The Standard Galleries - Holland Part 2

=Group of Four Burgomasters.=--The portrait is painted on oak, as is also that of the Amsterdam Burgomasters Deliberating with Regard to the Visit of Marie de Medici to that city. This very small picture, in which the figures are only eight and a half inches high, was painted by De Keijser in 1638, when the widow of the French King Henri IV. visited Amsterdam.

"It is no small glory," says Blanc, "for De Keijser to have painted a picture which in value of execution may be placed between the Peace of Munster and the Syndics by Rembrandt."

=Description of the Figures.=--Here we find four burgomasters sitting around a table covered with a green cloth in an austere hall, whose gray walls are broken by niches containing statues. These four old men--Abraham Boom, Petrus Ha.s.selaer, Albert Coenraet Burgh, and Antonie Oetgens van Waveren--are dressed in black and wear black felt hats unadorned with plumes. Their grave deliberations regarding the entertainment of the royal guest are interrupted by the entrance of the lawyer, Cornelis van Davelaer, who, hat in hand, salutes them with the greatest respect, as he announces the arrival of Marie de Medici.

=Blanc's Opinion of the Picture.=--Blanc, who greatly admires this picture, calls attention to the fact that no useless piece of furniture or accessory of any kind disturbs the solemnity of this little scene, which, on account of the simple manner in which it is conceived, is great, notwithstanding its size. He says:

"With the exception of Rembrandt, I do not know of a single Dutch painter, not even Van der Helst (who painted such great canvases), who would not have belittled his picture, either by elegance of touch and finish, or by the richness of the costumes and arms, or by the effect of a carpet variegated with a thousand shades. I imagine that Gerard Ter Borch, in spite of his habitual dignity, would have found some pretext for introducing into his composition a beautiful sword with a baudrick, a crossbow, or a chandelier; that Metsu would certainly have found some excuse for placing a richly chiselled silver _aiguiere_ or a golden goblet on the table; and I am sure that through the door by which the lawyer, Davelaer, enters, Pieter de Hooch would have let you see the antechamber of the Council, with its high chairs covered with Utrecht velvet, or a winding stairway, or a distant door opening into a garden or street. The attention would then have been somewhat distracted by the very striking accessories, or by the optical charm of the chiaroscuro. Here we find nothing of the kind; not a single concession to conventional treatment. By the gravity of their att.i.tude, we see that these four citizens, chosen by a free people who sit here with covered heads, express in themselves the majesty of the United Provinces, and they consider themselves of equal rank with the Queen of France, whose arrival is being announced; you feel at once that they bring a plebeian pride to their magnificent reception of that princess who was, like them, originally from a republic of merchants. All the costumes being black,--that beautiful, warm, transparent, silky black peculiar to Velasquez and Anthonis Moro,--you only notice in this picture the hands and the heads. The heads have an expression that will remain engraven in the mind forever, for the painter has accented them so deeply, and brought into contrast both physical and moral features. Notwithstanding their individuality, they all have a certain grandeur. The peculiar trait of this master, however, is the neutral background, the exquisite sobriety of the tone of the wall, recalling the beautiful gray of the great Spanish painter; and from this stand out the black of the doublets and the white collars."

Blanc also calls attention to the splendid painting of the faces: the eyes sunken by age, the wrinkles of the skin, and the withered cheeks.

Bredius writes:

"What character has the artist put into these heads! We feel at once that it must have been this kind of men who conducted Amsterdam to greatness and fame. What worth and dignity in the way they hold themselves! What self-confidence in the proud glance!"

=Other Portraits in the Mauritshuis.=--Of other notable portraits in the Mauritshuis there are three by Moreelse (one of himself); six by Honthorst, including one of a child gathering fruit, originally in the Castle of Honsholredijk; nine by Mierevelt (chiefly of various Princes of Orange); three by Ravesteyn, one a group; two by Moro, one of a goldsmith, the other supposed to be Prince William I. in his youth; three by Netscher; Ter Borch's of himself; two by Frans van Mieris; one by Cuijp, and other examples by Rubens and Van Dijck.

