Part 22

"There is no eater so cloyed, no gourmet so _blase_, who would not have his appetite restored by the sight of one of De Heem's pictures; for here everything is exquisite, both the form and the substance, the viands and the fruits, as well as the way in which they are served. It is necessary that the eye should dine, says the proverb; and this is particularly true of feasts and collations given in painting.... De Heem has happily expressed the quality of every viand and every fruit, its rough or smooth surface, dull or shining, and even its stage of ripeness,--the violet plum with its thin skin, splashed with red and drab, the light down of the peach with its pale and purple tones, the plush envelope in which the hazelnut hides, and the green and split shell inside which we see the kernel. Moreover, this diversity of substances is not only rendered by local color but also by certain variations of the brush work by fine shades of touch. On the oak or marble table is placed an enormous glass vessel cut in facets, a patriarchal glass, all the ridges of which glitter in the light, and through the crystal of which we see a golden liquid, fused topaz. Sometimes it is a _roemer_, a cylindrical vase of Bohemian glass mounted in silver, a precious utensil transmitted from generation to generation. This is a picture that transports us to the intimate life of these domestic Dutchmen, attentive to all the delicacies of interior comfort."

Jan's son, Cornelis, has also a piece called Flowers and Fruits in the same style.

=Seghers's Flowers.=--The striking picture of Flowers, by David Seghers, shows a stone cartouche with a little bust of Ceres framed in a garland of red and white roses, tulips, and many small flowers, around which hover numerous butterflies.

=W. C. Heda, an Early Still-life Painter.=--Willem Claes Heda (1594-1668) was one of the earliest Dutchmen who devoted themselves exclusively to the painting of still life. Heda was the contemporary and companion of Dirk Hals, with whom he had in common pictorial touch and technical execution. But Heda was more careful and finished than Hals, and showed considerable skill and not a little taste in arranging and coloring chased cups and beakers and tankards of precious and inferior metals. Nothing is so appetizing as his Luncheon, with rare comestibles set out upon rich plate, oysters,--seldom without the cut lemon,--bread, champagne, olives, and pastry. Even the commoner Refection is also not without charm, as it comprises a cut ham, bread, walnuts, and beer.

=Van Gelder and Gillemans, Famous Painters of Still Life.=--N. van Gelder (d. 1660) painted birds, animals, and flowers with great finish and delicacy. His Poultry consists of a dead cock on a black marble plinth, partly suspended by one of its feet from an iron hook fixed behind a partly open green curtain. To the left are two shot pigeons, a green velvet game-bag, and a fowling-piece.

Jan Paul Gillemans (1618-?) was famous for his still life. This gallery possesses one of his fruit pieces, in which grapes, oranges, lemons, plums, and apricots are temptingly displayed.

=Ykens, Painter of Flowers.=--Franchois Ykens (or Ikens) (1601-93), a painter of flowers and pupil of his uncle, Osias Beest, has a picture here that was formerly attributed to Francois Seghers. A stone cartouche, surrounded with a garland of roses, tulips, pinks, honeysuckle, clematis, etc., and bearing a representation of the mystic marriage of St. Catherine, is called simply Flowers.

=W. van Aelst and his Famous Pupil, Rachel Ruysch.=--Willem van Aelst delights us with his Flowers. On a brown marble slab in a niche stands an elegant vase containing roses, poppies, a pink, and other blossoms, around which a butterfly is fluttering. A snail is crawling in the niche. On a brown table-cloth with gold fringe, to the right, is an open gold watch with a green ribbon attached. The picture is signed and dated 1662. Willem's famous pupil, Rachel Ruysch, may be seen here by a charming flower piece. A tree-trunk surrounded by red and white roses, poppies, convolvuluses, etc., and upon the stony ground, covered with moss and mushrooms, innumerable lizards, toads, snails, and various insects swarm. Butterflies hover over the flowers. Rachel Ruysch painted this picture in 1685, and gave it as a present to the famous painter, Ludolf Bakhuysen.

=Pieter Boel's Dead Game.=--Her contemporary, Pieter Boel, shows the influence of his master, F. Snyders, in Dead Game. A dead swan hangs by its foot to a tree. In the foreground, near a pedestal, are arranged two partridges and some other game, with a gun and a brass hunting-horn. On the left is a hound; and, in the background to the right, an owl on a cage with a little dead bird in front of it.

