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PORTRAIT OF TIMOTHY. BY JAN VAN EYCK.
PORTRAIT OF TIMOTHY.
BY JAN VAN EYCK.
The portrait at the National Gallery which, from the name inscribed in Greek characters on the stone parapet that extends across the bottom of the panel, is known as the bust of Timothy, bears the date October 10, 1432, and is therefore the earliest of Jan's signed and dated pictures—always excepting the much-overpainted Chatsworth panel of 1421. It is not in quite so good a state of preservation as the other portrait of a man by Jan, in the same Gallery, which is dated 1433, but the face itself is in fairly good condition. The features are broad and massive, and inclined to heaviness; the eyes are somewhat deep-set, while the cheek-bones are prominent. His right hand holds a small roll of parchment with some writing upon it. On the parapet, beneath the Greek word "Tymotheos," is the inscription LEAL SOVVENIR, and the signature "Factū año. Dm̄. 1432. 10. die Octobris. a Joh. de Eyck."
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The portrait known as The Man with the Pinks at the Berlin Museum, is one of the most characteristic of Jan's portraits. It shows an elderly man in a dark grey coat with fur cuffs and collar and a broad-brimmed beaver hat. At the neck the brocade collar of a tunic shows above the fur collar of the coat. The ornament of this brocade seems to consist of the alternating letters Y and C, which occur in one or two other portraits of the period, and may eventually afford some clue as to the identity of the sitter. Round the neck is a twisted wire chain, from which hangs a headless cross and the bell of St. Anthony. Both hands are raised as high as the breast, the fingers and thumb of the left holding three pinks. A handsome ring with two stones is on the third finger. The face, wrinkled and lined, is full of expression and life; the lips are parted, as though about to give utterance to speech. Though the drawing is almost hard in its exact delineation, it is far from rigid. It is altogether an admirable example of Jan's lifelike realism, that loves to dwell on every little ugly detail—ill-shapen ears, puffy "tear-bags," warts and wrinkles—and yet infuses the whole thing with the beauty of life and character.
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THE VAN DER PAELE ALTAR-PIECE. BY JAN VAN EYCK.
THE VAN DER PAELE ALTAR-PIECE.
BY JAN VAN EYCK.
The Virgin and Child, with St. Donatian, St. George, and the Donor, George van der Paele, Canon of the ancient Cathedral of St. Donatian at Bruges, bears the date 1436, and is the most important of Jan van Eyck's religious compositions. The scene is in the circular apse of a Romanesque church, lighted by the soft rays that filter through the leaded windows. The Virgin, draped in a red cloak, is seen in the centre under a green canopy, holding the Christ-Child in her lap. She has the same heavy, matronly features as the Virgin of The Annunciation in St. Petersburg and of the Chancellor Rolin picture in Paris, and is no more idealised than the by no means attractive infant Saviour, who is playing with a parrot. It is all very human and wonderfully true, and for that very reason lacking in spiritual significance. On the left stands St. Donatian in a gorgeous and marvellously painted brocade robe, whilst on the right St. George, in armour, presents the kneeling Canon van der Paele to the Virgin. The patron saint, again, is obviously painted from a model of low rank in life—perhaps a peasant or a stableman; whilst the rugged irregular features of the donor are set down with an honest and painstaking straightforwardness that seems to delight in doing full justice to all the sitter's ugliness. As objective portraiture pure and simple, this head of van der Paele has probably never been surpassed in the whole history of art. The supreme mastery of Jan van Eyck manifests itself in the creation of a work of unforgettable beauty and sumptuous splendour from such unpromising material. The ugliness of the types chosen is forgotten when one's eyes revel in the rich scheme of colour, the extraordinary beauty of the painting of all the stuffs and accessories, the perfect modelling of the features, and, above all, the (for the time) amazing knowledge of the effect of light. With all the richness of pigment there is not a single note in this whole large panel that is not absolutely "in tone"; nothing is forced, nothing arbitrary, as though the fifteenth-century master had already adopted the principle of the nineteenth-century impressionists—"the first subject of a picture is light."