=Ferdinand Bol's Pay for Portraits.=--Of Rembrandt's numerous pupils, one of the most eminent in portraiture was Ferdinand Bol (1616-80), whose earliest signed work is dated 1642. In his earliest period he devoted himself chiefly to large pictures of Biblical subjects; but, like many other artists, he very soon found that there was a great deal more money to be made in portraiture. At that time, when photography was unknown, it was only natural that everybody who could afford it had his picture painted. From the burgomaster to the ordinary tailor or skipper--all wanted to have pictures of themselves and their families hanging on their own walls; and the purchaser could indulge himself in this natural vanity at comparatively small cost, for the demand naturally increased the supply; and there were only too many painters who were glad enough to serve their patrons. As the artists became famous their prices naturally increased; and some received higher pay than others who to-day have a greater reputation. Rembrandt probably received as much as anybody else for a time; but at the end of his life there was a greater demand for portraits by others, such as Maes, who were more pliant to the changing mode. Rembrandt received 500 gulden each for his famous portraits, whilst others were content with 150, 100, and even 30 or 40 gulden. Caspar Netscher, for instance, received only from 50 to 70 gulden for his elegantly finished pictures. The usual custom was for an artist to paint portraits for a living, meanwhile working and developing himself along the lines of his special genius.

Thus we find several of the Little Masters practically relinquishing portraiture as soon as they had made a big reputation in _genre_, or other fields.

=Bol's Work in Portraiture.=--Bol was a portrait-painter exclusively; he married first in 1653, and a second time in 1669. Probably both wives belonged to rich and important families, for Bol was kept busy his whole life long and became wealthy, dying in 1680 in his beautiful house with its fine grounds and stables.

With him, as with so many other successful painters, his last pictures were not his best. In his earlier portraits he represents his sitters in beautiful chiaroscuro. The painting is broad and spirited; the color strong and brilliant. He painted so much in Rembrandt's style at first that many of Bol's pictures have been taken for those of his master; and later, when Bol's reputation had faded, unscrupulous dealers did not hesitate to change his signature on the canvases for that of Rembrandt.

A celebrated instance of this practice is the so-called Portrait of Flinck and his Wife in Munich, which by many connoisseurs was long admired as Rembrandt's work; but, by Hauser's skill, the false Rembrandt signature was obliterated and the real one of Bol brought to light.

=Bol's Portrait of De Ruyter's Son.=--The Mauritshuis owns one of the best portraits by Bol, painted in his later period, that of the handsome twenty-year-old son of the great Admiral de Ruyter. This son, Engel de Ruyter, was born in 1649 and died in 1683. Bol painted him in the year 1669, as may be seen by the date on the picture. It is only quite recently that the pendant, a portrait of the great Admiral de Ruyter, has come to be regarded as a copy after Bol. The charming little marine in the picture is undoubtedly by the hand of Willem van de Velde the younger, and adds greatly to the interest of the painting because it is of itself a fine picture of that great master. In many of his later portraits, Bol is somewhat dull in his color and painted them too rapidly, besides giving to his flesh too strong a red-rose tint; but that cannot be said of him in this case, where he has done his very best. In particular, he has handled the rich costume with affectionate and masterful touch.

[Ill.u.s.tration: F. BOL Admiral de Ruyter]

=Description of the Sitter.=--The genial countenance, which displays none of the real martial type of his celebrated father, rises finely out of the red drapery. The bearing is elegant, though perhaps there is a little too much pose in it. The portrait is particularly interesting, because the sitter had a career of great promise which was cut short all too soon. Nine years after the portrait was painted, the youth had already risen to the rank of Vice-Admiral and had been created a Spanish count, having also refused the t.i.tle of duke; but before he had attained thirty-four years of age, he died, not a hero's death like his father, as he had desired, but in his own luxurious dwelling in Amsterdam.

However, he had already while very young fought valiantly beside his father in the Battle of Solebay.

=A Picture by Salomon Koninck.=--Another pupil of Rembrandt whom we shall see in the Rijks is G. van den Eeckhout. A picture formerly attributed to him, the Adoration of the Magi, is now known to be by Salomon Koninck (1618-88). One of the Magi in a red cloak is kneeling before the Infant Jesus and another on the right wears a golden mantle.

