The Project Gutenberg eBook of Cities of Belgium by Grant Allen

The Place Verte opposite the Cathedral (once the churchyard), is planted with trees, and has its centre occupied by a modern statue of Rubens. This is one of the few points from which you can view (more or less) the exterior of the Cathedral, the greater part of which is obstructed by shabby shops clustered round its base. The only really good views, however, are obtained from the second-floor windows of the houses on the E. side of the Square, such as the Hôtel de l’Europe. Nevertheless, it will be well to walk round the building outside, in order to inspect as much of it as is visible.

The chief portal (practically), recently restored, and the S. Transept are seen from the Place Verte. There is little sculpture on them, save a small late figure of the patroness, Our Lady, with the Child, high up between the angels of the gable-end.

Now, go round to the L., into the little triangular Place known as the Marché aux Gants, to view the main West Front, best seen from the apex of the triangle opposite. It has a fine central Portal and West Window, flanked by two great towers, the southern incomplete. Its niches have statues of six only out of the Twelve Apostles. The northern tower, up to the first gallery, is middle Gothic of 1352-1449. The upper portion, with the octagonal lantern of very open work, flanked by projecting pinnacles, tied by small buttresses, is in later flamboyant Gothic, and was erected in 1502-1518, by Dominic de Waghamakere, the architect of the Gothic portion of the Town Hall at Ghent. This florid spire has been excessively praised above its merits, but will hardly satisfy a modern taste. It can be ascended (75 c.), but is dark and steep: the view, though fine, hardly repays the trouble.

The well in the Marché aux Gants, near the front of the Cathedral, has a beautiful wrought-iron canopy, to support its lid, said to have been made by Quentin Matsys when he was a blacksmith, or rather a metal-worker, before he took to painting. (But the legend is doubtful.) It consists of a trellis of vine, supporting wild men and women with clubs, and capped by a figure of Brabo, the eponymous hero of Brabant, flinging the hand of the giant Antigonus (see later, under the Hôtel-de-Ville).

Now, continue on round the N. Side of the Cathedral. A few glimpses of the N. Transept and Aisles, as well as of the Nave and Choir, may be obtained as we proceed, much of it unfortunately now marred by excessive restoration. The beautiful Choir and Apse, with their flying buttresses, are almost entirely concealed by neighbouring houses. If these were cleared away, a fine view would be obtained of a noble piece of architecture, now only visible by occasional glimpses from the upper floors of surrounding houses. This portion of the church is further disfigured by the abrupt terminations to the roofs of the Transepts, and by the ridiculous pepper-caster top which replaces the central spire or flèche of the original conception. Continue on through the narrow streets till you have made a complete tour of the Cathedral and returned to the Place Verte and the door of the S. Transept. The best general view, however, is not obtainable from any of these points, but from the Grand’ Place, and especially the upper windows of the Hôtel-de-Ville, to be visited later.

Now, enter the Cathedral, by the door in the S. Transept. (Open, free, from 8 to 12 on Sundays and Thursdays: or, every day, 12 to 4, on payment of 1 franc per person. But if you wish really to inspect the works of art it contains, pay your franc like a man, and see them at your leisure when there are no services in progress. Fine music at High Mass at 10 on Sundays.)

The interior is impressive and solemn, with its high Nave, Transepts, and Choir, of good simple Gothic, and its three rows of Aisles, the perspective of which, with their many pillars, is extremely striking. The Aisles, however, are unusually low in proportion to the height of the central cruciform building. First walk down the Nave to the West End, to form a general conception of the fine and impressive interior, grand in its colossal simplicity, and commendably free from 18th century disfigurements.

Now, begin at the R. or S. Aisle, which contains admirable modern Stations of the Cross by Vinck and Hendrickx, excellently painted in the archaic spirit. I do not describe these, as they need no explanation, but each is worthy of individual attention. Do not hurry.

The Chapel of the Sacrament, at the end of this Aisle, has good polychrome decoration, and fine stained glass windows (Last Supper, 1503: St. Amand converting Antwerp; St. Norbert preaching against the heresy of Tanquelin at Antwerp, etc.): also, a reliquary of St. Roch, and an interesting modern statue of that great plague-saint.

The S. Transept has a good modern stained glass window, and affords fine views of the central Dome and Aisles.

On the R. wall are the Marriage at Cana in Galilee, appropriately painted for the Altar of the Wine-merchants, by M. de Vos (excellent for comparison with others of the same subject), and a Last Supper by Otto van Veen, the master of Rubens, formerly the Altar-piece of the Chapel of the Sacrament.

The L. wall of the S. Transept is occupied by Rubens’s great triptych of St. Christopher, commonly called (from its central portion) **The Descent from the Cross. This is a splendid work, conceived (as to idea) in the mystical spirit of old Flemish art, though carried out, of course, in the utterly different and incongruous style of Rubens. In order to understand it we must remember that triptychs were usually kept closed on the altar, and that the picture which first met the eye was that which occupies the outer shutters. It struck the key-note. Now, the outer shutters of this work (seldom seen, unless you ask the Sacristan to close it) are occupied by a figure of St. Christopher, with the hermit who directed him to Christ, accompanied by his lantern and owl, as in the earlier St. Christopher triptych by Memling in the Academy at Bruges. This painting was ordered from Rubens by the Guild of Arquebusiers, whose patron is St. Christopher. On the outside, therefore, Rubens painted the saint himself, whose name (of course) means the Christ-Bearer. But on the inner portion he painted three other symbolical or allusive scenes of the Bearing of Christ: L., The Visitation; the unborn Christ borne by His mother: R., The Presentation in the Temple; the living Christ borne by Simeon: Centre, The Descent from the Cross; the dead Christ borne by Joseph of Arimathea and the Disciples.

The L. wing shows us Our Lady, in a big Flemish hat, approaching St. Elizabeth. Behind, Joseph and Zacharias, the two husbands, shake hands. (This composition has been copied in the stained glass window of the Cathedral at Antwerp.) In order to impress the mystical meaning of the picture, the fact of Our Lady’s pregnancy has been strongly insisted upon.

