Her Truthfulness to Nature.—"Whether she is painting the flowers of the gardens or those of the field, which shegroups so beautifully on marble tables and calls around them fluttering butterflies and droning bees, or beautiful ripe fruits that refresh the eyes and mind, Rachel is always truthful, graceful, and clever. A colorist, she frankly selects the brightest tones and combines them marvellously; a draughtsman, she reproduces splendidly the most complicated forms, while preserving to each plant its individual elegance, its aspect, its way of holding itself, and foreshortening."Her Love of Nature.—"In all justice, therefore, the Dutch rank Rachel Ruijsch among their most excellent painters. She retained her love of nature in all its freshness; it even seems as if she had a weakness for rustic beauty, and that she found the same pleasure in wandering about the country that others have in gardens and greenhouses. Sometimes she even mingles thistles with her field flowers, which she carelessly throws on a table; sometimes she chooses an old tree-trunk overgrown with moss, upon which she places her bunch of spring blossoms, while the insects hum around them, and the wings of a beetle gleam through the shadow. Sometimes she brings a green frog from some pool in the neighboring meadow and gives him a place in her picture. In the infinite little world of great nature Rachel finds no creature unworthy of her brush—not even the snail that crawls on the leaf and is hunted away by the gardener, nor the little worm who moves his variegated rings and spins his thread, destined to clothe magnificent ladies, as he elevates himself into the air. Those insects that we deem vile she honors in her paintings: she lets them lie on her marble tables, crawl on the stem of the glass in which her peonies and pinks are arranged; and she even allows them to devour the plums and grapes of her picturesque collations. Nothing, however, is more charming than her birds' nests, lined with lightest down and tiny blades of grass, moss, and straw, expressed with the art and industry of a wren or a tomtit."
Her Truthfulness to Nature.—"Whether she is painting the flowers of the gardens or those of the field, which shegroups so beautifully on marble tables and calls around them fluttering butterflies and droning bees, or beautiful ripe fruits that refresh the eyes and mind, Rachel is always truthful, graceful, and clever. A colorist, she frankly selects the brightest tones and combines them marvellously; a draughtsman, she reproduces splendidly the most complicated forms, while preserving to each plant its individual elegance, its aspect, its way of holding itself, and foreshortening."
Her Love of Nature.—"In all justice, therefore, the Dutch rank Rachel Ruijsch among their most excellent painters. She retained her love of nature in all its freshness; it even seems as if she had a weakness for rustic beauty, and that she found the same pleasure in wandering about the country that others have in gardens and greenhouses. Sometimes she even mingles thistles with her field flowers, which she carelessly throws on a table; sometimes she chooses an old tree-trunk overgrown with moss, upon which she places her bunch of spring blossoms, while the insects hum around them, and the wings of a beetle gleam through the shadow. Sometimes she brings a green frog from some pool in the neighboring meadow and gives him a place in her picture. In the infinite little world of great nature Rachel finds no creature unworthy of her brush—not even the snail that crawls on the leaf and is hunted away by the gardener, nor the little worm who moves his variegated rings and spins his thread, destined to clothe magnificent ladies, as he elevates himself into the air. Those insects that we deem vile she honors in her paintings: she lets them lie on her marble tables, crawl on the stem of the glass in which her peonies and pinks are arranged; and she even allows them to devour the plums and grapes of her picturesque collations. Nothing, however, is more charming than her birds' nests, lined with lightest down and tiny blades of grass, moss, and straw, expressed with the art and industry of a wren or a tomtit."
The larger picture in The Hague Gallery is a charming group of roses and tulips, with butterflies and insects.
Rachel Ruijsch was a pupil of Willem van Aelst (1626-83?), whose Flowers (dated 1663) and Still Life (dated 1671) hang in The Hague Gallery.
Description of One of Willem van Aelst's Pictures.—M. de Burtin has described a picture by Willem van Aelst which gives an idea of all the works of this master:
"A table covered with a crimson velvet carpet bordered with golden fringe, on which stands a drinking-vessel of antique shape half filled with Rhine wine. The sides of this glass cup reflect several times and in different views the street with the most magical and astounding way, and in the very centre you see the reflection of the painter himself, holding his palette. On one side of the cup are placed, on a glass dish, four superb peaches and some roasted chestnuts; on the other side are bunches of red and white grapes. Butterflies and other insects add to the illusion, and the vine and peach leaves are artistically used to decorate the beautiful pyramidal group that stands out from a looped-back curtain of brownish yellow."
"A table covered with a crimson velvet carpet bordered with golden fringe, on which stands a drinking-vessel of antique shape half filled with Rhine wine. The sides of this glass cup reflect several times and in different views the street with the most magical and astounding way, and in the very centre you see the reflection of the painter himself, holding his palette. On one side of the cup are placed, on a glass dish, four superb peaches and some roasted chestnuts; on the other side are bunches of red and white grapes. Butterflies and other insects add to the illusion, and the vine and peach leaves are artistically used to decorate the beautiful pyramidal group that stands out from a looped-back curtain of brownish yellow."
Resemblance of his Work to that ofVan Huysum.—Although his name is less celebrated than that of Van Huysum, Willem Aelst is not very far removed from him in his beautiful productions; and certainly he surpasses Evert van Aelst (1602-58) who was his uncle and master. Without carrying finish to excess and preserving a certain freedom of touch, he knows how to express marvellously the delicate wings of a butterfly, the down of a peach, the dewdrops on a bunch of grapes, the feathers of a dead bird, and the wrinkles of a game-pouch.