=Marseus, Painter of Lowly Animal Life.=--Another follower of Snyders was Otto Marseus van Schrieck. He excelled in the loving rendering of lowly animal life. His Nest is of natural size, with eggs lying on the moss near some thistles, wild mulberries, and red mushrooms. Around it flutter some butterflies; on the right is a lizard, and on the left a Mayfly.

=A. Breughel's Still-life Pictures.=--His pupil, Abraham Breughel (1631-?), went to Rome; but little is known about him except that his favorite subject was still life. Like so many others, his flowers and fruits are painted natural size. The principal objects in his picture are a silver dish with figs, a silver bowl containing roses and gladioluses at the foot of a column, and black and white grapes, apples, etc., in the foreground.

=A. Cuijp, a Painter Catholic in his Tastes.=--Aelbert Cuijp was very catholic in his tastes. He occupied a country house near Dordrecht, called Dordwijck, where he painted everything that struck his fancy,--men, animals, fruits, flowers, and landscape. The poultry yard is noticed in a Cock and Hen scratching in the straw, with a broom and some blocks of red stone conspicuously placed. A hare, two pigeons, and other birds on a stone pillar compose his Dead Game. A painting called Fruits represents peaches on a blue plate on a table, and, beside the plate, white grapes, cherries, and green gooseberries. On the left is also a butterfly. A charming jumble of peaches, black and white grapes, and various shells make the picture, Fruits and Shells, in which three butterflies and a housefly are also prominent.

=One of Jan Weenix's Many Dead Swans.=--No Dutch gallery would be complete without a Dead Swan by Jan Weenix. Sir Joshua Reynolds admitted that he had seen no less than twenty during his visit to Holland. The dead swan is here suspended by the foot from a stone pedestal; on one side lie a peacock, a partridge, and a thrush; and near them a branch from a rosebush and a basket of fruit. In the background is seen a park with a lake, statues, fountains, and large trees.

=Two of Mignon's Best Pictures.=--Abraham Mignon appears at his best in two pictures in this gallery called Flowers and Fruits. In the former we admire a vase on a stone table, filled with red and white roses, tulips, blue irises, poppies, pinks, convolvuluses, and ears of wheat; on the left on the table a mouse, snails, butterflies, beetles, and other insects are painted with rare delicacy and truth. Insects and snails also occur in the second picture, in which the fruits are placed in a niche, and consist of a bunch of black grapes, a peach, a melon, an apricot, and some plums decorated with a vine leaf, wheat, and small flowers.

=A Still Life by Van Beyeren.=--Abraham Hendricksz van Beyeren was especially fond of painting flowers and marine life. His Sea Fish is an evidence of his excellence in this line. On a table is a basket containing whiting and a slice of salmon; in front of the basket are a crab, some soles, some slices of cod, and a knife.

=Van den Broeck's Flowers.=--Elias van den Broeck (1653-1711), a pupil of Jan de Heem, delighted to immortalize on canvas the flowers he cultivated in his beautiful garden. A stone plinth with roses and Indian cress; and, in front, chrysanthemums and creepers, a lizard, two snails, and butterflies are the chief features of his Flowers.

=Van Os, Another Good Flower-painter.=--Georgius Jacobus Johannes van Os (1782-1861) was a worthy successor of the seventeenth-century masters of this school. Flowers and Flowers and Fruits are artistically composed and lovingly painted. The former consists of an Etruscan vase filled with roses, blue irises, tulips, and anemones, standing on a marble table. The second picture represents, on a marble plinth in a niche, a melon, a pear, and a bunch of black grapes with roses, convolvuluses, poppies, and other flowers.

=His Pupil, Hendrik Reekers.=--His pupil, Hendrik Reekers (1815-54), has here Fruits, Vegetables, and Game, arranged on a marble table. A basket is full of white and black grapes, a cut lemon, and some oranges, plums, peaches, and an artichoke, mingled with flowers. Above these hang a partridge and a grouse.

=Flowers, by Steenbergen.=--Flowers, by Albertus Steenbergen (1814- ), consists of roses, poppies, lilacs, convolvuluses, nasturtiums, etc., arranged in a vase that stands on a marble plinth. On the right flutters a butterfly.