The van der Paele altar-piece was in the sacristy of the church of St. Donatian when the old basilica was destroyed by the revolutionary troops. It was taken to Paris, together with much other artistic booty, but was returned to Bruges in 1814, and is now in the Museum of the Academy of that city. The drapery round the loins of the infant Saviour is a later addition which does not appear in the excellent early copy at the Antwerp Museum, from which our illustration is a reproduction. The original at Bruges bears the inscription in small Gothic letters: Hoc opus fecit fieri magister Georgius de Pala, huius ecclesie canonicus, per Johannem de Eyck pictorem. Et fundavit hic duas capellanias de gremio chori domini M. ccc°. xxxiiij°., completing anno 1436°.
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At the Museum of Antwerp is the exquisite unfinished little painting of St. Barbara, signed and dated: JOHES DE EYCK ME FECIT 1437. The saint, with an open book on her lap and a palm-branch in her hand, is seated in front of an elaborately designed Gothic tower in course of construction. Around the tower are numerous figures of labourers, masons, horsemen, and others; and the background shows a landscape with mountains, castles, rivers, fields and trees, and a town on a hill. Technically, this picture is supremely interesting, as it shows that at a comparatively late period of his life—a quarter of a century after the reputed discovery of oil-painting—Jan has not altogether discarded the practice of tempera-painting. For the whole composition, the pensive-looking saint and the widespread angular folds of her garment, the tower and the figures, are carefully drawn and shaded in brown tempera colour on a preparation of gum or white of egg. Only the part which required no special design, the sky, is painted in oil-colour. It may thus be assumed that it was the practice of the brothers van Eyck to work with oil-colours on a tempera foundation.
The St. Barbara also confirms Karel van Mander's statement that Jan's sketches were more complete and more carefully wrought than the finished paintings of other artists. M. Henri Hymaus suggests that this St. Barbara is the very painting which van Mander mentions as being in the possession of his master Lucas de Heere at Ghent, and "representing a woman behind whom was a landscape; it was but a preparation, and yet extraordinarily beautiful."
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Our last illustration represents, or is supposed to represent, The Enthronement of Thomas à Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury, and is in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire, at Chatsworth. In a late Norman church Thomas à Becket is seen in the foreground under a scarlet canopy, with the Holy Ghost hovering near, and above is a splendid crown in which the figure of the risen Christ is introduced; above the crown is a circle with a Virgin and Child. Three Bishops are engaged in placing the mitre upon the head of the saint, while a priest with an open book is kneeling before him. On the right are the clergy and on the left the laity, with King Henry II. at their head. On the border is the inscription: Johes de Eyck, fecit, ano, M°.CCCCZI, 30° Octobris. This inscription, if genuine, is the only evidence of Jan's authorship of the picture which has been entirely repainted, so that nothing of the original work is to be seen. The date, 1421, is eleven years earlier than any other dated picture by Jan van Eyck. It is scarcely necessary to point out the importance of this fact to the art historian in search of evidence of Jan's early activity; but whilst the picture remains in its present condition it cannot throw any light upon the debated points. Only if the surface paint were removed would it be possible to judge whether below it is a real early work of Jan van Eyck, and what was the relative position of the two brothers before Hubert's death.
The Enthronement of Thomas à Becket has an interesting pedigree. It was given by John, Duke of Bedford, to King Henry V., and was afterwards in the collection of the second Earl of Arundel, who died at Padua in 1646, bequeathing it to Henry, the sixth Duke of Norfolk, by whose son, the seventh Duke, it was sold. It came through the Duke's steward, Mr. Fox, to a Mr. Sykes, who sold it to the Duke of Devonshire in 1722.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
VIENNA MUSEUM.—Portrait of Jan de Leeuw (Jan), signed and dated 1436.
Portrait of Nicolas Albergati, Cardinal of the Church of the Holy Cross (Jan), painted, probably, in 1431, when the Cardinal passed through Flanders on a political mission. This picture is mentioned in the inventory of the Archduke Leopold William, Governor of the Netherlands, 1655. A silver-point sketch for the portrait is in the Dresden Print Cabinet.
BELGIUM.
GHENT, CATHEDRAL OF ST. BAVO.—The Adoration of the Lamb triptych (Hubert and Jan; see p. 46).