In Favor with Princes and Cardinals.—Many of his works are in France, where he spent four years, and in Italy, where he lived seven years filling orders for princes and cardinals. He was only thirty years old when he returned to his native town, Delft; but he removed to Amsterdam, where his works brought high prices.
His Favorite Subjects.—The pictures by him representing dead birds are, as respects picturesque arrangement, finely balanced harmony of cool but transparent color, perfect nature in every detail, and delicate, soft treatment, admirable types of the perfection of the Dutch School. Specimens of this class are a picture in the Munich Gallery of two dead partridges and instruments of the chase, and another in the Berlin Museum signed "W. v. Aelst, 1653," representing a marble table with two woodcocks and other small birds, and two French partridges suspendedabove. His favorite subjects, however, were fruit and other eatables, herrings, oysters, bread, etc., with glasses and gorgeous vessels in gold and silver. Although Willem van Aelst owed much to his uncle Evert van Aelst, so famous for his dead birds and instruments of the chase, perhaps he owed still more to his other teacher,Otho Marcellisvan Schrieck (1613-73), who acquired celebrity, excelling in a singular branch of art. He painted the humblest creatures,—frogs, snails, lizards, worms, serpents, and curious plants. The name of his master is unknown; but he painted entirely from nature and is said to have kept a kind of museum of serpents, vipers, insects and other curiosities. These he studied with great attention, and drew them with extraordinary fidelity and care, reproducing also their glowing and metallic hues.
Two Pictures by Beijeren, and Two by Seghers.—Another famous Flowers is that by Abraham van Beijeren (1620 or 1621-75), which was acquired at the Van Pappelendam sale in Amsterdam in 1889. A fine Fish and Lobster by the same painter should also be studied. The visitor will perhaps notice as he passes two pictures by Daniel Seghers (1590-1661), one a garland of flowers around a statuette of the Virgin; the other, a garland of flowers around the bust of William III. The bust was a later addition.
Other Painters belonging to the Same Group.—An interesting and curious work is Shells, by Balthasar van der Ast (?-1656). There is also a still life (1644) by Pieter Claez. To this group should be added Pieter Roestraeten (1627-1700), famous for his great vases of gold and silver, bas-reliefs, musical instruments, etc., which he designed with precision. He spent most of his time in London, where he was injured in the Great Fire (1666). Belonging to the same group are Pieter de Ring and Willem Kalf, whom we shall see in the Rijks, and the strange Christoffel Pierson, whose specialty was still life (particularly the attributes of the chase) and portraits. His works are very rare; but a peculiar combination of portraiture and still life hangsin The Hague Gallery, representing the pastor of the Protestant Church at Hoorn, Joris Goethals, and noticeable for the number of hunting implements and objects hanging on the wall. Though sombre and monotonous in tone, his touch and drawing are masterly. He thoroughly understood composition and distributed lights and shadows with skill. Pierson was turned aside from painting historical subjects and portraits by the success of Leemens, a painter of dead game, guns, etc., and speedily surpassed his model.
Jan van Os, Georgius Jacobus Johannes van Os, and Marie Margrita van Os we shall see in the Rijks.
Portrait of Rubens's Second Wife.—Although Holland is not the land where we can study Rubens (1577-1640) in all his greatness, yet the Amsterdam Gallery and more particularly The Hague Gallery possess some splendid pictures by his hand. In the latter hang the portraits of his two wives. That of his second wife, the buxom Helena, whom he married on December 6, 1630, and who bore him five children, is a masterpiece of the first rank; certainly an entirely individual work of the artist's later period.
Much of Rubens's Work done by his Pupils.—Thus we immediately come to the question: What has the master himself and what have his pupils done on it? No master has left behind him a larger amount of painted surface of canvas and wood; but how unequal is the artistic value of all this material! We know how that happened. Overwhelmed with pressing orders and surrounded by a large throng of sometimes very able pupils, he often only made a sketch, leaving the chief work to his best pupils, and finally adding a few corrections; perhaps here or there a head or a figure that particularly interested him. Rubens made no secret of this fact; he often openly acknowledged what he and what his scholars had done on a work.
Dr. Sperling's Visit to Rubens's Studio.—An eye-witness, the Danish physician, Otto Sperling, who visited Rubens's studio in 1621, describes the master as walking up and down in his vast hall among his many pupils, makingremarks and going over a picture here and there finally with a few brush-strokes. The Doctor jocularly adds: "It is supposed that everything is the work of Rubens, by which this man has amassed enormous wealth, and has been rewarded by kings and princes with great gifts and many jewels."
His Pupils not very often allowed to assist him in Portraits.—One should remember that this assistance of his pupils was generally confined to his greater historical pictures and church pieces; but the portraits that Rubens painted are not always entirely the work of his hand. Sometimes an order for a portrait was repeated, and his students made the replica of a well-known personality. Rubens painted portraits of small dimensions and then left them to be enlarged by able pupils; but he himself added the final touches.
