A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery, Volume I, Foreign Schools

In the other two pictures the faithfulness and unfaithfulness of woman are similarly contrasted. In "Unfaithfulness" (1318) a nude female figure, seated on a bank with her back turned to the spectator, extends her arm towards a man who grasps her right hand, while she with her left is employed in furtively delivering a letter to a more youthful lover on the other side. He is of the same type as the figure of Alexander in the Family of Darius (294). Finally, in "Happy Union" (1326) the painter shows us the reward of faithfulness. Here a Cupid is introducing a warrior to a queenly figure – whom we may take to personify Fame or Fortune – seated on a globe at the entrance to some palace. She is placing a wreath upon the man's brow; he is led by a beautiful woman who carries a palm which she is about to present to him. She in her turn is guided by a little Love who has hold of a golden chain around her waist. A dog is also in attendance. It is a pretty trait of the Venetian schools, the frequency with which a pet dog is introduced into scenes of domestic felicity.

The prices paid for these pictures are interesting. They belonged at one time to Queen Christina of Sweden, and afterwards passed into the Orleans Collection. At the sale of that collection, the Tintoret fetched £50, and the four Veroneses £198. Lord Darnley made a handsome "unearned increment" out of them. For the Tintoret and one of the Veroneses (1318) the nation paid £2500. For two more of the Veroneses the same price was paid. The fourth Veronese (1325) was presented by Lord Darnley.

1327. A WINTER SCENE

Jan van Goyen (Dutch: 1596-1656). See 137.

The scene is an arm of the Maes, near Dordrecht; the ice being covered with skaters, hockey-players, and others. The figures are treated with considerable humour. In the distance rises the tall ruin, which is shown in so many of Cuyp's pictures. Van Goyen's signature and the date 1642 are conspicuous on a sleigh in the foreground.

1329. AN INTERIOR

Quiryn Brekelenham (Dutch: 1625-1668).

A native of Zwammerdam near Leyden, in which town he joined the Guild of St. Luke in 1648. He was a pupil of Gerard Dou, but did not adopt the high finish of that master; his style may be called an admixture of that of Dou with that of Rembrandt. He was a painter of quiet interiors, industrious households, and kitchen scenes. "Inspired by Rembrandt's teaching, he placed his figures in a beautiful amber light. They are neither too graceful nor too striking, but singularly lifelike and truthful. The scenes in which he delights are always quiet, modest, and sober in movement and expression. His touch is free, supple, and soft" (Havard: The Dutch School, p. 182). Some of his best works are in the Ryks Museum at Amsterdam. Our picture is signed, and dated 1653.

1330. THE TRANSFIGURATION

Duccio (Sienese: about 1260-1340). See 566.

"Clinging more closely to Byzantine traditions than any other of the works of Duccio in the Gallery, is the panel of 'The Transfiguration,' with the folds of the drapery indicated by gold lines. The elements of this ancient design, like those of nearly all the Byzantine conceptions of scenes of sacred history, were never wholly departed from; they remain still quite recognisable in 'The Transfiguration' of Raphael" (Monkhouse: In the National Gallery, p. 16).

1331. VIRGIN AND CHILD

Bernardino Fungai (Sienese: about 1460-1516).

"In flatness, absence of chiaroscuro, and use of gilding, he partakes of the Sienese School," resembling, for instance, Matteo di Giovanni (1155). "But he is rather pleasing in his children and angels, where he is influenced by Perugino; also in his landscapes, which, though peculiar in their faint blue distance, recall Pinturicchio. A characteristic of the master is the heaviness of his hands at the fingers' ends" (Layard's edition of "Kugler," i. 205). Fungai may best be studied in the Accademia of Siena.

The style of this painter is dismissed by Lanzi as "dry," and by another authority as "dry and stiff." There is a certain stiffness, undoubtedly – due probably in part to religious symbolism – in the hands of the Virgin and in the upraised finger of the Child, and in those of the otherwise human and chubby cherubim. But there is nothing dry or stiff in the pretty faces of these children, or in the gracious and beautiful face of the mother. She is clad in a white-and-gold brocade of very beautiful pattern. "One of the finest of the kind known to us, it appears," says the Athenæum, "to be of Venetian origin, and is a pure and perfect diaper, instinct with the choicest Gothic grace and harmony of line, and betraying but the slightest touch of Orientalism. This circumstance attests that the brocade did not come from a Sicilian loom, while other elements prohibit us from ascribing it to an ultramontane craftsman." The landscape background, which has sadly darkened, has many quaint figures – on one side Mary, Joseph, and a cow; on the other, the Three Kings and their attendants.