The color is vigorous and the work shows the knowledge of chiaroscuro for which Rembrandt's school was so famous.

=Two Pictures by Nicholas Maes.=--Nicholas Maes (1632-93) is represented in the Mauritshuis by only two pictures,--one of them of questionable origin, moreover; and therefore the student must go to Amsterdam for varied examples of his work. The portrait here is that of the Grand Pensionary, Jakob Cats, an original replica of which hangs in the Budapesth gallery. Diana and Her Nymphs shows some of the qualities to be expected of one who worked in Rembrandt's studio for eighteen years; but it is now sometimes attributed to Vermeer of Delft. The signature, "N. M. 1650," is said to be false.

=Maes's Work as a Portrait-Painter.=--Maes was a pupil of Rembrandt and became a very successful portrait-painter by copying the master's style.

He soon became rich by his talents, his wit, his polished manners, and by flattering his sitters. He charged high prices for his pictures; and he deserved his great reputation. The chiaroscuro of his paintings is very vigorous. If the shadows are not heavily ma.s.sed as with Rembrandt, they are at least strongly accented; and, as the half-tones are very summary, the pa.s.sage from light to dark is very brusque, and by this means the painter attains a powerful effect and strong relief.

=His Visit to Jordaens at Antwerp.=--Having become rich, and getting tired of everlastingly painting the rich burghers of Amsterdam and their wives, Maes thought he would like to go to see the works of the great artists of Antwerp, who at that time were so much talked about throughout Europe. Having been initiated into the high freemasonry of art by Rembrandt, he was cordially received by the Antwerp painters and soon recognized by them as a brother. Among others, he went to visit Jordaens and was shown into a room filled with pictures, which he examined while awaiting the appearance of the latter, who was watching his visitor through the keyhole. When he entered, Jordaens said: "I see plainly that you are a great connoisseur, or perhaps an able painter, for the best pictures in my gallery detained you longer than the others."

Maes simply replied, "I am a portrait-painter."

"In that case," replied Jordaens, "I sincerely pity you. So you also are one of those martyrs of painting who so richly deserve our commiseration!"

In fact, Maes's weariness at having to put up with the whims of human vanity probably had much to do with his turning to _genre_, by which he is now best known and for which he is most highly prized.

=Maes's Pictures of Familiar Scenes.=--The average art-lover, however, cares little for the portraiture of Maes, but prizes him as a painter of familiar scenes, like Pieter de Hooch. Although less varied and less supple, but not less robust than the latter, Maes was his equal in the power of his effects. The triviality of the subject which he often selects is relieved by the charm of an astonishingly vigorous and spirited execution. Burger says:

"On pa.s.sing through a kitchen, perhaps, you see an old woman sc.r.a.ping carrots, having various kitchen utensils about her. If you have seen this humble interior in one of Maes's pictures, it will be impossible for you not to halt and spend some time in looking at it. The painting of Nicholas Maes is one of those that become encrusted in the memory.

The light gleams in it, the canvas glows, the subject stands out, the eye runs over it, and if the figures were of natural size one would go forward to meet them, so strong is the impression, so solid is the tone, so palpable, and modelled in relief are the forms.

"In his little familiar scenes, Maes is not always insignificant or vulgar in his choice of subject. Most often, indeed, his composition is ingenious, witty, and piquant. In the first place, it is set in the most picturesque corner of the room; the painter likes to take up his position in a place whence he can see at once the house from top to bottom,--both the stairs descending to the cellar and those mounting to the first floor. Then the figures he brings into the scene usually have some malicious trick to play, some secret conversation to overhear, some theft to discover, or some infidelity to discover."