Dr. Bredius on the Portraits of Rubens's Two Wives.—"Even in the case of the portrait of one of his wives, we are not quite sure whether the work is exclusively his own. There exist such a marvellous number of these portraits, and, moreover, of such varied artistic value, that we must at last conclude that the family and friends of these ladies, who belonged to the best families in Antwerp, all ordered portraits from Rubens, who painted some of them entirely and others only in part."While, for example, the present portrait of Rubens's first wife, Isabella Brandt, whom he married in 1609, betrays the master's own hand in the head and in part of the costume, the hands look to me to be so extraordinarily like Van Dijck's work that I ask myself whether the latter (about 1618) might not have had some part in this portrait. On the other hand, the portrait ofHelena Fourment, whom he married in 1630 (Isabella Brandt died in 1626) is handled with such a gush, although very rapidly and with such geniality that hardly anybody would say that this spirited portrait is not all his own."What flesh! what brilliance! what glow of color! what virtuosity in the painting of the details and the material! What life streams from this warm, youthful, proud wife upon her husband!"
Dr. Bredius on the Portraits of Rubens's Two Wives.—"Even in the case of the portrait of one of his wives, we are not quite sure whether the work is exclusively his own. There exist such a marvellous number of these portraits, and, moreover, of such varied artistic value, that we must at last conclude that the family and friends of these ladies, who belonged to the best families in Antwerp, all ordered portraits from Rubens, who painted some of them entirely and others only in part.
"While, for example, the present portrait of Rubens's first wife, Isabella Brandt, whom he married in 1609, betrays the master's own hand in the head and in part of the costume, the hands look to me to be so extraordinarily like Van Dijck's work that I ask myself whether the latter (about 1618) might not have had some part in this portrait. On the other hand, the portrait ofHelena Fourment, whom he married in 1630 (Isabella Brandt died in 1626) is handled with such a gush, although very rapidly and with such geniality that hardly anybody would say that this spirited portrait is not all his own.
"What flesh! what brilliance! what glow of color! what virtuosity in the painting of the details and the material! What life streams from this warm, youthful, proud wife upon her husband!"
RUBENS Helena FourmentRUBENSHelena Fourment
Sir Joshua Reynolds describes these portraits thus: "Two portraits, Kitcat size, by Rubens, of his two wives, both fineportraits, butEleanor Formanis by far the most beautiful and the best colored."
Description of Helena's Portrait.—This is one of the most beautiful of all Rubens's portraits of his second wife. Her face and figure are not only wonderfully modelled and painted, but her red mouth has a sweet, half-smiling expression, and dimples are ready to break out at any moment and render the brilliant face even more brilliant. The eyes are lustrous and handsome, beneath finely arched brows. The light silky hair is roped with pearls, and a long plume falls gracefully from the coquettish toque of velvet adjusted at an angle that suits the face exactly. A pearl necklace and earrings adorn the ears and snowy neck, a magnificent jewel with three pear-shaped pearls for pendants clasps the front of the dress, jewels ornament the sleeves, and a great rope of goldsmith's work passes from shoulder to shoulder. She wears a light blue satin dress the sleeves of which are slashed with white, and a black velvet cloak with gold buttons and a fur collar. The sleeves end with delicate filmy frills at the wrist, and she gracefully holds in her hand a couple of beautiful pink roses. The background is gray and the curtain is red. This picture was painted in 1634, four years after Rubens's marriage to the daughter of Daniel Fourment.
After Rubens's death the beautiful Helena was married to Jan B. Broekhoven, Baron of Bergeijck. She died in 1673.
Burger's Admiration for the Portrait of the First Wife.—Not far away from her portrait hangs that of Isabella Brandt, painted in 1620. Burger admired it more than that of Helena, and went into ecstasies over the "beautiful hands" crossed over her girdle. Isabella is dressed in black, with a square and low-cut bodice and a gauze fichu. Her hair is adorned with pearls.
Portrait of Father Ophovius.—The Mauritshuis possesses also a famous portrait by Rubens of quite another character; this is that of a friend whom he had sufficient influence to have made Bishop of Bois-le-Duc, the Rev.Father Michael Ophovius, a Dominican monk. He is seen full face in the costume of his order. He has an energetic head and is in robust health. It is a broad and vigorous painting, and formerly adorned the Dominican monastery at Antwerp.
Two Pictures painted Partly by Rubens.—Two other pictures by Rubens should be studied. Adam and Eve in Paradise, in which, however, only the figures are by Rubens (Dr. Bredius thinks the horse also); while the landscape and other animals are by Jan Brueghel, also called Velvet Brueghel. The latter also painted the landscape in the Naiads Filling the Horn of Plenty, a picture that was once attributed to Van Bolen, but now to Rubens. It is interesting to compare the landscape of the Terrestrial Paradise by Jan Brueghel (Velvet) with the landscapes in the above-mentioned pictures.
Copies of six pictures by Rubens are also owned by this gallery.
Portraits by Van Dijck in The Hague.—There are only three portraits by Van Dijck (1599-1641) in The Hague Gallery: Portrait of Sir —— Sheffield, painted in 1627; a Portrait of Anna Wake, his Wife, painted in 1628; and a Portrait of the painter, Quintijn Simons. Of the latter, Sir Joshua Reynolds said:
"A portrait by Van Dyck of Simon the painter. This is one of the very few pictures that can be seen of Van Dyck which is in perfect preservation; and on examining it closely it appeared to me a perfect pattern of portrait-painting: every part is distinctly marked, but with the lightest hand and without destroying the breadth of light; the coloring is perfectly true to nature, though it has not the brilliant effect of sunshine, such as is seen in Rubens's wife; it is nature seen by common daylight."
