (1610-20), Dispute of Apollo and Pan; Dutch School (sixteenth century), Adonis (supposed to be by Jan van Scorel); and Dietz (living in 1830), Hebe. Here must be mentioned Rembrandt's mythological picture known by the name of Narcissus.

=Painters of Exteriors and Painters of Interiors.=--No survey of Dutch art would be complete without a brief account of the painters of buildings; and these may be divided again into two classes: those who painted the exteriors and those who painted the interiors.

=Murant and his Old Farm-house.=--The first of those who painted exteriors seems to have been Emanuel Murant (1622-1700), a pupil of Philips Wouwermans. He chose for his specialty Dutch village houses which he painted with vigor and warmth, and introduced figures and cattle into his foregrounds. These he painted himself. His works are rare, because he spent so much time on each work that he produced few pictures. He also spent much time in travel. His color is rich and silvery in tone; his impasto fine, and he gives the details with great truth and finish. By the aid of a magnifying-glass every stone in his buildings and every leaf on his trees may be counted. The Rijks possesses The Old Farm-house, which represents a dilapidated old house, where a man is feeding the chickens, and there are also pigs and an old woman at her spinning-wheel.

=Jan van der Heyden.=--Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712) was "the Gerard Dou of architectural painters." The Rijks owns View of the Town of Amersfoort, with delightful figures by A. van der Velde, A Drawbridge, A Stone Bridge, and A Canal in Holland. He loved to paint canals bordered with trees. His tone is warm, and his execution soft and free.

=G. A. Berck-Heyde, Painter of German and Dutch Towns.=--Another skilful painter of exteriors, Gerrit Adriaensz Berck-Heyde (1638-98), is noted for his faithful representations of the principal towns of Germany and Holland. His perspective is extremely fine. The Rijks owns: View of the Dam at Amsterdam; View of the Heerengracht (1685); The Flower-Market, Amsterdam; The Ruins of the Castle of Egmont, near Alkmaar; and three Views of the Town-hall. In some of his works he was assisted by his brother.

=J. A. Berck-Heyde.=--Job Adriaensz Berck-Heyde (1630-93) was a pupil of Frans Hals and Jacob de Wet. He is represented in the Amsterdam Museum by The Spaarne at Haarlem, Interior of a Church (1674), and Interior of the Old Bourse at Amsterdam.

=J. van der Ulft the Versatile.=--The works of Jacob van der Ulft, so remarkable for his versatility, are rare. The Rijks, however, owns two pretty cabinet-pictures by him, representing an Italian town and an Italian port. A very interesting and valuable picture by him, representing the Town-hall on the Dam, completed in 1667, is in the present Town-hall.

=Other Painters of Exteriors.=--Among the other artists and pictures represented are: Kornelis Beelt (seventeenth century), Dutch Flotilla at the Herring Fishery and View of the Haarlem Market; Anthonie Beerstraten (seventeenth century), View of Regulierspoort in Amsterdam in Winter, and Interior of a Town in Winter; Johannes Bosboom (1817- ), Notre-Dame, Breda, Great Church, Edam, and Aire in Guelders; F. der Braekeleer, Ruins of the Citadel of Antwerp (1832); Hendrik Gerrit Ten Cate (1803-56), The Tower, Jan Rodenpoort in Amsterdam (1829), and the City in Moonlight; Jan Ten Compe (1713-61), View of the Quay called Keizersgracht, in Amsterdam; Constantinus Coene (1780-1841), the Porte de Hal in Brussels (1823); Croos (seventeenth century), View of the Castle of Egmont, near Alkmaar; Claes Dircksz van der Heck (seventeenth century), The Castle of Egmont and The Abbey of Egmont (1638); Edward A. Hilverdink, View of the Singel in Amsterdam; Johannes Janson (1729-84), The Chateau de Heemstede (1766); Kasparus Karssen (1810-?), Interior of the Old Bourse at Amsterdam (1837); J. C. K. Klinkenberg (1852- ), The Market at Nimeguen; Everhardus Kloster (1817- ), Amsterdam; Dirk Jan van der Laen (1759-1829), View of a Town: A Snow Scene; Francois de Momper (1603-60), The Valkenhof at Nimeguen; Isaac de Moucheron (1670-1744), View of Tivoli, near Rome, and View in the Hortus Medicus at Amsterdam; Isaak Ouwater (1747-93), Unfinished Tower of the New Church at Amsterdam and Le Poids St. Anthony at Amsterdam; Antoon Sminck Pitloo (1791-1837), St. Georgis Church, Rome (1820); P. J. Poelman (1801-?), The Town Hall at Oudenarde (1824); J. H. Prins (1758-1806), View of a City (1793); Cornelis Springer (1817-91), Town-hall and Vegetable Market at Vere (1861), and Town-hall, Cologne (1874); Abraham Storck (1630?-1710?), View of the Dam; Pieter George Westenberg (1791-1873), View of Amsterdam in Winter (1817); and Jan Wildens (1586-1653), View of Amsterdam (1636).