1332. GEORGE, 1ST EARL OF BERKELEY

G. Netscher (Dutch: 1639-1784). See 843.

The first Earl of Berkeley – a man of considerable note in his day, and the author of a religious work to which some complimentary couplets by Waller have given a kind of immortality – was born in 1628 and died in 1698. He was one of the Commissioners nominated in 1660 to proceed to the Hague to invite Charles to return to the kingdom, and shortly afterwards he received various important appointments. In 1688, after the flight of the King, he was one of the lords assembled at the Guildhall to draw up the celebrated declaration constituting themselves a provisional government until such time as the Prince of Orange should arrive.

1333. THE DEPOSITION FROM THE CROSS

Tiepolo (Venetian: 1692-1769). See 1192.

1334. THE FORTUNE-TELLER

Pietro Longhi (Venetian: 1702-1762). See 1100.

A girl, in the hooped dress and three-cornered hat of the 18th century, is having her hand read by a fortune-teller, while a cloaked cavalier, standing near in a white domino, watches the result.

1335. THE MADONNA

Unknown (French School: 15th Century).

The face is most delicately executed; the white head-cloth and gown are covered by a blue mantle, which is jewelled and embroidered at the edge. The originally gold background is now brown; the nimbus of the Virgin is punctured in a beautiful foliated design.

1336. THE DEATH OF DIDO

Ascribed to Liberale da Verona (Veronese: 1451-1535).See 1134

Painted probably to adorn the front of a cassone or marriage-chest. "The buildings of the forum in which the pyre stands are copied from well-known monuments at Verona. In the background on the left are seen two spectators in the everyday costume of the artist's contemporaries. The one on the left-hand side seems from his dress to be a German. Dürer has portrayed himself in an exactly similar way. The identity of the person thus represented will always remain hypothetical; nevertheless, the soldier leaning on his lance, on the extreme right, points directly to Dürer, for the figure is taken from a well-known engraving by him" (Dr. Richter in the Art Journal, February 1895).

1337. "ECCE HOMO!"

Bazzi (Lombard: 1477-1549). See 1144.

Probably part of a picture of Christ bearing His Cross. The face wears a gentle, grave, and dignified expression on features of a noble type.

1338. THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS

1339. THE NATIVITY OF ST. JOHN

Bernhard Fabritius (Dutch: painted 1650-1672).

Of this painter very little is known. He was a member of the Painters' Guild at Leyden, and it is clear from his works that he was a disciple of Rembrandt.

(1338). The subject is treated with Dutch directness. It is a Dutch interior with Dutch peasants. An opening in the roof discloses a peep of landscape in the light of early dawn.

(1339). Somewhat more academic in treatment. The infant saint lies in a wicker cradle, at the foot of which lies St. Elizabeth, who offers an apple to another child standing by the side of its nurse or mother. To the right of the picture St. Zacharias writes on a tablet the record of the birth.

1340. LANDSCAPE

Roeland Roghman (Dutch: 1597-1686).

Roghman is a landscape-painter widely known by his drawings and etchings. He was a friend of Rembrandt. His pictures usually represent views in Holland and on the borders of Germany, but he travelled also in the Tyrol. His works "exhibit a close attention to nature in the forms, but his colour is dark and disagreeable" (Bryan).

1341. A WOODLAND SCENE

Cornelius Decker (Dutch: died 1678). See 134.

1342. LANDSCAPE

J. de Wet (Dutch: 17th Century).

This is the only landscape subject known to bear the signature of J. de Wet; other works so signed are of biblical subjects. A Jan de Wet, a native of Hamburg, was a pupil of Rembrandt, – a tutelage not inconsistent with the style of this picture.

1343. AMSTERDAM MUSKETEERS ON PARADE

Unknown (Dutch School: about 1650).

