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

In this characteristic design the spirit of Ruthless Conquest is personified in the figure of Attila, the leader of the Huns, called "The Scourge of God." He drives before him, beneath a blood-red sky and amid the ghosts of the slain, figures emblematic of Beauty, Art, and Pleasure.

2290. PARC DE SANSAC, INDRE-ET-LOIRE

Armand Charnay (French: born 1844).

Jean Marie Armand Charnay, born at Charlieu (Loire); in 1864 entered the École des Beaux-Arts; genre and landscape painter.

This picture of autumn in the walks of a French château was presented by the artist.

2291. PORTRAIT OF CARDINAL DE RETZ

Philippe de Champaigne (French: 1602-1674). See 798.

A portrait, in Cardinal's cape and skull-cap, of Jean François Paul de Gondi (1614-1679), Archbishop of Paris, and afterwards Cardinal de Retz. As Archbishop, he aided the rising of the Fronde against Mazarin. In 1652 he was arrested and imprisoned; he escaped, and for some years wandered abroad. In 1662 he was received into favour by Louis XIV., and in his later years was often employed as an envoy to Rome. He is described as having been in his youth short, near-sighted, ugly, and exceedingly awkward.

2292. PORTRAIT OF A LADY

Michiel Jansz van Mirevelt (Dutch: 1567-1641).

Mirevelt (or Miereveld) was the son of an engraver on precious metals at Delft, and was trained as an engraver. He afterwards entered the studio of Blocklandt at Utrecht, and devoted himself to historical painting, still-life, and other subjects. Presently he painted the portraits of some of the princes of the House of Nassau, and these were so much admired that he came into continuous request in that branch of art. Sandrart relates that Mirevelt claimed to have painted nearly 10,000 portraits; doubtless an exaggeration, but "it may be said that it was he who made the custom of having portraits painted general in the United Provinces. His painting, thin, clean finished, and rather cold, was intended to please his elegant clients" (Havard).

This lady's stomacher embroidered with rows of pearls and pleated lace ruff are finely painted.

2293. HOLY FAMILY

Ascribed to Luca Penni (Roman: born about 1500).

One of the scholars and assistants of Raphael; after whose death Penni is said to have attached himself to Perino del Vaga. Subsequently he became an engraver.

2294. PORTRAIT OF GALILEO

Passignano (Florentine: 1558-1638).

Domenico Cresti, called Il Passignano from his native place, a village near Florence, was a pupil of Zuccaro. Moving to Venice, he studied for a while under Paolo Veronese, whose works he greatly admired and whose manner he followed. His facility and rapidity caused a play upon his surname, and he was called "Passa ognuno."

The great astronomer (1564-1642) is represented with astrolabe, books, diagram, and compasses.

2295. PORTRAIT OF A MILITARY COMMANDER

Frans Pourbus, the younger (Flemish: 1569-1622).

Pourbus, son of Frans Pourbus the elder, was born at Antwerp, and by 1591 was a master in the Guild of St. Luke. He was employed by the Archduke Albert at Antwerp, at whose court he attracted the notice of the Duke of Mantua. The Duke took him into his service (1600-1609), and he shared with Rubens the title of Painter to the Ducal Court. At Mantua he worked at "a collection of the most beautiful women in the world, whether princesses or private ladies." Like Rubens, Pourbus was occasionally employed as Ambassador, and a mission to Paris caused him to forsake Italy for France. Eleanor of Mantua was a sister of Marie de' Medici, and Pourbus finally settled in Paris as Painter to the Queen. There is a portrait of the queen by him at Hampton Court.

2423. LITHOGRAPHS OF HORSES

J. L. A. T. Géricault (French: 1791-1824).

Jean Louis André Théodore Géricault, animal and historical painter, was a precursor of the revolt of the Romanticists against the Classicists, which was carried further by Delacroix (see 2289). His most famous picture, "The Raft of the Medusa" (Louvre), was exhibited at the Salon in 1819 and excited much controversy. He was the son of a prosperous advocate; and as a young man became a member of the Jockey Club, and lived the life of the jeunesse dorée. He had some instruction in art from Charles Vernet and Guérin, but his real master was Rubens in the Louvre. In 1816 he went to Italy. After 1819 he visited England, where he practised the then new art of lithography. His picture of "The Derby at Epsom" (1821) is in the Louvre.

