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

Personally, Israels was one of the most breezy of men, full of life and vigour, genial and accessible: "as fresh in mind as a youngster in his teens, as versatile as he is amiable, able and always ready to talk on every conceivable subject of interest, ever contributing some caustic and pointed comment, yet never assuming the dictatorial and self-opinionated manner which genius often considers itself privileged to adopt. His modesty, his unfailing amiability to all, young and old, distinguished and insignificant, have served to endear Joseph Israels to all who come in contact with him. He does not care to talk much about his own achievements, but he is less reticent about those of his son Isaac, who, he declares, is a greater artist than himself." These personalia are quoted from notices which appeared in connection with the artist's 75th birthday (in the Daily News and in Israel). He had still twelve years of life; and "his was the rare satisfaction of the man who, beginning in advance of his time, creates his own public, and sees it growing stronger, larger, and more devoted as he passes from youth to middle life and thence to extreme old age. He was not consciously the founder of a school, but he had many close followers, and the modern Dutch painters, who are now so fashionable, owe their fundamental ideas to him" (Times, Aug. 15, 1911).

There are passages in Browning's Grammarian's Funeral which will suggest themselves to many readers as they study this picture of an old student writing by the light of a single candle. The picture may be compared with an earlier Dutch one of a like subject – "The Philosopher," by Bega (1481).

2714. GRANDFATHER'S BIRTHDAY

Isabey (French: 1804-1886).

Eugène Gabriel Isabey (by whom there are several pictures in the Wallace Collection) was born in Paris, the son of the celebrated miniature-painter, Jean-Baptiste Isabey. He first appeared as a genre painter; and "amid the group of Classicists of his time, he had (says Dr. Muther) the effect of a beautiful patch of colour." He afterwards took to sea painting, having in 1830 accompanied the French expedition to Algiers as marine draughtsman.

A characteristic example of the elegant facility with which the painter rendered scenes involving gay attire.

2715. FISH MARKET, DIEPPE

Isabey (French: 1804-1886).

2723, 2724. LANDSCAPES

Ascribed to G. Poussin (French: 1613-1675). See 31.

These landscapes, only recently included in the official numbering of the collection, were presented by Mr. P. Pusey in 1849.

2725. CHRIST BLESSING

Benedetto Diana (Venetian: died 1525).

"If Benedetto be the painter of the fine picture of 'Christ at Emmaus,' in the church of St. Salvatore, Venice, still attributed in the guidebooks to Giovanni Bellini, he must have been an artist of no ordinary merit, and one who gradually, from an unpromising commencement of his artistic career, attained a high place among the followers of the master. A half-length figure, larger than life, of the Saviour in the act of blessing, signed with the painter's name, in private possession at Venice, although in a very damaged condition, has a grand and impressive character not unworthy of Bellini, to whom, as to other Venetian masters of note, many works by Diana in sundry collections are ascribed. He was employed with the two Bellini and Alvise Vivarini in decorating the hall of the Ducal Palace" (Layard's ed. of Kugler, 1887, p. 333).

2727. LE PONT DE LA TOURNELLE, PARIS

Stanislas Lapine (French: 1836-1892).

Born at Caen; studied under Corot; exhibited at the Salon from 1859.

The Church of Notre Dame in the middle distance.

2731. LANDSCAPE

W. Buitenweg (Dutch: 1590-1630).

William Buitenweg, or Buytewech, best known for his landscape drawings, was born at Rotterdam; married at Haarlem in 1613, and in 1625 returned to Rotterdam.

2732. THE SHIPWRECKED MARINER

Joseph Israels (Dutch: 1824-1911). See 2713.

This celebrated picture – one by which the master often said he would like to be judged – created a great sensation at the International Exhibition of 1862. It was, said one critic, the most moving picture in the exhibition; before it, said another, crowds daily linger. The storm has passed, the waves have subsided, the greyish-black thunderclouds have vanished, and greenish, pallid sky smiles upon the earth once more. But upon the waves a shattered boat still rocks, and men and women and children have come down to see what victim may have been cast up by the tide – "For men must work, and women must weep, Though storms be sudden, and waters deep, And the harbour bar be moaning." Two fishermen reverently bear home the body of their dead comrade. His disconsolate wife and two awestruck children walk in front, and his old mother beside him. A man with a boat-hook, a woman pointing to the wreck on the reef, and others follow the procession, in the rear of which is the pathetic figure of a dog.

