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 1 UNIVERSITY OFX:aLIFORNIA. 
 
 
 1 UOM THK I.IBkAPY Of 
 
 BENJAMIN PARKE AVERY. 
 
 
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HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS 
 
 OK 
 
 RUBENS, VANDYKE, REMBRANDT, AND CUYP 
 
 THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS; 
 
 MICHAEL ANGELO AND RAFEAELLE. 
 
 BEING 
 
 M ^ttit^ of Mvt = ^mntlt^ 
 
 IN BELGIUM, HOLLAND, AND ITALY. 
 
 By FREDERICK WILLIAM FAIRHOLT, f.s.a., 
 
 AUTHOR OF " UICTIONARV OF TERMS IN ART," ETC. 
 
 Ellustr.itcb tuith (Dnc |tjunlircJ) anb Uliirtu-thrrc SEooi-rnflvabingi 
 
 at THi >Jf^ 
 
 IHIVBRSITTI 
 
 ^rPP^'^^ NEW YORK: 
 
 "XpPLETON AND CO., BROADWAY. 
 
 1872. 
 
(s) diet^s' 
 
■IVBItSIT?; 
 PREFACE. 
 
 T3 ARELY are to be found combined in one individual the 
 qualifications of the literary man, the artist, and the archaeo- 
 logist. The last may be able to use both pen and pencil, yet the 
 latter only in such a way as to entitle him to the character of an 
 antiquarian draughtsman ; while the artist or the painter may 
 have a literary taste, though it is seldom called into action ; and 
 he may also have arrived at such an amount of archaeological 
 attainment as will enable him to bring it to bear upon his art, but 
 not beyond it. In the late F. W. Fairholt, however, these three 
 accomplishments showed themselves in a very remarkable manner. 
 He certainly does not come under the denomination of a painter, 
 for we do not think he ever used a brush and colour since his 
 early days when he began life as a scene-painter, except, perhaps, 
 in making a few sketches as memoranda ; yet the black- lead pencil 
 in his hand was an instrument employed to good and profitable 
 purpose in an infinite variety of ways — landscapes, buildings, 
 figure -subjects, and ornamental objects of every kind ; and it was 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 remarkable for accuracy in all his delineations trom nature. His 
 art was essentially realistic, induced mainly by working much 
 on antiquarian objects, which require the utmost exactitude ; its 
 aim was truthfulness, and to this he sacrificed whatever mere 
 fancy may have suggested in the way of rendering his subjects 
 more picturesque. His eye and his hand were so accurate from 
 long practice that we have known him to make an engraving — of 
 a coin, for example — with his etching-needle on a plate, without 
 first tracing its outline on the metal. 
 
 Either for pleasure, for health, or for literary and artistic pur- 
 poses, he frequently visited the Continent ; selecting, generally, 
 those countries which he could most advantageously lay under con- 
 tribution for the joint action of pen and pencil — places peculiarly 
 attractive to the artist and antiquarian, either from their historic 
 interest, and their picturesque character, or as the residence of 
 those whose names are enrolled among the great painters and 
 sculptors of the world. The Low Countries, and some of the 
 old cities of Gerniany, such as Nuremberg, were his favourite 
 localities for a month's ramble, and he would come back from 
 them with a multitude of characteristic sketches of what he saw, 
 and with his note-book well stored witli intelligent comment, 
 the result of active research ami judicious investigation. Italy 
 was, perhaps, less attractive to him than otlier parts of the Con- 
 
PREFACE. vii 
 
 tinent, for his artistic sympathies were more in harmony with 
 
 the Gothic style ot art, especially as regards architecture and 
 
 all its associations, than with the Classic ; yet in Rome and other 
 
 Italian cities he found much to engage both mind and hand. 
 
 From materials gathered in different visits to these countries, 
 
 he contributed, at various time, a number of papers to the pages of 
 
 the Art-Journal, which, from the interesting character of the 
 
 respective narratives, and the graphic illustrations from his own 
 
 pencil that accompanied them, excited much interest at the period 
 
 of their publication. In a collective form they cannot fail to be as 
 
 attractive as when they appeared at intervals, if, indeed, they 
 
 will not be found even more so. They are abundantly diversified 
 
 in subject ; art and artists, architecture, scenery, men and customs, 
 
 each finding a niche more or less capacious in the literary and 
 
 pictorial temple. In submitting this volume to the public, the 
 
 publishers feel assured they are offering a work of pleasant and 
 
 instructive reading ; one, moreover, that may serve as a kind of 
 
 " guide " to those who shall hereafter visit the localities of which 
 
 it speaks. 
 
 J. D. 
 
 April, 1 87 1. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 
 
 Cologne — Rubens's parents — His birthplace — Church of St. Peter — " The Three Kings of 
 Cologne " — Death of Rubens's father — Removal of his family to Antwerp — Rubens's 
 masters — He visits Italy — Return to Antwerp and marriage — Builds a mansion — His 
 chateau at Stein — Home life — His studio — Political career — Diversity of his labour — 
 Church of S. Carlo Borromeo — His assistants and pupils — His second wife, Helena 
 Forman — Death — Rubens's chapel and monument — His collection of pictures i — 37 
 
 RUBENS AND VANDYKE : ART-RAMBLES IN BELGIUAI. 
 
 The Scheldt — Flushing — Warden — Antwerp — The Place Yerte — Street sculpture — Sacer- 
 dotal and lay costumes — Wood-car^'ing and paintings in the Belgic churches — Prison of 
 the Inquisition — " La Vielle Boucherie " — Works by Rubens and Vandyke in Antwerp 
 — A funeral bier — Banner of the Inquisition — Relic of Rubens in the Church of St. 
 Jacques — Mont St. Jean and Waterloo — The Old Citadel, Ghent — ^Monastery of St. 
 Bavon — Specimens of old domestic architecture — Civic pageants — The Antwerp 
 giants — Pictures in the Cathedral of St. Bavon — The Cathedral of Bruges — Trade 
 signs 39—97 
 
 THE MILL AND THE STUDIO OF REMBRANDT. 
 
 The birthplace of Rembrandt — His early training — Burgomaster Jan Six — " The Woman 
 taken in Adultery " painted for him — The etching called " Six's Bridge," or the 
 " Alustard-pot " — Anecdote connected with it — Amsterdam — The city buUt on piles — 
 Substantial character of the houses — The Weighing-house — Rembrandt's house — His 
 autograph — Etching of *' Faustus " in his study — Rembrandt's pupils — His genius — 
 
 99—117 
 
 b 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 THE COLTNTRY OF CUYP. 
 
 Dordrecht or Dort— Birthplace of Cuyp — Stirring events of his early years — Present aspect 
 of the city — The Grand Canal — The dykes and windmills — Roosendaal — Goldsmith's 
 description of the country — Solid comfort of the farm-houses — Dutch kitchens and 
 dairies — Town life — Dutch cleanliness — The Village of Broeck — The pa\*ilion ami 
 garden of Mynheer Bakker — Head-dresses— Wooden carriages — Dutch care of their 
 beasU 119—144 
 
 THE HOME OF PAUL POTTER. 
 
 The Hague — Town Hall — Birthplace of Paul Potter— Political and material condition of the 
 country — Dutch " polders " — Their formation — A picture of a Dutch seaport in 1635 
 — Laws of nature reversed in Holland — Potter's masterpiece, " The Young Bull " — He 
 removes to Amsterdam — View of the city in 1639 — His early death — Buried in the 
 Great Chapel — Character of his art 145 — 164 
 
 THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 
 
 Origin of the term genre— K<\n3in van Ostade — His place of birth — Receives instruction 
 from Frank Hals, of Haarlem— Character of his pictures — Adrian Brauwer — His 
 eventful career — Imprisoned in the citadel of Antwerp — Released by Rubens — Dies 
 wretchedly in St. Julian's Hospital, Antwerp — Rubens reburies him at his own cost — 
 Gerard Douw — His "Village School" and "La Femme Hydropique" — Elevating 
 style of his painting— Jan Steen— Born and died at Leyden— Character of his work- 
 Careless and improvident life — The friend of Karcl du Moor, Metzu, and Mieris — His 
 works depict the ordinary life of the Dutch of his time — Changes in village life since his 
 days — The herring sign — The birth token — Stadtholder' s House, 1635 — Amsterdam 
 and the Hague, 1635 — Scheveningcn — Metzu, Mieris, and Terburg — Their " conversa- 
 tion-pieces" — Terburg's famous picture, " The Satin Gown " — William Kalf, painter 
 of still-life suljccts— Philip Wouvcrmans — Character of his works — Backluiysen and \'an 
 dcr Vcldc — Their maiinc paintings — Summary of the merits of the Dutch school — 
 
 165—207 
 
 THE DUTCH LANDSCAPE AND FLOWER-PAINTERS. 
 
 Origin of landscape-painting — Progress of the art — Kuysdacl — Birthplace-Gloomy gran- 
 deur of his pictures— His scholars — Bcrghcm — Born at Haailcm— His instructors — 
 Style of his paintings— His pupils — Peter de Hoogo, Dirk Maas, and Aitus Van jIci 
 
CONTENTS. xi 
 
 Neer — Dutch still-life and flower-painters — John Breughel, Daniel Seghers, John 
 David de Keem, and Rachel Ruysch or Van Pool — John Van Huysum — Decorative 
 gardening — Rare flowers — Ancient style of gardening — Modern style — Tulip 
 manias ............. 209 — 227 
 
 THE HOUSE OF MICHAEL ANGELO, AT FLORENCE. 
 