=Painters of Interiors--P. H. van Steenwyck.=--Turning now to those painters who devoted their attention chiefly to interiors, the first to be noticed is Pieter Hendrik van Steenwyck the Elder (1550-about 1604), the pupil of Jan Vredeman de Vries, who has never been surpassed in this particular field. He usually painted the interiors of Gothic churches and other buildings. He also won distinction with torchlight effects. The figures were usually supplied by the Franckens and others. Van Steenwyck lived in Antwerp and also in Frankfort. The Interior of a Catholic Church, in the Rijks, is a good example of his style.

=His Pupil, Pieter Neeffs the Elder.=--Among his pupils was Pieter Neeffs the Elder (1577-between 1657-61), who followed his master closely, but with a heavy touch. His colors are not so pleasing as Steenwyck's, but his mechanical skill is great. F. Francken, Teniers, Velvet Brueghel, and Van Thulden are responsible for the figures in his pictures. In the Rijks we may study him by his Church of the Dominicans in Antwerp (1636), A Church: Effect of Candle-light (1636), and Interior of a Church.

=P. J. Saenredam, Painter of Church Interiors.=--Next must be mentioned Pieter Jansz Saenredam (1597-1665), who painted the interior of churches in a large and luminous manner. His pictures were highly esteemed, but are now very rare. The Rijks owns: two Interiors of the Church of St. Bavon, Haarlem; three Interiors of St. Mary's, Utrecht; and View of the Church in Assendelft. Adriaen van Ostade contributed the figures in the latter. Pieter Saenredam was a pupil of his father, a celebrated engraver, and of Frans de Grebber in Haarlem.

=Emanuel de Witte's Beautiful Work.=--Emanuel de Witte (1617-92), a pupil of Evert van Aelst, bears the same relation to the representation of interiors that Ruisdael does to landscape, and Willem van de Velde to marine painting. Beautiful modelling, fine color, linear and aerial perspective, masterly treatment of chiaroscuro, and animated figures are all at his command. The Vestibule in the Prinsenhof in Delft and two Interiors of a Church are picturesque canvases that exhibit the rich talents of this painter.

=H. C. van Vliet.=--Hendrik Cornelisz van Vliet (1608-66?), a pupil of his father, Willem van Vliet (1584-1642), paints under the influence of De Witte as is shown in the Interior of Part of the Old Church at Delft, signed "H. van Vliet, 1654." Here the treatment of sunlight is very reminiscent of Emanuel de Witte.

=Egbert van der Poel.=--In this connection may be mentioned Egbert van der Poel (1621-64), whose specialty was conflagrations. The effects of lurid light are seen in his Ruins in Delft after the Explosion of a Powder Magazine (1654) and Interior of a Farm-house (1646).