2757. TARTARUS: A SATIRICAL DESIGN

James Callot (French: 1593-1635).

"A curious and fantastic composition (in Indian ink), by a celebrated engraver and draughtsman, in which it would seem that the artist intended to satirise the ecclesiastic factions rife in France during the minority of Louis XIII. Under the vault of a huge cave, round the upper part of which evil spirits and harpies are sporting, several figures are grouped. In the centre of the foreground two Jesuits are derided by demons. On the right, Cerberus, chained to a rock, guards the entrance to Hell, while an armed warrior (Louis XIII.) stands near with his back to the spectator. On the left is Death, surrounded by his victims and the Vices. In the middle distance Charon is crossing the Styx with his boat full of passengers, whom a crowd on the shore vainly endeavour to join. Beyond are represented the tortures of the condemned, among whom Ixion, Tityus, the Danaides, and other mythological personages are conspicuous. The armorial bearings introduced on the lower edge of the drawing are supposed to be those of M. de Boyer of Baudot, who is said to have suggested the design" (Director's Report, 1884). The artist's independence of character is recorded in a familiar anecdote. He was witness to the siege and capitulation of his native town, Nancy, in 1633, and the French king called on him to engrave a plate commemorative of the occurrence. When he declined, some of the courtiers are said to have remarked to the artist that there were means to make him comply. He replied that he would sooner cut off his right hand than employ it in such a work; a speech which, being reported to the king, led him to say that the Dukes of Lorraine were fortunate in the possession of such subjects.

2758. A SQUALL FROM THE WEST

Louis Eugène Boudin (French: 1825-1898). See 2078.

2759. STORMY LANDSCAPE

George Michel (French: 1763-1843). See 2258.

2764. A FAMILY GROUP

Ascribed to Jan Vermeer (Dutch: 1632-1675).

This picture once formed part of No. 1699; the right arm of the seated child and the tablecloth here are continued there.

2767. THE SEA

Gustave Courbet (French: 1819-1877).

Courbet is famous in the history of modern French painting as the first of the "realists"; he is the Caravaggio of France, full of force and vigour, but often somewhat coarse and brutal. His landscapes and seapieces will probably be esteemed more highly by posterity than his realistic works. He was, says Dr. Muther, "the first French painter of sea-pieces, who had a feeling for the sombre majesty of the sea. His very quietude is expressive of majesty; his peace is imposing, his smile grave; and his caress is not without a menace." Courbet was a revolutionary in politics, as in art. In September 1870 he was appointed Director of the Fine Arts by the Provisional Government, and he afterwards joined the Commune. He was instrumental in saving many works of art, but he ordered the destruction of the Column in the Place Vendôme. For this he was brought before a court-martial and sentenced to six months' imprisonment. Afterwards, in a civil action, he was cast in heavy damages; his furniture and pictures were sold; and he retired to Switzerland. He died at La Tour, Vevay, a ruined man.

2790. THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI

Mabuse (Flemish: about 1470-1541). See 656.

This famous picture was acquired for the National Gallery from Rosalind, Countess of Carlisle, in 1911, for £42,776.261 The picture was painted in about the year 1500 for the Abbey of Grammont in East Flanders. In 1600 it was bought for 2000 florins by the Archduke Albert to decorate the high altar of the Court Chapel in Brussels. A story which is recorded of it in those days is a tribute to its bright attractiveness. During Lent it used to be concealed by the hanging in front of it of a picture of the Crucifixion as less likely to interfere with the penitential thoughts proper to the season. In the 18th century the picture passed into the collection of Prince Charles of Lorraine, Governor-General of the Netherlands, and thence into that of the fifth Earl of Carlisle. For more than a century it remained at Castle Howard, and many connoisseurs who saw it there wrote of it as one of the chief art-treasures of Great Britain. "I do not think," wrote W. Bürger (Thoré), "that there is anywhere else a picture by Mabuse so brilliant, so well preserved, so capital as the Adoration of the Kings, belonging to the Earl of Carlisle." "For variety of character, glow of colour, and finished execution, quite unsurpassed," said Mrs. Jameson of it.