"A portrait by Van Dyck of Simon the painter. This is one of the very few pictures that can be seen of Van Dyck which is in perfect preservation; and on examining it closely it appeared to me a perfect pattern of portrait-painting: every part is distinctly marked, but with the lightest hand and without destroying the breadth of light; the coloring is perfectly true to nature, though it has not the brilliant effect of sunshine, such as is seen in Rubens's wife; it is nature seen by common daylight."
A Picture by FransSnijders.—Anthonie van Dijck is said to have painted the huntsman in the picture of still life and game by which Frans Snijders is represented here. Fuller knowledge of Snijders, however, is to be gained in the Rijks.
A Picture by Several Artists.—One of the most curious and interesting pictures in the entire gallery is The Interior of a Picture Gallery, painted by a number of Antwerp artists, but which is catalogued under the name of Gonzales Coques (1618-84). This artist and his family are represented in the centre of a picture gallery, and are by the hand of Coques himself. The pictures on the walls were painted by pupils of Rubens, Van Dijck, Rembrandt, and others, and represent still life, landscapes, mythological and allegorical scenes. Many of them possess great charm. On the left are: the Meeting of Christ and a Centurion, by Pieter Yykens (1648-95); The Earth, an allegory, by Erasmus Quellinus (1607-78); an Italian Landscape, by Antoni Goubau (1616-98); The Metamorphosis of Ascalaphus, by Carel Emanuel Biset (1633-after 1691); A Boar Hunt, by Peter Boel (1622-89); a Moonlight and Landscape, signed J. v. K.; a Landscape, by Pieter van Bredael (1629-1719), signed P. v. B.; a Marine (unknown); The Nymphs Spied On, by Jan de Duyts (1629-76); and a Marine, by Jan Peeters (1624-77). Above the door in the centre are two pictures: The Judgment of Paris, by Theodoor Boeyermans (1620-78), and Leda, by the same artist. On the left: The Triumph of Silenus, by Jan Cossiers (1600-71); Water, an allegory, by Theodoor Boeyermans; the Four Seasons, by the same artist; a Landscape (unknown); Still Life (unknown); The Descent from the Cross and View of a City, both by Johan van den Hecke (1620-84); Landscape (unknown); a Village Festival, by Peter Spierinckx (1635-1711); a Landscape, by Johan van den Hecke (1620-84), and Bathers, by the same artist; Still Life, by Peter Gysels (1621-90); and a Venus and Adonis, by Casper Jacob van Opstal (1654-1717). The architecture of the room was painted in 1674 by Willem van Ehrenberg (1637-about 76). The picture is 5-3/4 feet high by 7 feet broad, and was offered in 1683 by the Brotherhood of Painters in Antwerp to Jan van Bavegom, Procureur of the Court of Brussels, as a reward for the serviceshe had rendered to the Brotherhood in the lawsuit against the armies of the Six Guilds. It finally became the property of William V.
"The Little Van Dijck."—Gonzales Coques was a pupil of Pieter Brueghel III. and David Ryckaert, whose daughter he married. He was fond of painting portraits of his family walking in a park or engaged in various occupations and pleasures indoors; and very frequently he was assisted by other artists, as in the case of the picture just described. Coques was a man of letters, and presided over the Chamber of Rhetoric in his native city, Antwerp. His elegance, taste, and delicacy have procured for him the name of "The Little Van Dijck." In his own day he enjoyed great renown, and was honored with orders for pictures and presents from many sovereigns, including Charles I. of England, the Prince of Orange, and the Archdukes of Austria.
Francken, Painter of Allegories and Festive Scenes.—A historical picture of interest is that of A Ball at the Court of Albert and Isabella in 1611, by Frans Francken the Younger (1581-1642). He was famous for his scenes from the Bible, allegories, landscapes, mythological pictures, and particularly for his balls, masquerades, and other scenes of festivity in which he introduced figures of small size. Frequently, too, he painted figures in the pictures of the elder Neeffs, the younger De Momper, andBartelmeesvan Bassen.
Description of the Picture of a Historical Ball.—This ball scene, which belonged to William V. at Het Loo, was painted between 1611 and 1616. The couple who are dancing in the centre are Philip William of Nassau, Prince of Orange, and his wife, Eleonore de Bourbon, Princess of Condé. Albert and his wife, Isabelle Claire Eugénie, and five other portraits are by the hand of Frans Pourbus the Younger.
Pictures by Vinck Boons and Droochsloot.—Pictures of peasants enjoying thekermesse, by David Vinck Boons(1578-1629), (1622), a landscape and genre painter, whose figures are often of repulsive ugliness, and by J. C. Droochsloot (1586-1666), also represented by a Dutch Village (1652), bring us to a more brilliant painter of such scenes.
David Teniers the Younger a Conspicuous Painter of Still Life.—David Teniers the Younger (1610-90) is one of those Flemish painters who were known and sought after in Holland during their lifetime. This may have arisen from the fact that he was closely allied with the Dutch school and with Brouwer, who lived and worked for a long time in Holland and was very highly prized there. Teniers painted in particular little cabinet pictures, soldier scenes, alchemists and cooks, and in them often showed a conspicuous love of still life, so greatly liked in Holland. Another circumstance which must be taken into consideration is that his brothers Hendrik and Julius, both painters, lived for some time in Holland and occupied themselves—the former in Middelburg and the latter in Amsterdam—with the sale of the pictures of their famous brother.