=Still Life, by Maria Vos.=--Still Life by Maria Vos (b. 1824) consists of a stone plinth partly covered with a piece of matting on which stand a white cock and a black hen, an overturned basket of oranges and lemons, a copper dish, and a porcelain bowl; and on the wall a stone jug with a pewter top.

=Flowers, by Margaretha Roosenboom.=--In Flowers, by Margaretha Roosenboom (1843), we have a silver vase filled with roses, standing on a table with a green cover. In the background, a green curtain is half drawn.

=Two Excellent Hunting Scenes by Hondius.=--Abraham Hondius (1638-91), who excelled in painting the different breeds of dogs and other animals, and hunting scenes, with much fire and action, has two pictures here. A Boar Defending Itself Against Dogs shows the furious beast at bay, with four dying or dead dogs under him in the foreground. On the left three more dogs are rushing to the attack. The features of the landscape are three trees, with a mountainous background. The other picture, of exactly the same size, depicts a Bear Attacked by Dogs. The bear is standing on his hind legs with a dog under him, and throwing another into the air, while he hugs the life out of another. On the right and left, more dogs are rushing to attack. There is a dying dog in the left foreground. On the right, in the middle distance, there are two trees near a rock, and a cascade, and the background is mountainous. Both pictures are signed and dated 1672.

=Bird Pictures by the Hondecoeters, Father and Son.=--Gijsbert de Hondecoeter shows his loving study of the gallinaceous tribe in Cock and Hens. In the foreground is a black hen with a white comb; and behind her are a sitting yellow hen and a standing white one; still farther back are three more hens, one perched on the branch of a tree. To the left sits a brown hen with a black comb, with a yellow-brown cock behind. The ground is strewed with oyster shells and straw. Three hens are in the background. The picture is signed and dated 1652.

Melchior de Hondecoeter, who surpassed his father as a painter of birds alive and dead, enriches this collection with his Dead Game. In a grotto at the foot of some ruins a dead bittern and two partridges are hanging. In front are two gulls; and on the right are a hunting-horn, tied with a red tasselled cord, a green velvet bag, a kingfisher, and two finches. In the middle distance is a fowling-piece with a shoulder belt and net. The entrance of the grotto is in the background on the left.

=Four Portrait Groups by the Eversdijcks.=--In common with all other Dutch galleries, the Boijmans is rich in portraits. Royalties, admirals, officers, ladies of quality, gentlemen, elderly men and women, and children are all represented. Three pictures of gatherings of officers at Goes, by Cornelis Willemsz Eversdijck, who died in his native town of Goes about 1649, and one by his son Willem, representing the same corps of archers, are the only important pictures of this class in the gallery.

=Two Portraits by Mostert, and One by Queborn.=--Jan Mostert (1474-?), who was a painter of portraits and altarpieces, has here two half-lengths of Augusteyn van Teylingen, Anno 1511, and Judoca van Egmont van der Nieuburch, 1511 (his wife).

Crispyn van den Queborn (1604-58) was a distinguished portrait-painter and engraver. His half-length Portrait of Hartogh van Moerkerken was painted in 1645.

=Santvoort, a Portrait-painter after the Style of Rembrandt.=--Dirk van Santvoort (d. 1660) was probably one of Rembrandt's pupils; or, at least, he adopted that master's manner. Not many of his pictures are known, and the majority of these are portraits. His two pictures in the Boijmans Museum, however, belong rather to the classical school of the Elzheimers and Poelenburgs. A Young Shepherd Playing the Chalumeau, wearing a brown cap with an ostrich feather, and a bright brown robe over a white shirt, with a knife and horn at his belt (green background), is dated 1632. A Young Shepherdess, half-length, turned to the left, wears a violet dress with red sleeves. A blue hat with a green branch is on her head and a crook over her right shoulder. The background is greenish.

=Two Portraits by F. Bol.=--Ferdinand Bol's Portrait of a Woman represents a young woman seen in profile half-length, and turned to the left. She wears a red dress and a violet velvet mantle lined with fur. Beautiful ornaments of gold and pearls are in her hair and on her neck and arms. One hand rests on the base of a column, and the other holds a closed fan. His portrait of Dirk van Walijen represents a young boy with long curls, dressed in yellow satin, red tunic, and yellow boots.

