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diff --git a/43001-0.txt b/43001-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..70ee726 --- /dev/null +++ b/43001-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1215 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43001 *** + +[Illustration: Cover] + + + + + MASTERPIECES + IN COLOUR + EDITED BY + T. LEMAN HARE + + + + VAN DYCK + + + + +====================================================================== + +PLATE I.--CHARLES I. Frontispiece + +(In the Louvre) + +Certainly the finest portrait of Charles I. in existence. It shows Van +Dyck in his most attractive aspect as a painter of the aristocracy. +Executed before the marked decline in his technical powers, which +marred, from an artistic standpoint, the later pictures of his English +period, it yet possesses the dignity and distinction he knew so well +how to infuse in portraying the nobility of our country. It is one of +the best examples of the artist's powers as a colourist, and as such +will bear comparison with the productions of the mighty Venetians. + +[Illustration: Plate I.] + +====================================================================== + + + + Van Dyck + + + BY PERCY M. TURNER + + ILLUSTRATED WITH EIGHT + REPRODUCTIONS IN COLOUR + + +[Illustration: Title page graphic] + + + LONDON: T. C. & E. C. JACK + NEW YORK: FREDERICK A. STOKES CO. + + + + + CONTENTS + + I. The Early Days + II. The Journey to Italy + III. The Second Flemish Manner + IV. Van Dyck in England + V. Van Dyck's Position in Art + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Plate + +I. Charles I. . . . . . . . . . . . . Frontispiece + In the Louvre + +II. Charles Louis of Bavaria and his brother + Robert, afterwards Duke of Cumberland + In the Louvre + +III. Prince d'Arenberg + In Lord Spencer's Collection, Althorp + +IV. Portrait of Van Dyck (or The Artist) + In Lord Spencer's Collection, Althorp + +V. Philippe le Roy, Seigneur de Ravel + In the Wallace Collection + +VI. Portrait of one of Charles I.'s children + In the Academy of Fine Arts, Rome + +VII. Portrait of the Artist's Wife + In the Pinakothek, Munich + +VIII. The Marchese Cattaneo + In the National Gallery + + + + +[Illustration: Van Dyck] + + + + +I + +THE EARLY DAYS + +No painter has remained more consistently in favour with both artists +and the public than Van Dyck. His art marks the highest achievement of +Flanders of the seventeenth century. In making this statement the +claims of Rubens have not been overlooked, although the latter has +been, and probably will always be, considered the head of the Flemish +school. + +It is perhaps not too much to say that Van Dyck possessed in a greater +measure than Rubens those qualities which go to make a great artist. +We can never overlook the seniority of the latter, and to him will +always belong the credit of having evolved the style which +revolutionised the art of a nation, and there is no doubt that the +pupil owed to him much of the knowledge he so well utilised in +after-life. + +====================================================================== + +PLATE II.--CHARLES LOUIS OF BAVARIA AND HIS BROTHER ROBERT, AFTERWARDS +DUKE OF CUMBERLAND + +(In the Louvre) + +As an example of direct portraiture this picture would be hard to beat. +It shows Van Dyck in one of his happiest moods dealing with a subject +which peculiarly appealed to him. + +[Illustration: Plate II.] + +====================================================================== + +In comparing those two great men it would be well, at first, to rid +ourselves of the confusion which often arises through the application +of the terms "artist" and "painter." In relation to painting they are +only too often considered synonymous, but a little consideration will +show us that a man whose technical abilities are of a high order need +not necessarily be a great artist. In fact, one of the most truthful +charges urged against the best contemporary art is that it demonstrates +an astonishing poverty of invention, a lack of message, if you will, +coupled with an extraordinarily highly developed technique. To screen +as much as possible the dilemma in which he finds himself, many a +modern painter has recourse to creating those outbursts of meaningless +eccentricity that are so familiar upon the walls of our exhibitions. +It is true that some few of the men who are living to-day are equipped +almost, if not quite, as well technically as the great majority of the +old masters. In a word, they could meet them on nearly equal terms as +painters, but they lack invention and conception in which to bring +their powers into legitimate play, and consequently they cannot rank +with them as artists. + +It was in the possession of these very qualities that Van Dyck +surpassed Rubens. I do not suggest that the latter was devoid of power +of conception, for, if I did, would not the great "Coup-de-lance" at +Antwerp, or the "Fall of the Damned" at Munich (the drawing for the +latter in the National Gallery gives an even better idea than the +finished picture) be there to refute me? Van Dyck, however, though +being quite the match of Rubens in technique, even in his early +days--though still working under him--surpassed him in his middle +period. Anybody who has closely studied the noble religious pictures +at Courtrai and Malines--the latter, unfortunately, irreparably injured +by damp and neglect--can but be impressed with his stupendous power in +this direction. Granted that he does not appeal in the same measure to +our emotions from the spiritual side as do the early painters of Italy +and Flanders, he yet brings the brutal aspect of the scene before us in +an intensely human manner. + +In most subject pictures Van Dyck painted before his visit to Italy it +is apparent that Rubens had been his sole guide, and he was impelled +only with a desire to emulate his master. But, after his return, the +influence of the mighty painters he had studied south of the Alps had +wrought a wondrous change in his method, and although he found himself +back again amidst his old surroundings he never quite forsook the path +he had been treading in the interval. Rubens, who had also spent some +years in Italy, did not submit to the influence of the southern masters +in the same measure, but remained a Fleming to the end. There is +little alteration to be observed, either in his historical and sacred +pictures or in his portraits, after he had studied the Italians. From +this we may assume either that Rubens was less susceptible to +extraneous influences, or that he considered his method quite the equal +to any that he had seen. Van Dyck, on the other hand, absorbed, +particularly from the Venetians, certain qualities which he employed +ceaselessly throughout the remainder of his life. It was not, however, +solely this cause which raised Van Dyck as an artist above his master. +Rather was it to be attributed to the superiority of temperament. +Thus, whilst we can still consider Rubens the head of the Flemish +school of the seventeenth century, we should accord to Van Dyck the +foremost rank as an artist. + +Anthony Van Dyck was born at Antwerp on March 22nd, 1599. It was said +formerly that his father, Frans Van Dyck, was a painter on glass, but +later research has disclosed the fact that he carried on business as a +merchant. His mother practised the art of embroidery with no mean +skill, and her works appear to have been held in considerable esteem. +The young painter had, however, the misfortune of losing her when he +arrived at the age of eight. We know but little of his early years, +but he must have shown considerable aptitude for drawing, for we find +him already the pupil of Hendrik van Balen in 1609. The latter painter +had received instruction in his art from Adam van Oort, the master of +Rubens, but he utilised the instruction he had