 Hero-worship — Pilgrimages to spots sanctified by genius — Home of Michael Angelo — 
 Situated in the Via Ghibellina — General features of the mansion — The courtyard — 
 Rooms open to the public — Their contents — Statue of the sculptor — Pictures — Relics — 
 Old furniture — Church of Santa Croce — Michael Angelo's tomb . . 229—243 
 
 RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 
 
 Rome — Its ruins replete with the memories of bygone time — Revival of learning in the 
 fifteenth century — Resuscitation of classic art — Lorenzo the Magnificent — Cardinal 
 Bembo — Early life of Raff"aelle — Goes to Rome at the request of Pope Julius II. — First 
 residence in Rome — His works in the Vatican — Leo X. — Builds and decorates the 
 logs:ie of Ihe Vatican — His architectural works in Rome — Church of Santa ]\Iaria in 
 Navicella — His scholars and assistants — His death — Buried in the Pantheon — His last 
 residence in Rome — Raffaelle's Chapel in the Pantheon— The Academy of St. Luke 
 claims to possess the painter's skull — Doubts of the authenticity of the relic — Search for 
 his tomb — Its discovery proves that it had never been opened — Exhumation of his 
 remains — Relics found in the coffin — Public re-burial 245 — 266 
 
 17 m 
 

 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 The Village Alehouse, lv Adrian van Ostade Frontispiece. 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of Rubens . 
 
 Birthplace of Rubens 
 
 Font in St. Peter's Church, Cologne 
 Figures from the "Emblems of Love" 
 Courtyard of Rubens's Mansion . . 
 Rubens's Summer-house .... 
 
 RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 
 
 Pace 
 
 Rubens's Chateau at Stein 19 
 
 Room in Rubens's House 22 
 
 Church of S. Carlo Borromeo .... 27 
 
 Rubens's Chair 30 
 
 Rubens's Chapel 33 
 
 Rubens's Monument 34 
 
 Page 
 4 
 
 12 
 17 
 
 RUBENS AND VANDYKE. 
 
 Vandyke's House, Antwerp .... 41 
 
 "Warden, on the Scheldt 43 
 
 Fort Lillo 43 
 
 First View of Antwerp from the River . 44 
 
 Virgin and Child 47 
 
 The Jiladonna Triumphant 48 
 
 " Notre Dame des Douleurs " ... 49 
 
 Group at the Altar, Antwerp Cathedral. 50 
 
 Priestly Costume 51 
 
 Head-dresses of Flemish Peasantry . . 51 
 
 A Peasant's Cap 52 
 
 " Faith," Church of S. Carlo Borromeo. 53 
 
 Wood-carsdng, Church of St. Augustine. 54 
 
 The Incredulity of St. Thomas • • • 55 
 
 The Ecstasy of St. Augustine .... 56 
 
 Pitying Angels • . • 57 
 
 Group from the Crucifixion .... 58 
 
 Prison of the Inquisition, Antwerp . . 61 
 
 The Prison Door 62 
 
 Dungeons of the Inquisition .... 63 
 Post and Chains in the Cell of Exami- 
 nation 63 
 
 " La Vielle Boucherie " 64 
 
 St. Anne 65 
 
 The Virgin and St. John 66 
 
 The Dead Christ 67 
 
 The Good Centmion and Mary Magda- 
 len 68 
 
 The ]Martyrdom of St. John .... 
 
 Figure from the " Peste d'Alost " . . 
 
 The Two Thieves from Vandyke's " Cru- 
 cifixion " 
 
 A Sketch by Vandyke 
 
 Group from Rubens's " JNIiraculous 
 Draught of Fishes " 
 
 A Funeral Bier 
 
 The Banner of the Inquisition .... 
 
 Relic of Rubens 
 
 Waterloo 
 
 The Old Citadel, Ghent 
 
 Chapel in the Citadel 
 
 Cloister of the Old Monastery of St. 
 Bavon 
 
 Columns at St. Bavon 
 
 Old Mansion at ^lalines 
 
 Gothic House at Louvain 
 
 The Antwerp Giants 
 
 Figures from Van Eyck's "Adoration 
 of the Holy Lamb " 
 
 The Magdalen, by Michael Coxie . . 
 
 Figures from the " Chasse," by Hans 
 Hemling 
 
 AVood-carving, Bruges Cathedral 
 
 Madonna and Child, Bruges .... 
 
 Group attributed to ^Michael Angelo 
 
 Trade Signs 
 
 69 
 70 
 
 73 
 74 
 76 
 
 77 
 80 
 80 
 81 
 
 8i 
 82 
 
 83 
 84 
 
 85 
 
 86 
 87 
 
 89 
 90 
 91 
 95 
 
XIV 
 
 LIST OF ILLrSTRATIOXS. 
 
 REMBRANDT. 
 
 Pace 
 
 Rembrnn(li\ Mill 102 
 
 Six's Bridge 107 
 
 Distant View of Amsterdam, from the 
 Y or Ai 109 
 
 Pack 
 St. Anthony's Gate, Amsterdam . . .112 
 
 Rembrandt's House 114 
 
 Autograph of Rembrandt 115 
 
 Faustus in his Study 116 
 
 ViewofDort 
 
 The Grand Canal, near J>urt 
 The Village of Roosend.ial 
 A Dutch Farm-gate . . . 
 Dutch flayslacks .... 
 A Stork's Xest 
 
 CUYP. 
 
 1 2 1 The Village of Broeck 
 
 129 A Wooden Shoe . . 
 
 131 Dutch Head-dresses . 
 
 135 A Farmer's AVife . . 
 
 135 A Dutch Road Scene 
 
 137 A Dutch Horse-shoe . 
 
 138 
 •39 
 '41 
 141 
 142 
 '43 
 
 PAUL rOTTER. 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of Paul Potter . 148 
 
 Town-Hall, the Hague 149 
 
 A Dutch Polder 153 
 
 A Dutch Seaport, 1635 156 
 
 Amsterdam in 1639 lOi 
 
 The Great Chapel, Amsterdam . . . ib^ 
 
 THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of Adrian van 
 
 Ostade 168 
 
 Dutch .Scene, by Ostade 175 
 
 The Citadel of Antwerp, 1603 . . .176 
 Gate of St. Julian's Hospital, Antwerp . 179 
 
 Ecyden 181 
 
 Hall of an Old House, Leyden . . .183 
 Tlic Herring Sign 189 
 
 The Birthday Token 190 
 
 Stadtholder's House, Haarlem, 1635 . 191 
 
 Amsterdam, 1635 192 
 
 The Hague, 1635 193 
 
 The Road to Scheveningcn . . .194 
 
 Gate at Haarlem 200 
 
 Portrait of Wouvermans 201 
 
 Group of Horses, by Wouvermans . . J02 
 
 DUTCH LANDSCAPE AND FLOWER-PAINTERS. 
 
 Portrait and Autograph of Jacob Ruys- 
 
 dacl 216 
 
 Street in Haarlem 217 
 
 Dutch Garden, 1653 23^ 
 
 A Modern Dutch Garden 224 
 
 Dutch Trees 225, 22b 
 
 MICHAEL ANGELO. 
 
 House of Michael Angelo 233 
 
 Courtyard 235 
 
 (iroup of Relics 23O 
 
 Saloon 238 
 
 Writing-closet 239 
 
 Specimen of Furniture 241 
 
 Tomb of Michael Angelo, Church of 
 Santa Croce 242 
 
 RAFFAELLE. 
 
 Rafracllc's first Residence 251 
 
 Church of .St. Maiia in Navicella . . 256 
 The Pantheon 258 
 
 Raflacllc's last Residence 
 Ranaellc's Chapel . . . 
 The Grave of Rallaelle . 
 
 • 259 
 . 20 1 
 . 265 
 
HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF RUBENS AND 
 HIS SCHOLARS. 
 
Of THl^^K 
 
 I7ERSITr] 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF RUBENS 
 AND HIS SCHOLARS. 
 
 j!N the old city of Cologne, hallowed by memories which 
 come to us in unbroken succession from the days of the 
 Romans, there arrived, to pass the last few years of life, 
 the father of one destined to rank among the noblest masters of 
 art. John Rubens, a man of learning and integrity, had held 
 honourable office in his native city of Antwerp, where he had 
 married Maria Pypelink, a scion of an old-established family there. 
 But peace had fled from the Low Countries in the sanguinary wars 
 which commenced between the Catholic and Protestant factions, 
 and internecine war raged in the old city on the Scheldt. The 
 Reformers, goaded to madness by the arrogance and determined 
 cruelties of Spanish papal rule, rose t^n masse, and destroyed the 
 monasteries and churches, burning and wasting the noble pictures 
 and rich furniture of the altars, smashing the glorious windoAvs 
 of the sacred buildings, and defacing them within and without. 
 These buildings, once the glory of Antwerp, were ruined in 
 one night. The Catholic families fled from a city where the 
 emperor's power could not sufiice for their protection, and among 
 the number were the parents of Rubens. They had descended 
 from a Styrian family. Bartholomew Rubens, the father of John, 
 
HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 had first visited Brussels in attendance on the court of the 
 Emperor Charles V. in 1520 ; had married a Flemish lady 01 noble 
 
 birth, and then settled in Antwerp. His son fled from the city in 
 1566, and sought a homo in the ancient city of Cologne. The 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 
 
 house he inhabited is still pointed out to the visitor, — it is in the 
 "Sternen Gasse," No. lo; but in that city of tortuous narrow- 
 lanes the stranger may walk wearily and far in a futile attempt to 
 find it without a competent guide. The tall houses, the narrow 
 streets, and the tendency of the latter to wind suddenly, com- 
 pletely mislead a stranger, who cannot catch sight in their close 
 depths of any friendly landmark of steeple or tower to guide his 
 