The Resemblance of his Pictures to those of his Master.—The younger Teniers developed himself principally in the school of Adriaen Brouwer. Some of his early pictures, painted between 1630 and 1640, stand so closely sometimes beside those of Brouwer that they have been attributed to the latter. In his first period, Teniers, quite trickily copied Brouwer's real types, and many of his mannerisms, such as the famous red cap which he so often put on his figures. The spirited painting, the clear bright light with the finely expressed chiaroscuro, and the beautiful harmony of tone he followed in the happiest way. He became Brouwer's successor; and he is greatest when he is still under the inspiration of his great prototype. Splendid pictures of this style are possessed by the Museums of Madrid, the Louvre, Berlin, Dresden, St. Petersburg, and many of the great private collections.
A Gradual Change in the Tone of Teniers's Pictures.—About 1650 the warm golden tone of the master falls moreand more into a cooler silver tone. Bright and clear in the highest degree are the treasured works of this period. At the end of his life, however, he grades more and more into a brown, dull tone far removed from the vigor and transparency of his youth. Still in his old age he maintained a careful drawing, a great completeness in the painting, only the very last pictures show that the hand of the old man at length had begun to tremble.
Description of The Good Kitchen.—The Hague possesses two fine examples of this artist. In The Good Kitchen, a splendid work of his middle period, painted in 1644, he delights us especially with masterly representation of assembled details. Magnificently painted are the fish and fowl, pots and kitchen stuff; only, perhaps, is the background keyed up a little too high. The figures, as unfortunately so frequently happens with Teniers, are somewhat uninteresting; only the little boy who is holding the dish for his mother (evidently the portrait of a child) looks out at us in a lifelike and endearing manner.
A famous kitchen it is, in fact; and it is evident that a feast of some consequence is in preparation. Fowl, game, fish, vegetables, fruits, all are there on the tables and the floor. In the background, before a big fire, a cook is roasting joints, and a man and woman are very busy close beside him. In front, in the middle, and in the bright light, is seated the young mistress of the house, also aiding in the preparations. For the moment she is peeling a lemon, and the little boy is standing beside her holding a plate. She wears a blood-colored skirt, and on her sky-blue bodice expands a broad collar of a whiteness that Metsu would envy. The whole is very ably and broadly painted with that just and free touch and those spirited accents which characterize the technique of Teniers. It is painted at the beginning of his best period when his silvery period begins: he was then thirty-four years old.
Burger cleverly says: "Like certain of those fishes that he has painted so well, Teniers is excellent between thehead and tail." The Good Kitchen is painted on copper and is only two feet and a half broad. A small picture on wood shows an alchemist with a gray beard seated beside a table holding a book. His assistant is kneeling beside a furnace.
Sir Joshua Reynolds said:
"The works of David Teniers, Jun., are worthy the closest attention of a painter who desires to excel in the mechanical knowledge of his art. His manner of touching, or what we call handling, has perhaps never been equalled: there is in his pictures that exact mixture of softness and sharpness which is difficult to execute."
"The works of David Teniers, Jun., are worthy the closest attention of a painter who desires to excel in the mechanical knowledge of his art. His manner of touching, or what we call handling, has perhaps never been equalled: there is in his pictures that exact mixture of softness and sharpness which is difficult to execute."
Tilborgh's Picture of A Dinner.—We must not neglect now to look at the one picture by Tilborgh, A Dinner, particularly interesting on account of the personages represented.
Tilborgh(1625-78), supposed to have been a pupil of Teniers, certainly follows him in choice of subject—interiors of taverns, peasantsmerry-making,kermesses, village feasts, etc. He was popular in his day,—even more so, it is said, than Teniers himself. The dinner is taking place in the home of Adriaen van Ostade, who is seated in the middle, with his wife on his right, beyond whom are a man and a woman. On the left is Paul Potter, with long hair and a large hat, dressed in a pearl-gray doublet and red stockings. His general appearance is very gay, and quite a contrast to the melancholy portrait by B. van der Helst, which also hangs in this gallery. Near Potter stands his silly little wife, dressed in light blue,—a not specially graceful figure. Two other painters are standing on the left, talking together. Burger thinks they may be Tilborgh himself and Isaak van Ostade.
On taking the tramway at the Dam, the traveller will find the short trip to the Rijks Museum a very pleasant one. The car glides rapidly through a busy part of Amsterdam, crossing canal after canal,—the Singel, Heeren, Keizers, and Prinsen grachts,—bordered with leafy trees and houses that present a picturesque appearance. Alighting at Willems Park, on the canal long known as the Buiten Singel, or outer girdle, separating the old from the new town, we walk a short distance along the Stadhouders-Kade to the imposing red brick building with granite bands, arches, tympans, entablatures, etc., in the transition style between the Gothic and the Dutch Renaissance, which covers nearly three acres of ground. The principalfaçade, turned toward the Buiten Singel, presents a somewhat majestic appearance, with its two fine towers and central gable surmounted by a statue of Victory, by Vermeylen.
History of this Collection.—Before entering, we may note that this splendid Museum was opened in the name of the King of Holland in 1885. Perhaps we may pause also to recall the history and development of this great collection, which was formed of the remnant of the pictures and curiosities left by the last Stadtholder, William V.