The central panel shows us the Descent from the Cross. Nicodemus holds the body by one shoulder, while St. John, below, receives it in his arms, and the Magdalen at the feet expresses her tenderness. Joseph of Arimathea descends the ladder. The actual corpse forms the salient point in the picture. It is usual to say that the contrast of the dead body and white sheet is borrowed from the famous treatment of the same subject by Daniele da Volterra in Santa Trinità de’ Monti at Rome; and indeed, the composition in this work has probably been suggested by the Italian example; but a similar white sheet, with the dead body seen against it, is found in all early Flemish art, and especially in works of the School of Roger van der Weyden. (It is known as the Holy Sudarium.) In this splendid and gorgeous conception, Rubens has given the greatest importance to the body of the Saviour; but he is so intensely occupied with the mechanical difficulties of its support, the strain and stress of the dead weight, that he forgets feeling; in spite of the agonised attitude of the Mater Dolorosa, the picture is sadly lacking in pathos. He realizes the scene as to its material facts; he fails to realize its spiritual significance. (For an opposite opinion, see M. Max Rooses, who speaks of “the profound expression of a tender and respectful love.”) To my mind, the man who holds the Sudarium in his teeth is a fault of taste of the most flagrant character. We think of the whole work rather as a wonderful piece of art than as the fitting delineation of a sacred subject. But as art it is triumphant. The faces of the St. John and the Magdalen are also charming.

The R. wing, with the Presentation, and the aged Simeon receiving Christ in his arms, is of less interest.

2nd Chapel. Tomb of John Moretus, the son-in-law of Plantin, the famous printer (see after, under Musée Plantin-Moretus) erected by Martina Plantin, his widow, and with pictures by Rubens. Above, in an oval, portrait of John Moretus (by a pupil, re-touched by Rubens). Below, triptych; centre, *The Resurrection, emblematic of hope for his glorious future. L. wing, his patron, St. John-Baptist; R. wing, his widow’s patroness, St. Martina. This triptych, too, loses by not being first seen closed: on the outside are two angels, about to open a door; as the wings unfold, you behold the luminous figure of the risen Christ, grasping the red Resurrection banner. This figure is celebrated. The dismay of the Roman soldiers is conceived in the thorough Rubens spirit. Observe the arrangement of this triptych on the tomb: it will help you to understand others in the Museum.

Opposite this, Tomb of a Premonstratensian Friar, with St. Norbert, founder of the Order, in adoration, by Pepyn.

This chapel is also one of the best points of view for Rubens’s famous **Assumption, above the High Altar. We here see one of these great altar-pieces (of which we shall meet many examples in the Museum) placed in the situation for which it was originally designed. This Assumption ranks as one of Rubens’s masterpieces. Above, Our Lady is caught up into the air by a circle of little cherubs, dimly recalling the earlier Italian mandorla. Below, stand the Apostles, looking into the empty tomb, with the youthful figure of St. Thomas stretching out his hands in an attitude derived from the Italian subject of the Sacra Cintola. In the centre of the foreground, the Holy Women, about to pick roses from the empty tomb. (See a similar work in the Brussels Museum. This composition can only be understood by the light of earlier Italian examples.)

On the pier between this and the next chapel, Crucifixion, with Scenes from the Passion.

3rd Chapel. Master of the School of Cologne, 14th century. A Glory of the Angels. In the centre, St. Michael the Archangel slaying a dragon, whose double tongue divides into many heads of kings. R. and L., the insignificant donor and donatrix. On either side, choirs of angels in hierarchies. Above, Christ enthroned in a mandorla (almond-shaped halo) worshipped by angels. Beneath, in the predella, St. Stephen with his stone; St. Ursula with bow and arrow; St. Peter (keys); a Pietà; St. John the Evangelist; St. Agnes with her ruby ring; and St. Anthony the Abbot with his staff and bell. A good picture of the school from which Van Eyck was a reaction. Opposite it, Tomb of Bishop Ambrosio Capello, by Arthus Quellin, the only one remaining tomb of a bishop in the Cathedral.

4th Chapel. Good 16th century figure of Our Lady and Child. Tomb of Plantin, with Last Judgment by De Backer.

6th Chapel. Nothing of special interest, though in all these chapels the stained-glass windows and polychromatic decorations are worthy of notice.

Opposite it, on the back of the High Altar, painted imitations of reliefs by Van Bree: an extraordinary illusion; Annunciation, Marriage of the Virgin, Visitation. In front of these, Tomb of Isabella of Bourbon, wife of Charles the Bold, and mother of Mary of Burgundy. Altar-back, Death of the Virgin, 17th cent.

7th Chapel. Good modern archaic altar-piece, with a miracle of St. John Berchman. The saints are named on it.

8th Chapel. Tolerable modern archaic altar-piece of Our Lady and Child, with donors and saints.

On the pier, between this and the next chapel, School of Roger van der Weyden, Selection of Joseph as the husband of the Virgin, and Marriage of the Virgin; a good picture.

9th Chapel, of St. Joseph, patron saint of Belgium, and therefore honoured with this larger shrine. On the Altar, modern carved and gilt altar-piece, St. Joseph bearing the Infant Christ. Around it, Scenes from his Life. L. (beginning below), Marriage of the Virgin and Joseph, Nativity, Presentation in the Temple; R. (beginning above), Flight into Egypt, Finding of Christ in the Temple, the Holy Carpenter’s Shop. Centre, Death of St. Joseph. On the wings, R., Philip IV. dedicating Belgium to St. Joseph; L., Pius IX., accompanied by St. Peter, appointing Joseph patron saint of Belgium.

R. wall. Rubens’s famous *Elevation of the Cross. In form a triptych, but with the same subject continued through its three members. Centre, The Elevation: L., St. John, the Mater Dolorosa, and the Holy Women: R., Longinus and the soldiers, with the two thieves. This is one of Rubens’s most bustling pictures, where the mere muscular effort almost wholly chokes the sense of pathos. The dog in the foreground is an exceptionally unhappy later addition by the master. The tone of colour is brown and cold; the work is mainly painted for light and shade. It was formerly the altar-piece in the Church of St. Walburga, who appears with other saints on the outer shutters.

On the L. wall is a triptych by Francken: Centre, Christ among the Doctors, said to be portraits of the Reformers. L. wing, St. Ambrose baptizing Augustine, with the donor, kneeling. R. wing, Elijah causing the widow’s cruse of oil to be replenished.

Now, enter the Choir, with good modern carved stalls, and a different but less impressive view of Rubens’s Assumption.

The N. Aisle has little of interest, save its stained-glass windows, and a Head of Christ, painted on marble, ascribed to Leonardo, but really of Flemish origin. This is affixed to the first pillar of the Lady Chapel. Further on in the Aisle, confessionals with tolerable wood-carvings.

