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

2529. THE LADY WITH THE FAN

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

2530. PORTRAIT OF A LADY

Cornelis Janssens (Dutch: 1594-1664). See 1320.

Sir Joshua Reynolds has some interesting remarks on the technique of Janssens. "There is a kind of finishing," he says, "which may safely be condemned, as it seems to counteract its own purpose; that is, when the artist, to avoid that hardness which proceeds from the outline cutting against the ground, softens and blends the colours to excess: this is what the ignorant call high finishing, but which tends to destroy the brilliancy of colour, and the true effect of representation; which consists very much in preserving the same proportion of sharpness and bluntness that is found in natural objects. This extreme softening, instead of producing the effect of softness, gives the appearance of ivory, or some other hard substance, highly polished. The portraits of Cornelius Janssen appear to have this defect, and consequently want that suppleness which is the characteristic of flesh; whereas, in the works of Vandyck, we find that true mixture of softness and hardness perfectly observed" (Eleventh Discourse).

2531. CHURCH OF ST. BAVON, HAARLEM

Pieter Saenredam (Dutch: 1597-1665). See 1896.

In No. 1451 (by Berck-Heyde) we see the interior of the same church; in the present picture, no public service is going on. In each case a dog is a church-goer; here in front of the pew on the left, where a man kneels down in prayer, a dog kneels up.

2532. A WOMAN DRIVING SHEEP

2533. A SANDY LANE

Jan Wynants (Dutch: about 1615-1679). See 883.

2534. RIVER SCENE, WITH HORSEMAN

Aart van der Neer (Dutch: 1603-1677). See 152.

2535. JUDITH

Eglon Hendrik van der Neer (Dutch: 1635-1703).

Eglon was the pupil of his father, the landscape-painter, Aart van der Neer; but the son's taste took the direction rather of interiors and portraits. He also painted some Biblical subjects.

A costume piece: note the richly embroidered white satin dress of Judith.

2536. MOONLIGHT

2537. LANDSCAPE: WITH A CART IN THE FOREGROUND

Aart van der Neer (Dutch: 1603-1677). See 152.

2538. DIANA BATHING

Rembrandt (Dutch: 1606-1669). See 43.

A characteristically "Rembrandtesque" effect, the light concentrated on the principal figure.

2539. A MAN WITH A CAP

Rembrandt (Dutch: 1606-1669). See 43.

This fine portrait-study was formerly in the collection of the Duke of Sutherland.

2540. THE HURDY-GURDY

Adrian van Ostade (Dutch: 1610-1685). See 846.

Peasants listening to a man playing the hurdy-gurdy. Signed in the left foreground "A. V. Ostade, 1653." Formerly in the collection of Lord Dudley (at whose sale in 1892 it fetched £1470).

2541. THE COBBLER

2542. COURTSHIP

2543. A MAN WITH A JUG

Adrian van Ostade (Dutch: 1610-1685). See 846.

2544. THE CART

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

2545. RIVER SCENE

2546. LADY AND CHILD IN A LANDSCAPE

Cuyp (Dutch: 1620-1691). See 53.

2547. CATTLE WITH HERDSMEN

Cuyp (Dutch: 1620-1691). See 53.

Shown at the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition in 1857.

2548. BOY HOLDING A GREY HORSE

Cuyp (Dutch: 1620-1691). See 53.

2549. THE TAILOR'S SHOP

2550. THE AFTERNOON NAP

Quiryn Brekelenham (Dutch: 1625-1668). See 1329.

2551. A WOMAN SCOURING PANS

Pieter van den Bosch (Dutch: 1613-1660).

A painter of Amsterdam. The year of his death is not known; 1660 is the date of the last mention of him in extant documents. A deed of 1645 records that the painter bound himself, at a yearly fee of 1200 gulden, to work exclusively for a certain picture-dealer, from 7 a.m. till dusk, daily, Sundays and Festivals alone excepted.

2552. REFUSING THE GLASS

Pieter de Hooch (Dutch: 1630-about 1677). See 794.