In 1798 the Government decreed the formation of a National Museum, and this was installed in the Huis ten Bosch (House in the Wood), near The Hague, and opened to the public in 1800. From time to time the collection was increased by purchases, and in 1805 it received thename of Cabinet National. When the King of Holland removed his residence, however, from Utrecht to Amsterdam, in 1808, he ordered that a Royal Museum for the preservation of pictures, drawings, prints, sculpture, carvings, engraven gems, antiquities, and curiosities of all kinds should be formed.
Opening of the Royal Museum in 1808.—This Museum was opened in the Palace on the Dam in December, 1808. Here were gathered ninety-six pictures from the National Museum of 1798 (one hundred and fifty-four remaining pictures being sent to The Hague); fifty-seven pictures bought in 1808 at the sale of G. van der Pot van Groeneveld in Rotterdam; eight old pictures given by The Hague in 1808; seven old pictures lent by the city of Amsterdam (among them The Night Watch and Syndics and The Banquet of the Civil Guard); six pictures and a marble statuette by J. B. Xavery, given by Baron van Spaen de Biljoen; a few modern pictures bought at the exposition of 1808; one hundred and thirty-seven pictures forming the Van Heteren Collection, bought in 1809 for 100,000 florins; and seven pictures bought in the same year at the Bicker sale; several casts of antique statues from the Musée Napoléon of Paris; and some antiquities found chiefly in Drenthe.
Removal to the Trippenhuis.—In 1810 the name was changed from the "Royal Museum" to the "Dutch Museum," and in 1814 the collections were transferred to the Trippenhuis, where they remained until 1885.
Numerous Additions from 1825 to 1885.—In 1825 some pictures were exchanged with the Royal Museum at The Hague (Mauritshuis); and in 1828 some duplicates were sold for 23,701 florins, with which sum other pictures were purchased. In 1828 William I. made a present of some pictures he had acquired at the Brentano and Muller sales to the State Museum, as it was now called.
In 1838 many of the modern pictures were transferred to the Paviljoen Welgelegen, which became, therefore, a gallery of the works of living painters of the Netherlands;and this collection was gradually enriched by gifts and purchases. In 1885 the one hundred and eighty-four pictures of this collection were sent to the Rijks.
Bequests.—The principal bequests have been as follows: Madame la Ve Balguerie Van Rijswijck, twenty-two family portraits (1823); M. L. Dupper, Wz., sixty-four superb pictures (1870); Mlle. J. E. Liotard, an enamel of great value, and fifteen pastels by the Genevese painter, J. E. Liotard, to which Mme. Liotard sent six other pastels by the same artist in 1885 (1873); Jhr. Me. J. de Witte van Citters some objects of art, curios, prints, and thirty-five family portraits (1875); Mme. J. J. van Winter Bicker, forty-four portraits of the Bicker family (1879); Jhr. J. S. H. van de Poll, fifty-two pictures of great value (1880); and a gift of Jhr. J. S. R. van de Poll, comprising thirty-five family portraits.
Two Important Collections added.—Two important collections have yet to be mentioned: the famous Van der Hoop Collection and The Collection of Contemporary Art. The former was gathered by M. Adriaan van der Hoop, head of the house of Hope & Co., and knight of several orders, who made a magnificent collection of about two hundred and twenty-four ancient and modern pictures. These he left to the city of Amsterdam in 1854. It was lodged in the Académie des Beaux Arts until removed to the Rijks in 1885. In 1880 Mme. Van der Hoop left twenty-four more pictures, which had adorned her house, to complete the gift. The Collection of Contemporary Art is the work of an association of Amsterdam art-lovers founded in 1875.
The Staircase and the Rembrandt Room.—Before ascending the stairs guarded by two lions couchant, we may stop to notice a picture by Pieter Cornelisz van Rijck (1568-16—), representing an old Dutch kitchen with all sorts of eatables, and in the background a feast representing the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. This staircase leads to the Entrance Hall, from which we go to the GrandGallery, which leads directly into the famous Rembrandt Room, in which The Night Watch holds the place of honor. The Grand Gallery is bordered on each side by four compartments, or cabinets, hung with pictures of the seventeenth century.
A Tour through the Rooms.—To the left of the Rembrandt Room is the Carlovingian Room; and from this we pass into International Hall, where pictures of foreign masters are gathered. In the next room are assembled the oldest pictures of the Dutch School. The next room contains masters of the sixteenth century, and next to it comes Dupper Hall, devoted to the glorious period of Dutch art, the seventeenth century. Here are sixty-four paintings, many of which are masterpieces. Next comes Van der Poll Hall with fifty-two pictures, then the Hall of Anatomy Pictures, and next Portrait Hall. From this we visit the five cabinets, containing such pictures of the Old Dutch School as from their small dimensions and minute finish are best seen in small rooms. On the opposite side of the vestibule are five similar cabinets with similar pictures. Beyond these is Pavilion Hall, containing portraits, many of which are painters' portraits of themselves. Then come the Van der HoopMuseumand two galleries of modern pictures, one of which is called Waterloo Hall, because of The Battle of Waterloo, by J. W. Pieneman, hanging there. From this we enter the Old Dutch Governors' Room, representing a typical room of the seventeenth century with allegorical ceiling, tapestries, and old furniture. From this we pass into the adjoining Gold Leather Room, where there is a picture representing a marriage party, and a collection of drinking vessels of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in one of the cupboards. The Dutch Governors' Room leads into the Rembrandt Room, which again leads us into the Grand Gallery, our starting point.