The Nave has the usual overloaded 17th century pulpit, with Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.

I have only briefly enumerated the principal contents; but you will find much more that is interesting for yourself if you spend an hour or two longer in examining the Cathedral.

C. THE PICTURE GALLERY

[The chief object of interest at Antwerp, even more important than the Cathedral itself, is the Picture Gallery, regally housed in a magnificent Museum at the S. end of the town. The building alone might make Trafalgar Square blush, if Trafalgar Square had a blush left in it. To this collection you should devote at least two or three mornings.

THE PICTURE GALLERY, ANTWERP.
Modern Pictures in the Rooms marked with an Italic capital.

The Antwerp Gallery contains in its palatial rooms a large number of Flemish pictures, many of them collected from the suppressed Churches and Monasteries of the city. (Remember that they were painted for such situations, not to be seen in Museums.) You will here have an opportunity of observing a few good pictures of the early Flemish School, and especially of improving your slight acquaintance with Roger van der Weyden, one of whose loveliest works is preserved in the gallery. You will also see at least one admirable example of Quentin Matsys, as well as several fine works of the Transitional School between the early and the later Flemish periods.

But the special glory of the Antwerp Museum is its great collection of Rubenses. It is at Antwerp alone, indeed, that you can begin to grasp the greatness of Rubens, as you may grasp it afterwards at Munich and Vienna. I do not say you will love him: I will not pretend to love him myself: but you may at least understand him. This, then, is the proper place in which to consider briefly the position of Rubens in Flemish Art.

From the days of the Van Eycks to those of Gerard David, painting in the Low Countries had followed a strictly national line of development. Its growth was organic and internal. With Quentin Matsys, and still more with Bernard van Orley, Pourbus, and the rest, the influence of the Italian Renaissance had begun to interfere with the native current of art in the Low Countries. It was Rubens who finally transformed Flemish painting by adopting to a certain extent the grandiose style of the later Italian and especially the Venetian Masters, at the same time that he transfused it with local feeling and with the private mark of his own superabundant and vigorous individuality.

Rubens was an Antwerp man, by descent and education, though accidentally born at Siegen in Nassau. His father was an Antwerp justice of an important family, exiled for supposed Calvinistic leanings, and disgraced for an intrigue with a royal lady, Anna of Saxony, the eccentric wife of William of Orange. A gentleman by birth and breeding, Peter Paul Rubens painted throughout life in the spirit of a generous, luxurious aristocrat. His master was Otto van Veen, Court Painter to the Dukes of Parma, and himself an Italianised Flemish artist, whose work is amply represented in the Museum. Early in life, Rubens travelled in Italy, where he imbibed to a great extent the prevailing tone of Italian art, as represented by Titian, Veronese, and to a less extent, Tintoretto, as well as by Domenichino and the later Roman School of painters. To these influences we must add the subtler effect of the general spirit of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the age when voyages to America and to India, and the sudden opening of the Atlantic seaboard, had caused in men’s minds a great ferment of opinion and given rise to a new outburst of activity and struggle. Romance was rife. The world was turned upside down. It was the day of Spanish supremacy, the day when the gold and silver of the Indies poured in vast sums into Madrid and the Low Countries. The Mediterranean had given way to the Atlantic, Venice to Antwerp. In England, this age gave us the rich and varied Elizabethan literature; in the Low Countries, it gave us the highly analogous and profusely lavish art of the School of Rubens.

Rubens lived his life throughout on a big scale. He travelled much. He was statesman and diplomatist as well as painter. He moved from Paris to London, from Madrid to Mantua. All these things give a tone to his art. He is large, spacious, airy, voluptuous. He has a bold self-confidence, a prodigal freedom, an easy opulence. He delights in colossal figures, in regal costume, in court dresses and feathers,—the romance and pageantry of the royal world he lived in. Space seems to swell and soar on his canvas. Vast marble halls with huge pillars and lofty steps are the architectural background in which his soul delights. His outlines are too flowing to be curbed into stiff correctness. His sturdy Flemish nature, again, comes out in the full and fleshy figures, the florid cheeks, and the abundant fair hair of his female characters. All scenes alike, however sacred, are for him just opportunities for the display of sensuous personal charm, enlivened by rich costume or wealthy accessories. Yet in his large romantic way he is doing for cosmopolitan mercantile Antwerp in the 17th century what Van Eyck and Memling did for cosmopolitan Ghent and Bruges in the 15th.

One more peculiarity of his art must be mentioned. The early painters, as we saw in the St. Ursula casket, had little sense of real dramatic life and movement. Rubens had learned to admire this quality in his Venetian masters, and he bettered their instruction with Flemish force and with the stir and bustle of a big seaport town in an epoch of development. His pictures are full, not merely of life, but of strain, stress, turmoil. It is more than animation—it is noise, it is tumult. He often forgets the sacredness of a scene by emphasizing too much the muscular action and the violent movement of those who participate in it. This is particularly noticeable in the Descent from the Cross in the Cathedral, and still more in the famous Coup de Lance at the Museum.

The astonishing number of pictures which Rubens has left may be accounted for in part by his incredible rapidity of execution—he dashed off a huge picture in a fortnight,—but in part also by the fact that he was largely assisted by a numerous body of pupils. Of these, Van Dyck was by far the most individual, the tenderest, the most refined: and not a few of his stately and touching masterpieces may here be studied.

The Dutch School is also represented by several excellent small pictures.

Of alien art, there are a few fine pieces by Early Italian artists.]

The entrance door is under the great portico on the west front, facing the river. Open daily, 9 or 10 to 4 or 5, 1 fr. per person: free on Sundays. (Inquire hours of hotel porter.)

You pass from the Vestibule (sticks and umbrellas left) into a Hall and Staircase of palatial dimensions, admirably decorated with fine modern paintings by N. De Keyser, of Antwerp, representing the Arts and Artists of the city, the influence upon them of Italian masters, and the recognition extended to their work in London, Paris, Rome, Bologna, Amsterdam, and Vienna. I do not describe these excellent pictures, as the inscriptions upon them sufficiently indicate their meaning, but they are well worth your careful attention.

The rooms are lettered (A. B. C. etc.) over the doorways. On reaching the top of the staircase, pass at once through Rooms J. and I., and go straight into

224. Justus of Ghent: a bland old pope, probably St. Gregory, holding a monstrance, between two angels. In the background, a curious altar-piece, with the Annunciation, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi, Flight into Egypt, Presentation in the Temple, and Finding of Christ in the Temple. Above it, two female saints (or figures of Our Lady?). A good work, in an early dry manner.