The pride of the artist himself in his work is shown by the fact that he has signed his name upon it in two places —i. e. on the head-dress of Balthasar, the black king, and on the metal collar of his attendant. The signature Jennin Gossart (diminutive, Little John), was that under which Mabuse was inscribed as a member of the Guild of St. Luke at Antwerp. In the history of Flemish art the picture is of interest as one of the last works painted before the "Italianising" influence became marked. It is one of the finest specimens of Mabuse's first period (see under 656); but it will be noticed that the architecture of the ruin is no longer Gothic, but already shows the influence of the Renaissance. The picture is after 400 years in perfect preservation. It has an artistic unity, for the parts are subordinated to the whole; but it is full of incident, which adds not a little to its attractiveness and curious interest.

The Adoration of the Magi affords a remarkable instance of the way in which the Bible text, first expounded by Church legends, was then embroidered by the painters; and this example of "evolution in art" may be studied very fully in the National Gallery, which contains pictures of the subject painted in various schools and at various periods. The starting-point of the whole development is the second chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel where it is related that "wise men came from the East to Jerusalem"; that a star guided them to Bethlehem; and that "when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down and worshipped him; and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts – gold, and frankincense, and myrrh." Legend set itself to work on this narrative. The Wise Men, it was decided, were three in number; and the Psalmist's prediction – "the Kings of Tarshish and of the Isles shall bring presents, the Kings of Sheba and Saba shall offer gifts" – showed that the Magi were kings. Later writers identified their realms as Tarsus, Saba, and Nubia; whence one of the kings is commonly represented as a Moor or Nubian. Their names also became known – Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. Further developments of the legend – how their remains were discovered by the Empress Helena at Constantinople, and taken by Milan to Cologne – do not here concern us; it will be seen that by the time art was ready to take up the story, the painters had much material around which to let their fancy play.

The earlier painters in each school treated the story simply. Then as technical resources increased, and artistic effect rather than mere religious instruction became the motive, the theme was ever more and more expanded, until it became the most gorgeously rendered of all the Gospel scenes. Many readers will remember the severe and simple treatment of the subject by Giotto in the Arena Chapel at Padua; with which may be compared in our gallery Orcagna's small picture (574). If the visitor after looking at that will turn to the splendid pageant (1033), with its seventy figures, by Botticelli (or Filippino Lippi), he will see at a glance how the theme became embroidered and enlarged. The picture by Fra Angelico (582) represents an intermediate stage. A similar contrast may be noted in the Flemish room. The picture attributed to David (1079) is simple, earnest, and homely; far less gorgeous and various than the Mabuse. The fact is that, in the more elaborate pictures of the subject, it was taken as an excuse or occasion for displaying whatever elements of pomp or circumstance appealed to the individual artist. Thus Peruzzi (167 and 218) elaborates the architecture and the horses, and introduces portraits. The Tuscans made out of the subject a Florentine pageant. Mabuse's picture is interesting, amongst other reasons, as a kind of epitome of the arts and crafts of his time. Note, for instance, the cups and chalices in which the kings bring their presents; their jewelled robes and head-dresses; and, for a minor detail, the pretty bag worn by the Black King's page: it might well be copied for a lady's reticule to-day.