Rembrandt's Work in his Middle and Last Periods.—We have seen in The Hague the great works of Rembrandt's early period; in the Rijks we find the full flowering of hisgenius in his middle and last periods. The Night Watch was painted in 1642; the Portrait of Elizabeth Bas, about 1645; the fragment of the Anatomy picture, representing Dr.Deyman, in 1656; The Syndics, in 1661; and The Jewish Bride, or Ruth and Boaz, about 1663. The Rijks owns two other pictures: a mythological composition and the head of his father, painted in Leyden in 1630.
Description of The Night Watch.—Let us look carefully at The Night Watch, Rembrandt's most famous picture and also his largest (11 feet by 14). It was painted in 1642, ten years after the Lesson in Anatomy, for the Kloveniers Doele (Arquebusiers Shooting Company).
The great Sortie of the Banning Cock Company, which is the more correct name for The Night Watch, represents twenty-nine life-sized civic guards issuing from their guardhouse in a great state of bustle and confusion, while the drums beat and the dog barks. The dominant color is the citron-yellow uniform of the lieutenant, wearing a blue sash, while a Titian-like red dress of a musketeer, the black velvet dress of the captain, and the varied green of the girl and the drummer, all produce a rich and harmonious effect. The background has become dark and heavy by accident or neglect, and the scutcheon on which the names are painted is scarcely to be seen.[23]
In the middle, in front, marches the captain in a dark brown, almost black, costume, at his side Lieutenant Willem van Ruitenberg, in a yellow buffalo jerkin, both figures in the full sunlight, so that the shadow of the captain's hand is distinctly traceable on the jerkin. On the right hand of the captain are an arquebusier loading his weapon, and two children, of whom the one in front, a girl, has a dead cock hanging from her girdle (perhaps one of the prizes). On a step behind them is the flag-bearer, Jan Visser Cornelissen. The other side of the picture is pervaded with similar life and spirit, from the lieutenant to the drummer, Jan van Kamboort, at the extreme corner, who energetically beatshis drum. In an oval frame on a column in the background are inscribed the names of the members of the guild.
The Night Watch a Misnomer.—The remarkable chiaroscuro of the whole picture (seen to greatest advantage in the afternoon) has led to the belief that Rembrandt intended to depict a nocturnal scene; but the event represented really takes place in daylight, the lofty vaulted hall of the guild being lighted only by windows above, to the left, not visible to the spectator, and being therefore properly obscured in partial twilight. The peculiar light and the spirited action of the picture elevate this group of portraits into a most effective dramatic scene, which ever since its creation has been enthusiastically admired by all connoisseurs of art. Each guild member represented paid 100 florins for his portrait, so that, as there were originally sixteen in the group, the painter received 1,600 florins for his work. The painting was successfully cleaned by Hopman in 1889.
The picture is so deeply enveloped in shadow that it is some time before the spectator can see figures emerge, although they always retain something of a supernatural quality, derived partly from the phosphorescent gleams that here and there illuminate faces, figures, drum,halberds, flag-pole, and lances.
The Mutilation of the Picture.—When The Night Watch was removed from the Kloveniers Doele to the small military council chamber of theTown Hallon the Dam, in 1715, portions of it were cut off on the right and left and at the bottom, which has greatly interfered with its appearance. A photograph of an old drawing hangs near the picture, which shows the (supposed) original form of the composition.
The Syndics.—Some critics consider The Syndics Rembrandt's greatest achievement; and all are agreed that it is one of the finest groups of portraits ever painted. This work, finished in 1662—twenty years after The NightWatch—was ordered by the Guild of Clothmakers, who wished to have a portrait group of their Syndics to hang in their chamber at the Staalhof (sample hall) in the Staalstraat in Amsterdam.
Rembrandt's Special Traits exhibited in this Picture.—Here Rembrandt's special traits are exhibited: his wonderful treatment of light, his grouping of figures, and his study of character. The fiveSyndics, all dressed alike in black with flat white collars and broad-brimmed-high-crowned hats, are grouped around a table verifying their accounts. The yellow oak wainscot behind them and the scarlettable-clothcontribute the only color to the sombre group.
Six canvases of portraits of Syndics formerly hung in the Staalhof, the oldest of which was painted in 1559. Only two now remain: the one by Rembrandt, and another, also in the Rijks, by Aert Pietersen, painted in 1599. Upon the frame of the latter is a Dutch inscription, which, translated, reads:
"Consider your oathIn what you know.Live uprightly.Through favor or hatredOr self-interestDon't give an opinion."
"Consider your oathIn what you know.Live uprightly.Through favor or hatredOr self-interestDon't give an opinion."
Rembrandt's five Dutch gentlemen look as if they had closely followed this excellent moral advice.
Description of The Jewish Bride.—The Jewish Bride depicts two life-size figures, standing and seen to the knees, one a young woman dressed in a red gown with white sleeves and white cape. Her complexion is rosy, and she has an abundance of brown hair. She is simply covered with jewels,—a comb, earrings, collar, large chain, bracelets, rings of pearls, and sparkling gems. Her face is tranquil and radiant. Her gallant companion is about to embrace her, his face full of tenderness. He wears a long wig withcurls falling over his shoulders and has no beard; this was the fashion after 1660. He has a large black cap on his head, and his pourpoint, mantle, and wide and embroidered sleeves are yellow. The head of the man is very highly finished, slightly recalling in manner those in The Syndics; but his clothing is somewhat hastily done. The picture is unfinished, but in the dark fantastic background some architecture with foliage and a vase of flowers suggesting a park may be discerned to the left; also the vague form of a dog. On the right, there are some shrubs and a wall. Burger thinks this was painted in 1669, the last year of Rembrandt's life. The canvas is about five feet long and four feet high.