=Samuel van Hoogstraaten.=--It is singular how few pictures are known by Rembrandt's remarkable pupil, Samuel van Hoogstraaten (1625-78), a versatile painter of landscapes, portraits, marines, architecture, fruits, flowers, and, more particularly, interiors, in which he followed Pieter de Hooch. In his Lady in a Vestibule he has demonstrated his knowledge of perspective, of which he was very proud. The chief feature of the picture, however, is the beautiful chiaroscuro, for which he has to thank Rembrandt's teaching. The lady is walking in a portico of very fine architecture, and reading. With one hand she is holding up her straw-colored dress. This figure is only two feet high, while the spaniel that accompanies her is life size!

=Effects of Rembrandt's Teaching on his Pupils.=--Thirty of Rembrandt's pupils made great names for themselves by copying that great master in one or other of his manners. Some made a system of what with him was merely a mood or caprice. Not being able to follow him in the expression of the human soul, they made a specialty, some of portraiture, some of costume, some of chiaroscuro, some of _genre_, and some of landscape.

=Philip Koninck's Landscapes.=--Philip Koninck (1619-88) is almost the only pupil of Rembrandt who painted landscapes almost exclusively, and he listened to the teachings of his master with great docility. His principle was to regard nature from a little distance, so as to grasp the ma.s.ses, rather than to enter into details. The Mauritshuis possesses a beautiful and characteristic specimen of his genius. In composition and treatment, it reminds us of Rembrandt's Landscape of the Three Trees.[2] Blanc says:

"Among the Dutch landscape painters perhaps there is not one, unless it is Van der Hagen, who would have dared to paint this monotonous plain, all the lines of which are horizontal, all the clumps and rows of trees of the same height, and in which the only objects in the foreground are a cottage half hidden among trees, and, a little farther on, a low sandy hill which does not rise beyond the level of the middle distance. The vast stretch of country is traversed by so many courses of water that it almost looks as if it were threatened with an inundation. The meadows are on a level with the sea; the distant villages look like flotillas at anchor, and the houses seem to be floating on the ca.n.a.ls. The painter has placed his point of view so high that neither the sails of the windmills, nor the points of the belfries, nor the tops of the highest trees stand out against the sky.

The picture is cut in half by the almost straight line of a horizon which gradually recedes until lost to view, and the towns we perceive in the distance, the rows of trees, the hamlets, and rivers all run parallel with this horizon. That is to say, that Philip Koninck (and this picture resembles all the others of his we know) is conceived entirely at variance with the ideas that are generally held regarding the picturesque."

Gilpin says:

"'The greatest enemies of the picturesque are the symmetry of the forms, the resemblance and parallelism of the lines, the polish of the surfaces, and the uniformity of the colors.'

"Very well! Here is a landscape by Koninck that fulfils all the conditions of the non-picturesque; and which, nevertheless, produces a certain impression of grandeur and sadness, solely by means of the canvas being furrowed into infinite depths, the gradations of the perspective being extremely well observed, and the uniformity of the ground being happily contrasted with a sky full of movement, a fine disorder of clouds which the breeze slowly drives before it as a shepherd does his flock."

=Dutch Painters who imitated Italians.=--Rembrandt, although he arose at a time when the influence of Italian art was supreme, never went to Rome; nevertheless, he owed a great deal to the studies of those artists who had been there. The Hague Gallery contains several pictures of this period; and these are sufficient to give us a very good idea of the qualities of Dutch art just before Rembrandt, in 1629, set up for himself in Amsterdam at the age of twenty-one.

=Hendrik Goltzius.=--An influential founder of a large school of painters who modelled themselves on the great Italians was Hendrik Goltzius (1558-1616). He started for Rome in 1590, and indulged to the full his intense admiration for Michelangelo, which led him to surpa.s.s that master in the extravagance of his designs. The works by his own hand he most valued were his eccentric imitations of the designs of Michelangelo. His portraits show exquisite finish, and are fine studies of character. The beauty and freedom of his execution make amends for his extravagance. In the Mauritshuis are three pictures painted shortly before he died--Mercury, Hercules, and Minerva.