ANTWERP MUSEUM.—St. Barbara (Jan), 1437 (see p. 62).
The Virgin and Child by the Fountain (Jan), 1439.
BRUGES MUSEUM.—Virgin and Child, with St. Donatian, St. George, and the Donor, George van der Paele (Jan), 1436 (see p. 60).
Portrait of Jan Van Eyck's Wife (Jan), 1439.
BRUSSELS MUSEUM.—Adam and Eve: shutters from the Adoration triptych at St. Bavo, Ghent (Jan; see p. 52).
LOUVAIN, M. G. HELLEPUTTE.—Triptych of the Virgin and Child, with the Donor, Nicolas de Maelbeke, in Adoration, unfinished (Jan), 1340. The shutters contain representations of Gideon standing before an angel, the burning bush, Aaron with a blossoming rod, and other subjects from the Old Testament.
BRITISH ISLES.
CHATSWORTH, DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE.—The Enthronement of Thomas à Becket (Jan (?); see p. 64).
INCE HALL, MR. WELD BLUNDELL.—Virgin and Child (Jan): a panel of very small dimensions and miniature-like execution, painted in 1432, and inscribed Als ikh kan (As well as I can).
LONDON, NATIONAL GALLERY.—Jan Arnolfini and Jeanne de Chenany, his Wife (Jan), 1434 (see p. 54).
Portrait of Timothy, "Leal Souvenir" (Jan), 1432 (see p. 58).
Portrait of a Man with a Chaperon or Turban (Jan), 1433. Inscribed on the frame: Johes de Eyck me fecit anno MCCCC 33 21 Octobris, and Als ikh kan. Formerly in the Arundel Collection.
RICHMOND, SIR FREDERICK COOK.—The Three Marys at the Sepulchre (variously attributed to Hubert and Jan).
DENMARK.
COPENHAGEN, ROYAL GALLERY. Robert Poortier, protected by St. Antony (Hubert).
FRANCE.
PARIS, LOUVRE.—Chancellor Rolin kneeling before the Virgin and Child, with a river landscape seen through a loggia of three arches (generally ascribed to Hubert, but more probably by Jan).
BARON G. DE ROTHSCHILD.—Virgin and Child, with St. Anne, St. Barbara, and a Carthusian Monk, who has been identified as Herman Steenken, of Suutdorp, Vicar of a Carthusian Nunnery near Bruges (Hubert and Jan).
GERMANY.
BERLIN, NATIONAL GALLERY.—Six shutters from the Adoration altar-piece of St. Bavo, Ghent (Hubert and Jan; see p. 48).
A replica of the Virgin and Child, with a Carthusian Monk, in the collection of Baron G. de Rothschild, Paris.
Head of Christ (Jan), 1439.
Portrait of a Knight of the Golden Fleece, probably Baudouin de Lannoy (Jan).
The Man with the Pinks (Jan; see p. 59).
DRESDEN GALLERY.—Triptych, The Virgin and Child Enthroned. On the wings are the figures of St. Catherine and the donor, and on the back of the shutters the Annunciation (Jan).
FRANKFORT, STAEDEL INSTITUTE.—The Virgin and Child Enthroned (Jan).
LEIPZIG MUSEUM.—Portrait of a Man (Jan?).
ITALY.
TURIN GALLERY.—Copy of St. Francis receiving the Stigmata. The original is in the collection of Mr. J. G. Johnston, Philadelphia.
RUSSIA.
ST. PETERSBURG, HERMITAGE.—Calvary and the Last Judgment. Wings of a triptych, the centre portion of which is lost (Hubert?).
The Annunciation (Jan), formerly in the collection of King William II. of Holland. Bought for the Hermitage Collection for 13,000 francs.
SPAIN.
MADRID GALLERY.—Copy of a lost painting by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, representing The Triumph of the Church over the Synagogue, also known as The Fountain of Life.
UNITED STATES.
PHILADELPHIA, J. G. JOHNSTON.—St. Francis receiving the Stigmata (Hubert and Jan). A copy of this picture is at the Turin Gallery.
BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.