Above it, 463. Madonna and Child, by Van Orley: the landscape by Patinier. From a tomb in the Cathedral.

383. Van der Meire. Triptych from an altar; Centre, Way to Calvary, with St. Veronica offering her napkin, and brutal, stolid Flemish soldiers bearing the hammer, etc. In the background, the Flight into Egypt. The wings have been transposed. L., (should be R.), the Finding of Christ in the Temple. R. (should be L.), the Presentation in the Temple.

Above it, 380. Van den Broeck (1530-1601): a Last Judgment. Interesting for comparison with previous examples. Renaissance nude.

557. Unknown. Dutch School of the early 16th century. The Tiburtine Sibyl showing the Emperor Augustus the apparition of the Virgin and Child on the Aventine. A page, his robe embroidered with his master’s initial A., holds the Emperor’s crown. Very Dutch architecture. (The Catalogue, I think erroneously, makes it the Madonna appearing to Constantine.)

527. Unknown. Resurrection, the Saviour, bearing the white pennant, with red cross, and sleeping Roman soldiers.

Above these, Madonna, in the Byzantine style, with the usual Greek inscriptions.

521. School of Albert Dürer: Mater Dolorosa, with the Seven Sorrows around her.

Above, 387, Van der Meire: an Entombment, with the usual figures, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea; the Magdalen in the foreground with the box of ointment; the Mater Dolorosa supported by St. John (in red); and, behind, the two Maries. In the background, a Pietà—that is to say, the same group mourning over the Dead Saviour.

425. Van Hemessen: The Calling of Matthew from the receipt of custom. Harsh and uninteresting.

568. School of Quentin Matsys: Christ and St. Veronica. Probably part only of a Way to Calvary. The spiked club is frequent.

241. Quentin Matsys: a fine and celebrated *Head of the Saviour Blessing, with more expression than is usual in the Flemish type of this subject. Notice even here, however, close adhesion to the original typical features.

242. Quentin Matsys: Companion *Head of Our Lady, as Queen of Heaven. Full of charm and simplicity.

Between these, 4, *Antonello da Messina (an Italian profoundly influenced by the School of Van Eyck, and the first to introduce the Flemish improvements in oil-painting into Italy). Crucifixion, with St. John and Our Lady. This work should be carefully studied, as a connecting link between the art of Flanders and Italy. It is painted with the greatest precision and care, and bears marks everywhere of its double origin—Flemish minuteness, Italian nobility.

254. Memling: **admirable cold-toned portrait of a member of the De Croy family. The hands, face, and robe, are all exquisitely painted.

Centre of the wall, 412, good early copy of Jan van Eyck’s altar-piece for Canon George van der Paelen, in the Academy at Bruges. If you have not been there, see page 59 for particulars. Better preserved than the original: perhaps a replica by the master himself.

519. Crucifixion, with Our Lady and St. John, on a gold background. Interesting only as a specimen of the very wooden Dutch painting of the 14th century. Contrast it with the Van Eyck beneath it, if you wish to see the strides which that great painter took in his art.

397. Good hard *portrait of Philippe le Bon of Burgundy, an uninteresting, narrow-souled personage, wearing the collar of the Golden Fleece, by Roger van der Weyden.

43. Cranach the Elder: Charity. A study of the nude, somewhat more graceful than is the wont of this painter.

264. Mostaert (Jan, the Dutchman), tolerable hard portrait: same person reappears in 262.

179. Gossaert: *a beautiful panel representing the Return from Calvary. The Mater Dolorosa is supported by St. John. On the L., the Magdalen with her pot of ointment; R., the other Maries. Very touching. Notice the Flemish love for these scenes of the Passion and Entombment.

198. Hans Holbein the Younger: **admirable portrait of Erasmus. It lives. Full of vivacity and scholarly keenness, with the quick face of a bright intelligence, and the expressive hands of a thinker. The fur is masterly.

180. Gossaert: group of figures somewhat strangely known as “The Just Judges.” Probably a single surviving panel from an extensive work of the same character as the Adoration of the Lamb at Ghent.

263. Jan Mostaert: *very fine portrait of a man in a large black hat and yellow doublet. Pendant to 264.

202. Lucas van Leyden: *portraits. Characteristic, and well thrown out against the background.

566. School of Quentin Matsys: a genre piece; an unpleasant representation of a young girl attempting to cut the purse strings of an old man. Probably a companion picture to one now in the possession of the Countess of Pourtalés, Paris.

Above these, 168, Triptych by Fyol, German School. Centre, the Adoration of the Magi. The Old King has removed his crown, as usual, and presented his gift. He is evidently a portrait: he wears a collar of the Golden Fleece, and is probably Philippe le Bon. Behind him, the Middle-aged King, kneeling; then the Young King, a Moor, with his offering. (The story of the Three Kings—Gaspar, Melchior, Balthasar—was largely evolved in the Cologne district, where their relics formed the main object of pious pilgrimage.) To the R., an undignified Joseph, with his staff, and the peculiar robe with which you are now, I hope, familiar. In the background, the family of the donor, looking in through a window. The wings have, I think, been misplaced. L., The Circumcision; R., Nativity: notice the ox and ass, and the costume of Joseph.

325. Schoreel: Crucifixion, with Our Lady, St. John, the Magdalen, and angels catching the Holy Blood. (A frequent episode.)

262. Jan Mostaert: The Prophecies of Our Lady. Above, she is represented as Queen of Heaven, in an oval glory of angels, recalling the Italian mandorla. Below, those who have prophesied of her: in the centre, Isaiah, with scroll, “Behold, a Virgin shall conceive,” etc.: R. and L., Micah and Zechariah. Further R. and L., two Sibyls. The one to the R. is the same person as 264.

534. Unknown: Flemish School: Assumption of Our Lady. Above, the Trinity waiting to crown her.

123. Dunwege: German School. The Family of St. Anne, resembling in subject the Quentin Matsys at Brussels. Centre, St. Anne enthroned. Below her, Our Lady and the Divine Child. (Often Our Lady sits on St. Anne’s lap.) L., Joachim offers St. Anne and Our Lady cherries. (See Legends of the Madonna.) R., St. Joseph, with his staff and robe. On either side, the Maries, with their children, here legibly named, and their husbands. (From a church at Calcar.)