received in a very +different way from that of his fellow-pupil. He studied in Italy for +some time, and upon his return to Antwerp became one of the most +popular painters in the city. Several works still remaining there +testify that his sojourn in the South had not entirely effaced his +Flemish training. He excelled particularly in cabinet pictures, with +subjects inspired by the classics, in which the landscapes were +sometimes painted by Jan Brueghel. These are wrought with wonderful +finish, and were much admired by his contemporaries for the purity of +their colouring. At the same time, whilst being a good craftsman and +filling an honourable position in the history of the school, it cannot +be claimed that he possessed genius in an extraordinary degree. + +It is probable, however, that a more suitable master for the young Van +Dyck could not have been found. In the studio of so staid and sober a +painter he would not be brought into contact with any of those +pyrotechnics which have wrought such havoc with the art of young +artists when encountered at the onset of their careers. On the other +hand, Van Balen is likely to have insisted upon great care being +exercised in drawing and in the finishing of minutest detail. Such +rigid training is excellent, for whilst it does not hinder further +developments upon other lines in the least degree, it insures that all +future progress shall be built upon a solid foundation. + +At this time, however, Rubens, having returned from his wanderings in +Italy and Spain, had settled in Antwerp. His new position as Court +painter to the Archduke Albert and the Archduchess Isabella brought him +into great prominence and insured him constant occupation. Even at +this early period his art was approaching maturity, and if he had not +yet developed the dazzling brilliancy and facility of his later time, +he was still far ahead of any painter modern Flanders had produced. We +have only to contemplate the works of his contemporaries, and those who +immediately preceded him, to imagine what a profound sensation this +young man created in Antwerp. It seldom fell to the lot of an artist +who was but just over thirty to have been in the service of such an +illustrious personage as the Duke of Mantua. The latter, moreover, so +highly esteemed his talent that he wished him to return to his service +even after he had returned to Antwerp. Further, the Duke had such +confidence in Rubens' diplomatic ability that he sent him upon +important business to Philip III. in Madrid. The experience he had +gained both in Italy and in Spain, where he had seen and copied many of +the greatest works of the Italian Renaissance, served to develop a +genius which in itself was of the first order, and the fruits were +immediately visible upon his arrival in Antwerp. We can well picture +to ourselves the effect of the masculine vigour, nay, more, the bravado +of his brush-work upon the staid and homely Flemish artists. Their +minuteness of finish, delicacy, cool transparencies and silveriness of +colouring seem indeed _petit_ when pitted against the irrepressible +dash and golden palette of Rubens. In spite of this he appears not to +have created any enemies. On the contrary, his fellow-artists seem to +have recognised his superiority, and many were influenced by his +method. To estimate to the full the revolution he wrought we must +compare the masters whom we found installed in favour in Flanders with +the school he so soon created. The older painters being affected in so +visible a degree, we can quite imagine how easily one so young and +impressionable as Van Dyck would submit to the new influence. Here was +a master whose art, glowing with the full-blooded vigour of Italy, yet +retained the healthy freshness of his native country. Restrained and +held in leash as he would be in the studio of Van Balen, we can +sympathise with his yearning to migrate to that of Rubens. He speedily +joined that ever-swelling body of artists who gathered themselves round +the great master. For some years he worked side by side with Snyders +and Seghers. The progress he made during this time was considerable; +indeed, it is frequently difficult to decide whether certain pictures +produced in these years are the work of the master or the pupil, so +thoroughly had he acquired Rubens' technique. + +====================================================================== + +PLATE III.--PRINCE D'ARENBERG + +(In Lord Spencer's Collection, Althorp) + +A portrait characteristic of one of the most popular phases of Van +Dyck's art. It exhibits in a remarkable measure his sense of +appropriateness as far as the setting of a portrait is concerned. The +background has been chosen largely with a view to accentuating the +salient points of the picture, and whilst being, in consequence, +strictly subservient to the portrait is yet treated in a bold and +vigorous manner. + +[Illustration: Plate III.] + +====================================================================== + +In connection with this a story, the details of which have frequently +been challenged, is told. It is said that Rubens, leaving his studio +one day to take a walk, had left a picture in the process of painting +upon his easel. The students were anxious to inspect it and observe +the method he was employing. Finally, they induced his servant to +admit them. Being a numerous crowd, some amount of struggling took +place to get near the canvas. The result was that one of them, it is +said Van Diepenbeck, fell against the canvas and injured the picture. +Dismay spread throughout the room. When they had recovered their +presence of mind, some one proposed that the damage should be repaired +before Rubens returned. By common consent Van Dyck was chosen, and he +set to work with a will. Upon Rubens entering his studio next morning, +surrounded by his pupils, he selected the repaired part and said that +that was by no means the worst piece he had painted the day before. +Upon a closer examination the damage revealed itself, but so cleverly +had Van Dyck performed his task that Rubens decided to leave it as it +was. + +From such tales as this has arisen the tradition that Rubens became so +jealous of his pupil that he endeavoured to persuade him to abandon +historical painting and devote the whole of his time to portraiture. +Such statements are not only in opposition to all that we know of +Rubens' character, but there is the further evidence that when he +finally parted from Van Dyck they were on the very best of terms. +Indeed, Rubens went so far as to make him a present of one of his +finest horses for the purpose of his journey in Italy, whilst Van Dyck +left with his master a portrait of Rubens' wife as a souvenir. + +He further retained the services of Van Dyck as his assistant, which he +would not have done had any jealousy existed between them. It was +probably the pressure of commissions, which flowed in upon him in +innumerable quantities, that induced him to take this step. It was +quite impossible for the master himself to accomplish all the work he +undertook. Outside Italy he was the first master to employ his school +as a sort of manufactory on a large scale. So well did he train his +assistants that he had only to make the sketch himself, and to +superintend its painting, for a large work to be turned out in an +incredibly short time. As Van Dyck was his most capable assistant, he +would certainly employ him upon the important parts, and as it has +already been pointed out that it is difficult to differentiate between +the works of the two men at this time, it would be still more difficult +to decide definitely what hand Van Dyck had in the large number of +religious and historical pictures that were being sent out under +Rubens' name at this time. + +During this period, however, Van Dyck had acquired a reputation of his +own. He had been elected