=Portrait by Gerrit Dou.=--Among the most striking portraits is that of An Old Lady by Gerrit Dou. She is dressed in black velvet trimmed with fur; her bodice is of black silk, and she wears a large turned-down collar, and round her neck a gold chain with a pendent jewel. She has on a blue cap with a gold band. The head stands out boldly from the grayish background, and the expression of the smiling face is singularly impressive.

=Jacob Cats and his Cousin, by Mytens.=--Mytens's Portrait of Jacob Cats, the Dutch poet, and his cousin Cornelia Bars, is also of interest. It was painted in 1650, and represents Jacob Cats seated at a table before a tent. He is dressed in crimson, and turns toward his cousin at his side, who wears brown silk. On the table, with its red carpet, are an open book and an inkstand. On the left is seen a hilly landscape with trees; and in the background an angel with a long white robe.

=Portraits by Opzoomer.=--Simon Opzoomer has a portrait of Rembertus Frescarode, one called Erasmus in his Study, and one of the Brothers de Witt in Prison in Gevangenpoort. Cornelis is in bed, and Jacob is seated by him with a book on his knees. The time is just before their murder by the populace in 1672.

=Portraits of Two Notables by Mierevelt.=--Mierevelt has a Portrait of Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, painted in 1671. His Maurice of Nassau shows that prince standing by a table and wearing a richly worked cuirass, the present of the States-General after the victory of Nieuwpoort, and an orange silk scarf. He holds a commandant's baton in his right hand, and his helmet with orange plumes is seen on the table. Mierevelt has here also A Lady of Quality.

=Finely painted Portraits by Nason.=--Pieter Nason (1612-90), who painted portraits and still life, and who has a Portrait of Willem Frederick, Count of Nassau (1662), in The Hague, has here The Portrait of a Lord, and one of A Woman of Quality. The lady is holding some yellow flowers. She is dressed in red silk with white undersleeves; a brown scarf falls over her shoulders; and pearls ornament her hair, ears, and neck. The jewels, silks, and satins are beautifully painted, as is also the costume of the lord in the accompanying picture. He is dressed in yellow silk with a brown mantle, and his lace cravat is held by a circle of diamonds. Trees form the background.

=A Woman of Quality, by Pourbus.=--Pieter Pourbus (1510-83) was a painter, geographer, and architect. His Portrait of a Woman of Quality shows her costumed in the Valois mode, with Mary Stuart cap, fluted ruff, and black robe.

=Two Portraits by Netscher.=--Caspar Netscher has a sombre Portrait of a Protestant Pastor and a brilliant Lady of Quality, dressed in blue satin with a graceful brown scarf. She is seated by a fountain. One hand is placed on her breast; the other is full of roses.

=Pool's Interesting Portraits of his Wife and her Father.=--Of great interest is the portrait of Rachel Ruysch, painted by her husband, Juriaan Pool. This is a bust only. The lady is represented with powdered hair and dressed in brown satin with lace at the neck and sleeves. Her right hand is lifted and holds a veil. The background contains a column and a green curtain. Pool's portrait of her father, Professor Frederik Ruysch, is also a bust. He wears a large powdered wig and a long robe with a band; his left hand holds a skull.

=A Portrait Group by Maes.=--Nicholas Maes is represented by a Portrait of a Gentleman and a Lady standing in front of a noble house. The lady, in black with a gray tunic having an embroidered gold border and a large collar, holds a little child with her left hand. The latter is dressed in white and wears a cap with a red feather. The gentleman holds his wife by her other hand. He is dressed in black, with white ruff and cuffs, and a mantle is thrown over his left shoulder. His right hand holds a glove. Behind them are a rosebush and flowers, and there are shrubs and bushes by the wall.

=Other Portraits by Maes.=--Another by the same artist represents Mr. Willem Nieupoort, Envoy from the States-General to Oliver Cromwell in 1653. He is standing by a broken column, and is dressed in yellow silk and brown velvet, a corselet, a lace cravat, and a red scarf. Near the column are a sword and a helmet with red plumes. His wife, Anna van Loon, is also painted by Maes, standing by a stone balustrade. She wears a dress of red velvet with a tunic of yellow silk, a gray veil, and pearls in her hair. In her left hand she holds some oranges, and her right clasps that of a little girl in white. Trees occupy the background.