 Fig. 2. — Birthplace of Rubens. 
 
 steps aright. The house, once found, is easily distinguished from 
 others near it, as well from its size as from the inscriptions upon 
 it. It is a noble mansion, situated at a slight angle of the street. 
 The carved door-frame was added in the year 1729; in a medallion 
 over its centre is a portrait of Rubens, and on a shield above are 
 the arms of Marie de Medici. In the year 1822, two inscribed 
 
HOMES, i/Arx'fs. axd works of 
 
 tablets were placed between the windows on each side the 
 doorway, to which attention was called by large gilt stars above 
 them. One narrates the fact of Rubens's birth in the mansion ; 
 the other, the death, in the same house, of ^Marie de ^ledici, the 
 widow of Henry IV. of France, the mother of Louis XIII., and the 
 mother-in-law of three sovereigns, among them Henrietta Maria, 
 wife to our Charles I., who was by the intrigues of the Cardinal 
 Richelieu compelled to exile herself, living for many years an 
 unhappy fugitive in various countries,* and ultimately dying at 
 Cologne, where her heart was buried near the high altar, but 
 her body removed to P'rance. The glory of the house, as the 
 birthplace of Rubens, is somewhat saddened by the melancholy 
 end of this once-powerful royal patroness of the painter. She is 
 said to have died in the same chamber where he was born.f 
 
 In the Church of St. Peter, a few hundred yards from the house 
 of his birth, the infant Rubens was christened. It still preserves 
 a certain picturesque quaintness, which belongs to the past, and 
 does not disturb the mind of one who might dream he saw the 
 christening procession of the baby-boy destined to be so great a 
 painter and so distinguished a man hereafter.* Jolm Rubens had 
 
 * She lived for some time in England, but was compelled to leave it in i6|i, when 
 Lilly, the famous astiologcr, mIio saw licr, dcsciibcs her as an "aged, lean, decrepit, poor 
 queen, reatly for her grave ; necessitated to depart hence, having no place of residence in 
 this world but where the courtesy of her hard foitune assigned it." 
 
 t The inscription on the house informs us that "he was the seventh child of his parents, 
 who resided liere twenty years; " that his father died here, and was buried in the Church of 
 St. Peter. 
 
 X One of the last acts of Kubcns's life was done in afleclionatc mcmoiy of the church of 
 his baptism, lie painted fur it an altar-piece, representing the Crucifixion of St. I'ctcr, the 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 
 
 iilready u son born to him in this good city in tho year 1574, but 
 his second son was born three years afterwards, that is, on the 
 29th of June, 1577. That day being the festival of SS. Peter 
 and Paul, the infant was carried to the Church of St. Peter, and 
 christened Peter Paul Rubens, a name never to be forgotten in art. 
 Let us enter the cloister, and walk beneath its arches toward the 
 narrow door of the sacred building. Poverty is not without its 
 picturesque features, in the beggars that lean against the wall, or 
 sink upon their knees beside the gate, awaiting the approach 
 of worshippers, whose charity they then solicit. The group 
 inside the building has an equally marked individuality ; the 
 rich bourgeois and his family can be readily distinguished from 
 the prosperous farmer, the peasantry are unlike both, as they are 
 unlike each other, for the dwellers on this side the Rhine are very 
 different from those on the other side of the noble river. Society 
 has not here assumed the dead level of English uniformity. There 
 is a local pride in local habits which no great modern scheme of 
 centralization has yet destroyed. We see little in the scene before 
 us that might not have met the eye on the day when the 
 unconscious baby of the Rubens family was formally admitted a 
 
 patron saint of the edifice. It depicts the martyrdom, with the saint's head downward, and 
 is more remarkable for the striking character of tlie scene than for general merit. Rubens 
 thought highly of it, and in one of his letters to his friend GiUlorp talks of it as one of his 
 best works. But Sir Joshua Reynolds says, " Many i)arts of this picture are so feebly drawn, 
 and with so tame a pencil, that I cannot help suspecting that Rubens died before he had 
 completed it, and that it was finished by some of his scholars." The picture was taken by 
 the Frencli to Paris, but has since been restored to its original place over the altar ; the copy 
 made to supply the place when it was absent is that constantly exhibited, — the original is at 
 its back. ...-— rr; ■ '^». 
 
 '^ o r TTTH ' 
 
 
HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 iiuniber of the Roman Catholic Church. At one corner of the 
 building still stands the remarkable font in which he was 
 christened. It is of bronze, shaped like a large chalice, and bears 
 date "Anno 1569' upon the rim. The bowl is decorated with the 
 arms of the city — three royal crowns upon afess — alluding to the 
 
 Fig. 3. — Font in St. Pctci's Ciiurcli, Cologne. 
 
 heads of ll\e three Magi, once popularly termed " the three 
 Kings of Cologne," still preserved as a sacred relic in the Cathe- 
 dral of Cologne, first brought there by the Emperor Frederick 
 liarbarossa in the twelfth century, and which wondrously enrichetl 
 the city in the middle ages Ijy the number of pilgrims drawn 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 
 
 towards their shrine.* The summit of the cover is decorated 
 with figures representing the baptism of the Saviour by St. John, 
 attended with angels, the sacred dove descending on the apex. 
 
 At the early age of ten years Rubens lost the fostering care 
 of a father. He had known no other home but Cologne, but his 
 mother reverted to her earlier one in Antwerp. Fearful scenes of 
 strife had been enacted in that city, as Protestant or Catholic 
 faction gained the ascendancy ; but now the Duke of Parma had 
 subjugated its hostile inhabitants to the Emperor Maximilian II. 
 and the Catholic faith. In 1588 the widowed mother of Rubens 
 was again located with her family in Antwerp. Her position 
 and connections enabled her to place him as a page, at the age 
 of sixteen, with another widowed lady, the Countess of Lalaing. 
 But the life was irksome to the lad, — irksome by the very indolence 
 and irregularity that would be its great charm to an unintellectual 
 boy. Rubens's father was a scholar and a gentleman, and he 
 made his sons the same. When Peter Paul returned to his 
 mother's house after a few months' servitude, she well understood 
 the lad's reasons for so doing ; for she was also no ordinary person, 
 and her affectionate education and wise council were as lovingly 
 
 * This shiine is still one of the most remarkable upon the Continent. It consists of a 
 case covered with plates of silver-gilt, enriched with chasing, and laid out in arcades, 
 enclosing figures of saints and prophets, and highly embellished with jewels and antique 
 sculptured stones. The skulls of the three kings repose within, and may be seen from 
 an opening in the centre. They are crowned, and have their names formed in rubies on each. 
 Many of the jewels which once enriched this shrine were removed, to support those monks 
 who carried it to Westphalia for safety, at the time when the French Republicans were 
 masters of the city of Cologne. 
 
acknowledged by her son in after life as any mother could wish ; 
 for when, prosperous and happy in the palaces of Genoa, the 
 painter was in full enjoyment of fame, profit, and pleasure, he broke 
 away from all, to hurry post-haste to her sick-room. Alas ! she 
 died before he reached it, and the disconsolate young artist shut 
 himself up for four months in the Abbey of St. Michael, where she 
 lay buried, mourning thus long a loss that was irreparable to him. 
 Thanks to the innate goodness of woman — uncorrupted by 
 that closer business connection with the world which sometimes 
 hardens man's heart — there are few among us that cannot testify 
 to the loving care of a mother's guidance. There is nothing so 
 precious while it remains with us ; there is no loss so great as that 
 loss. Rubens always felt it was to his mother's judgment, pru- 
 dence, and care that he owed the due appreciation of his intellectual 
 struggles. Freed from the servile duties of a page, he was placed 
 to study law, lliat he might follow his father's profession ; but, as 
 he showed much love for drawing, his tendency was indulged by 
 permission to relax his mind in the art he loved. That love 
 became a passion, and he earnestly petitioned that his future 
 profession might be that of a painter. On due consideration, it 
 was allowed him ; l)ut ho was unfortunate in the selection of his 
 first master, the landscape painter Verhaegt, with whom he had 
 little sympathy ; and still loss with his second one. Van Oort, the 
 historical painter, a man of dissolute life and coarse manners, 
 repulsive to a gentle and gentlemanly mind, like that of Rubens. 
 His third master was in every way fitted for him — a well-educated 
 man, with (;lcgant tastes, and kindly and refined nuiiHUTS. Otho 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 
 
 Venius^'^ became the tutor and friend of the great scholar com- 
 mitted to his charge. This artist was court-painter to the Arch- 
 duke Albert, the governor of the Netherlands, and he has received 
 the honourable appellation of " the Flemish Raphael," and not 
 without reason, as his graceful pictures will show, many of which 
 are the treasured decorations of the Antwerp churches to this day. 
 In that of St. Andrew are several ; the best being " St. Matthew 
 called by the Saviour from the Receipt of Customs," it has more of 
 Raphael's simplicity of design, purity of colour, and unobtrusive 
 beauty than we see in any of his followers. He was a very 
 perfect draughtsman, and designed a large number of book illus- 
 trations. f To all his early masters, therefore, we may trace some 
 of the peculiarities of Rubens's manner, though his genius sur- 
 passed them all and was trammelled by none. His power of land- 
 scape painting, which — unlike historic painters — he occasionally 
 practised for itself, and not for his backgrounds merely, he may 
 have imbibed from Verhaegt ; his love of bold and vigorous colour 
 in figure-painting from Van Oort, who was chiefly remarkable for 
 that quality ; and his fondness for graceful infantine forms from 
 Venius. We copy from the " Emblems of Love,"J by that artist, 
 
 * His proper Flemish name, Otlio Van Veen, he had thus Latinized, in conformity with 
 a custom popular at that time in the Low Countries, and which induced Gerritz of Rotterdam 
 to alter his into that of Erasmus, by which only he is now known. 
 
 t His principal works are the "Roman Wars," engraved by Tempesta ; the "Historia 
 Septem Infantum de Lara," with forty spirited engravings by the same artist; a folio of 
 emblematic pictures of Human Life ; and a small oblong quarto volume of Emblems of Love, 
 the most graceful and beautiful of all which he designed. 
 