=Collections on the Ground-floor and Basement.=--After lunching in the pleasant little restaurant in the west wing on the ground-floor we take a rapid view of the collections here. The East and West Courts contain military, naval, and colonial collections, weapons, uniforms, and models of ships, which need not detain us long; nor will the department of Ecclesiastical Architecture and the Hall of the Admirals, where there is a collection of modern French paintings. In the western half of the building there are splendid collections of engravings, porcelain, lacquer, and textiles, two seventeenth century rooms furnished by the Antiquarian Society, and in the basement a collection of old Dutch costumes, carriages, and doll houses. On the east side are a number of correctly furnished Dutch rooms, one a "Chinese Boudoir" from the Stadtholder's Palace at Leeuwarden (seventeenth century), and a great collection of civic and industrial domestic art. Silver occupies a conspicuous place, and one of the cases contains drinking-horns, among which is the original drinking-horn of the Guild of St. Joris, which appears in Van der Helst's painting.

The visitor will seldom see a more wonderful collection of glass of all shapes and forms, and beautifully engraved, cut, and mounted; and the display of jewelry, trinkets, and children's toys will also claim attention.

=The Garden.=--We now enter the garden at the south side of the building. This is laid out in the Dutch style of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, with clipped hedges of beech and box, and adorned with flowers, vases, statues, and busts. There is also a maze, and fragments of old Dutch buildings, such as the old Bergpoort of Deventer (1619) and the Heerenpoort of Groningen (1621). Various old gables, pilasters, columns, walls, tympanums, and gates have been grouped; and in the eastern part of the garden is the house of the Director of the Museum.

FOOTNOTES:

[23] J. F. White.

[24] Burger.

[25] J. A. Crowe.

[26] Blanc.

THE STEDELIJK MUSEUM

=Ground-floor of the Stedelijk Museum.=--A short walk from the Rijks down Paulus Potter Straat brings us to the Stedelijk (Municipal) Museum, built in 1892-95. The ground-floor is devoted to uniforms, weapons, and pictures of the Schutterij of Amsterdam, and a series of rooms furnished in the style of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, including an old Dutch kitchen.

=Its Pictures of the History of the Netherlands.=--An extraordinary collection of pictures by Allebe, Israels, Rochussen, and other well-known painters, treating of the history of the Netherlands, deserves a passing glance, for there are no less than 250 small canvases, all of the same dimensions and similar treatment. A more curiously monotonous effect would be impossible to imagine; but, to use a Dutch term, they are decidedly _symmetrisch_.

=The Gallery of Modern Pictures.=--Ascending the stairs we reach the gallery of modern pictures. The collection consists of about 200 paintings gathered by a society founded in 1874, and is very rich in fine examples of the modern Dutch school.

=Mauve's Sheep on the Dunes.=--One of the gems of the modern landscapes is Mauve's Sheep on the Dunes. The sheep, all of which have their backs to the spectator, the rolling dunes with their tall, waving grass, the shepherd boy and his dog, are all painted with equal skill; and over the still landscape hovers a poetic feeling that communicates itself instantly to the spectator.

Mauve is also represented by A Fold and Woodmen.

=Anton Mauve.=--Anton Mauve (1838-89) was a native of Zaandam, and the son of a clergyman. He studied under the cattle-painter, Van Os, who was not particularly pleased with his pupil. After his apprenticeship was over, he began to paint little pictures in the neat manner and conventional style of his master. Mauve lived in Oosterbeck, "the Barbison of Holland," for a time, and at a later period spent his winters in Amsterdam and his summers in The Hague, where he could enjoy Scheveningen and the dunes.

A Dutch writer, A. C. Loffelt, says:

=His Style.=--"The poetry of Mauve's art, its tenderness, the unobtrusive, quiet sadness of the scenery and people which attracted him most; the homeliness, humor, and domestic happiness which he interpreted in his interiors and scenes of country and village life, can only be appreciated by people of the same descent."

The same critic tells us that Mauve lived for a time in a farm-house, near Dekkersdinn.