No less remarkable than the variety of treatment in pictures of the Magi is the large measure of uniformity of type which may be found in them all. A few remarks on these common elements, which were for the most part symbolic, will serve the double purpose of directing attention to further details in Mabuse's picture and of connecting it with other examples in the Gallery. The scene of the drama is in the earliest pictures a stable or a shed; in the later, it is almost invariably the ruins of a temple or other ancient building – a symbol of the triumph of Christianity over paganism. The ox and the ass will be noticed among the ruins here, and the shepherds are seen approaching. The idea is to mark the event as a manifestation alike to the Jews (the shepherds) and to the Gentiles (the Magi). Angels hover above, singing the "Gloria in Excelsis," and the composition is crowned by the Star with the Dove. The background almost invariably includes a mountainous landscape, through which the retinue of the kings may be discerned winding its way – a reminder that they journeyed from a far country. This is a feature, indicated sufficiently by Mabuse, which may be seen more emphasised in the picture by Foppa (729). The Kings are nearly always shown as old, middle-aged, and young respectively, and one of them is black: when the Gentiles were called to salvation, all ages, continents, and races were included. In Mabuse's picture the equality of the races is emphasised in a further way; the Black King, conspicuous on the left, has his train borne by a white page. The eldest of the kings offers a vase of gold, out of which Christ has taken a piece, which He holds in His hand. The king uncovers his head. "To most mediæval painters the Adoration envisages itself essentially as an act of feudal homage." Conspicuous in the foreground are two dogs. "The one on the right," says the Official Catalogue, "is similar to a dog by Albert Dürer in his engraving of St. Eustace, that on the left is reversed from a print by Martin Schongauer." The dog is often thus included in the "Adoration"; as, for instance, in one of the earliest (Orcagna, 574) and in one of the latest (Peruzzi, 218) of our versions; and everybody will have noticed how frequently in other religious pictures also the dog is introduced. "This custom of putting either the dog, or some inferior animal, to be either in contrast, or modest companionship, with the nobleness of human form and thought, is," says Ruskin, "a piece of what may be called mental comparative anatomy, which has its beginning very far back in art" (Eagle's Nest, ch. 8; see also Modern Painters, vol. v. pt. ix. chs. 3, 6). The place of Joseph in the scene differs a good deal in different pictures, for the early legends varied. Orcagna (574) shows him receiving one of the presents from the hands of the Child: he plays, as it were, the part of royal treasurer or chamberlain. Dosso Dossi (640) shows him kneeling in the background. In the present picture he stands, in a red dress, under an archway, listening devoutly to the heavenly harmony. All the figures in Mabuse's picture (there are some thirty) will repay examination. The Virgin's expression is well given; and, as a study in contrasts, the reverent figures behind the kneeling king may be compared with the man on the extreme left who, catching hold of a pillar, is leaning out in curiosity to see the sights. There is much other detail which might be described – the plants, for instance, in the foreground and on the ruins; but enough has been said to indicate the wealth and variety of interest which is to be found in this picture.

2856. A CAVALIER AND A LADY

Pieter Quast (Dutch: 1606-1647).

Quast was a painter and engraver of The Hague; his pictures are in the style of Brouwer and Isaac van Ostade.

2862. ST. JOHN GUALBERTO

Lorenzo Monaco (Florentine: 1370-1425). See 1897.

This picture represents St. John Gualberto, the Florentine (died 1073), establishing the Order of the Vallombrosans, whose proper habit is of a pale ash colour. He was Abbot of San Miniato, from which he retired to Vallombrosa, establishing there the Order called after the place of its original home.

2863. VIRGIN AND CHILD, WITH ANGELS

School of Benozzo Gozzoli (Florentine: 1420-1497). See 283.

PICTURES ON LOAN

THE HOLY FAMILY

B. Fungai (Sienese: about 1460-1516). See 1331.

This picture, not yet numbered, is lent by the Victoria and Albert (South Kensington) Museum. It is generally characteristic of Fungai, but the figure of the Infant Christ is not pleasing.

Lent by Mr. Pierpont Morgan.

THE MADONNA DI SANTI ANTONIO

Raphael (Urbino: 1483-1520). See 1171.

"In the same city (says Vasari) – [the city of Perugia, for which also the Ansidei Madonna was painted] – Raphael was commissioned to paint a picture of Our Lady by the nuns of Sant' Antonio of Padua; the Infant Christ is in the lap of the Virgin and is fully clothed, as it pleased those simple and pious ladies that he should be; on each side of Our Lady are figures of saints, San Pietro, namely, with San Paolo, Santa Cecilia, and Santa Catarina. To these two holy virgins the master has given the most lovely features and the most graceful attitudes; he has also adorned them with the most fanciful and varied head-dresses that could be imagined – a very unusual thing at that time. In a lunette above this picture he painted a figure of the Almighty Father, which is extremely fine, and on the predella are three scenes from the history of Christ, in very small figures… The whole work is without doubt very admirable; it is full of devout feeling, and is held in the utmost veneration by the nuns for whom it was painted. It is very highly commended by all painters likewise."