2439. A RIVER SCENE

P. E. Théodore Rousseau (French: 1812-1867).

Rousseau, one of the founders of the modern school of landscape in France, had to fight his way to fame through many difficulties and much neglect. The toast of Diaz, "à notre maître oublié," has been already recorded (p. 691). For thirteen years (1835-1848) his pictures were rejected from the Salon; and official honours came to him tardily. He had his revenge in the Exhibition of 1855, when his rejected pictures "came back as victorious exiles," and again in that of 1867, when he was chosen president of the jury. But he was of a sensitive and jealous disposition; he was estranged from his best friend, Dupré, and chagrin at being passed over for promotion in the Legion of Honour in 1867 is said to have hastened his death. A pleasanter episode in his life is his generous and timely help to Millet. The heads of the two artists are carved together on his tombstone in the cemetery of Chailly, near Barbizon. He was born in Paris, the son of a merchant-tailor. He studied painting under Rémond and Guillon Lethière, and first exhibited at the Salon in 1831. His pictures in successive years were loudly trumpeted by Thoré as those of an innovator, and for that reason perhaps excited the more hostility among the old school. His favourite ground was the forest of Fontainebleau, and he made his home at Barbizon, studying every aspect of nature with intense application. "It is a good composition," he wrote, "when the objects represented are not there solely as they are, but when they contain under a natural appearance the sentiments which they have stirred in our souls. If we contest that the trees have power of thought, at any rate we may allow that they can make us think; and in return for all the modesty of which they make use to elevate our thoughts, we owe them, as recompense, not arrogant freedom or pedantic and classic style, but the sincerity of a grateful attention in the reproduction of their being." There is a good example of his forest-pictures in the Wallace Collection.

Rousseau was the most various of the landscape painters of his time. In the present picture we see him in a peaceful mood; another picture (2635) is of a stormy sky.

2475. CHRISTINA, DUCHESS OF MILAN

Hans Holbein (German: 1497-1543). See 1314.

Amongst Holbein's duties as painter to Henry VIII. was that of taking portraits of the ladies whom he proposed in turn to wed. After the death of Jane Seymour, the first favourite was the lady before us, "the demure half-smile not yet faded from her eyes" – Christina, daughter of Christian II. of Denmark, niece of the Emperor Charles V., and widow of the Duke of Milan. Reasons of state suggested her marriage to Henry VIII., and Holbein was sent to Brussels, where the Duchess was residing. Our portrait was painted a few years later than "The Ambassadors," from a sketch made at Brussels on March 12, 1538. The circumstances are entertainingly told in the letters of the English envoy, John Hutton, to Thomas Cromwell. On the 10th August Hutton had sent off a portrait by another artist to Henry VIII., that he might judge of the appearance of the young Duchess before making her a proposal of marriage. The next evening "Mr. Haunce" (i. e. Hans Holbein) arrived in company of a servant of the king, whereupon Hutton sent off an express-courier to fetch back the picture he had already despatched, "for that in my opinion," he said, "it was not so perfect as the case required, neither as the said Mr. Haunce could make it." "The next day following at one of the clock in the afternoon, the said Lord Benedick came for Mr. Haunce, who, having but three hours' space, both showed himself to be master of that science, for it is very perfect; the other is but slobbered in comparison to it, as, by the sight of both, your Lordships shall well perceive."

The original – the study, sketch, or miniature, the result of three hours' hard work – has disappeared; but the picture which the master made from it after he came home is now before us. The portrait, it would seem, did not make the king less anxious for the match – which, however, was broken off, it will be remembered, after long negotiations, by the hostility of the emperor. The duchess, in spite of her tender years, seems – and the picture does not belie the supposition – to have had a character of her own. The story of her reply, "that she had but one head, but that if she had two, one should be at the service of his majesty," is, indeed, now discredited; but her actual answer, "You know I am the Emperor's poor servant and must follow his pleasure," was, in the light of subsequent events, equally to the point. The English envoy specially reported "her honest countenance and the few words she wisely spoke."