Formerly attributed to Govert Flinck (1615-1660), who was a pupil of Rembrandt, and was commissioned to paint many considerable works for the Town Hall of Amsterdam. Observe the group of officers on the left; one bears a standard embroidered with the arms of that city.

1344. A LANDSCAPE

Salomon Ruysdael (Dutch: 1600-1670).

A good example of one of the founders of the Haarlem School of Landscape, uncle of the more famous Jacob Ruysdael. Like his nephew, he was a member of the sect of Mennonites. He appears to have had some talent for business; he was a prominent officer to the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke, and there is a story of his having invented a sort of imitation marble, by the sale of which he was able to live in easier circumstances than the majority of his artistic brethren. Salomon's work resembles much that of Van Goyen (see 137), and it is difficult to distinguish early works by the two painters. Afterwards they diverged. "Van Goyen prefers the round forms of the clouds that on a fine summer day overhang the Maas; his brush always plays with the delicacy of their shadows, and loves to turn a landscape into what the moderns would call 'a harmony of gray and silver.' Salomon Ruysdael is by no means so reticent in the matter of colour. His skies in his later period are frankly blue" (Quarterly Review, October 1891).

There is in this picture "a peculiarly sharp, clear, and firm touch, very like that of Stark of Norwich. The warm, deep-toned evening sky is admirable" (Athenæum). The picture is signed, and dated 1659.

1345. LANDSCAPE

Jan Wouwerman (Dutch: 1629-1666).

Jan was a younger brother and pupil of the more famous Philips (see 878). Some works by another brother, Pieter, may be seen in the Dulwich Gallery.

1346. A WINTER SCENE

Hendrik van Avercamp (Dutch: 1585-1663).

A characteristically animated work by the Mute of Kampen, as this painter was called. He was the son of a schoolmaster. He was born dumb, and documents have been discovered in which his mother speaks of her "dumb and pitiable son." Having shown an early talent for drawing, he was placed with a painter at Amsterdam, and there and at the Hague he practised until 1625. He afterwards joined his widowed mother at Kampen. In her will of 1633 she made provision for him "in order that he may not be a burden on his brothers and sister." He loved especially to depict lively scenes of winter sport. He defines his figures sharply against the ice and snow. "The refined modulations of tint and the delicacies of aerial perspective, aimed at by painters of such scenes in the middle of the 17th century, are seldom found in Avercamp's works" (Official Catalogue).

1347. FARMYARD SCENE

Isaak van Ostade (Dutch: 1621-1649). See 847.

The crisp touch and golden light in this Cuyp-like picture will please all lovers of Dutch art.

1348. LANDSCAPE WITH GOAT AND KID

Adrian van de Velde (Dutch: 1635-1672). See 867.

A pleasant twilight effect.

1352. LANDSCAPE

F. de Moucheron (Dutch: 1633-1686). See 842.

The signature of the artist is on the cornice of one of the buildings. Possibly Lingelbach (see 837), who often worked with Moucheron, painted the figures.

1353. LANDSCAPE WITH SATYRS

Martin Ryckhaert (Flemish: 1587-1631).

Martin Ryckhaert was a son of the elder, and brother of the younger, David Ryckhaert. He studied, and for some years practised his art, in Italy. He is entered in the register of the Painters' Guild at Antwerp as "a painter with one arm," and is so represented in the portrait by Van Dyck in the Dresden Gallery.

1375. CHRIST IN THE HOUSE OF MARTHA

Velazquez (Spanish: 1590-1660). See 197.

A picture of the earliest, or Seville period of the painter. Though professedly a religious subject, it is in reality one of the bodegones, or tavern-pieces, which had come into favour at Seville during the end of the sixteenth century – naturalistic studies of the tavern and the kitchen. "They are certainly to be valued," says Pacheco, "when painted as Velazquez paints them, for in this branch he has attained such an eminence that he has left room for no rival. They deserve high esteem; for with these elements and with portraiture he discovered the true imitation of Nature." In the background, shown through a window or square opening in the wall, is seen an inner chamber with Christ addressing Martha, who stands, and Mary, who kneels before Him.

1376. A DUEL IN THE PRADO (A SKETCH)

Velazquez (Spanish: 1599-1660). See 197.