Above this, 523. Triptych: Madonna and Child, with donors and patron saints (Sebastian and Mary Magdalen). Note their symbols. On either side,

Van der Meire: 388: Mater Dolorosa; her breast pierced with a sword: and on the other side of the triptych 389 (attribution doubtful, according to Lafenestre), a donatrix with St. Catherine, holding the sword of her martyrdom.

47. Herri Met de Bles: Repose on the Flight into Egypt. Notice the sleeping St. Joseph, and the staff, basket, and gourd, which mark this subject.

243. Quentin Matsys: *St. Mary Magdalen with her alabaster box. Sweet and simple. In reality, portrait of an amiable round-faced Flemish young lady, in the character of her patron saint. Her home forms the background.

199. *Exquisite and delicate miniature by Hans Holbein the Younger. (Lafenestre doubts the attribution.)

132. Fouquet, the old French painter, 1415-1485. Hard old French picture of a Madonna and Child, of the regal French type, with solid-looking red and blue cherubs. Said to be a portrait of Agnes Sorel, mistress of Charles VII. From the Cathedral of Melun.

396. *Roger van der Weyden (more probably, School of Van Eyck): Annunciation. The angel Gabriel, in an exquisitely painted bluish-white robe, has just entered. Our Lady kneels at her prie-dieu with her book. In the foreground, the Annunciation lily; behind, the bed-chamber. The Dove descends upon her head. This is one of the loveliest works in the collection.

28. Dierick Bouts: The Madonna and Child. An excellent specimen of his hard, careful manner.

30. Bril, 1556-1626. Fine miniature specimen of later Flemish landscape, with the Prodigal Son in the foreground.

223. Justus van Ghent: Nativity, with Adoration of the Shepherds. A good picture, full of interesting episodes.

Beyond these, another case, containing fine small works. A beautiful little *Madonna with the Fountain of Life (411) by Jan van Eyck, closely resembling a large one by Meister Wilhelm, in the Museum at Cologne. Two good unknown portraits. A splendid **portrait of a medallist (5) by Antonello da Messina (sometimes attributed to Memling). A portrait (33) of François II. of France as a child, by Clouet, of the old French School. A characteristic *Albert Dürer (124), portrait of Frederick III. of Saxony: and a good Gossaert (182). These do not need description, but should be closely studied.

The place of honour on this wall is occupied by 393, a magnificent **Seven Sacraments, usually attributed to Roger van der Weyden, though believed by some to be a work of his master, Robert Campin of Tournai. At any rate, it is a work full of Roger’s mystic spirit. In form, it is a triptych, but the main subjects are continued through on to the wings. The central panel represents the Sacrament of the Mass, typified in the foreground by a Crucifixion, taking place in the nave of an unknown Gothic church. At the foot of the cross are the fainting Madonna, supported by St. John (in red as usual) and a touching group of the three Maries. The robe of one to the left overflows into the next panel. In the background, the actual Mass is represented as being celebrated at the High Altar. The architecture of the church (with its triforium, clerestory, and apse, and its fine reredos and screen) is well worth notice. So are the figures of Our Lady, St. Peter and St. John, on the decorative work of the screen and reredos. I believe the kneeling figure behind the officiating priest to be a portrait of the donor. The side panels represent the other sacraments, taking place in the aisles and lateral chapels of the same church. L., Baptism, Confirmation, Confession: in the Confirmation, the children go away wearing the sacred bandage. R., Holy Orders, Matrimony, Extreme Unction. Each of these groups should be carefully noted. The colours of the angels above are all symbolical:—white (innocence) for Baptism: yellow (initiation) for Confirmation: red (love or sin) for confession and absolution: green (hope) for the Eucharist: purple (self-sacrifice) for Holy Orders: blue (fidelity) for Marriage: violet, almost black, (death) for Extreme Unction. The picture is full of other episodes and mystical touches. In all this beautiful and touching composition, the Mary to the right of the Cross is perhaps the most lovely portion. For a fine criticism, see Conway.

250. Quentin Matsys: Head of Christ, with the Crown of Thorns and Holy Blood; painful.

204, 205, 206. Good Lucas of Leyden, of the Four Evangelists (John missing). Luke, with the bull, painting; Matthew, with the angel, and Mark, with the lion, writing.

537. Admirable unknown portrait. These little works again need no description, but close study.

Above them, 244. Quentin Matsys (?). The Misers, one of the best known of this favourite subject.

410. **Van Eyck’s celebrated unfinished St. Barbara, holding her palm of martyrdom, and with her tower in the background. It should be closely studied, both as an indication of the master’s method, and as a contemporary drawing illustrating the modes of mediæval building. For a careful criticism, see Conway.

Above these, Engelbrechtsen, 130. St. Hubert, attired as bishop, bearing his crozier and hunting horn, and with the stag beside him, with the crucifix between its horns.

3. A Fra Angelico. Interesting in the midst of these Flemish pictures. St. Romuald reproaching the Emperor Otho III. for the murder of Crescentius.

536. A Baptism of Christ, where note the conventional arrangement and the angel with the robe.

561. Triptych. Madonna and Child. St. Christopher, and St. George. Harsh and angular.

207. Lucas of Leyden: Adoration of the Magi. You can now note for yourself the ox, ass, Joseph, position, age, and complexion of Kings, etc.

29. Attributed (doubtfully) to Dierick Bouts: St. Christopher wading, with the Infant Christ. In the background, the hermit and lantern. (See Mrs. Jameson.)

176. Giotto: A St. Paul with the sword. Characteristic of early Florentine work.

257, 258, 259, 260. Simone Martini of Siena: Four panels. Extreme ends, **Annunciation, closely resembling the figures in the Ufizzi at Florence: Annunciations are often thus divided into two portions. Centre, Crucifixion and Descent from the Cross. These exquisitely finished little works are full of the tender and delicate spirit of the early Sienese School. In the Crucifixion, notice particularly the Magdalen, and St. Longinus piercing the side of Christ. Our Lady in the Annunciation has the fretful down-drawn mouth inherited by early Italian art from its Byzantine teachers.

177. Giotto: St. Nicolas of Myra with the three golden balls, protecting a donor.

Above are three good portraits by Van Orley, and other works which need no description.