Formerly in the collections of Pierre de Grand Pré (Paris) and the Earl of Shaftesbury.

2553. A LADY AT HER TOILET

Jacob Ochtervelt (Dutch: died before 1710). See 2143.

2554. SADDLING A HORSE

Wouwerman (Dutch: 1619-1668). See 878.

2555. WOMAN ASLEEP

2556. THE PEDLAR

2557. MERRY MAKERS

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

2558. GRACE BEFORE MEAT

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

Steen, though he loved scenes of rollicking conviviality and was fond of sly humour, by no means confined himself to such moods. His brush traced every episode of family life, and this little piece is as pretty as one of the "Graces for Children" in Herrick's Noble Numbers: —

What God gives, and what we take,'Tis a gift for Christ his sake;Be the meal of Beans and Pease,God be thanked for those and these.

This picture was formerly in the Leuchtenberg Collection at St. Petersburg.

2559. THE OYSTER FEAST

2560. THE SKITTLE PLAYERS

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

2561. VIEW NEAR HAARLEM

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

A beautiful example of the master, who has signed it in full in the centre of the foreground. It will be noticed that the point of view is much the same, and that the effect of sunlight in the middle distance is the same, as in the large picture, No. 990. One may ask the question which Fromentin puts of a like instance: "The two landscapes are, the one on a large scale, the other on a small, a repetition of the same subject. Is the little canvas the study which served as text for the large? Did Ruysdael design, or did he paint from nature? Was he inspired, or did he copy directly? That is his secret. In any case the two works are charming."

2562. COUNTRY SCENE, WITH RUINED CASTLE

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

This is one of the best known of Ruysdael's small pictures, much prized for its luminous quality: its pedigree has been traced through famous collections for over 100 years. In the Bredel sale (1875) it fetched £2310; in the Dudley sale (1892), £1470. It is No. 786 in vol. iv. (1912) of Smith's Catalogue Raisonné.

2563. THE ENTRANCE TO THE FOREST

2564. A COTTAGE ON A ROCKY HILL

2565. COTTAGE AND HAYSTACK

2566. SKIRTS OF A FOREST

2567. A STORMY SEA-PIECE

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

2568. A LADY AT THE VIRGINALS

Jan Vermeer (Dutch: 1632-1675). See 1383.

No. 15 at the Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1900, where it was thus described: "A lady seated on the right facing to left; she wears a yellow skirt with blue overdress, the sleeves trimmed with lace, and turns her face to the spectator as she plays. Her clavichord stands upon a marble table and is open, showing a landscape painted inside the cover; a viol da gamba and bow are in the left-hand bottom corner, and a blue and yellow curtain above; a picture with three figures hangs on the wall behind. Signed to the right of the lady's head, J V Meer."

2569. THREE BOORS DRINKING

Adrian Brouwer (Dutch-Flemish: 1605-1638).

Brouwer, Flemish by birth, Dutch by adoption, rivalled his contemporary, the younger Teniers, as a genre painter. His realism is as humorous as it is vigorous. His pictures, says M. Havard, "are marvels of arrangement and colouring. They are sober in conception, and exhibit exquisite modelling, remarkable softness, and light and shade full of transparency and truthfulness; qualities which, during his lifetime, obtained for Brouwer the admiration of his brother-artists and the enthusiasm of Rubens," who, as is known from extant documents, possessed several of his pictures. His portrait was painted by Van Dyck to be placed in a collection of the most celebrated portrait-painters.