The beautiful portrait before us was retained by Henry VIII., and through the Lumley, Pembroke, and Arundel Collections it passed into that of the Dukes of Norfolk. "Whether as a pictorial record of an interesting chapter of our history, or as an example of the presentment of a fresh and winning young personality by the most masterful and at the same time most reserved and refined methods of the painter's craft, the picture counts among the very noblest of the art treasures still left in England. That it is so left is mainly due to the splendid generosity of a small group of private donors, the chief of whom elude our public thanks by choosing firmly to remain anonymous. At the eleventh hour, when the picture was on the very point of leaving our shores to enrich a private gallery in America, these benefactors came forward and enabled the Committee of the National Art-Collections' Fund to present the masterpiece to the nation." The price paid was £72,000. (Report of the National Art-Collections' Fund, 1909; Froude's History of England, ch. xv.) The picture had for many years been lent to the National Gallery by the Duke of Norfolk.260

2480. THE FISH MARKET

Philippe Rousseau (French: 1816-1887).

Born in Paris; first exhibited at the Salon in 1834, "A View in Normandy"; afterwards made his reputation, and attained great popularity as a painter of still-life.

2482. VIRGIN AND CHILD

Benvenuto da Siena (Sienese: 1436-1518).

This painter is better seen in the larger picture, No. 909.

2483. VIRGIN AND CHILD

Fiorenzo di Lorenzo (Umbrian: 1440-1521).

2484. VIRGIN AND CHILD

L'Ingegno (Umbrian: painted 1484-1511). See 1220.

The donor and his wife kneel in adoration before the Virgin and Child enthroned between St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena. The picture was formerly in Lord Dudley's collection.

2485. SALOME

Cesare da Sesto (Lombard: 1477-1523).

Leonardo da Vinci was "very successfully installed," says Vasari, "by Cesare da Sesto, who was also a Milanese." Cesare was born at Sesto Calende on the Lago Maggiore, and is supposed to have worked under Leonardo in Milan, 1507-1512. At Rome he was, according to Lomazzo, an intimate friend of Raphael.

The daughter of Herodias, with a face of haunting beauty, points to a vase, over which the executioner holds the head of John the Baptist. The table on which it rests has sphinxes for supports. This picture is a replica with variations of the one by Cesare in the Vienna Gallery, and is said to have come from the Barberini Palace in 1799.

2486. A CONCERT

Ercole Roberti de' Grandi (Ferrarese: 1450-1496). See 1127.

This picture was No. 14 at the Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1894, where it was ascribed to Lorenzo Costa. "In type, the woman resembles one of the daughters of Bentivoglio II., and it may be that this group of musicians contains family portraits of the reigning house of the Bentivogli at Bologna."

2487. BARTOLOMMEO BIANCHINI

Francia (Bolognese: 1450-1517). See 180.

This picture, an early work by Francia, is an admirable example of the artist as a portrait-painter. It is "a marvel of fine condition, and betrays the technique of the goldsmith seeking for the quality of enamel. Bianchini was a Bolognese senator, collector, poet, and friend of Francia." Upon a "Holy Family" in the Berlin Museum is inscribed —

Bartholomei sumptu Bianchini maxima matrum

Hic vivit manibus, Francia, picta tuis.

Our portrait, from the collection of the Princesse de Sagan, was No. 23 at the Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1894.

2488. THE HOLY FAMILY

Luca Signorelli (Cortona: 1441-1523). See 1128.

2489. THE YOUNG FLORENTINE

Domenico Ghirlandajo (Florentine: 1449-1494). See 1230.

The portrait of the man in his red-coloured robe and black skull-cap is set against a landscape background. Many other examples of a like treatment will have been noticed by the visitor; as, for instance, in the fine portrait by Ridolfo Ghirlandajo (2491). And it is interesting to observe how long this convention survived, though with variations. The advantage of introducing an object of locally dark colour behind the head was perceived, and a background of curtain or other drapery was used; but a piece of it was drawn back, so as still to display landscape. See, e. g., Basaiti's portrait (2498). Or, again, a window was opened with the same purpose. See, e. g., Piombo's portrait of a Venetian lady as Salome (2493) and Cariani's of a Venetian magnate (2494). A corresponding development may be traced in Madonna pictures. Often the Virgin and Child are placed in an open landscape, as in the beautiful "Madonna of the Meadow" (599). When they are brought indoors a curtain is drawn back (2503), or a window opened —e. g. 2496, 2609, and (Flemish School) 2595.