 X The original title of the work ran thus, " Amorum Emblemata, figuris ceneis incisa 
 
HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 two figures. One, which he calls " Love untrammelled," has just 
 spurned a bridle on the ground, and is flying upward joyfully : the 
 other, termed "Contented Thoughts," shows Cupid in a well- 
 cushioned chair, contemplating his fair one's picture with secret 
 
 Fig. 4. — " Love untrammelled," alter 
 Otho Vcnius. 
 
 Fig. 5. — '•Conlenled llioughts," after 
 Otho V'enius. 
 
 satisfaction. Both call to mind similar figures by Rubens, 
 who delighted in such quaint imaginings, offsprings of poetic 
 thought. 
 
 Happy in the house of a noble-minded and accomplished 
 man, the scholar-days of Rubens passed cheerfully onward. No 
 painter possessed greater industry than he, none laboured more 
 unceasingly at the technics of art; he fortunately had a friend 
 and a master in Venius, who, less great than liis pujtil ultimately 
 
 studio Othonis Vaeni. Antwerpum venalia apud auctorem m.d.c.iix" (1608). Prefixed 
 are recommendatory Latin verses by Daniel Ileinsius and Philip Rubens, the painter's elder 
 brother. These cuts were afteiAvards used to illustrate Oiiarles's " Fmblcms," London. 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 13 
 
 • 
 
 became, was naturally of more refined mind, and had a purer and 
 less sensuous love of beauty. It is impossible to over-estimate the 
 utility of judicious control and criticism such as he would give 
 to a young man like Rubens, whose natural vigour and bold 
 conception wanted just such wholesome correction as Venius 
 could impart. The refinement of manners, the courtier-like air, 
 and the cultivated tastes of the master, were all fully appreciated 
 by the scholar : and his example, no doubt, confirmed Rubens's 
 own love for collecting and studying the best works, ancient and 
 modern. There is no better instance of a man w^ho more generally 
 profited by the experiences of life in its upward and onward 
 course than Rubens presents. He may be said to have spent his 
 days in constant self-improvement, so that he became not only a 
 great painter, but a learned man ; not only an artist of world-wide 
 renown, but an ambassador from his own sovereign to other 
 kings, and their companion and friend. Surely no man ever 
 upheld the artistic character more nobly than he. 
 
 Venius having fully instructed Rubens in the arcana of his 
 profession, and seeing he was as well grounded in general 
 knowledge, advised him to visit Italy. The advice w^as taken, and, 
 in the middle of the year 1600, he started on his journey, well 
 provided with due introductions from the Archduke Albert, who 
 already esteemed him. His journey lay through Venice to 
 Mantua, where he presented himself to the Duke Vincenzio 
 Gonzaga, who received him most favourably ; and, on better 
 acquaintance, offered to attach him to his service as gentleman of 
 his chamber ; a position Rubens readily accepted, as it allowed 
 
14 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 him full liberty of studying the ducal collection, then celebrated as 
 one of the finest in Italy. It was this that gave the painter his 
 peculiar knowledge of antique art, more particularly as exhibited 
 on medals, coins, and intaglios, minor works as regards size, but 
 often as great in treatment as colossal marbles. It was this that 
 led him in after life to collect such objects for himself, and it was 
 this that gave him his great facility in designing an abundance of 
 works now comparatively little known, such as book illustrations, 
 designs for pageantry, triumphal arches, &:c., which he was often 
 called on to execute ; and all of them show how his fertile fancy 
 was grounded on the best works of the ancient artists, though he 
 never allowed them to cripple his own native genius. His classic 
 tastes led him to reflect with pleasure on such works as depicted 
 scenes from their history ; but his native bias led him to delight 
 chiefly in the gorgeous richness of their ceremonial observances. 
 Hence Andrea Mantegna's "Triumphs of Caesar"* riveted his 
 attention most ; there was a wealth of display in this scenic work 
 which accorded with the young Fleming's mind, and he copied 
 one of the compartments, not, however, without some vigorous 
 variation, the creation of his own warmer imagination. With 
 permission of the duke he visited Rome, but necessarily stayed 
 there but for a limited time ; he afterwards visited Venice, and his 
 experience of the greatness of their colourists had a strongly 
 
 • These pictures passed into the collection of our King Charles I., and arc still upon 
 the walls of the jialacc at JIanipton. Outlines from ihcm were cnj,'ravcd by Aiulrea Aniiivani 
 on wood, somewhere aijout the year \(too, and in i«58 Mr. Henry Duke lithographed nine 
 of them. They rank only second to the celebrated cai toons of Rall.ulle. 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 15 
 
 marked effect on his after works. On his return to IMantua, the 
 duke gave him the greatest proofs of his esteem and confi- 
 dence ; he had in Rubens a gentlemanly companion as well as a 
 highly-informed artist ; and he selected him as the most fitting 
 person to convey to the king, Philip the Third of Spain, a present 
 of a state carriage and horses he had obtained for that purpose. 
 The artist accepted the charge ; and became as popular at the court 
 of Madrid as he was at that of the Duke of Mantua. He painted 
 while there several portraits of the king and the nobles, and 
 returned loaded with presents and compliments to the duke, whom 
 he left soon afterward, to return to Rome, and finish the commis- 
 sion he had given him to copy the works of the greatest masters 
 there. Rubens's elder brother Philip accompanied him to " the 
 eternal city," and studied its antiquities with him. Their conjoined 
 labours appeared in a volume ; the literary part being by the 
 more learned Philip, but in which Peter Paul had a share, and he 
 executed the designs which embellish it. We have before noted 
 Rubens's connection with the press, which continued all his life ; 
 and when he left Rome and got back to Genoa, he busily sketched 
 the ancient buildings of the noble old city; on his return to 
 Antwerp they were published in a folio volume.* 
 
 This return to Antwerp was expedited by the melancholy news 
 of his mother's last illness. How it affected him we have already 
 noted ; on his slow recovery from the mental blow, he thought of 
 
 * It comprises 139 views, and was published in 1622. A second series was published 
 thirty years afterwards. 
 
i6 irO.VES, J/ACWTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 again going to Mantua. He visited Brussels, to take leave of 
 his patrons, the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife the Infanta 
 Isabella ; they received him most graciously, and gladly welcomed 
 him to his country ; and he ultimately decided on staying there ; 
 but, anxious that the pompous nothings of a courtier's life should 
 not distract him from his art, he decided on making the quiet old 
 city of Antwerp his home ; and that it might be a home in its 
 most perfect sense, he married the daughter of one of its 
 magistrates, Elizabeth Brant, and built himself a house in the 
 city of his adoption. 
 
 His marriage took place in November, 1609; the building of his 
 house was not so quickly effected. The love of Italy and its home- 
 life induced a desire on his part to construct his new home more 
 in the Italian than the Flemish taste. He obtained a piece of 
 ground of the guild of Arquebusiers, who then possessed it,* and 
 upon it erected, from his own designs, a palatial house, such as 
 fell to the lot of few artists to obtain. It still exists, but it is 
 much shorn of its exuberant ornament ; this, which was its great 
 fault, was still characteristic of the mind of its master, lie had a 
 
 • The arranijcmcnl he made willi Ihcm was, that he shouM, in rctum for tlic l.iiul, 
 jiainl a picture for them representing their patron, St. Christopher. Rubens seems to have 
 felt their arrangement as a liberal one, and was anxious to carry it out as liberally on his own 
 part. lie gave them in return the far-fanieil work, now the glory of Antwerp Cathedral, 
 " The Descent from the Cross," considered as his master-piece. This great picture is the 
 centre of a large triptith, or doublc-wingcil altar-piece, the wings acting as shutters to close 
 over the picture. The back and front of each wing is painted in other subjects, the outer 
 ones exhibiting the story of .St. Christopher, which would always be seen when the whole 
 was closed. The painter thus gave them five pictures instead of the promised one. 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 
 
 n 
 
 taste for the fanciful combination of forms which produce the 
 sensation of splendour, and in his works he constantly shows 
 a tendency to obtain this, even at the sacrifice of consistency. It 
 was so in his house : and though its details were founded on the 
 
 Fig. 6. — Courtyard of Rubens's Mansion. 
 
 classic style of the ancients, it was overloaded with the debase- 
 ments of the Italian Revivalists, upon which Rubens added his 
 own fanciful displays, which no architect would probably coun- 
 tenance. He succeeded, however, in defiance of rule, in " com- 
 posing" a very stately and highly- decorated mansion. It stands 
 
 ■■ -;-■' D 
 
 iJJTVBRSITr] 
 
 l»«- 
 
 
i8 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 in a narrow street leading from the principal thoroughfare, the 
 Place de Mer, nearly opposite the Exchange, and in the best part 
 of the city. The courtyard was connected with a large garden 
 by a triumphal arch ; on the right was the mansion, on the left 
 
 Fig. 7- — Kubens's Summer-house. 
 
 the offices. We engrave this part of the building, as it affords the 
 best idea of Rubens's general taste in sumptuous design. 
 