The small scenes which formed the predella have been dispersed;262 for the rest, the picture thus described by Vasari is before us. Vasari dates the work 1505, but it is now commonly ascribed to the years 1507-8, after Raphael had experienced the influence of Fra Bartolommeo; it would thus be a little later than the Ansidei Madonna.

The history of the picture is long and eventful. In 1677 the nuns obtained permission to sell it, "to pay their debts and because the surface was in some parts flaking away." The central panel and the lunette (forming the picture as it now is) were bought by Antonio Bigazzini, a nobleman of Perugia, for a sum of about £500. Shortly afterwards, the picture passed into the hands of the great Colonna family at Rome, and it is often called "The Colonna Raphael." The fortunes of the picture now became part of those of modern Italian history. In the last century, the picture had been bought by Francis II., King of Naples. It was a great favourite of his, and was always kept in his bedroom in the Royal Palace. When the revolution of 1860 came, and the king was driven out of Naples, the Raphael accompanied him on his wanderings, and the king succeeded in conveying it in safety to the fortress of Gaeta. When Gaeta fell in 1861, and the king went into exile, he again took the picture with him, and it was safely transported to Spain. The king was accompanied in his flight by the financier and factotum, formerly Spanish Minister at Naples, upon whom he had conferred the title of Duke of Ripalda. To him the king in some way pledged the picture, and for a time it became known as the Ripalda Raphael. Its history next becomes connected with the secular jealousies of England and France. In 1867 Sir J. C. Robinson saw the picture at Madrid, and received a hint that it might possibly be for sale. Sir William Boxall, the Director of our Gallery, went to inspect the picture, which was then in fine condition; and Disraeli authorised the trustees to buy it. Negotiations were commenced on the basis of £20,000; but the Duke of Ripalda was a friend of the Empress Eugénie, and the knowledge that England was in the market inspired a counter-bid of £40,000 from France. The outbreak of the Prussian War caused a hitch in the negotiations; and the picture, which had been sent to Paris, underwent rigorous "restoration." The Colonna Raphael, wrote Sir William Gregory (May 1870), "was, a few months ago, one of the most perfect and important pictures of that master. In an evil moment it had been submitted to the cleaner, and a piteous spectacle it now is in the eyes of gods and men. It is said that on the old frame being removed, the picture fell to the ground in three pieces. This is confirmed by the extraordinary winking appearance of the eye of one of the female saints, through which unfortunately one of the cracks runs, and which therefore had to be repainted by a modern hand." Ruskin, perhaps unaware of these repaintings or believing that they could be removed, strongly urged the acquisition of the picture for the nation (Works, xxii. 140, xxxiv. 512). But the authorities would not entertain the idea, and the picture, refused both by the Louvre and by the National Gallery, returned, unpurchased and unhonoured, into the hands of the Duke. In 1886 it was lent to the South Kensington Museum and there it remained for several years, until Mr. Martin Colnaghi bought it from the representatives of the late King of Naples. The Parisian repaintings were removed, and the picture was restored to much of its pristine beauty. Ultimately it passed into the possession of Mr. Pierpont Morgan (at the price, it is said, of £100,000), and by him it is for the present lent to the National Gallery.

THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI

Unknown (Spanish: end of 15th century).

Signed "Lo Fil de Mestre Rodrigo." Lent by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

COPIES FROM THE OLD MASTERS

I. —VELAZQUEZ

One collection is of fifty-nine copies in oil-colour, on a reduced scale, of pictures by Velazquez in the Prado Gallery, at Madrid, presented by Lord Savile. They were painted by Mr. Chidley Molony, an English gentleman who first went to Spain as an officer in the army of General Evans, and subsequently settled at Madrid, where he was a great favourite and well known, especially to the English Colony. The following are the subjects of these copies: —