=His Academy at Haarlem.=--On his return from Italy Mander, who was a great friend of Goltzius, induced him to open an academy at Haarlem, in combination with Mander and Cornelisz, and with the a.s.sistance of his old pupils, Matham, Muller, Sanraedam, and De Gheyn, as professors. As might be expected, Italian taste predominated in this academy, not solely on account of the personal preference of the founders, but because the Italian style had been popularized in the Low Countries by Lambert Lombard, and his pupils, Hubert Golz, Lambert Zutman, Dominic Lampson, William Key, and Frans Floris (1518-70). Of these the most famous was Floris, who also studied in Italy, and himself founded a large school. The Hague possesses in Venus and Adonis a charming example of his style.

=The Italian Style followed by Cornelisz.=--Cornelis Cornelisz (1562-1638) had never been to Italy, but his education and environment had given him Italian tendencies. We learn that even after he had attained proficiency he never dispensed with the model; nevertheless, he was neither a slavish imitator of nature, nor altogether a painter of style. He has two large pictures in The Hague Gallery that were painted about the time he joined Goltzius in the Haarlem academy. These are the Ma.s.sacre of the Innocents (1591) and the Marriage of Peleus and Thetis (1593). The dominating idea of the artist in the Ma.s.sacre of the Innocents, which covers a canvas 8-3/4 by 8-1/4 feet, is the wish to appear a great master of drawing by curves and modeling that exaggerate the relief of the muscles. There are more than two hundred figures which are almost all entirely nude. The executioners, and the infants in particular, show an attempt at n.o.ble form which rises above nothing more than affectation. There is an obvious striving after the genius of Michelangelo which, in the Dutch master, is merely pretentious imitation of what would be facile and superb in the great Florentine. There is not a single att.i.tude nor a movement that is not _contrasted_; for instance, if the left arm is behind, the right leg is in front. In fact, the study of nature is completely subordinated to academic conventions. The color is far more natural than the drawing. The artist has been extremely successful in rendering the flesh tints of life as well as of death, and he has varied the _nuances_ in accordance with s.e.x and age, giving very faithfully the tenderness and freshness of the flesh tints of infancy, and the softness of the female form, the stronger tones of the executioners in action, and even the cadaverous hue of the bloodless corpses. As for the expressions of the faces, they are vulgar though energetic.

=His Love of painting the Nude.=--The love of Cornelisz for compositions thronged with nude figures in the most varied att.i.tudes wherein he could exhibit all the resources of his learning and study of the works of Michelangelo is again shown in the large canvas, measuring 8 by 14 feet, ent.i.tled Banquet of the G.o.ds of Olympus, or Marriage of Peleus and Thetis.

=Gilles Coignet.=--Cornelisz had received his tastes and instruction princ.i.p.ally from Gilles Coignet (1540-99), who set out for Italy with another painter named Stello in 1555 and worked princ.i.p.ally at Terni, between Loretto and Rome, for five years. He painted historical and mythological subjects of easel size, but was more successful in landscapes, and more particularly in candle-light subjects and moonlight. He took up his abode in Amsterdam in 1586. His influence on the Haarlem school was p.r.o.nounced.

=Elsheimer's Excellence in Chiaroscuro.=--The Mauritshuis possesses two Italian Landscapes by Adam Elsheimer (Elshaimer or Elzheimer) (1574-1620), a German painter, whom the Italians call Adam Tedesco, who possessed great influence over his contemporaries, particularly the elder Teniers and Rembrandt, who followed out the same characteristics of chiaroscuro. Elsheimer delighted in the effects of moonlight and evening dusk; also in torchlight, conflagrations, and every other kind of artificial light,--all of which he represented with greater excellence than had ever been done before him. Visiting Italy, he became charmed with the country and settled in Rome, where his little pictures, usually painted on copper with microscopic and beautifully finished figures, had great success. Elsheimer was visited by all the artists of his country, including Poelemburg, who saw him in 1617. He was almost as great in chiaroscuro as Rembrandt; and his immense reputation did not diminish until after the eighteenth century.

=Cornelis van Poelemburg.=--A picture of Women Bathing, by Cornelis van Poelemburg (1586-1667), is a fine example of his style. He studied first under Bloemaert, but during a protracted visit to Italy he fell under the influence of Elsheimer; and on his return to his own country he became quite the rage as a painter of cla.s.sic landscape. In Rome he had been fascinated by Raphael's pictures, and studied him with affectionate admiration. Poelemburg possessed a happy and tranquil nature.