 The garden of Rubens's house, though confined, as all to\vn- 
 gardens must be, was nevertheless large for its situation, and 
 comprised green alleys, pleasant parterres, and a summer-house 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 
 
 ig 
 
 he has immortalised in many pictures. The situation of this struc- 
 ture may be noted in our view of the courtyard, llarrewyns pub- 
 lished views, in 1692, of the house and grounds, and from that 
 print we copy our representation of this summer-house, where 
 Rubens and his friends passed many happy hours. Like all 
 
 Fig. 8. — Rubciis's Clittleau al Steiii. 
 
 other architectural designs of the painter, it is extremely fanciful 
 — a style which may be termed " Rubenesque " pervades it ; but 
 it is a style that met with much favour in the Low Countries, 
 and may be seen frequently repeated in Belgium and Holland. 
 Rubens also possessed the chateau at Stein, on the road 
 
between Malines and Vilvorde, a country-house equally fitted for 
 the residence of a noble. It is a characteristic building, now fast 
 decaying,' surrounded by a moat, which adds to its damp and 
 gloom ; but has been immortalized by its master, during its best 
 days, in several good pictures ; one of the best, embracing the 
 rich view over the fertile country obtained from its windows, now 
 graces our National Gallery. It must be owned that Rubens has 
 made the scene a little more poetic than it appears to an ordinary 
 eye, but he certainly studied for his charming landscapes in the 
 immediate vicinity of his ow^n residence. 
 
 The great Fleming, now well established in his picturesque 
 home in the old city of Antwerp, gave scope to the tastes which 
 governed his mind. His house and its appurtenances had that 
 sumptuous and fanciful style which characterized his pictures ; * 
 its interior was further enriched by masterpieces of art, selected 
 with judgment wherever he could obtain them ; and in collecting 
 he was guided by the advice of the best men, who were constantly 
 aiding him to increase his store. 
 
 Rubens's home-life has thus been narrated by his biographers : 
 He rose very early, and made a point of commencing his day by 
 religious devotion. After breakfasting, he went to his painting- 
 room, and while at work received visitors, and talked with them 
 freely ; or, in their absence, listened to some one who read to him 
 from the pages of the finest writers, his love for the classics 
 
 • Iloubrakcn Iclls u.s tlial upon llic coiistiiKtion of lliis mansion Riibcii!. s|kiiI f<f),ooo 
 (loiins. 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 
 
 inducing him to give preference to the best Roman authors, he 
 himself being a thoroughly good Latin scholar. At midday he 
 took a frugal dinner ; for he had taught himself to think that 
 loading the stomach clogged the fancy. By this custom he was 
 enabled to go to work again after his meal, and continue till the 
 evening; and but for this rule he could never have executed one 
 tithe of his commissions. At the close of the day he rode for 
 several miles, and on his return passed the evening in agreeable 
 converse with the friends who visited his house : they comprised 
 the best society of the day, and in their company he would 
 examine and descant on his fine collection of coins, prints, and 
 antiques, or take steps to increase it by any means they could 
 point out, — for Rubens was an ardent " collector" and a liberal 
 purchaser, esteeming money, not for itself, but for the intel- 
 lectual pleasures it procured him. Thus the artist of princely 
 mind lived like a prince, except that his courtiers were not the 
 self-seeking parasites of courts in general, but the friends who 
 loved him for his own sake, and for the pleasure his society 
 gave them, binding them by his countenance into one brother- 
 hood. 
 
 The print published by Harrewyns, in 1684, exhibits the studio 
 of Rubens, at that time converted into a bed-chamber, and which 
 we here copy. It is lighted from the roof. The elder Disraeli 
 thus speaks of it : * " This princely artist perhaps first contrived 
 for his studio the apartment with a dome, like the rotunda of the 
 
 * "Curiosities of Literature," vol. iii. 
 
22 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 Pantheon, where the light, descending truin an aperture or 
 window at top, sent down a single equal light — that perfection of* 
 light which distributes its magical effect on the objects beneath. 
 This was his precious museum, where he had collected a vast 
 number of books, which were intermixed with his marbles, statues, 
 cameos, intaglios, and all that variety of the riches of art which 
 
 !■'»>'• 9- — Room ill Rubcns's House. 
 
 he hud drawn from J-vomc.* iiut the walls did not yield in value, 
 for they were covered by pictures of his own composition, or copies 
 by his own hand, nuuh; at Venice and Madrid, of Titian and 
 
 • III tliL- appciiilix t(» Caiiniitci's " rictorial Notices of Vandyke" is piiiileil tlio 
 corrcspoiulencc between iumseUand Sir Dudley Carleton, ofTering to exchanjje some of liis 
 own pictures for antiques in possession of the latter, who was amb.issador from Knyhind to 
 Holland, and who collected also for the Kail of Arundel. 
 
RUBEiXS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 23 
 
 Paul Veronese. No foreigners, men of letters, lovers of the arts, 
 or even princes, would pass through Antwerp without visiting 
 the house of Rubens, to witness the animated residence of genius, 
 and the great man who had conceived the idea. Yet great as 
 was his mind, and splendid as were the habits of his life, 
 he could not resist the entreaties of the 100,000 florins of our Duke 
 of Buckingham to dispose of his studio. The great artist could 
 not, however, abandon for ever the delightful contemplations he 
 was depriving himself of, and as substitutes for the miracles of art 
 he had lost, he solicited and obtained leave to replace them by- 
 casts, which were scrupulously deposited in the places where the 
 originals had been." There can be no higher compliment paid 
 from man to man than was paid by Sir Dudley Carleton, after the 
 amicable exchange he made with Rubens of his own antiques for 
 some of the artist's pictures : — " I cannot subscribe to your denial 
 of being a prince, because I esteem you the prince of painters, and 
 of gentlemen, and to that end I kiss your hands." Such language 
 from an ambassador to an artist, on the conclusion of a bargain, 
 sheds honour on both. 
 
 Rubens always felt the true dignity of his own character ; he 
 never forfeited it by any unworthy act, nor would he ever allow 
 it to be lowered by any false estimate from any source. When 
 John, Duke of Braganza, afterwards King of Portugal, desired 
 him, during his stay at Madrid, to pay him a visit, at his famed 
 hunting-seat, the Villa Viciosa, the artist accepted the invitation, 
 and set out with so large a number of servants, that the noble 
 duke took fright at the expense so large a retinue might impose 
 
24 HOMES, HAUNTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 on him ; and despatched a messenger to meet Rubens half-way, 
 with an apology of '' sudden and unavoidable absence," on the 
 part of the duke, and an offer of a purse of fifty pistoles to 
 indemnify the artist for the expenses of his journey. Rubens met 
 the meanness with a dignity that reversed the position of the artist 
 and the prince. " Give the duke my most dutiful regards," said 
 he, " and assure him of my great regret at not personally paying 
 those respects his invitation led me to hope to do. It was to 
 assure his highness of my best services that I set out, and so far 
 was I from expecting fifty pistoles toward paying my expenses, 
 that I have already with me one thousand such pieces, which will 
 more than serve my need." 
 
 It was this princely mind, and clear honesty of conduct, 
 combined with the style of an educated gentleman, that made 
 Rubens the companion of princes, and ultimately an ambassador 
 of state. He had met our Duke of Buckingham in Paris, in April, 
 1625, and afterwards at Antwerp, in the September of the same 
 year ; and the intimacy led to the employ of Rubens in state 
 affairs, by the Infanta Isabella, who had often found his advice 
 useful, and felt that the painter could negotiate best in her affairs, 
 and endanger their issue less than any other person, as his 
 ostensible mission was art, not politics. lie conducted his 
 business with remarkable tact. In our own State Paper Office his 
 letters arc still preserved, and, in 1858, they were edited by IMr. 
 Sainsbury. They possess a high and nol)lo tone, dignity, firmness, 
 and cautiousness, exquisitely united to the most polite courtesy, 
 elegant composition, and elevated sontimont, and at onro show 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. "^^"^^^^^S^is 
 
 the education of the gentleman, and the mind of the man. In 
 1628 the Earl of Carlisle met Rubens in the house of Vandyke, 
 at Antwerp, and he has written a very graphic account of the 
 interview to the Duke of Buckingham, which gives a good idea of 
 the painter's earnest diplomacy in aid of a peace between England 
 and Spain. The Abbe de Scaglia writes to the Earl of Carlisle : 
 — " The King of Spain, the more to qualify the Sieur Rubens, and 
 to give the greater reputation to his negotiation, has declared him 
 secretary of his privy council, a reason why his Majesty should 
 esteem him the more and yourself also." All this led to a journey 
 to Spain, after the assassination, in the same year, of the Duke 
 of Buckingham, — that country's implacable enemy, — and the 
 ultimate happy settlement of a peace. Rubens, on his return, 
 immediately started for England, which he reached in May, 1629, 
 in a ship expressly sent to Dunkirk, by King Charles I., for his 
 use. In England he was most honourably received, lodged in the 
 house of Sir Balthazar Gerbier, and all his expenses paid by 
 Charles, who knighted him on the 21st of February, 1630, allowing 
 him to add to his coat of arms a canton containing the lion of 
 England : the University of Cambridge also conferred on him the 
 honorary degree of master of arts. 
 