Brouwer led an exciting life, and has been the subject of several biographies, which have alternately covered him with scandal and whitewashed him. Documents unearthed during recent years support the earlier accounts, which represent this painter of topers as a jovial, reckless, dissipated Bohemian; though his epitaph may yet have partly told truth in describing him as "a man of great mind, who rejected every splendour of the world, and who despised gain and riches." The documents are set out by Wurzbach (Niederländisches Künstler-Lexicon, 1906). Taking all the evidence together, we may picture Brouwer as a genial fellow, fond of adventure, slow in setting to work, quick in spending, inclined to libertinism and drink, constantly running into debt, a sworn foe of shams and parade, fond of his joke, a lover of poetry, and popular among all who knew him. One of the stories told of him well illustrates his mocking contempt of fashionable vanities. At Amsterdam he had bought himself some coarse linen, which he had made up into a fashionable suit and then painted with a flowered pattern. Brouwer's costume became the talk of the town, and shops were ransacked to furnish copies of it; till one night at the theatre, the artist jumped on to the stage, wiped off his pattern with a wet cloth, and laughed at his audience. He was born at Oudenarde, ran away from home, had exciting adventures on the way, and turned up in Amsterdam and Haarlem. He is said to have entered the studio of Frans Hals, and to have been very badly treated there. He is known to have been an artist of repute, moving also in literary circles, in Amsterdam and Haarlem, 1625-27. He is next heard of at Antwerp, where in 1631-32 he was admitted into the Painters' Guild. Three years later he became a member of the section of the Guild for exercising rhetoric. He was cast into the state prison, probably on suspicion of espionage; and during the seven months of his incarceration, succeeded in running up new debts to the extent of £400 – a feat which may be explained by the fact that the prison amenities included an excellent wine-tavern. He died – of his dissipations, according to some, but quite as probably of the plague – and was buried in the cemetery, and afterwards in the Convent Church of the Carmelites. His pictures are rare. The Wallace Collection, the Victoria and Albert Museum (Ionides Collection), and the Dulwich Gallery have each one good example. It has been suggested that the Landscape, No. 72 in our Gallery, hitherto attributed to Rembrandt, is by Brouwer.

2570, 2571. WOODY LANDSCAPES

Hobbema (Dutch: 1638-1709). See 685.

2572. THE LITTLE FARM

Adrian van de Velde (Dutch: 1636-1672). See 867.

No. 57 in the Exhibition of Dutch Masters at the Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1900, when it was thus described: "In the centre, among sparse trees in leaf, stands a small farm; to left a man accompanied by a woman on horseback, driving a flock of sheep to pasture; in the left foreground a pool of water, with a cow drinking; in the centre, two herdsmen, with cows, sheep, and goats lying down and feeding. Cool daylight with light clouds spreading over blue sky." Signed in the centre "A. v. Velde 1663."

2573. SEA-SCAPE: WINDY DAY

2574. CALM: SHIPPING

Willem van de Velde (Dutch: 1633-1707). See 149.

2575. A MUSICAL PARTY

Anthonie Palamedes (Dutch: 1601-1673).

Palamedes was the son of a gem-engraver at Delft. He became Dean of the Painters' Guild. He painted portraits and small "conversation pieces," and sometimes supplied figures for the architectural pictures of his friend Dirk van Delen (see 1010). "The light and spirited pose of his figures, his bold touch, and the skill with which he makes the outline of his little groups stand out, please the eye" (Havard).

2576. A FAMILY GROUP

Pieter Codde (Dutch: 1599-1678).

A painter of Amsterdam much influenced by Frans Hals.

2577. A STIFF BREEZE

2578. A WINDMILL BY A RIVER

2579. SCENE ON THE ICE

2580. RIVER SCENE

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

2681. A. VAN LEEUWENHOEK, F.R.S

Nicolas Maes (Dutch: 1632-1693). See 153.

A portrait of the eminent Dutch savant (1632-1723) who has been called "the father of scientific microscopy." He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1680.

2582. FRUIT AND FLOWERS

David de Heem (Dutch: 1570-1632).

David de Heem, the elder, born at Utrecht, was the father of the more celebrated still-life painter of the same name. He and his son were the founders of the "still-life" school in their country.