On easels at the end, 255. Attributed to Memling: **Exquisite Madonna and Child in a church. Our Lady, arrayed as Queen of Heaven, with a pot of lilies before her, stands in the nave of a lovely early Gothic cathedral, with a later Decorated apse, and admirable rood-screen. Every detail of the tiles, the crown, the screen, and the robe, as well as Our Lady’s hair and hands, should be closely looked into. This is one of the loveliest pictures here. It is a very reduced copy from one by Jan van Eyck at Berlin: the church is that of the Abbey of the Dunes near Furnes. Its attribution to Memling has been disputed: Conway believes it to be by a follower. In any case, it is lovely.

256. **Companion panel, of the donor, a Cistercian Abbot of the Dunes, in a sumptuous room, half bed-chamber, half study, with a beautiful fireplace and fire. He kneels at his prayers, having deposited his mitre on a cushion beside him, and laid his crozier comfortably by the fireplace. Creature comforts are not neglected on the side-board. Here also every decorative detail should be closely examined. These are two of the very finest works of the School of Memling. Probably the Abbot admired Jan van Eyck’s Madonna, painted for a predecessor, and asked for a copy, with himself in adoration on the other wing of the diptych.

530, 531. Christ blessing, and a Cistercian Canon in adoration. As usual, the outer panels are less brilliant in colouring than the inner. Notice the Alpha and Omega and the P. and F. (for Pater and Filius) on the curtain behind the Saviour. These works are by an inferior hand.

The other easel has a fine (208, 209, 210) *Lucas van Leyden: Adoration of the Magi, with fantastic elongated figures. Note the ruined temple. The other features will now be familiar. Lucas’s treatment is peculiar. L., St. George and the Dragon. The saint has broken his lance and attacks the fearsome beast with his sword. In the background, the Princess Cleodolind and landscape. R., The donor, in a rich furred robe, and behind him, St. Margaret with her dragon. At the back, 181, wings, by the same, with a peculiar Annunciation (the wings being open, reversed in order). Between them has been unwisely inserted an Ecce Homo by Gossaert.

Now, go straight through Rooms H, F, and E, to three rooms en suite, the last of which is

containing the Transitional Pictures. (It is usual to skip these insipid works of the intermediate age, and to jump at once from the School of Van Eyck to the School of Rubens—I think unwisely—for Rubens himself can only properly be appreciated as the product of an evolution, by the light of the two main influences which affected him—his Flemish masters, and his Italian models, Veronese and Giulio Romano.) Begin at the far end, near the lettered doorway, and note throughout the effort to imitate Italian art; the endeavour at classical knowledge; and the curious jumble of Flemish and Tuscan ideas. But the Flemish skill in portraiture still continues.

Next to it, 103, Martin De Vos, the Elder: St. Anthony the Abbot, accompanied by his pig and bell, and his usual tempters, burying the body of St. Paul the Hermit, whose grave two lions are digging. To the R., hideous Flemish devils, grotesquely horrible. Above, phases of the Temptation of St. Anthony.

372. Michael Coxcie: Martyrdom of St. George—one of his tortures. Good transitional work, inspired by Italian feeling.

72. M. De Vos: Triptych, painted for the altar of the Guild of Crossbowmen in the Cathedral. Centre, Triumph of the risen Christ. In the foreground, St. Peter (keys), and St. Paul (sword), with open pages of their writings. L., St. George, patron of the Crossbowmen, with his banner and armour; R., St. Agnes with her lamb. Left panel, Baptism of Constantine by St. Sylvester. Right panel, Constantine ordering the erection of the Church of St. George at Constantinople. In the sky, the apparition of Our Lady to the Emperor. A gigantic work, recalling the later Italian Renaissance, especially the Schools of Bronzino and Giulio Romano.

374. Michael Coxcie: Martyrdom of St. George; the other wing of the same triptych in honour of St. George as 372; central portion lost.

89. M. De Vos: St. Conrad of Ascoli, a Franciscan friar, in devout contemplation of the founder of his Order, St. Francis, receiving the Stigmata. Around it, small scenes from the life of St. Conrad, unimportant. Below, Devotion at the tomb of St. Conrad: royal personages praying, offerings of rich images, and the sick healed by his relics. A curious picture of frank corpse-worship.

576. Triptych, unknown. St. Eligius of Noyon (St. Éloy), one of the apostles of Brabant, preaching to a congregation really composed of good local portraits. (A pious way of having oneself painted.) R. and L., St. Eligius feeding prisoners, and St. Eligius healing the sick.

741. Another of Bernard van Orley’s General Resurrections, the type of which will now be familiar to you. In the centre, strangely introduced group of portraits of the donors, engaged in burying a friend, whose memory this triptych was doubtless intended to commemorate. On either wing, the six works of Mercy (the seventh, burial, is in the main picture).

77. Good transitional triptych, by M. De Vos, for the Guild of Leather-dressers. Centre, The Incredulity of St. Thomas. On the wings, Scenes from the life of the Baptist. L., Baptism of Christ; where note the persistence of the little symbolical Jordan, with angels almost inconspicuous. R., The Decollation of St. John. Salome receiving his head in a charger. In the background, Herodias.

371. Coxcie the Younger: Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, patron saint of Bowmen, from their altar in the Cathedral. An attempt to be very Italian. The wings of this triptych are by Francken. L., St. Sebastian exhorting Marcus and Marcellinus to go to martyrdom. R., St. Sebastian miraculously healing the dumb woman, with portrait spectators, in dress of the period, deeply interested.

The left wall is entirely occupied by three large panels of a fine old Flemish 15th century picture, attributed to Memling (and apparently accepted as his by Lafenestre), representing *Christ Enthroned, with orb and cross, surrounded by choirs of angels; those in the central panel singing; the others, playing various musical instruments. This is a beautiful work, but less pleasing than those of the same school on a smaller scale. It has been recently bought from the monastery of Najera in Spain. It was intended, I think, to be seen at a height, probably on an organ-loft, and loses by being placed so near the eye of the spectator.

The opposite wall, R., is occupied by 245, Quentin Matsys’s masterpiece, the triptych of **the Entombment, painted for the altar of the Guild of Cabinet-makers. The colouring is much more pleasing than in the Family of St. Anne at Brussels. Central panel, The Entombment. Nicodemus supports the emaciated body of the dead Saviour, while Joseph of Arimathea wipes the marks of the crown of thorns from his head. The worn body itself, with a face of pathetic suffering, lies on the usual white sheet in the foreground. At the foot, Mary Magdalen, with her pot of ointment and long fair hair, strokes the body tenderly. In the centre is the fainting Madonna, supported, as always, by St. John, in his red robe. Behind are the three Maries. The usual attendant (a ruffianly Fleming, in a queer turban-like cap) holds the crown of thorns. At the back, preparations for the actual placing in the sepulchre. In the background, Calvary.