 His political career ceased with the life of the Infanta Isabella 
 in 1633, and he henceforward gave his undivided attention to art, 
 although Charles had offered him a pension if he would remove to 
 Brussels, and act there as political agent to the English Govern- 
 ment — an offer he at once refused, as it would depose, or interfere 
 with, his respected friend Gerbier. Of his industry in his art we 
 
 ^ 
 
have already spoken ; but it took a more discursive range than 
 among most artists. He did not paint only, but furnished an 
 abundance of designs for varied purposes. One of Gerbier's 
 letters tells of " certain drawings of the said Sir P. Rubens for 
 carving of cups," intended for the use of the celebrated collector 
 of art and vcrtu^ Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel. He also 
 furnished numerous designs for books ; and the productions of the 
 world-renowned press of Plantyn, of Antwerp, were frequently 
 decorated with emblematic title-pages, full of originality and 
 power. Like Raphael, he employed the best engravers to copy 
 his works under his own superintendence ; and he drew upon wood 
 many good designs, fully aware of the large renown that Albert 
 Diirer had achieved by the same process.-^' We also find him 
 working on missals, and never avoiding anything that could 
 promote the general love of art among all classes of society. Of 
 his architectural tastes we have already spoken. He furnished the 
 design for the fa9ade of the Church of S. Carlo Borromeo, at 
 Antwerp, one of the most striking relics of the past grandeur of 
 the old city preserved for our time : it was constructed by the 
 
 * These woodcuts arc generally much larger than Diirer's, but do not possess that 
 cleanness of line and knowledge of pen-drawing which Durer's evince. They have more 
 soUd shadow, and their painter-like style has been sometimes aided by tint-blocks printed 
 over them, after the manner of the Italian, Ugo da Carpi. The largest of his cuts is the 
 somewhat oflcnsive subject, Susannah and the Elders ; it measures 22J inches in breadth by 
 17 in height. The next in size, and the best in treatment, is a Repose of the Holy Family, 
 remarkable for the freedom and beauty of the trees and landscape : it is a copy of one of his 
 best known pictures. But perhaps the most characteristic is a group of Fauns supporting 
 Silenus : it is admirably rendered. All were engraved by Christopher Jeghcr, whose chief 
 ability lay in tlie preservation of Rubens's powerful chiar'-oscuro. 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 
 
 Jesuits, and enriched with costly marbles, taken by the Spaniards 
 from an Algerine corsair, — which was conveying them to Constan- 
 tinople for the erection of a mosque, — brought to Cadiz, and sold 
 
 Fig. lo.— Church of S. Carlo Borromeo. 
 
 to an Antwerp merchant. Rubens enriched this structure with 
 many fine paintings ; of these, thirty-nine upon the vaulting, the 
 subjects taken from sacred history, afford extraordinary proof of 
 
2 8 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 his talent at foreshortening. They were fortunately copied by De 
 Witt, and afterwards engraved by Jean Punt, and published at 
 Amsterdam in 1751, for the church was almost destroyed by fire, 
 occasioned by lightning, in the year 17 18 — the fa9ade in part, and 
 the chapel of the Virgin adjoining, are all that remain as Rubens 
 designed them. The latter is exceedingly picturesque in its 
 arrangement, covered with paintings, decorated with statuary, and 
 enriched with costly marbles.* Though the architect may justly 
 consider the works of Rubens meretricious, they hit the popular 
 taste of the day ; and his love of display, and fondness for 
 mythological embodiment, led to his employ by the town-council 
 of Antwerp, when Ferdinand and Isabella made their triumphal 
 entry into that city in 1642, to design the triumphal arches, and 
 other pageants with which the senate of Antwerp greeted its 
 imperial rulers ; and they all exhibit, in a striking manner, the 
 painter's love for scenic effects. Unlike Raffaelle, who studied 
 the frescoes of the baths of Titus, and founded on them a style of 
 ornament refined by his own gentle graces, the Antwerp artist 
 saw only as much in the grand remains of ancient architecture as 
 would allow him to indulge in a bold and bizarre combination of 
 its most striking features with his own powerful imaginings.f 
 
 • This church was used as an hospital for the wounded Enghsh soldiers aflcr the Battle 
 of Waterloo. 
 
 + His friend Gevartius published a noble folio volume descri|)tivc of the preat doinj^ on 
 this occasion, with admirably executed i)lates by Sandrart and IJolswert, under Rubens's 
 superintendence. In tho public picture jjallery of Antwerp are still presented the orijjinal 
 designs for some of these gorfjeous pageants, boldly painted by the hand of Kubens himself. 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 29 
 
 Though now we test these works by a purer standard of taste, 
 there is little doubt that it was necessary, in the first instance, to 
 popularise the style, and prune it of redundancies afterwards. 
 Rubens aided the general movement, and, by gaining attention 
 to the picturesque, paved the way for a chaster study of ancient 
 architecture. 
 
 In all these labours he was aided by many assistants, and his 
 school embraced the best men of his age and country, who, after 
 his death, nobly upheld Flemish art. Rubens never disowned 
 their assistance, or concealed its true character. Thus, in the list 
 of pictures sent to Carleton, he notes, " Prometheus bound on 
 Mount Caucasus, with an eagle which pecks his liver. Original, 
 by my hand, and the eagle done by Snyders. — Leopards, taken 
 from life, with satyrs and nymphs. Original, by my hand, except 
 a most beautiful landscape, by the hand of a master skilful in that 
 department." When not is own, he notes, " by one of my 
 scholars, the whole, however, retouched by my hand." His 
 pictures have been trebly classified by Dr. Waagen, as — painted 
 by himself; by his pupils after his sketches, and retouched by 
 him ; or copies of well-known pictures by him, similarly 
 corrected. Vandyke and Jordaens were his greatest assistants : 
 the former stood alone after Rubens's death, and the latter enjoyed 
 the reputation of being the greatest successor in the master's 
 peculiar style : Snyders took his independent course as a vigorous 
 painter of hunting-scenes ; and his other pupil, David Teniers, 
 the elder, struck out a new path — the delineation of the manners 
 of the peasants of the Low Countries. They again had their 
 
30 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 followers ; and thus the genius of Rubens, like a fruitful tree, 
 branched forth and blossomed over the land, when its root laid 
 low in the ground. 
 
 In the picture gallery of Antwerp is still preserved the chair 
 in which the painter usually sat. It is mounted on a pedestal 
 
 Fig. II. — Ruhcns's Chair. 
 
 within a glass case, and appears to have been subjected to daily 
 wear, with all that constancy with which an artist uses a piece of 
 furniture to which he is habituated : the leathern seat has been 
 broken through in many places, and has been carefully drawn 
 together by strong threads. The leathern back is ornamented 
 
with gilding stamped upon it, and in the centre are the arms of 
 Rubens, above which appears his name, thus : — " Pet. Paul. 
 Rubens : " below is the date 1623. 
 
 Rubens was twice married : * his second wife was a beautiful 
 girl of sixteen, his niece, Helena Forman, whose features are well 
 known by their endless multiplication in his works ; for he was 
 not only fond of painting her portrait, but adopting her features 
 for the beauties of his fancy subjects. The painter, at the period 
 of his second marriage, had reached the somewhat advanced age 
 of fifty-four, but he had manners which concealed his years, and 
 in the paintings where he is represented with his young wife we 
 are never struck by the discrepancy of their ages. Rubens had a 
 somewhat soldatesque style, and his wife had a comeliness beyond 
 her years : the picture at Blenheim, in which she is depicted in 
 all the glory of her beauty, attended by a page, sufficiently attests 
 this ; as another picture in the same collection, and which was 
 presented by the city of Brussels to the great Duke of Marl- 
 borough, tells of the painter's happy home. The scene is the 
 garden of his house at Antwerp : Rubens is proudly and lovingly 
 walking beside his wife, who conducts their child in leading 
 strings. The painter wisely made his home his world ; he 
 gathered there, with no niggard hand, all that could make life 
 pleasant, and few passed life so happily. 
 
 * His first wife died in the summer of 1626. He remained a widower until December, 
 1630, when he again married. His political travels occupied much of his time while single, 
 and calmed his mind by a change of scene. It was during this time that he visited France 
 Spain, and England. 
 
32 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 There is a good anecdote told of him, which well illustrates the 
 felicitous common sense of the man. An English student of 
 alchemy made the painter magnificent promises of fortune by aid 
 of the science if he would furnish the necessary funds for his 
 laboratory. Princes were found at this time to entertain seriously 
 hopes of thus enriching themselves. The painter merely replied, 
 " You are here too late, by full twenty years ; for since that time 
 I have found the art of making gold by aid of this palette and 
 pencils." 
 