Except for the snail, this brightly-coloured arrangement of oysters, a lemon, a plum, cherries and nuts, with a glass of wine, is not unlike the kind of arrangement of actual eatables and drinkables which one may see to-day in the shop-windows of Italian restaurants in London. Nor, in all probability, was the motive of the picture different. "The painting of still-life in Holland," says M. Havard, "was originally sign-painting. Inn-keepers and game-dealers had real pictures as signs, painted upon their shop-fronts, and we know of several of these simple masterpieces which have found their way into important collections" (The Dutch School, p. 260).

2583. CATTLE IN A STORMY LANDSCAPE

Paul Potter (Dutch: 1625-1654). See 849.

Signed, and dated 1647; formerly in the collection of Mr. Hope, of Deepdene.

2584. A LADY HOLDING A MIRROR

Pieter Codde (Dutch: 1579-1678). See 2576.

2585. ST. MARY MAGDALEN

Adrian Ysenbrandt (Flemish: died 1551).

Ysenbrandt was an assistant of Gerard David (see 1045). He came to Bruges, and was admitted into the Painters' Guild in 1510; he worked there till his death. He acquired a reputation for skill in painting the nude and the human countenance; his carefulness of execution and the sweetness of expression which he gave to his faces were much admired. Many of his pictures were sent to Spain (see W. H. Weale in the Burlington Magazine, vol. ii.).

This picture of the Magdalen, before whom an angel holds a crucifix, was in the Exhibition of the Primitives at Bruges in 1902. The artist's careful execution may be noted in the beautifully illuminated MS.

2586. COAST SCENE

2587. A CALM

2588. A DUTCH GALLIOT

Jan van de Cappelle (Dutch: painted 1650-1680). See 865.

2589. THE YOUNG ASTROLOGER

Frans van Mieris (Dutch: 1635-1681). See 840.

2590. A WOMAN AT A WINDOW

2591. THE FORGE

Gabriel Metsu (Dutch: 1630-1667). See 838.

2592. FRUIT PIECE

W. K. Heda (Dutch: 1594-1678). See 1469.

2593. PORTRAIT OF A MAN

Petrus Cristus (Flemish: about 1410-1472).

Cristus was born at Baerle, near Ghent. He purchased the right of citizenship at Bruges in 1444 – that is, four years after the death of Jan van Eyck. He cannot therefore have been a pupil of that master, as has often been surmised; but he belongs to the school of the Van Eycks "by his realistic style, by the extreme care he bestowed on details, by his bold and powerful colouring, and by the tasteful arrangement of his draperies and interiors. But his works can never be mistaken for those of Van Eyck; his outline is often harsh, his types are wanting in character; his figures, designed and executed with very inferior skill, are not painted in the same impressive manner as those of the great master" (Wauters). The portrait of a Venetian consul (No. 696) is ascribed to him.

Acquired by Mr. Salting from the Earl of Northbrook's collection; No. 10 at the Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1892 – remarkable for the preciseness and microscopic minuteness of hand displayed in it. The portrait of a devout and studious young man. He holds an open book; and on the wall of his chamber there is hung a board on which an illuminated sheet of vellum, edged with a narrow red riband, has been nailed. The miniature at the top of it represents the Vernacle (our Lord's head with cruciform nimbus and rays); and below is a rhymed prayer, headed Incipit oratio ad sanctam Veronicam, and continuing "Salve sancta facies Nostri redemptoris," etc.

2594. THE DUKE OF CLEVES

Hans Memlinc (Early Flemish: 1430-1494). See 686.

2595. VIRGIN AND CHILD

Dierick Bouts (Early Flemish: about 1410-1475).

Dirk Bouts, Thieiri Bouts, Dierick of Haarlem, or Thieiri Stuerbout (by all of which names he has been called) was Dutch by birth, being born at Haarlem. At some unknown date he migrated to Flanders, and established himself at Louvain, where he was appointed Painter to the Town. In 1468 he delivered to the Council two beautiful pictures (now in the Museum of Brussels) representing "The Judgment of the Emperor Otho." His colouring, says M. Havard, "is clear and brilliant. Red and green assume under his brush the brilliancy of the ruby and the emerald. His draperies are of unusual softness, and have none of that stiffness of fold which is peculiar to Jan van Eyck and some of his pupils. His flesh tints are of a warm and vivid tone, and his shadows are remarkably transparent. But his merit is manifested especially in his picturesque and original manner of arranging his compositions. He is besides remarkable for the care and distinctness with which he treats the landscapes in the background of his pictures." Little is known of his life, and the ascription of various works to him is conjectural. To him, in the latest revision of labels in our Gallery, are now attributed Nos. 664, 774, and 943.