The wings have scenes from the lives of the two St. Johns. L., The daughter of Herodias, a very mincing young lady, in a gorgeous dress, brings the head of St. John the Baptist on a charger to her mother and a fiercely-bearded Herod. The queen appears to be about to carve it. Above, a gallery of minstrels. Admirable drapery and accessories. The R. wing has the so-called Martyrdom of St. John the Evangelist, in the cauldron of boiling oil, with a delightful boy spectator looking on in a tree. The Emperor Domitian (older than history), on a white horse, behind. Flemish varlets stir the fire lustily. This noble work originally decorated the altar in the Chapel of the Menuisiers of Antwerp in the Cathedral.

On easels, 649, Claeissens: Triptych of the Crucifixion, with the Way to Calvary and the Resurrection. Elongated, attenuated figures.

680. Giles Mostaert (the elder): Singular complex picture, painted for the Hospital of Antwerp; representing, above, The General Resurrection: Christ enthroned between Our Lady and St. John-Baptist. Beneath, naked souls rising from the tomb. To the L., St. Peter welcomes the just at the gate of the Celestial City. To the R., devils drive the wicked into the gaping jaws of Hell. Beneath, the courses that lead to either end: the Seven Works of Mercy, inspired by the Redeemer, and the Seven Deadly Sins, suggested by devils. I will leave you to identify them (it is easy).

containing more works of the Transition. These large altar-pieces of the early 17th century, the period of the greatest wealth in Antwerp, though often frigid, as works of art, are at least interesting as showing the opulence and the tastes of the Antwerp guilds during the epoch of the Spanish domination. They are adapted to the huge Renaissance churches then erected, as the smaller triptychs of the 15th century were adapted to the smaller Gothic altars.

529. Feast of Archers, with the King of the Archers enthroned in the background.

114. Frans Floris: St. Luke painting, with his bull most realistically assisting, and his workman grinding his colours. From the old Academy of Painters, whose patron was St. Luke. Italian influence.

148. The same. Decollation of St. Cosmo and St. Damian: painted for the Guild of Physicians, of whom these were the patron saints.

357. A splendid and luminous Titian, in the curious courtly ceremonial manner of the Venetian painters. **Pope Alexander VI. (Borgia), in a beautiful green dalmatic, introducing to the enthroned St. Peter his friend, Giovanni Sforza da Pesaro, Bishop of Paphos, and admiral of the Pope’s fleet. At the bishop’s feet lies his helmet, to show his double character as priest and warrior. He grasps the banner of the Borgias and of the Holy Church. In the background (to show who he is), the sea and fleet. St. Peter’s red robe is splendid. The Venetians frequently paint similar subjects,—“Allow me to introduce to your Sainthood,” etc. This is a fine work in Titian’s early harder manner, still somewhat reminiscent of the School of Bellini. Its glorious but delicate colour comes out all the better for the crudity of the works around it.

146. Ambrose Francken: St. Cosmo and St. Damian, the Doctor Saints, amputating an injured leg, and replacing it by the leg of a dead Moor. In the background, other episodes of their profession. (Wing of the triptych for the Guild of Physicians.)

83. M. De Vos: Triptych, painted for the Guild of the Mint, and allusive to their functions. Centre, The Tribute Money. “Render unto Cæsar,” etc., with tempting Pharisees and Sadducees, and Roman soldiers. In the foreground, St. Peter in blue and yellow, with his daughter Petronilla. Left wing: Peter, similarly habited, finds the tribute money in the fish’s mouth. Right wing: The Widow’s Mite. (The French titles, “Le Denier de César,” “Le Denier du Tribut,” “Le Denier de la Veuve,” bring out the allusion better.)

88. M. De Vos: St. Luke painting Our Lady, with his bull, as ever, in attendance. The wings by others. L., St. Luke preaching. R., St. Paul before Felix. From the altar of the (painters’) Confraternity of St. Luke in the Cathedral.

113. Frans Floris: Adoration of the Shepherds. Note persistence of formal elements from old School, with complete transformation of spirit.

112. Frans Floris’s horrible St. Michael conquering the devils; the most repulsive picture by this repulsive and exaggerated master.

contains chiefly works of the school of Rubens, most of which can now be satisfactorily comprehended by the reader without much explanation. I will therefore treat them briefly.

644. P. Brueghel the Younger: A village merry-making (“Kermesse Flamande”). With more than the usual vulgarity of episode.

contains nothing which the reader cannot adequately understand for himself. Omit Room G for the present (it contains the Dutch Masters), and turn instead into

End Wall, 305. Rubens: *The Last Communion of the dying St. Francis of Assisi. A famous work, in unusually low tones of colour—scarcely more than chiaroscuro. St. Francis, almost nude, is supported by his friars. Above, angels, now reduced to cherubs, wait to convey his soul to Heaven. Painted for the altar of St. Francis in the Franciscan Church of the Récollets. See it from the far end of the room, where it becomes much more luminous.

On either side, 662, good portrait by S. De Vos (himself, dashing and vigorous: every inch an artist): and

104. C. De Vos: Admirable and life-like **portrait of the messenger or porter of the Guild of St. Luke, the Society of Painters of Antwerp, exhibiting the plate belonging to his confraternity. He is covered with medals, which are the property of the Society, and has the air of a shrewd and faithful servant. This living presentment of a real man is deservedly popular.

403. Van Dyck’s *Entombment (or Pietà), often called Descent from the Cross. This is one of his noblest pictures, but badly restored.

401. Van Dyck: **A Dominican picture (Guiffrey calls it “cold and empty”), painted at his father’s dying wish for the Dominican Nunnery at Antwerp. The two great saints of the Order, St. Dominic, the founder, and St. Catherine of Assisi, the originator of the female branch, stand at the foot of the Cross, which is itself a secondary object in the picture. St. Dominic looks up in adoration; St. Catherine, wearing the crown of thorns, fervently embraces the feet of the Saviour. On the base, a child angel, in a high unearthly light, with a half extinguished torch, points with hope to the figure of the crucified Lord. The whole is emblematic of belief in a glorious Resurrection, through the aid of the Dominican prayers. Interesting inscription on the rock: “Lest earth should weigh too heavily on his father’s soul, A. van Dyck rolled this stone to the foot of the Cross, and placed it in this spot.”