 In 1640 Rubens died. A letter from his old friend, Sir B. 
 Gerbier, dated Brussels, May 21, 1640, notes, " Sir Peter Rubens 
 is deadly sick ; the physicians of this toune being sent unto him 
 for to try their best skill on him." In another letter, written to 
 King Charles I. on the same day, he adds a postscript — " Since I 
 finished this letter news is come of Sir Peter Rubens's death." 
 He had died on the 20th of May, 1640,* aged sixty years, "of a 
 deflaction which fell on his heart, after some days of indisposition 
 and gout. He is much regretted and commended : hath left a 
 rich widow and rich children." He was buried on May it,, in the 
 vault belonging to his wife's family, in the Church of St. James, at 
 
 • Mr. Sainsbury, in a note to his book, adds — " It has always been said th.it Rubens 
 died on May 30, 1640 ; but the ten days' diflerence between the old and the new style, from 
 the year 1582 to 1O99, must always be taken into account when fixinfj the date of an event 
 which occurs in a Roman Catholic country. The Gregorian, or reformed calendar, was not 
 used in England until .September, 1752. An act was then passed, ordering the day following, 
 the 2nd of September, to be reckoned the 14th, which allowed eleven d.nys for the 
 discrepancies of the old and new styles during the eighteenth century." 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 
 
 33 
 
 Antwerp. His funeral was conducted with much pomp, attended 
 by the chief personages in Antwerp, the officers of the city, and 
 the members of the Academy of Painting. Sixty boys of the 
 Orphan Asylum walked beside the bier, each carrying a lighted 
 taper. The church was hung throughout with black velvet, the 
 
 Fig. 12. — Rubens's Chapel. 
 
 service being performed in the sumptuous manner usually adopted 
 for the nobility. His widow afterwards endowed the chapel given 
 in our view, and erected in it the altar there represented. The 
 picture above the altar-table is from the painter's own hand. It 
 represents the Virgin with the Infant Saviour in her lap, sur- 
 rounded by saints, among whom stands St. George in full armour, 
 
 F 
 
34 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 which is a portrait of Rubens, the female saints beside him being 
 portraits of his wives, and St. Jerome that of his father. It is a 
 family group as well as a sacred picture. Above it is a marble 
 statue of the Virgin, which is attributed to Du Quesnoy, better 
 
 ^^^sSiA^ 
 
 Fig. 13. — Ruhens'h Monument. 
 
 known as Fiamingo. The small crucifix standing upon the altar- 
 table is said to be that which was used by Rubens himself in his 
 private devotions. The central slab in front of the altar covers 
 the grave of the master : it has a very long inscription from the 
 pen of the learned Gevartius, the intimate friend of the painter, 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 35 
 
 celebrating his ability as a painter, and his knowledge as a man 
 " of all the arts and elegancies of every age," and that he 
 " happily laid the foundation of the peace " between England and 
 Spain. Beneath are a few lines to record the restoration of this 
 monument in 1755 by Jacques de Parys, a canon of this church, 
 " a descendant of Rubens through his mother and grandmother — 
 descendants of Rubens in the male line having become extinct." 
 
 An inventory of the pictures in his house at his death was 
 sent by Gerbier to Charles I. The late Dawson Turner pub- 
 lished a limited number of copies for private distribution, and 
 INIr. Sainsbury recently reprinted it in his " Life of Rubens from 
 Unpublished Papers," in 1858. The number and value of these 
 works of art are strikingly illustrative of the character and 
 position of the man : they equally show his attachment to his 
 profession, and the extent of his pecuniary resources. They are 
 said to have produced the sum of;^ 2 5,000. It was the intention of 
 the family to have sold them by auction, but they were sold 
 separately by private contract, having been valued by Snyders, 
 Wildens, and Moermans. The King of Spain secured the gems, 
 medals, and carvings, as well as some of the best pictures ; the 
 Emperor of Germany, the King of Poland, the Elector of Bavaria, 
 and Cardinal Richelieu, were the next most important purchasers. 
 The collection was particularly rich in pictures by Titian, Paul 
 Veronese, and Tintoretto, and a very many copies — "made in 
 Spaine, Italic, and other places, as well after Titian as other good 
 masters." There were ninety-four pictures by his own hand, 
 among them that which his widow presented to adorn the chapel 
 
36 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 of the tomb of her husband — the famous Chapcaii dc Paillc ;* many- 
 landscapes, portraits, and other subjects, probably kept as studies 
 by the painter, or from some interesting association — for he had 
 more demands for his work than he could satisfy. His collection 
 of pictures by the old masters comprise specimens by John Van 
 Eyck, Albert Diirer, Lucas Van Leyden, Holbein, Quintyn Matsys, 
 bio.., proving the catholicity of his tastes. Of the masters of his 
 own era, he had works by Vandyke,! Snyders, Jordaens, De 
 Vos, Breughel, &c. In short, it was the gallery of a noble of 
 refined taste. 
 
 The solemn old city of Antwerp feels still honourable pride in 
 its great painter, of whom it has been well said, " there was the 
 same breadth and magnificence in his character as in the colour of 
 his compositions, and his mind was as free from littleness as his 
 works." In 1840, at the great fete in honour of Rubens, his 
 statue, of colossal proportions, by Geefs, was uncovered. It stands 
 in the centre of the Place Vcrh\ the great public square 
 
 ♦ Describc<I in the cnlalof^uc as " Tlic picture of a woman willi licr liantls one upon 
 another." Rubens would never part uitli this picture, which he liad painted from a 
 Mademoiselle Lundens, to whose family it passed after the death of his widow, and 
 remained with their descendants until the year 1822, when it was purchased by M. Niewt>n- 
 huys for 36,000 florins, and brouj^ht to Enjjland. After being offered in vain to George IV'., 
 it was bought by the late Sir Robert Peel for 3,500 guineas. 
 
 t Among them was the " Bctr.ayal of Christ," which tlie painter had presented to 
 Rubens as a love-gift before he went to Italy. It is still in Antwerp. Rubens had found 
 young Vandyke poor ; he had made him rich by purchasing liis unsold pictures, taking him 
 into his own studio, and ultimately enabling him to start for study in Italy, giving him a 
 horse for the journey. Rubens hung his parting gift in the best position in his house, and 
 took constant pleasure in pointing out its merits to his visitors. 
 
RUBENS AND HIS SCHOLARS. 37 
 
 immediately beside the old cathedral, whose picturesque towers 
 form an admirable background to the scene. England may learn 
 a useful lesson here, and not practically deny her own intel- 
 lectually great sons, by refusing them that public recognition 
 which she so willingly accords to statesmen and warriors. 
 While they are often forgotten or uncared for by another genera- 
 tion, 
 
 " The artist never dies." 
 
 His works reflect greatness and glory on his country for ever ; 
 his victory is one of peace and goodwill, appealing to, and 
 conquering by, the best feelings of our nature ; and when 
 presented to our view in the manly type of Rubens, commands 
 honour and esteem from all. 
 
 [nFI7BIlSIT 
 
 ;/fok^ 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE :— ART-RAMBLES IN 
 BELGIUM. 
 
Vandyke's house. 
 
 RUBENS AND VANDYKE :— ART-RAMBLES IN 
 
 BELGIUM. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 [PPOSITE our own coasts, and separated from them by 
 a short sea-passage, the kingdom of Belgium possesses 
 claims on the attention of the lovers of art and history 
 superior to any other near neighbour. The early history of 
 England is much mixed up with that of the Low Countries ; and 
 to the Englishman, whose love of liberty is at once honest and 
 
 G 
 
42 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 profound, the actions of the brave men who so perseveringly fought 
 against spiritual and regal tyranny when the hope of victory was 
 indeed a forlorn one, must ever be dear. In the marshes of 
 Holland and Belgium liberty made her last grand stand, 
 emerging victorious, and giving to surrounding nations much 
 of her benign influence. The first great blow at feudalism was 
 struck by the brave Flemish burghers ; and the basis upon 
 which modem commerce rests had its foundations laid by them 
 also. 
 
 The wealthy burghers were not mere tradesmen ; they loved 
 art and literature, and patronised both in a most catholic spirit. 
 The taste permeated all ranks ; thus the trade-guilds, or frater- 
 nities of workmen, instituted their " Chambers of Rhetoric," 
 and concocted dramatic moralisations, often thought worthy to 
 amuse kings and nobles, when joyeuse efitnes gave these honest 
 workers a chance of testifying their loyalty and respect. 
 
 Nowhere can a greater or more sudden change be felt than 
 in the short passage between London and Antwerp. The most 
 disagreeable part of the voyage takes place in the night, when 
 the steamboat becomes a floating hotel. The morning is passed 
 in the windings of the Scheldt ; mid-day lands us at Antwerp, 
 amid scenes that recall the memories of three hundred years. 
 The past mingles with the present so quaintly and so charmingly, 
 that the student of art and history may be envied his first visit to 
 Antwerp. 
 
 As the mouth of the Scheldt is entered, the town of Flushing 
 gives token of a contrast to our own shores. The river is like an 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 43 
 
 arm of the sea, the town a walled and embattled gathering of 
 quaint old houses in a lonely plain of sand, a solitary home for an 
 amphibious race of hardy fishermen. Terneuse, a small village, 
 with a finely painted church, a high-pitched roof and spire, 
 
 Fig. 15. — "Warden. 
 
 and an abundance of weathercocks, is the next place passed ; then 
 comes Warden (Fig. 15), of which we give the characteristic 
 features in our small sketch. Doule soon succeeds it, a droll, 
 Dutch-looking little place, with very few houses, and its church (a 
 
 Fig. 16. — Fort Lillo. 
 
 little cathedral, as all the Belgic churches appear to be), with a 
 miniature steeple and spire, transepts, and west porch. Almost 
 immediately afterwards we come in sight of Fort Lillo (Fig. 16), 
 which, with its opposite brother, protects this part of the stream, 
 
44 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 and guards the approach to Antwerp. Nothing can aiford a greater 
 contrast than this river and the Thames ; the one crowded with 
 vessels, the other dull and lonely, yet fortified so strongly, while 
 our own river, crowded with shipping, and Hned with buildings, 
 has a comparatively unprotected look. The Scheldt is a difficult 
 river to navigate, but it once received vessels from all parts of the 
 world ; its windings are most tortuous, and it is a very sudden 
 curve that brings Antwerp (Fig. 17) in sight, its group of spires 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 -^ f^. 
 