=His Attractive Landscapes.=--"The little pictures that his imagination painted breathe a quiet happiness, and are imprinted with a suave poesy. They nearly always represent a countryside adorned with ancient ruins and frequented by demi-nude nymphs. His landscapes, enveloped in vapor which, while decreasing the dryness of the outlines and crudity of the tones, would soften the aspect of the most rugged spots, serve as a background for the whiteness of the G.o.ddesses who dance with fauns or repose in the shade of some abandoned monument. Sometimes, as though the vale that they dwell in were reserved for the G.o.ds, Poelemburg's nymphs do not fear to remove their light vesture and bathe in some open pool where only the painter may see them. But, most frequently, it is in the neighborhood of a grotto, at the foot of rocks perpetually washed by a spring of fresh water, that one likes to surprise them, nude, trembling, their bodies rendered whiter by the transparent veil of the atmosphere, playing with the water they are disturbing, swimming after one another and half-hidden by the current of their chaste fountains."

=Dutch Artists who migrated to Rome.=--Bartholomeus Breenborch (1599-1659) was another member of that band of artists who at the beginning of the seventeenth century deserted the banks of the Meuse for those of the Tiber, and exchanged the land that was to produce Rembrandt for the country of Raphael's birth. A few Dutch artists successfully resisted the lures of the Eternal City; but the majority of painters of that period followed the example of Elsheimer, Poelemburg, Karel Dujardin, Herman Swanevelt, Andreas and Jan Both, and others, and formed a little Dutch colony among the Seven Hills.

=Breenborch compared with Poelemburg.=--Breenborch devoted himself to history and landscape alternately. His historical subjects were chiefly Biblical and mythological. He was fond of painting cla.s.sical landscapes with ruins; and the only artist who could excel him in painting charming little figures in a landscape was Van de Velde. The chief characteristic of Poelemburg, with whom Breenborch is so often compared, is grace. The only picture of this artist in The Hague Gallery, Mercury appearing to the Nymph Herse, resembles Poelemburg both in subject and treatment.

=Van der Ulft's Architectural Paintings.=--Van der Ulft (1627-90), another artist of this school, was originally a painter on gla.s.s.

Later, he turned to historical compositions of small dimensions; but his real talent lay in the representation of architectural monuments, and scenes inside city walls. It is strange that he never visited Italy, but formed himself by the study of the works of returning Roman art pilgrims and of engravings. His perspective is exact; his ancient ruins, triumphal arches, and statues are correctly placed in his pictures, and his architectural backgrounds, abounding in strong and golden grays, form an excellent frame for the little figures that animate his spirited paintings. He delighted to paint Roman processions. The Hague picture shows an army on the march in a landscape adorned with architectural remains.

=Nicolas Moeyaert's Best Points.=--A follower of Elsheimer, who later became a disciple of Rembrandt, was Nicolas Moeyaert (1630-?), who settled in Amsterdam in 1624 and joined the Painters' Guild in 1630. In some of his pictures he imitated Rembrandt very closely. He excelled in portraits, animals, landscapes, and historical and Biblical scenes. The Hague Gallery contains three: Mercury appearing to the Nymph Herse; Triumph of Silenus, and a Biblical scene, also called the Visit of Antiochus to the Augur.

=Description of one of his Pictures.=--Antiochus, about to engage in a war, is consulting the augur. In the centre stands the king dressed in a long blue robe, with a white girdle and a purple cloak lined with fur; also a furred bonnet. He is talking to an old man, the augur, who has a long white beard. He is wrapped in a yellow cloak, is barefooted, and he is writing in a book. By him are some animals, including a dog and some rabbits, and on the right of Antiochus are two goats and a sheep. On a rock on the left is a group of ten persons; and in the centre of the picture between the two high rocks stand a tower and a temple. For pupils Moeyaert had Berchem, Van der Does, Salomon Koninck, and J. B.

Weenix.