2490. COSTANZA DE' MEDICI

Lorenzo di Credi (Florentine: 1459-1537). See 593.

The inscription records that the lady was the wife of Francis, Duke of Gaeta. This portrait was formerly ascribed to D. Ghirlandajo.

2491. GIROLAMO BENEVIENI

Ridolfo Ghirlandajo (Florentine: 1483-1561). See 1143.

This fine portrait is of "a very learned man," and an intimate friend of Lorenzo di Credi, who also, as Vasari relates, painted him. The background is studied from that in Leonardo's "Mona Lisa."

2492. VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH ANGELS ADORING

Jacopo del Sellaio (Florentine: 1442-1493).

This painter is mentioned by Vasari as among the pupils of Fra Filippo Lippi. He worked in the manner of Botticelli, and No. 916 in our gallery is now ascribed to him.

2493. SALOME

Sebastiano del Piombo (Venetian: 1485-1547). See 1.

2494. AN ITALIAN GENTLEMAN

Cariani (Bergamese: about 1480-1541). See 1203.

A vigorously-painted portrait of a personage of some importance or self-importance; perhaps, as the official catalogue suggests, "the principal citizen of some provincial town." His robe is of gold brocade, and he handles his gold chain. It may be a view of his town that is shown through the open window.

2495. "OUR LADY OF THE LAURELS."

Cariani (Bergamese: about 1480-1541). See 1203.

This fine picture, known as La Vierge aux Lauriers from its background of a laurel-bush (and roses), was formerly in the Leuchtenberg Collection at St. Petersburg, where it was ascribed to Giorgione.

2496. VIRGIN AND CHILD

Beltraffio (Lombard: 1467-1516). See 728.

2497. VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH ST. JOHN

School of Botticelli (Florentine: 1447-1510). See 1034.

2498. A YOUNG VENETIAN

Marco Basaiti (Venetian: painted 1500-1521). See 281.

Signed on the parapet. The young Venetians, it will be noticed, wore their hair long, and carried great weights of it at the sides of their faces: compare, e. g., No. 1121 (Catena), 2509 (Vivarini).

2499. VIRGIN AND CHILD

Marco Basaiti (Venetian: painted 1500-1521).

This picture, if No. 599 be indeed by the same hand, must be an early work; the face and figure, both of mother and of child, are ugly and ungainly. The picture is signed in the left corner.

2500. VIRGIN AND CHILD

Andrea Previtali (Bergamese: about 1480-1528). See 695.

2501. SALVATOR MUNDI

Previtali (Bergamese: about 1480-1528). See 695.

Inscribed on the parapet "Andreas Privitalus, p." and dated 1518.

2502. VIRGIN AND CHILD

Bastiano Mainardi (Tuscan: died 1513).

This painter was the pupil, favourite assistant, and brother-in-law of Domenico Ghirlandajo (see 1230). He was born at San Gimignano, in the churches of which place pictures by him are to be seen.

The beautiful painting of jewellery, and the fine patterns, should not escape notice.

2503. HOLY FAMILY

Antonio da Solario (Venetian: 15th-16th century).

This beautiful picture is signed on a cartellino "Antonius da Solario V"(enetus).

2504. VIRGIN AND CHILD

Cesare da Sesto (Milanese: 1477-1523). See 2485.

2505. DAVID AND JONATHAN

Cima da Conegliano (Venetian: 1460-1518). See 300.

This little picture, of David (carrying the head of Goliath) walking with Jonathan, was formerly in the Modici collection at Naples.

2506. VIRGIN AND CHILD

Cima (Venetian: 1460-1518).

Formerly in the Patrizi collection at Rome.

2507. PORTRAIT OF A LADY

Bartolommeo Veneziano (painted 1505-1530). See 287.

From the Castellani collection.

2508. VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH ANGELS

Unknown (Florentine School: 15th century).

Two charming angels, of whom one is garlanded with roses, hold the child before the Virgin. The scene is laid within the walls of the mystical garden ("a garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse"), behind which rise "Noah's ark" trees.