a master of the Antwerp Corporation of +painters in 1618, that is, whilst still in his twentieth year. + + + + +II + +THE JOURNEY TO ITALY + +It was the habit of most Northern artists at that time to make a +journey in Italy. The renown of the works created during the preceding +two centuries by the Italian Renaissance had spread all over Europe, +and no young artist considered his education complete without having +spent a few years in studying them. Moreover, they found that patrons +patronised them better if they had been through this Italian training. +These ideas were rather dictated by the prevailing fashion than by any +solid good to be derived by the artist who underwent it. We have +innumerable examples of Dutchmen and Flemings whose natural genius +became perverted upon Italian soil. Nicholas Berchem and Karl Dujardin +were striking examples of the sad results which frequently accrued from +thus transplanting themselves into a country with which their +temperament had nothing in common. It is probable that had Karl +Dujardin remained in Holland, the world would have been enriched by a +landscape painter of the first order, for he had gifts far above even +the average painter of his time. But immediately on reaching Italy he +succumbed to the influences surrounding him, and endeavoured to get rid +as far as possible of his early training, and to see things and render +them in the Italian way. The result was, that whilst he never threw +off the Dutch character of his scenes and figures, he enveloped them +with a conventional atmosphere as monotonous as it is untrue. + +We have already seen the results the Italian journey had upon Rubens. +There was no inducement for Van Dyck, comparing, as he would be able +to, his master's pictures painted before his journey to Italy and those +which he executed afterwards, to undertake the same trouble. It is +rather to be thought that he was decided to see the artistic Mecca for +himself, by the glowing accounts of its treasures that he heard from +time to time from Rubens' own lips. For the latter, small as had been +the influence of the great Italian masters upon his work, was +nevertheless of a disposition peculiarly adapted for keenly +appreciating merit whenever it was brought under his notice. We can +quite imagine that during those early days in Antwerp his pupils whilst +at work would hear innumerable accounts of the beauties of this or that +picture, and the more enthusiastic of them would consequently only be +the more eager to judge of its beauties for themselves. During the +execution of the large canvasses that were turned out in such +quantities from the studio, Rubens doubtlessly prefaced alterations he +made by referring to many a master's method, and recounted how the +masterpieces upon which his comments were framed had been brought to +completion. + +During the latter portion of the time Van Dyck stopped with Rubens he +was only acting as his assistant, and consequently would be free to +leave when he liked. He would probably be quite aware that his +technique was the equal of his master's, and would realise that he had +received all the tuition he possibly could in his present situation. +Ambitious as he was, there is no doubt that he yearned for an +opportunity to learn for himself the message the great masters had to +impart to him. Whilst we can quite imagine that Rubens would be sorry +to part with so capable an assistant, there was not any evidence that +he did not do everything in his power to assist him to carry out his +project. + +In 1623--when he was but twenty-four years of age--Van Dyck left +Antwerp on his journey southward. He appears not to have got any +further than a village near Brussels, where he succumbed to the +attractions of a certain young lady named Annah van Ophem. At her +instigation he painted two pictures for the parish church there. In +one, representing St. Martin sharing his cloak with a beggar, he took +himself as a model for the saint. The parish authorities being, it is +said, of a mercenary turn of mind, had it valued, and, hearing that it +was worth 4000 florins, sold it to a M. Hoët. The people of the +village, however, hearing of the sale, determined to prevent the +removal of the picture at all costs, and when the purchaser arrived he +found not only the peasants, but their wives and children, armed, and +was obliged to escape ignominiously through the priest's garden and +return to Brussels without his prize. Whilst still residing at the +village, Van Dyck painted the portrait of Annah van Ophem, surrounded +with the dogs belonging to the Infanta Isabella, of which either she or +her father had charge, and a picture of the Holy Family, in which she +figured as the principal personage. + +====================================================================== + +PLATE IV.--PORTRAIT OF VAN DYCK (OR THE ARTIST) + +(In Lord Spencer's Collection, Althorp) + +One of the most striking portraits of the artist. Painted at a fairly +late date in his career, it shows the painter prosperous and rich and +by no means ill pleased with his lot in the world. Full of life and +gaiety, his joyous face gives us a good idea of the gratification he +found in life almost to the end. Indeed, a deal of the fascination of +his art arises from his approaching his subjects in this happy frame of +mind. + +[Illustration: Plate IV.] + +====================================================================== + +Rubens, hearing of the prolonged sojourn of his pupil at Saveltheim, +arrived one day upon the scene, and finally induced Van Dyck to tear +himself from his mistress and continue his journey to Italy. + +The great object of his visit was to study the Venetian masters, and +accordingly he repaired forthwith to the City of the Lagoons. We can +picture him standing for the first time before those wonderful +portraits of Titian and Tintoretto, Palma-Vecchio and Moroni, about +which he had heard so much in his student days in Antwerp. That he was +not disappointed is evidenced by the fact that almost immediately a +change is observable in his method. He cast aside as speedily as +possible the silveriness and coolness which had characterised his +palette when working in Antwerp, and endeavoured to assimilate in as +great a degree as possible the golden luminosity and subtle handling of +the mighty Venetians. It is probable that Titian held the first place +in his estimation, for it is rather upon his method that all his +subsequent developments in technique are based. But perhaps full +justice has not been done to the influence Moroni had in moulding his +youthful genius. One has only to compare, for example, the full-length +portrait of an Italian nobleman, No. 1316 in the National Gallery, with +that marvellous representation of Philip le Roy in the Wallace +Collection, reproduced in this volume, to see the connection between +the two painters. There is the same air of distinction in each +portrait, and in silveriness of colouring and elegance of pose there is +much in common. These are not isolated examples in the life-work of +the two masters, but are rather representative of a whole series of +portraits in which their genius runs on nearly parallel lines. + +We cannot wonder that Van Dyck was not much impressed by such of the +Umbrian painters as he came in contact with. There was still left in +these men the remains of that mysticism which was born of the intimate +contact with religion in relation to life that had originally brought +it into being. The religious art of the Netherlands--I am speaking now +of that which arose after the middle of the sixteenth century--was +built upon a purely human and materialistic basis. If a scriptural +scene was represented it was brought before us as a subject from +everyday life; a martyrdom with all its brutality, a crucifixion with +all its physical horror, and a madonna and child