381. Van Hoeck: Madonna and Child, with St. Francis, from the Franciscan Church of the Récollets.

406. Van Dyck’s noble **Crucifixion, with the sun and moon darkened. One of his most admirable pictures.

677. Jordaens: **Charming family scene, known by the title of “As sing the Old, so pipe the Young.” Three generations—grandparents, parents, and children—engaged in music together. Very catching: a most popular picture.

404. Van Dyck: **Pietà, altar-piece for a chapel of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows. Our Lady holds on her lap the dead Christ, while St. John points out with his finger the wound in His hand to pitying angels. All the formal elements in this scene—Our Lady, St. John, the angels, etc.—belong to the earlier conception of the Pietà, but all have been entirely transfigured by Van Dyck in accordance partly with the conceptions of the School of Rubens, though still more with his own peculiar imagination. It is interesting, however, to note in this touching and beautiful picture, full of deep feeling, how far the type of the St. John has been inherited, remotely, from the School of Van der Weyden. Even the red robe and long hair persist. The features, too, are those with which we are familiar. This is one of the gems of the collection. It shows the direct influence of Italian travel modifying Van Dyck’s style, acquired from Rubens.

This room also contains several other excellent works of the School of Rubens or his more or less remote followers, which I need not particularize.

containing what are considered to be the gems among the Rubenses and the later pictures.

Right of the door, Rubens and Brueghel, 319: Small copy of the Dead Christ. Schut, 327: The Beheading of St. George. A pagan priest, behind, endeavours to make him worship an image of Apollo. Above, angels wait to convey his soul to Heaven. This is a somewhat confused picture, with a spacious composition and a fine luminous foreground: it is considered its painter’s masterpiece. Intended for the altar of the Archers (whose patron was St. George), in Antwerp Cathedral.

107. C. De Vos: *Portraits of the Snoek family, in devotion to St. Norbert. This picture requires a little explanation. St. Norbert was the Catholic antagonist of the heretic Tankelin at Antwerp in the 12th century. In this frankly anachronistic picture the Snoek family of the 17th century, portly, well-fed burghers, are represented restoring to the mediæval saint the monstrance and other church vessels removed from his church during the Calvinist troubles. The Snoeks are living personages; the Saint is envisaged as a heavenly character. It is, in short, a highly allegorical picture of the family showing their devotion to true Catholicism, and their detestation of current heresy. In the background stands the town of Antwerp, with the Cathedral and St. Michael. (From the burial chapel of the Snoek family at St. Michael.) There is a Brueghel in Brussels Museum, representing St. Norbert preaching against Tankelin.

307. Beyond the door, Rubens: **Triptych, to adorn a tomb, for the funerary chapel of his friend Rockox. Compare, for size and purpose, the Moretus tomb in the Cathedral. It shows the painter’s early careful manner, and represents in its central piece the Incredulity of St. Thomas. On the wings, the Burgomaster Nicolas Rockox, and his wife, for whose tomb it was painted. The wings are finer than the central portion. This early work, still recalling Van Veen’s academic tone, should be compared with the Van Veens and also with Rubens’s fine portrait of himself and his brother, with Lipsius and Grotius, in the Pitti at Florence. It marks the earliest age, when he was still content with comparatively small sizes, and gave greater elaboration to his work, but without his later dash and vigour. M. Rooses thinks ill of it.

781. *Fine farmyard scene by Rubens, with the story of the Prodigal Son in the foreground. One of the many signs of his extraordinary versatility.

Beyond, on either side of the great Rubens, to be noticed presently, are two pictures by his master, Otto van Veen: 480, The Calling of Matthew, and 479, Zacchæus in the Fig-Tree. These two careful works recall the later Italian Schools, more particularly Titian, and are good examples of that careful academic transitional Flemish art which Rubens was to transform and revivify by the strength of his own exuberant and powerful personality. They are admirably placed here for comparison with

297. Rubens’s famous altar-piece of the Crucifixion, for the Church of the Franciscans, commonly known as the **Coup de Lance. In this splendid work Rubens is seen in one of his finest embodiments. The figure of Christ has fine virility. St. Longinus, to the L., on a white horse, is in the very act of piercing his side. The Magdalen, embracing the foot of the Cross, as ever, throws up her arms with supplicating gesture. To the R. is the Madonna. Behind, a soldier is engaged in breaking the limbs of the Impenitent Thief (always on Christ’s L.) who writhes in his torture. The whole work is full of Rubens’s life and bustle, well contrasted with the academic calm of the Van Veens beside it. Even those who do not love Rubens (and I confess I am of them) must see in such a work as this how his great powers succeeded in effects at which his contemporaries aimed ineffectually. Boldly dramatic, but not sacred.

300. **Triptych by Rubens, commonly known as the Christ à la Paille, painted for a tomb in the Cathedral (compare the Moretus one). In the centre is a Pietà: Joseph of Arimathea supporting the dead body of the Christ on the edge of a stone covered with straw. Behind, Our Lady and another Mary, with the face of St. John just appearing in the background. This “too famous” work is rather a study of the dead nude than a really sacred picture. Some of its details overstep the justifiable limits of horror. The wings are occupied by, L., a so-called Madonna and Child, really a portrait of a lady and boy—(his wife and son?): R., St. John the Evangelist (patron of the person for whose tomb it was painted), accompanied by his eagle.

706. Admirable *portrait by Rubens of Gaspard Groaerts, town secretary. The bust is Marcus Aurelius.

171. J. Fyt: Excellent screaming eagles, with a dead duck. One of the earliest and best presentations of wild life at home.

315. Rubens: Small copy (with variations) of the Descent from the Cross in the Cathedral (by a pupil).

708. One of the best *portraits by Rubens in the Gallery, subject unknown: lacks personal dignity, but Rubens has made the most of him.

The rest of this wall is occupied by some tolerable gigantic altar-pieces and other good works of the School of Rubens. Most of them derive their chief interest from their evident inferiority in design and colour to the handicraft of the Master. They are the very same thing—with the genius omitted.

End wall, 314, Rubens: called the *Holy Trinity. The Almighty supports on His knees the figure of the dead Christ. Behind, hovers the Holy Ghost. On either side, boy angels hold the crown of thorns, the three nails, and the other implements of the Passion. This is really a study in the science of foreshortening, and in the painting of the dead nude, largely suggested, I believe, by a still more unpleasing Mantegna in the Brera at Milan.