=A Portrait of a Priest, by Metsu.=--Gabriel Metsu has a Portrait of a Priest, seated at a table in his study. One hand rests on his breast, the other on a death's head. On the table, covered with a green cloth, are placed an open book, a crucifix, and a sheet of paper. A glove, books, and a half-drawn curtain occupy the background.

=A Lawyer in his Study, by A. van Ostade.=--Adriaen van Ostade has A Lawyer in his Study. This important personage, dressed in black velvet and a violet robe, is seated by a table covered with a Smyrna rug, on which are books, papers, documents, and a pewter inkstand. He is reading a document which he holds in his left hand; his right, resting on the arm of his chair, holds his spectacles. Behind the table there is a blue screen. An open door is seen in the background.

Honthorst has a Portrait of an Old Man, dressed in brown, and having a long gray beard.

=Several Portraits by Van der Helst.=--Bartholomeus van der Helst has one of A Protestant Minister, painted in 1638; one called A Man, and another A Woman (the two latter painted in 1646); Portrait of Daniel Bernard; and Portrait of a Lady and Gentleman. The latter, painted in 1654, represents the couple on a bench in the garden. The lady is beautifully dressed in white satin, with pearls and diamonds, and she is plucking a rose from a bush near by. She has a huge diamond ring on her thumb. The gentleman is dressed in black satin: in one hand he holds his large-brimmed hat; the other supports the right arm of the lady. The landscape, with its varied trees and playing fountain, was painted by Aldert van Everdingen (1654).

=A Portrait by Jan de Vos.=--Jan de Vos, who died about 1651, has here a Portrait of a Man, dressed in black with white ruff, and standing by a table. His right hand holds a pen, his left rests on an open copy-book.

=A Portrait by Stolker.=--Jan Stolker (1724-85), pupil of J. M. Quinkhard, has a Portrait of the Burgomaster of Rotterdam, Willem Schefers, seated at a table covered with a red cloth, on which are several books. He is dressed in black velvet, and wears a powdered wig.

=Portraits by Simon de Vos.=--Simon de Vos (1608-76), a pupil of Cornelis de Vos and Rubens, has a Portrait of a Man, dressed in black with striped sleeves and a large fluted ruff. His right hand rests on a table, and his left on his hip. He has also another Portrait of a Man, whose left hand rests on a chair, while his right holds a glove.

=A Man in Oriental Costume by Van Vliet.=--Jan Joris van Vliet, born in Delft in 1610, and one of Rembrandt's pupils, can be studied here by An Old Man in Oriental Costume. This is only a bust; the hair is short, the moustache gray; and the costume consists of a black turban with gold ornaments, a crimson coat, black mantle, and a golden chain. His right hand rests on his chest.

=A Huntsman by Verkolje.=--Verkolje has a Portrait of a Huntsman seated beneath a tree. He is young, and wears a large black hat, a gray costume, and orange scarf. His undersleeves are white, his stockings brown, and his garters orange. His left hand rests on his hip, and his right holds a gun. Two hunting-dogs are by his side, and some dead rabbits. Trees occupy the background.

=Van der Werff's Portraits of himself and Others.=--Pieter van der Werff has portraits of W. B. Schefers and his wife, of Johannes Texelius and of himself. The painter stands with his elbow on a stone balustrade, dressed in grayish blue embroidered with gold. A brown velvet cloak is thrown over his shoulder, and he holds his palette and brushes in his left hand.

=An Admiral and his Wife, by Van den Tempel.=--A. van den Tempel has An Admiral and his Wife, in which the former is dressed in gray and silver, and his wife in black and pink and jewels. She holds an orange in her hand; and in the distance a negro is seen with a dish of oranges. In the background a lifted curtain of crimson velvet reveals a warship from which a gun is being discharged.

=A Portrait by Zimmerman.=--J. W. G. Zimmerman has a Portrait of Mr. Joost van Vollenhoven, Burgomaster of Rotterdam in 1864-81, dressed in the robes of office, his right hand holding a letter and his left resting on some books on the table.