simply as a peasant +girl with a child, set in homely surroundings. Our artist, endowed +with the same temperament as the men who had created such works, and +who moreover was perhaps the best exponent of this school of painting, +with the possible exception of Rubens himself, could not be expected to +be touched with the subtleties of Botticelli or Filippino Lippi. +Further, it is not unlikely that he found he could learn little from +the technique of Raphael or Andrea del Sarto. But with the Venetians +it was quite otherwise. From the early days of Giovanni Bellini they +seem to have treated religious subjects in just as materialistic a +manner, if less grossly and repugnantly, than the Flemings themselves. +One has but to contemplate the life-work of Titian to see how little +religious feeling, in the Florentine or mystical sense of the term, +there was in his art. Even the two most impressive religious pictures +he ever painted, the "Entombment," in the Louvre, and the "Christ +crowned with Thorns," at Munich, would certainly not have pleased the +patrons of Ghirlandajo or Pollaiuolo. But Titian and his +contemporaries constitute the zenith attained by Italian materialistic +art, at any rate in point of technique. + +====================================================================== + +PLATE V.--PHILIPPE LE ROY, SEIGNEUR DE RAVEL + +(In the Wallace Collection) + +The masterpiece of Van Dyck's second Flemish manner. In it we see the +culmination of the influences he had brought away with him from Italy +sobered by a renewed contact with the productions of his illustrious +master. The dignity of pose, probably derived from Moroni and Titian, +united with the fact that his immense technical powers are brought into +play in an unsurpassed degree, certainly proclaim it as one of the +greatest portraits in the world. Van Dyck executed an etching of +Philippe le Roy, probably based upon this portrait which ranks very +high amongst his productions in this way. + +[Illustration: Plate V.] + +====================================================================== + +It is more than probable that Van Dyck found certain points in his +master's method crude compared with that of the Venetians, and +although, as we shall see later, he endeavoured after his return to +Flanders to retrace his steps in a measure, the influences he brought +away with him from Italy remained during his whole life. + +He went from Venice to Genoa, and there his style created such an +impression that he found many of the nobility eager to have their +portraits painted by him. Formerly, his Italian manner, as it is +called, was to be best studied in that city, but as years have rolled +on many of the finest examples have become scattered over Europe and +America. The two fine portraits recently added to the National Gallery +date from this period, and although, owing to their condition, they do +not set forth his talents at their best, will give a good idea of the +changes his method had undergone since he left Antwerp. Two of the +noblest portraits of the Genoese period were formerly in the collection +of Sir Robert Peel, but, after being sold at auction in London some few +years ago, finally found a permanent home in the Berlin Gallery. + +From Genoa he went to Rome, and, his reputation having preceded him, he +was soon loaded with commissions for both historical subjects and +portraits. It is said, however, that his residence here was rendered +unpleasant by a number of artists persecuting him by reason of his not +wishing to fall in with their methods of life. Be this as it may, he +returned to Genoa, and after some time departed for Palermo; but the +plague breaking out, some time after his arrival, he determined to +return to Flanders. Van Dyck had reason to congratulate himself, not +only upon the amount of benefit which he had received from his sojourn +in Italy, but also on account of the flattering manner in which he had +been received everywhere. His complete success in these two respects +was calculated to infuse confidence in him for the future. He was now +fully equipped in every way, and his good luck in the matter of +patronage, so lavishly bestowed upon him in Italy, was destined to +pursue him in his future career, until finally the immense amount of +work he undertook in consequence had an adverse influence upon his +later productions. + + + + +III + +THE SECOND FLEMISH MANNER + +The reputation of Van Dyck, great as it was prior to leaving Antwerp, +had materially grown during his absence in Italy. From time to time +reports reached his fellow-townsmen of the brilliant success he was +achieving there, the high personages with whom he was mingling, and the +flattering praise accorded to his productions. We may be sure that +returning travellers would relate the astonishing progress he was +making, and consequently his friends would await with eager +anticipation the proofs of all they had heard. There could be no doubt +that Rubens would be amongst those who would be most interested in his +progress, and he would be curious to see the influence the Italians had +exercised upon his technique. + +His talents were soon put to the essay in the form of a commission for +a large picture representing St. Augustine in ecstasy, surrounded by +angels and saints, for the Church of the Augustines in Antwerp. As a +result of this first effort, both his patrons and the public were +delighted, and commissions for works of a similar character flowed in +upon him from every side. + +Rubens had fairly early in his career instituted an ingenious method +for making his works widely known. He employed, under his own +direction, a number of engravers whose names have become household +words. Technically considered, they were as well equipped as any who +have ever lived. The names of Paul Pontius, Lucas Vorsterman, the two +Bolswerts, Peter de Jode are held in reverence by every admirer of +engraving. Their remarkable fidelity in transcribing the works of +Rubens render it frequently unnecessary to see the originals themselves +in order thoroughly to study them. I am perhaps not going too far when +I say that they understood the art of translating colour effects into +black and white in a manner unknown previous to their time and never +surpassed afterwards. The tone values of the paintings themselves are +preserved. There is no doubt that this excellence was due to the +guidance of Rubens. He superintended each plate in process of +preparation and rectified with his own hand any errors that might have +crept in. In this way Rubens rendered an immense service to art. +Quantities of these prints went out to foreign countries and were +prized by both artists and collectors, serving to stimulate the former +to renewed efforts and to improve the taste of the latter. At the same +time, he is to be credited with having brought the engraving art to a +pitch which has never been surpassed. + +When Rubens saw of what his pupil was now capable, he immediately +turned the attention of his engravers to his works, and until Van Dyck +practically ceased historical painting, we have as many plates worked +after his designs as from those of his master. It was soon after his +return to Antwerp that he received the commission to paint the +celebrated picture at Malines representing the Crucifixion. Of this +remarkable canvas we can but form an inadequate idea to-day. The +exceeding negligence with which it has been kept, coupled with the +continual covering up of the picture, thus depriving it of light, which +every oil-painting requires for its preservation, has contributed to +render it a wreck of its former self. The subject, to which we are so +accustomed that we are but little moved when we encounter it in the +great galleries, is here presented to us in a most terrible and +essentially human aspect. The extraordinary expression of physical +pain