2509. PORTRAIT OF A YOUTH

Alvise Vivarini (Venetian: painted 1461-1503). See 1872.

"The portrait of a boy of fifteen or sixteen, a little defiant or shy, yet frank in look, with a blond zazzera (head of hair) cropped short over the eyebrows, wearing a coat of pale turquoise blue. Formerly in the Duchatel collection at Paris, where it was seen by Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselle." By them ascribed to Andrea da Solario (see 734); formerly, to Antonello (see 673); now, on the authority of Mr. Berenson, to Alvise: see Berenson's Lorenzo Lotto, pp. 110-1.

2510. A PORTRAIT

Unknown (Umbrian School: 15th century).

Possibly a portrait of the young Raphael.

2511. A MUSICIAN

Giulio Campi (Cremona: 1502-1572).

A master at the School of Cremona, who worked in the great church there with Boccaccino (see 806). There are also works by him at Mantua, where he is said to have studied under Giulio Romano.

2512. THE MAGDALEN

Correggio (Parmese: 1494-1534). See 10.

"The art of Correggio with its deep sense of beauty and its tender sensibility was peculiarly fitted," says Signor Ricci, "to give life and grace to the figure of the Magdalen. He introduced it in many of his large compositions, and made it the subject of several separate studies, but not one of the latter has survived." If this be an authentic work, the statement requires correction; but the head of the Magdalen is not convincingly Correggiesque.

2513. VIRGIN AND CHILD WITH SAINTS

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

2514-2516. VIEWS IN VENICE

Canaletto (Venetian: 1697-1768). See 127.

No. 2514 shows the Grand Canal, with the church of the Scalzi; No. 2515, the square of St. Mark's, seen through an archway; No. 2516, the Colonnade of the Procuratie Nuove. The white spots with which the figures are picked out are not a happy instance of Canaletto's workmanship.

2517-2523. VARIOUS VIEWS

Guardi (Venetian: 1712-1793). See 210.

No. 2517, "Buildings and Figures"; 2518, "Gothic Archway and Figures"; 2519, "Venetian Courtyard"; 2520, "Quay-side with Warehouses"; 2521, "Ruins"; 2522, "Treasure-Seekers"; 2523, "View through an Archway."

2524. THE TOWER OF MESTRE

Guardi (Venetian: 1712-1793). See 210.

It was at Mestre that travellers in old days took gondola for Venice, and the tower was a familiar landmark. Ruskin mentions it in his description of the approach to Venice (Stones, vol. i. last chapter).

2525. VENICE: PIAZZA DI SAN MARCO

Guardi (Venetian: 1712-1793).

A good example of the deep, rich colour which Guardi gives to his Venetian subjects: see under 210.

2526. PEASANT AND CHILD

Unknown (Spanish: 17th century).

This unfinished picture (once in the collection of the Earl of Clare) has been ascribed to Pedro Nuñez de Villavicencio (1630-1700). He was a Knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, a distinguished amateur-painter and a favourite pupil of Murillo, who died in his arms.

2527. CHARLES MORDAUNT, EARL OF MONMOUTH

Juan Giacchinetti Gonzalez (Spanish: 1630-1696).

A portrait-painter, who was a great admirer of Titian and a diligent copyist of his works. He was the son of a Burgundian jeweller settled at Madrid, and he was born in that city. He removed to Italy, where he was called, from his skill in portraiture, Il Borgognone dalle teste (the Burgundian of the heads). He practised his art in Brescia and Bergamo, and died in the latter city.

2528. THE MAN WITH THE GLOVE

Frans Hals (Dutch: 1580-1666). See 1021.

An excellent example of the "irresistible verve" which Hals brings to his portraits, especially to those of men: see under 1021. To what is there said, it may be interesting to add the opinion of Sir Joshua Reynolds. "In the work of Frank Hals, the portrait-painter may observe the composition of a face, the features well put together, as the painters express it; from whence proceeds that strong-marked character of individual nature, which is so remarkable in his portraits, and is not found in an equal degree in any other painter. If he had joined to this most difficult part of the art, a patience in finishing what he had so correctly planned, he might justly have claimed the place which Vandyck, all things considered, so justly holds as the first of portrait-painters" (Sixth Discourse).