The Celebrated Portrait of Elizabeth Bas.—The portrait of Elizabeth Bas, the widow of Lieutenant Admiral Joachim Swartenhout, painted in 1642, is considered one of Rembrandt's most celebrated portraits. Seated in an easy chair and wearing a rich dress profusely ornamented with buttons, the stern, commanding face of the old lady looks directly at the spectator. Her marvellously painted hands are folded over a handkerchief, and she wears a cap and a fluted ruff.
Two other portraits by Rembrandt can be seen here: one, of a lady; and the other, of his father (a copy).
Multiplicity of Portraits in the Rijks.—In the Rijks Gallery portraits, either single or groups, outnumber all other branches of art. Some of these have a world-wide reputation, while others are interesting only to the special student. No less famous than Rembrandt's Elizabeth Bas is that of another old lady, Maria Voogt, Madame van der Meer, painted by Frans Hals in 1639, which hangs in the Van der Hoop Room.
"An old woman is seated in an arm-chair almost full face and of natural size. She is dressed in black velvet, with a white ruff. Her right hand holds a book with a silver clasp, the left hand rests on the arm of the chair. The tone is neutral. A superb portrait of the first order. You read above the coat-of-armsÆtatis suæ64.Ao1639."[24]
"An old woman is seated in an arm-chair almost full face and of natural size. She is dressed in black velvet, with a white ruff. Her right hand holds a book with a silver clasp, the left hand rests on the arm of the chair. The tone is neutral. A superb portrait of the first order. You read above the coat-of-armsÆtatis suæ64.Ao1639."[24]
Hals's Portrait of Himself and his Wife.—Hals's portrait of himself and his wife, Lysbeth Reyniers, represents the couple as life-size and seated in a rather uncomfortable position on a bank under the trees, in a garden ornamented with statues and fountains. In the distance a peacock struts; and the scene is so cheerful that the smiling faces of Hals and his wife are quite explicable. The latter's ruff is of enormous size and marvellously painted.
Hals's The Jester.—Hals always loved to render the face in action, to fix forever a rapid fleeting expression; and one of his most notable achievements is the famous Jester owned by Baron Rothschild in Paris. As few art lovers can ever have the chance of seeing this masterpiece, the admirable copy that hangs in the Rijks, said to have been made by Dirck Hals, should be carefully examined. The canvas is variously known as The Jester, The Fool, The Mandolin Player, and The Lute Player; and is said to be a portrait of the artist's pupil, Adriaen Brouwer; but whoever he is, he is a rascally, impudent fellow with a mocking, cynical smile, and belongs to the same class as Touchstone, Dogberry, Launcelot Gobbo, and other of our prized and disreputable Shakespearian acquaintances. Hals's Jester is a creation. Look at the vagabond well, first because he will soon twang the chords of his lute, break out into a song of the day, then doff his cap and beg for money. Look at the pose of his left hand and the strong, flexible thumb. He canplay. Next look at the artist's work and note the broad sweeps of the brush that so simply but surely create the features and expression.
A Jolly Man is another of Hals's pictures that may be classed as portraits, a splendid piece of work. Go closely up to the picture and notice how the broad brush strokes are made.
MOREELSE The Little PrincessMOREELSEThe Little Princess
Moreelse's The Little Princess.—A very charming portrait is that of The Little Princess by Moreelse. The child looks somewhat demurely at the spectator, with large brown eyes. Her face is round, her forehead high, and her lightbrown hair, brushed severely from her face, is ornamented with a pink rose held in place by a jewelled band. Her large earrings are coral and pearl. A necklace and bracelets of three rows of handsome pearls adorn her neck and wrists, and a brooch containing a miniature set with jewels fastens the rosette at the point of her collar. Her dress is of dark green velvet embroidered with gold and fastened by rich girdles and chains. Marvellously indeed has the artist executed the lace and transparent lawn of which the "butterfly" ruff and dainty cuffs are made. The little right hand rests lovingly on the head of a King Charles spaniel, whose neck is adorned with bells. An old rose curtain gives a charming note of color to the background.
Moreelse's Great Success as a Portrait-painter.—Paulus Moreelse (1571-1638), a native of Utrecht and a pupil and follower of Mierevelt in Delft, became so successful as a portrait-painter that all the great ladies desired to sit to him. He visited Rome in 1604, and on his return painted for a time historical and architectural subjects. He was also a capable engraver and architect.
Other Portraits by Moreelse.—In addition to The Little Princess, we may see in this gallery a very fine portrait of Maria van Utrecht, wife of Joan van Oldenbarnevelt, at the age of sixty-three (1615); also a Portrait of Himself; one of A Woman; another of Frederick V., King of Bohemia; another of Colonel Wtenhoghe; and The Beautiful Shepherdess, dated 1630, with flowers and a veil on her head, yellow draperies, and a rake in her hand. This picture was purchased for 2,150 florins in 1817. In all probability it is a portrait.