infused into the heads of the two thieves, one on each side of +Christ, together with the energy of their efforts to detach themselves +from their awful position, will cause a shudder to creep over even the +most phlegmatic person. This is foiled by the superb treatment of the +head of the Saviour. In the latter is an extraordinary mixture of +pain, mental and physical, combined with a sublime look of resignation. +Sir Joshua Reynolds regarded it as one of the masterpieces of the +world, and there will be not a few who will concur in his judgment. + +Van Dyck was not, however, content simply to exercise his powers in +this way. An innumerable series of portraits date from this time, +notably the well-known series representing the most prominent +contemporary artists of Flanders. These productions are well known +from the engravings executed after them; the originals are now +distributed throughout the world. + +It is said that Van Dyck's position in the Netherlands, in spite of the +quantity of patronage bestowed upon him, was anything but pleasant. +The jealousy of his rivals was particularly irksome to a man of his +disposition. In the intrigues with which he was surrounded Rubens had +no part; on the contrary, he always sustained the cause of his +brilliant pupil with the utmost enthusiasm and fidelity, and it is +probable, in view of this fact and the renown which Van Dyck himself +had attained, that he would have worn down the opposition and caused +the calumnies with which he was beset to fall upon the heads of their +originators. But the taste for travel which he had developed in Italy +probably impelled him to seek relief outside his own country. +Accordingly we find him employed at the Hague--certainly not a great +distance from the seat of his recent troubles, but sufficiently far to +remove him from their reach. Here he painted the portrait of the +Prince of Orange and innumerable personages of his Court, in addition +to receiving ample encouragement from the foreign ambassadors. + +It was not, however, to be expected that so small a city with its +limited scope would long suffice for a man of his ambitions. His eyes +were set upon England. + +====================================================================== + +PLATE VI.--PORTRAIT OF ONE OF CHARLES I.'S CHILDREN + +(In the Academy of Fine Arts, Rome) + +Possibly the best known and one of the most deservedly popular of the +master's child portraits. It will bear comparison for charm and +delicacy of handling with any of the productions of our great English +masters. In fact, it was largely after a study of Van Dyck's wonderful +pictures of children that Gainsborough formed his last and greatest +manner. + +[Illustration: Plate VI.] + +====================================================================== + +The encouragement which Charles I. extended to the fine arts, and his +liberality in patronising them, induced him to think that a suitable +field for the exercise of his talents was open to him in our country. +Accordingly about 1632 he arrived in London. England was not, however, +quite strange to him, for about eleven years previously--that is, +before his departure to Italy--he had already been here upon a visit. +Upon this occasion, however, he does not appear to have succeeded in +attracting the attentions of the king, and consequently he did not meet +with the success he had counted upon. Remaining but a few months, he +decided to return to Antwerp, fully resolved to make it a permanent +place of abode. + +Meanwhile, however, Rubens had been sent by the Infanta Isabella on a +diplomatic visit to Charles, who received him in the most gracious +manner and created him a knight. The flattering attentions bestowed +upon Rubens during his stay, coupled with his estimation of the king's +character and taste, created a most favourable impression upon him, and +when he returned to Antwerp he probably dispelled in a measure Van +Dyck's antipathy to our country. Meanwhile Charles had seen the +latter's portrait of Nicholas Lanière, his chapel master, and was so +impressed with its qualities that he sent an invitation to Van Dyck to +return. + +An opportunity so favourable to advancement was not lightly to be +passed over, and Van Dyck decided once more to try his fortune here. + +This decision constituted a turning-point in the life and style of the +artist, and we shall see him in England passing the most prosperous +years of his life. + + + + +IV + +VAN DYCK IN ENGLAND + +There never was a time in the history of the English Court when such +opportunities for advancement were presented to an artist possessing +the genius of Van Dyck as during the reign of Charles I. He was one of +the few monarchs of England who recognised the civilising influence of +art on the nation and encouraged it in a manner quite beyond his means. +It mattered not of what period, school, or nationality a work happened +to be, so long as it possessed a high degree of merit, it appealed +strongly to the king. We have only to consider the superb collection +he brought together, only to be ruthlessly dispersed by the +Commonwealth, to gauge the refinement of his taste. Many of the +priceless possessions of foreign galleries formed part of his +collection, and if England had only been in a position to retain her +hold upon them we should no doubt to-day be in possession of the finest +assemblage of Italian art in the world. I need only enumerate the +sumptuous portrait of Alfonso of Ferrara and Laura d'Dianti and the +"Entombment," by Titian, in the Louvre; the portrait of Erasmus, by +Holbein, in the Louvre, and the marvellous portrait of a young woman, +for so many years wrongly ascribed to the same master, at the Hague; +the portrait of Albrecht Dürer by himself in the Prado, and the two +masterpieces by Geertgen van St. Jans in the Imperial Gallery at +Vienna, to demonstrate the quality of his many possessions. In England +we still have retained a few of his treasures. Conspicuous among them +are those masterpieces of Andrea Mantegna, the "Triumph of Julius +Cæsar," at Hampton Court, the Albrecht Dürer, and the Lorenzo Lotto, in +the same gallery, together with the "Mercury, Cupid and Venus," by +Correggio, in the National Gallery. + +Needless to say that a collector, who had sufficient taste to bring +together such a notable assemblage, would demand a very high degree of +talent indeed in a painter who was working for the Court. Charles had, +moreover, been brought into contact with the brilliant achievements of +Rubens, and would in consequence expect a great deal from a pupil whose +merits he had heard so extolled. + +The portrait of Nicholas Lanière appealed to him immediately. He saw +in Van Dyck a man whose performances, even at this early age, far +surpassed those of any painter then working in England. Charles, who +immensely admired the portraits of Rubens, saw in those of his pupil an +Italian quality lacking in the former, and this would additionally +attract him. + +Van Dyck's reception was most flattering. He was given a lodging at +Blackfriars amongst the other painters, and was set to work immediately +for the king. Charles was quite as much taken with the courtly +qualities and conversation of his newly-found painter as by his talent, +and greatly enjoyed his company. He was accustomed to go to +Blackfriars by water, and to chat with Van Dyck whilst having his +portrait painted. From this time date the innumerable portraits of +Charles and his Queen, Henrietta Maria, with which we are so familiar. + +The fashion thus set by the king was speedily taken up by his Court, +and the nobility of England competed with one another for the privilege +of having their portraits painted by the brilliant Fleming. + +Soon after his arrival Van Dyck received the honour of knighthood, and, +in addition to being appointed painter to his Majesty, had an annuity +of £200 per annum settled upon him. + +The quantity of commissions which now flowed in upon him was +prodigious, and he was sorely taxed to keep pace with them. He was +enabled in consequence to raise his prices considerably without in the +least diminishing the patronage bestowed upon him. He commenced to +entertain on a lavish scale, and his table was frequented by the +highest in the land. It is said that after occupying the morning in +painting portraits he would invite his sitters to dinner, and then, +from the study he had made of their countenances during the meal, would +work upon the portraits again in the afternoon. + +Although Van Dyck had been accustomed to good society and living, the +overwhelming good fortune which was now his lot appears to have +developed bad habits in him. He soon acquired luxurious habits, which +finally undermined his health. Passionately fond of music, he +liberally encouraged all the professors of that art, and gratuitously +painted the portraits of its most celebrated exponents. + +The demands upon his purse at this time must have been enormous, and in +order to increase his output, and consequently his income, he had +recourse to the means he had seen Rubens so successfully employ in +Antwerp. He brought together a school of painters, who worked under +his directions. The portraits dating from this period consequently not +only show the marked deterioration in his technique, but also, beyond +the heads and hands and a few other essential details, contained but +little of his own work. His assistants were so thoroughly trained that +they were enabled to paint the draperies and their accessories in a +style which welded perfectly with his own brushwork. + +These facts have to be carefully remembered whenever we are +contemplating a work of the English period of Van Dyck, for were we to +form our judgment solely upon the portraits he had painted prior to +going to England we should reject many of the former as not being from +his hand. There is further the added difficulty that his assistants +executed pictures in his manner on their own account, and it is only by +the lack of that spark of genius he was enabled to infuse in those +parts of a portrait he executed with his own hand that we are enabled +to differentiate between them. Many of the portraits of the king and +queen which were sent as presents all over Europe were but the +productions of his studio. + +====================================================================== + +PLATE VII.--PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST'S WIFE + +(In the Pinakothek, Munich) + +A remarkably good example of Van Dyck's power of depicting female +character. Whenever he is faced with a sitter in whom he is interested +he suited his technique to the points he wished to emphasise. It is +the possession of this versatility which enables him to infuse so much +seductive charm into his women portraits and such trenchant vigour into +those of men. + +[Illustration: Plate VII.] + +====================================================================== + +It is only in such superb presentations of Charles as that in the +Louvre, at Windsor, and in the National Gallery that we are enabled to +judge of his capabilities at this period. He now almost entirely +deserted historical painting. There was no demand for it in England, +and his attention was exclusively devoted to portraiture. Moreover, if +we may judge from the ever-increasing facility with which he was wont +to paint, it may be fairly said that his attention during these years +was being diverted from painting to pleasure. He never lost interest +in his art, but he was impelled to adopt a more facile manner by the +pressure of his engagements and his ever-increasing expenses. + +He kept a country house at Eltham in Kent, where he spent the summer--a +form of extravagance more defensible than many in which he was +accustomed to indulge. + +Meanwhile, he had contracted a marriage with Mary Ruthven, +granddaughter of Lord Ruthven, Earl of Cowrie, by whom he had one +daughter. His wife, however, brought him no dowrie, but was considered +one of the greatest beauties of her time. Soon after his marriage he +left England with his wife for the purpose of showing her his native +country. They travelled for some time, visiting his family and +friends. Then the idea occurred to him that he would proceed to Paris, +with a view of sharing, if possible, in the contemplated decoration of +the Louvre, and thus win laurels equal to those Rubens had gained by +his works in the Luxembourg. He arrived, however, too late: Nicholas +Poussin had been brought specially from Rome for the purpose, and the +work was in hand. Disappointed in this, and still desiring to execute +some great work by which he might secure a lasting renown, he returned +to England and proposed to the king, through the medium of his old and +trusty friend Sir Kenelm Digby, to embellish the wall of the Banqueting +House at Whitehall with the history of the Order of the Garter. The +ceiling of this sumptuous chamber had already been painted by Rubens, +and Van Dyck no doubt considered that his work would blend admirably +with that of his master. The sum he asked for, £8000, although +considerable, would no doubt not have stood in the way of the execution +of the project had it occurred at an earlier date in the reign of the +unfortunate Charles. The kingdom, however, was already in a turbulent +condition. Funds were scarce, and such as existed might have to be +employed at any moment in raising an army to defend the king's cause. +Charles was now occupied in a life-and-death struggle with his people, +and had no time to devote to artistic pursuits. Van Dyck consequently +waited in vain for an answer, and it is to be supposed that meanwhile +commissions did not come to him as easily as formerly. Young as he +still was, the effects of his past luxurious life were beginning to +tell upon him, and, coupled with the disappointment occasioned by the +rejection of his proposal, contributed to bring on gout. He began to +have financial worries too, but these can hardly have been sufficiently +great to have troubled him much, for he left at his death property to +the value of £20,000. He therefore turned his attention, probably in +emulation, or by the advice, of his friend Sir Kenelm Digby, to the +pursuit of the philosopher's stone, and, needless to say, the results +of his experiments and the money he expended upon them only aggravated +the state of his health. He rapidly sickened, and died in London on +December 9th, 1641, when forty-two years of age. He was accorded a +magnificent funeral in St. Paul's Cathedral, and was buried in a tomb +beside that of John of Gaunt. + + + + +V + +VAN DYCK'S POSITION IN ART + +During the past twenty years the public has become so educated in +matters artistic that it wishes at once to definitely assign a certain +position to an artist with whose works it is familiar. We live in an +age of comparison, and as opportunities for its exercise, owing to the +cheapening of travel, are so manifestly improved of recent years, a +more just estimation exists in the mind of the public regarding an +artist's worth than formerly. Van Dyck, as I said at the beginning of +the opening chapter, has never fallen from the high position he +occupied in his own day. He has always appealed to the student and the +artist of every nationality, and if we survey portrait painting since +his day, we shall see that he has exercised more influence than any +other artist who has ever lived. It may be said that Titian, for a +couple of centuries after his death, was the idol almost exclusively +worshipped, and that during the last fifty years Velazquez and +Rembrandt have been the ideals painters have dangled before the public +and themselves. But both of these mighty masters have had their ups +and