2596. ST. JEROME

Gerard David (Early Flemish: 1460-1523). See 1045.

2597. THREE VENETIAN GENTLEMEN AND A CHILD

Johannes Stephen Calcar (Venetian: 1499-1546).

"In the year 1545 I became known to," says Vasari, "and contracted much friendship with Giovanni Calcar, a Flemish painter of great merit, who so successfully practised the Italian manner that his works were not always perceived to be those of a Fleming; but he died at Naples while still young, and when the fairest hopes had been conceived respecting his future progress." He worked first at Dordrecht; but in 1536 went to Venice, where he entered Titian's studio. He became a good master, says Vasari elsewhere, "whether for large or small figures, and in portraits was most admirable. By his hand – and they must do him honour to all time – were the designs for anatomical studies which the most admirable Andrea Vessalio caused to be engraved on copper and published with his works" (vol. v. p. 403).

2598. DIANA AND ENDYMION

Rubens (Flemish: 1577-1640). See 38.

A sketch painted about 1636.

2599. A VISIT TO THE DOCTOR

2600. CARD PLAYERS

2601. AN OLD WOMAN READING

David Teniers (Flemish: 1610-1694). See 154.

2602. A MAN WITH A RING

Unknown (Flemish: 16th Century).

2603. VIRGIN AND CHILD

Unknown (School of Cologne: early 16th Century).

By the master of the "Death of the Virgin" (a picture in the Munich Gallery), a painter of Cologne, the teacher, it is said, of Bruyn. The donor of the picture, with spectacles and a large straw hat, stands at a desk, reading. (The curious in such matters may consult Notes and Queries, 1890, for other early instances of spectacles in art.) The picture was No. 48 (Plate 23) in the Burlington Fine Art Club's Exhibition of Early Netherlandish Pictures, 1892.

2604. PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MAN

Christopher Amberger (German: 1490-1563).

This painter, who worked at Augsburg, probably studied under Hans Burgkmair, and the painting of Hans Holbein the younger had an evident effect on his style, so much so that his works have been sometimes mistaken for those of Holbein. In 1532 he painted the portrait of Charles V.; and Sandrart tells us that this portrait was considered by the Emperor equal to any of the pictures painted of him by Titian. He certainly honoured the artist by giving him a gold chain and medal on the occasion (Bryan's Dictionary of Painters).

2605. DR. FUCHSIUS

Bartolomaus Bruyn (School of Cologne: died 1556).

This artist painted both religious subjects and portraits. His earlier works in the former kind recall the style of "The Master of the 'Death of the Virgin'" (see above, 2603). Bruyn was the last really eminent painter of the Cologne School. He was a municipal councillor of that town in 1550 and 1553.

A portrait of the celebrated German physician, Leonhard Fuchs (1501-1566), one of the fathers of scientific botany. He has obtained, says Hallam, a verdant immortality in the familiar flower which bears his name, the fuchsia. He espoused the doctrines of the Reformation; in our portrait he holds a paper inscribed (in German) "The word of the Lord endureth for ever."

2606. THE MADONNA ENTHRONED

Unknown (Flemish: 16th Century).

In the centre of the triptych, the Virgin sits on a throne of Flemish renaissance design. On the right, St. Ambrose; on the left, St. Louis of Toulouse. The royal rank of the latter Saint (nephew of St. Louis, King of France, and son of Charles of Anjou, King of Naples), who renounced his succession and became Bishop of Toulouse, is commonly indicated as here, by fleur-de-lys upon a blue ground.