Note that some of the figures in the foreground closely resemble the group in "The Boar Hunt" (No. 197).

1377. THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS

Venetian School (16th Century).

Formerly ascribed to Savoldo (see 1031). "In its deep and striking chiaroscuro it reminds one of a greater and later artist, Bassano, and even of the earlier works of Velazquez. It is a very interesting picture, full of imagination, especially in its landscape, and generally in fine condition. For light and effective painting, look at the pigeons in the basket on the right" (Monkhouse: In the National Gallery, p. 261). This picture was bequeathed by the late Sir William Gregory, one of the Trustees of the Gallery, who secured it for the paltry sum of £12: 10s., and was (as we know from his "Autobiography") justly proud of his bargain.247

1378. AN INTERIOR WITH FIGURES

Jan Steen (Dutch: 1626-1679). See 856.

Another of Sir William's bequests, and, like the preceding, "a bargain." "A French dealer," he wrote, "offered me £250 the day after I had bought it for £2: 3s." An itinerant musician enters the kitchen in a village inn or country farmhouse, and salutes the buxom lady of the house with a fantastic gesture of courtesy. A flute sticks out of his pocket.

1380. FRUIT AND FLOWER PIECE

Jan van Os (Dutch: 1744-1808). See 1015.

1381. THE HOLY WOMEN AT THE SEPULCHRE

Francesco Mantegna (Paduan: about 1470-1517.)See 639

For the subject, see 576. Notice the pool in the foreground on which are two water-fowl, while a tortoise crawls towards it. This picture is the same size as 639 and 1106, and the three beautiful little panels doubtless formed a series – now at last brought together again, having been long separated in three different collections.

1383. "LA JEUNE FEMME AU CLAVECIN."

Jan Vermeer of Delft (Dutch: 1632-1675).

This picture formerly belonged to the celebrated French critic Thoré (who wrote under the name of "W. Bürger"), to whom belongs the credit of having rescued Vermeer from oblivion. He was famous in his own day, being one of the chiefs of the Delft Guild of Artists. But after his death his works were dispersed or destroyed or ascribed to Pieter de Hooch, and his very existence was forgotten till "Bürger's" researches rehabilitated him (see Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1866, pp. 297, 458, 542). He was born in Delft, and was for a short time a pupil of Carel Fabritius, a painter who was deeply imbued with the spirit and manner of Rembrandt. Vermeer obtained good prices for his pictures, but his circumstances cannot have been flourishing, for his widow had to apply to the court of insolvency to be placed under a curator. His works are now rare and costly: for the present picture £2400 was paid. The artist with whom Vermeer has the closest affinity is De Hooch. At an auction in Amsterdam in the middle of the 17th century a De Hooch is praised as being "nearly equal to the famous Van der Meer of Delft," and there is often some confusion between the works of the two painters. Substitute red for blue, it has been said, and a Vermeer becomes a De Hooch. Both painters are remarkable for the quality of light displayed in their interiors, and Vermeer has never been surpassed in the cool general effect which he produced. "Though in perfection of execution," says M. Havard, "the one rivals the other, they differ singularly in their use of the brush. Whilst Hooch has a vigorous and supple touch, Vermeer on the other hand, proceeding by short steps, paints in small patches, and then connects the whole by glazing in a manner peculiar to himself, which produces a vibrating effect, a characteristic of this original painter which we cannot forget" (The Dutch School, p. 186). Beauty of tone and perfect harmony are conspicuous in all his works, which in some other respects exhibit marked differences, for "the Sphinx of Delft" (as Bürger calls him) had several manners. It is supposed that he worked for a time under Rembrandt. The picture of four life-sized figures in the Dresden Gallery called "Les Courtisanes," and dated 1656, suggests the influence of that master. During the last ten or twelve years of his life he adopted a second manner, of greater delicacy and subtlety. In all his works there is a singular completeness and charm. He is a master in rendering momentary expression, and his pictures attract by the successful delineation of character, as well as by the skill with which he makes his figures move in light and air. He has also a complete mastery of perspective, and in his effects of light upon flat surfaces he is unsurpassed.