downs. The genius of Rembrandt was certainly not appreciated until +the end of the eighteenth century, and even then his stupendous powers +were not recognised as they have been in our own day. + +The worship of Velazquez is quite a modern institution, and it is not +at all unlikely, in the opinion of well-informed critics, that if his +influence, which has now reached a decadent stage, is not curtailed it +will create as much havoc amongst modern portrait painters as the +example of Constable has had upon certain phases of landscape painting. + +It can never be laid to the charge of Van Dyck that any period of his +art has exercised a permanently baneful influence. True, immediately +after the Restoration, a school arose, headed by Sir Peter Lely and Sir +Godfrey Kneller, who claimed to have followed the traditions of Van +Dyck. It requires, however, but little comparison between even his +later and slighter works and those of Lely, who was incomparably the +greatest of the portrait painters working in England in the interval +between Van Dyck and Hogarth, to see how far below Van Dyck's standard +portrait painting had fallen, and how little of his method there was +left in it. + +Van Dyck has exercised more influence in England than abroad. Many of +our greatest eighteenth-century portrait painters have largely formed +themselves upon his example. Gainsborough was the most conspicuous +instance of this. From his earliest days he worshipped the great +Fleming, and that the spell never left him may be gauged from his dying +words: "We are all going to Heaven, and Van Dyck is of the company." +Even prior to his departure for Bath, his portraits possessed many of +the qualities of Van Dyck, but after arriving in the western city, then +the centre of a rich and fashionable world, he had manifold +opportunities of studying his favourite master. His brushwork became +at once more refined, his colouring more transparent, and his method in +every way more facile. Before leaving Bath he had produced portraits +which are worthy to be placed alongside those of Van Dyck, and after a +few years' residence in London had created those marvels of the brush +which contend for supremacy with the finest works of the Fleming. For +example, what portrait of the latter master could be cited to surpass +the portrait of Mrs. Graham in the Gallery at Edinburgh, the superb +group at Dulwich, or the "Blue Boy," in the possession of the Duke of +Westminster? + +Reynolds appears to have worked more in emulation of Titian than Van +Dyck. He painted in a solider and apparently slower manner, and if the +slickness--if I may be allowed an Americanism--of the Flemish master +appealed to him, it yet had no visible effect upon his own technique. + +The minor masters of our school demonstrate materially how much they +owed to Van Dyck. Allan Ramsay and Cotes bear adequate witness of this. + +Full justice, however, has not been done to the good wrought for +English art by his immediate followers and pupils. It is only of late +years that the portraits of old Stone are beginning to be sorted out +from those of the later period of Van Dyck. Stone was occupied in +copying or making replicas of the portraits of Van Dyck, and so well +did he succeed in his task that, even to this day, numerous works by +him are to be found in the country houses of England passing under the +name of the great master. + +====================================================================== + +PLATE VIII.--THE MARCHESE CATTANEO + +(In the National Gallery) + +In spite of its somewhat bad condition this portrait is an excellent +specimen of Van Dyck's Genoese period. It was achieved about the same +time as the two magnificent pictures in the Scottish National Gallery, +the Lomellini family and the portrait of an unknown Italian nobleman. +Its recent entry into the National Gallery filled a gap in our +representation of the great Fleming. + +[Illustration: Plate VIII.] + +====================================================================== + +Then we have William Dobson, whose works are worthy of yet more study +than has hitherto been accorded them. He did not long survive Van +Dyck, dying in 1646 at the early age of thirty-six. He was probably +the most gifted of all his pupils, and had he lived at any other period +would probably have been held in great estimation. There is an +excellent example of his brush in the National Gallery, the portrait of +Endymion Porter, groom of the bedchamber of Charles I. In many of the +other examples strewn about the country he shows yet a greater approach +to Van Dyck. Still, the Trafalgar Square picture is a worthy example +of his powers at his best. His masculine handling and sense of colour +place him, from a purely artistic point of view, far above such men as +Lely and Kneller, who followed him. + +Another painter who wrought excellent work under the Commonwealth was +Robert Walker. He was much patronised by Oliver Cromwell and his +party. He appears to have been one of the few portrait painters who +flourished at this time. He acquired in a remarkable manner the liquid +and transparent style affected by Van Dyck during his last years in +England, and coupling with this remarkable powers of fidelity, his +portraits possess great attractions for the artist as well as the +student of history. + +As I have already said, the influence of Van Dyck upon the painters who +flourished throughout the three succeeding reigns was a decadent one. +Sir Peter Lely, who came to England, at the age of twenty-three, with +the Prince of Orange, the son-in-law of Charles I., was the best of all +these men. He was born in Westphalia, of Dutch parentage, and was +educated in the school of Pieter Fransz de Grebber at Haarlem. But his +entire method was built upon Van Dyck. He seems not to have had a bad +time under the Commonwealth, for he was employed to paint Cromwell's +portrait. It is said that he had instructions upon this occasion to +paint him, "warts, pimples, and all." It was not, however, till +Charles II. had ascended the throne that he reached the zenith of his +fame. Then came the long series of ladies of the Court with which we +are so familiar. They are all set in the same artificial setting, a +landscape half conventional, half natural in feeling, a languid and +somewhat haughty air about the heads, together with draperies destined +to accentuate the artificial appearance of the whole portrait. One can +see at a glance that it was from Van Dyck he had learned the placing +and handling of the heads, hands, and backgrounds, but what a +monotonous procession it is. In order to appreciate the +superficialities of Lely a number of his portraits must be seen +together. We then see how monotonous he was, how few of those +qualities he possessed which go to make up a great artist. That he had +a considerable amount of technique at his command can be seen in such +portraits as the "Duchess of Cleveland" in the National Portrait +Gallery, but in others again he fell so far below this level of +excellence, that one is sometimes tempted to reject many perfectly +glorious pictures as not being from his hand. + +The art of Lely had attained great popularity amongst the aristocracy +whose lives called into being the decadent art of this period. All who +sought the public favour tried to catch his manner, and hence arose +quite a number of imitators. Occasionally Lely was surpassed by some +of his scholars. For example, John Greenhill absorbed more of the real +qualities of Van Dyck than his master. The remarkable portrait in the +Gallery of Dulwich College shows unmistakable signs of genius of a high +order, and had he not fallen into irregular habits and died at the age +of thirty-two he might have achieved great things. + +Sir Godfrey Kneller, who followed Lely, was infinitely inferior to him +as an artist. He claimed, too, to continue the Van Dyck tradition, but +by this time the art of portrait painting had sunk into such a +deplorable condition, owing to the depravity of public taste and to the +slavish imitation of the brilliant Fleming, that there are few of his +pictures that appeal in the least to the artistic sense. It was not +until the great period of English painting, beginning with Hogarth, of +which I have already spoken, that the downward career of painting in +this country was finally checked. + +So far our attention has been devoted to discovering the visible effect +of Van Dyck's art upon his contemporaries and followers. The fact that +on the whole his influence was decadent in this direction must not +allow us to detract from his own qualities. We must rather search for +the reasons which caused his art to retain such a hold upon generations +of English painters. It must not be forgotten that Van Dyck's +profession in England was essentially that of a portrait painter, and +he was employed by the aristocracy exclusively. He, indeed, may be +called the aristocratic painter _par excellence_, and in this respect +does not yield to either Titian or Velazquez. It was, however, when he +strayed from his normal course that he revealed his deficiencies; the +few extant portraits of the lower classes demonstrate amply how +unsuited he was to portraying any below the upper ranks of life. To +every plebeian sitter he imparted an air of gentility and distinction +quite out of keeping. Until the advent of Wilson and Gainsborough, +portraiture was the sole art, at any rate, as far as painting is +concerned, that flourished in England. Its patrons were all of the +upper classes, and the Van Dyck manner, which by this time had become a +tradition, was recognised by both artists and sitters as the best +suited to their purpose. It was only in the eighteenth century that +the general financial and educational uplifting of the middle classes +called into being that naturalist school which finally drove all others +from the field. + +It is probable, however, that the painters who worked so slavishly in +Van Dyck's English manner had never become acquainted with his finest +achievements in portraiture. With few exceptions these were executed +before he settled permanently in England. + +It is practically certain that Gainsborough, for example, had never +seen such portraits as the Philippe le Roy and his wife, now among the +greatest treasures of Hertford House, which date from the years between +1628-32. It was then that Van Dyck had reached his maximum +development, and it is by the portraits he made in the ten years round +about this date that he will probably be judged by posterity. The +facile ease and silvery liquidity of his latter manner may have an +irresistible charm for those who have not studied the master very +deeply, but for the artist and the student the works he had achieved, +before success had crowned his efforts in the same measure that it did +shortly after his arrival here, will ever remain the standard by which +to judge him. + +At this time he displayed great assiduity to learn anything he could +either from his predecessors or from his contemporaries. In this +connection it may not be out of place to relate a story, the truth of +which has frequently been challenged. + +Having come across some portraits by Franz Hals, and being very anxious +to see the master at work, he made a journey to Haarlem. Upon +inquiring at the Dutchman's studio, he found that Hals was at his usual +tavern. He accordingly sent word to him that a stranger was waiting to +have his portrait painted, and that he had but two hours to give him +before leaving the town. Hals arrived immediately, and, in view of the +shortness of time at his disposal, set to work with a will. Van Dyck, +who, needless to say, had not been recognised, remarked, as Hals was +putting on the finishing touches, that painting seemed a very easy +process, and asked to be allowed to try his hand. Accordingly they +changed places, and Hals soon perceived that the stranger was no novice +in the handling of the brush. As the work proceeded his curiosity +became more and more whetted, and finally, unable to restrain his +curiosity any longer, he went over to see how the work was progressing. +One can imagine his surprise when he saw a masterly portrait in process +of completion, and, recognising the handling, immediately cried out: +"Why, you are none other than Van Dyck, for he alone could have +achieved what you have done." + +As an historical painter he takes a very high rank amongst +seventeenth-century masters; he was far ahead in vigour of treatment +and in strength of brushwork of any of his contemporaries in Italy. +The school of Bologna, whilst possessing a refinement he never +attained, is effeminate in comparison with him. Their very eclecticism +prevented them giving free rein to their fancy, and consequently the +great majority of their works possess a restraint of feeling, coupled +with a perfection of execution, which neither Rubens nor Van Dyck +surpassed. + +Van Dyck certainly stands out as the greatest scholar of Rubens in +every way. His fellow-pupils whom he left behind in Flanders could not +compare with him. The works of the cleverest of them, Caspar de +Grayer, appear formal, indeed, when compared with any of the stupendous +religious compositions still preserved in the great churches of his +native country. Their chief merit is, as I have before said, in the +exceedingly human presentment of the subject. The sense of physical +pain and of human brutality has never been better treated, and, if at +times he carries this quality to a painful degree, no charge could be +levelled against him on the score of feebleness or of lack of +thoroughness in making his meaning quite clear. + +As compared with similar works by Rubens they possess an interest for +us which the latter cannot always command, by reason of their being +conceived and finished by the master himself, whereas those of Rubens, +more often than not, were only worked upon by the master after pupils +had carried out the greater part of the work. + +Van Dyck's religious and historical pictures belong to the period of +his career when his execution was at its zenith, and consequently they +possess an extraordinary degree of interest to the artist. + +It is, however, to his early years that one must turn to form a just +estimation of his abilities, and in his finest works he takes his place +beside Titian and Velazquez, Rembrandt and Holbein, amongst the +greatest masters of portrait painting who have ever lived. + + + + + The plates are printed by BEMROSE & SONS, LTD., London & Derby + The text at the BALLANTYNE PRESS, Edinburgh + + + + + IN THE SAME SERIES + + + ARTIST. AUTHOR. + + VELAZQUEZ. S. L. BENSUSAN. + REYNOLDS. S. L. BENSUSAN. + TURNER. C. LEWIS HIND. + ROMNEY. C. LEWIS HIND. + GREUZE. ALYS EYRE MACKLIN. + BOTTICELLI. HENRY B. BINNS. + ROSSETTI. LUCIEN PISSARRO. + BELLINI. GEORGE HAY. + FRA ANGELICO. JAMES MASON. + REMBRANDT. JOSEF ISRAELS. + LEIGHTON. A. LYS BALDRY. + RAPHAEL. PAUL G. KONODY. + HOLMAN HUNT. MARY E. COLERIDGE. + TITIAN. S. L. BENSUSAN. + MILLAIS. A. LYS BALDRY. + CARLO DOLCI. GEORGE HAY. + GAINSBOROUGH. MAX ROTHSCHILD. + TINTORETTO. S. L. BENSUSAN. + LUINI. JAMES MASON. + FRANZ HALS. EDGCUMBE STALEY. + VAN DYCK. PERCY M. TURNER. + + + _In Preparation_ + + WHISTLER. T. MARTIN WOOD. + LEONARDO DA VINCI. M. W. BROCKWELL. + RUBENS. S. L. BENSUSAN. + BURNE-JONES. A. LYS BALDRY. + J. F. MILLET. PERCY M. TURNER. + CHARDIN. PAUL G. KONODY. + FRAGONARD. C. HALDANE MACFALL. + HOLBEIN. S. L. BENSUSAN. + BOUCHER. C. HALDANE MACFALL. + VIGÉE LE BRUN. C. HALDANE MACFALL. + WATTEAU. C. LEWIS HIND. + MURILLO. S. L. BENSUSAN. + + AND OTHERS. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Van Dyck, by Percy M. Turner + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43001 *** |