This picture is a good example of the qualities described above.248 "The head, however, has unfortunately suffered from over-cleaning, showing the gray under-painting which gives the picture a colder aspect than it would otherwise have" (Official Catalogue). The picture has a very good "pedigree," Bürger, to whom it once belonged, having traced it back, through the Solly and Danser-Nyman Collections, to an anonymous sale catalogue of 1714.

1386. SOLDIERS QUARRELLING OVER THEIR BOOTY.

1387. PLAYERS AT TRIC-TRAC

W. C. Duyster (Dutch: 1599-1635).

These pictures are by one of the rarest of the Dutch masters – William Cornells Duyster, a painter of Amsterdam. They were acquired from a family in whose possession they have been ever since they were brought over to this country by an officer in the army of William III. The fine execution and brilliant condition of the pictures make them decidedly attractive. They are both signed; 1386, on a box in the foreground; 1387, on the border of the beautifully-painted tablecloth.

1390. A SEA-PIECE

Ruysdael (Dutch: 1628-1682). See 627.

An excellent example of Ruysdael's sea-pieces, in which he was not surpassed by any painter of the time. The view represented is the shore at Scheveningen. This picture, for which the sum of £3045 was paid by the nation, changed hands in 1872 for £68 as one of a pair!

1393. A MEDITERRANEAN SEAPORT

Claude Joseph Vernet (French: 1714-1789). See 236.

The frigate is flying the Dutch tricolor flag. At the foot of the fortified wall is a party of Turkish or Albanian merchants.

1397. AN OLD WOMAN SEWING

Unknown (Dutch School: 17th Century).

On the wall behind is an engraved portrait of a gentleman, with an inscription in which the name, Jan van Aach, and the date 1655 occur. The name is possibly that of the unknown painter.

1399. PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN

Gerard Terburg (Dutch: 1617-1681). See 864.

This and the following picture were in the collection of the late Sir Charles Eastlake. By the provisions of his will, they were to be offered to the National Gallery at the prices he paid for them, viz. £25 and £75.

1400. CHRIST BEFORE PILATE

Rembrandt (Dutch: 1606-1669). See 45.

This sketch is the original study for the etching of the same subject done in 1636. It is signed with the artist's name underneath the clock which is above the arched entrance on the right.

1401. A FRUIT-PIECE

Pieter Snyers (Flemish: 1681-1752).

A painter of fruit and flower pieces, landscapes, portraits, and figure subjects of low life; was Director of the Royal Academy of Antwerp.

Fowls, cray-fish, artichokes, lobsters, peaches, plums, strawberries, asparagus, radishes, and peonies – "all represented of natural size and distributed in picturesque confusion." The artist's signature is included, as if embroidered on the corner of the tablecloth.

1406. THE ANNUNCIATION

School of Fra Angelico (Florentine: 1387-1455). See 663.

"Through an arched opening behind the Virgin we see a sort of cloister garth. There are daisies on the sward, and in a pot stands a tall lily. A similar opening behind the Archangel reveals another part of the garth, enclosed on all sides by a rose trellis. Beyond the trellis are visible a hill and a convent resembling that of San Miniato, rows of cypresses, and more distinct peaks in fuller light. The embroideries, the angel's plumage, and both the nimbi, are represented in real gold, while the last are incised in radial lines, so that, like the wings, their brilliance is distinct, and they shimmer in the light. On the capitals of two of the columns of the cloister the red annulets upon a silver shield of the Albizzi family are seen" (Athenæum). The composition of this not very attractive picture recalls the Annunciations by Fra Angelico, at Cortona and in the Madrid Gallery respectively.

1409. THE MARRIAGE OF ST. CATHERINE

Andrea Cordelle Agii (Venetian: School of Bellini).

This picture is a repetition of one by Andrea Previtali in the sacristy of the Church of San Giobbe at Venice, and the painter has been supposed to be the same as Previtali. This, however, is probably not the case. The present picture is signed (on a cartellino) "1504: Andreas Cordelli Agy dissipulus Jovannis Bellini pinxit." He similarly describes himself as a pupil of John Bellini on a picture in the Poldi Pezzoli Gallery at Milan. Judging from his name, "twists and needles," he or his father was probably a pedlar (Layard's edition of "Kugler," i. 334).