 
 ■ -s ■JY-t+H--»nt«<t ) Mn - 
 
 ;il^5 
 
 -• t^ > — > 
 
 Fig. 1 7- — First View oJ" Antwerp from the River. 
 
 and towers cutting against the sky in picturesque relief, and 
 holding out fair promise of a pleasant sojourn to the traveller. 
 
 The Place Vcrte^ on the south side of the cathedral, is the focus 
 of life and gaiety. The tree-shadowed old square is the favourite 
 resort of the idler, and will have strong attraction to the stranger, 
 for it is one of the most picturesque localities in the old city. The 
 entire length of the cathedral forms one of its boundaries ; the 
 quaint roof and spires of this building are nowhere seen to greater 
 advantage. In the centre of the place stands Geefs's noble colossal 
 statue of Rubens ; and the Englishman may feel, in looking upon 
 
it, that he is in a country where men, mentally great, who devote 
 themselves to the elevation of the higher emotions of life, are 
 honoured and recognised. Rubens is " the bright particular star " 
 of Antwerp ; its inhabitants never tire of honouring his memory ; 
 his residence is still shown, his favourite chair is preserved in the 
 Museum, every trifle in the town connected with him is held 
 sacred. The people are, however, equally attached to the renown 
 of other names that have made their city famous. Quintin Matsys 
 and his history is familiar to every one ; so is that of Vandyke. 
 It is not too much to say that, while many great statesmen and 
 warriors are forgotten, the artists ot Belgium are familiarly and 
 affectionately remembered by their country. 
 
 The frightful devastations produced by civil and religious wars 
 in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, have robbed the 
 churches of the vast accumulation of early art-treasures they 
 possessed up to the time of Philip II. of Spain. The cruelty and 
 intolerance of the court of Spain is without a parallel in European 
 history, and after many years of sufferance was at last met by an 
 ebullition that spared no relic of its dominance. We must, 
 therefore, not look in the churches of Antwerp for antiquities, such 
 mediaeval relics as ecclesiologists of the present day delight to 
 descant upon, nor for pictures that were painted by real " Pre- 
 Raffaellites." AVe must be content to miss those that preceded 
 the seventeenth century, particularly when we find such glorious 
 works of that period as reward the seeker in every corner of 
 the old city. Nowhere can Rubens be seen to such advantage ; 
 in fact, he can fully be comprehended only in the city of his 
 
residence; works displaying all his peculiarities of style and 
 character throughout his long, industrious, and honourable life, 
 are here. The " prince of artists " is still a ruler in Antwerp, 
 and it would be difficult to -find another city where an artist is 
 so entirely honoured. 
 
 It is not requisite, nor do we propose to descant upon his 
 works here, or narrate their number and titles ; that has been 
 long since fully and efficiently done elsewhere. In taking a rapid 
 survey of Belgium and its art-works, we may merely point out 
 noticeable pictures, elucidating them by sketches from, or rather 
 dissections of, each picture. Architecture must come in for the 
 due share of notice demanded by that important art, particularly 
 as regards the quaint peculiarities that catch the eye of a stranger. 
 All this, and other features of ordinary life in Belgium, must be 
 embodied in our passing glance. 
 
 The war between the Papists and the Reformers was fought 
 as desperately here as anywhere, with the alternations that " the 
 chances of war" bring. Now the religion of Rome seems firmly 
 fixed, and nowhere are the stately services of that faith more 
 strikingly conducted than in Belgium. In Rome they partake too 
 much of the festive, or theatric, in their style, and are wanting in 
 the grandeur and dignity that give them so impressive a character 
 here. The architecture and fittings of the churches are more in 
 accordance with the solemn pomp of religion ; *' the glory of 
 regality" seems to invest the national faith; and the gorgeous 
 processions on great festivals, to wliich all knees bow, show the 
 deep-seated reverencQ of the people. 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 47 
 
 The stranger will notice at many street-corners pleasing little 
 groups of the Virgin and Child, before whom lamps are occasion- 
 ally lighted. Some of these are of considerable antiquity ; many 
 
 FicT. i8. 
 
 possess much native grace. We give two specimens of these 
 canopied figures ; in one instance (Fig. i8) the simplicity of nature 
 alone has been aimed at ; there is a viotivCy however, in the action 
 
48 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 of the infant Saviour unusual in works of its class : He starts forth 
 from the embrace of the Holy Virgin, holding forth the cross of 
 redemption in the left hand, while the right welcomes the 
 
 
 Fig. 19. — The Madonna Tiiumpliant. 
 
 humblest aspirant of the faith. More of quaint, mediaeval feeling 
 is exhibited in our second specimen (Fig 19). Here the Virgin is 
 crowned and enthroned as Queen ; her canopy is surmounted by 
 a flag ; a circle of stars adds lustre to her crown ; she boars a 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 49 
 
 sceptre in her right hand, and is really " the Queen of Heaven," 
 as with the Roman faith, rather than the simple " Mother of 
 Jesus," as the Protestants consider her. The Saviour here is a 
 passive figure, playing a very secondary part, as is too often the 
 case in the Church of Rome. That she is " the woman " of the 
 Apocalypse is typified by the serpent 
 
 beneath her feet ; her divine triumph is 
 
 shown by the cherubim about her. 
 
 It is not always that the Virgin is 
 
 thus shown triumphant. Her woes are 
 
 often made the visible stimulus for the 
 
 devotion of the faithful. " Notre Dame de 
 
 Sept Douleurs," is occasionally seen with 
 
 seven poniards in her breast, typical of 
 
 her spiritual wounds ; occasionally with 
 
 one only, as in the engraving (Fig. 20) of 
 
 a statuette in the Church of St. Andrew, 
 
 attached to one of the pillars of the 
 
 nave. 
 
 It is impossible to deny the great 
 
 devotion of the lower classes to all church 
 
 ceremonials. The poor repose on the faith 
 
 and in the hope of a better world, to compensate the misery to 
 
 them of the present one ; hence the high altars of the churches are 
 
 never without devout plebeian worshippers ; and their quaint 
 
 costumes and simple devotion have abundant elements of the 
 
 picturesque (Figs. 2\ and 22). The flat lands of Belgium and 
 
 H 
 
 jrjf,_ 20. — " Notre Dame des 
 Douleurs." 
 
so 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 Holland necessitate a peculiar head-dress for its peasantry. The 
 strong winds that blow across these plains from the North 
 Sea, would make any " broad-brimmed" head-covering perfectly 
 unmanageable ; so a strange bonnet has been invented, that is 
 perched at an angle above the crown, with the narrowest brim 
 possible, acting as " a sun-shade" for the eyes. The girls manage 
 
 Fig. 21. — Group at the Altar, Antwerp Cathedral. 
 
 to make up for the mcagreness of the bonnet by the amplitude of 
 the cap, and indulge in lappets of lace, as costly as they can afford 
 (Figs. 2^ and 24). In fine weather the bonnet is dispensed with, 
 and then the cap shines forth in all its glory. The ladies of the 
 middle class wear dark veils, like the Spanish mantilla : this 
 custom may be traced to the days of Charles V. and the Spanish 
 rule in the Netherlands. 
 
RUBExYS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 Typical figures of Faith, more or less graceful, abound in the 
 churches. In that of S. Carlo Borromeo — the sumptuous fane of the 
 Jesuits — is a very elegant figure, borne on 
 clouds, supporting the cross, and elevating 
 the cup of the Eucharist (Fig. 25). The 
 Church, under less triumphant influences, is 
 seen in our second example (Fig. 26). 
 
 No one can examine the Belgic churches 
 without being forcibly struck by the abund- 
 ance and superiority of the wood-carving with 
 which they are enriched. With the utmost 
 elaboration of hand-labour is combined a 
 high artistic feeling, and a painter-like free- 
 dom of execution that gives these works a 
 very high character. It may be a question whether there be fitness 
 
 Fig. 22. — Priestly Costume. 
 
 Fig. 23. — Head-dresses of Flemish Peasantrj*. 
 
 in converting a pulpit into a group of figures and accessories 
 embodying a scriptural story; but the objection does not hold 
 
52 
 
 HOMES, HAlWrS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 Fig. 24.— A Pea- 
 sant's- Cap. 
 
 with the elegant adjuncts which the gorgeous ritual of Rome 
 demands. In the Church of St. Augustine are pleasing groups 
 of cherubim and angels bearing floral gifts, that 
 form the decorations of a confessional (Fig. 27). 
 Though not absolutely detached from the surface 
 over which they seem fluttering, they are in 
 such bold relief, being so much "undercut," 
 that the finger may be passed behind many 
 parts of them. The wood-carvers of the Low 
 Countries have always been celebrated for their 
 talent, and their descendants in Belgium still 
 worthily uphold their fame, as the modern works in Antwerp 
 Cathedral abundantly prove. 
 
 The treasures possessed by the churches in the paintings 
 which still adorn their walls, and attract visitors from all parts 
 of the globe, are enormous. Those that chiefly attract atten- 
 tion are the works of Otho Venius (the master of Rubens), 
 Rubens, and Vandyke. Otho Venius is sometimes termed " the 
 Flemish Raphael." His works show much of the sweetness 
 and purity of the great Italian, and are in this way far superior 
 to those of his renowned pupil ; but they are often cold and 
 formal, and evidence little appreciation of the graces of colour. 
 Venius was a most diligent painter and designer, imbued with 
 strong religious mysticism, which shows most in the series 
 of emblematical engravings he published, typifying the World 
 and the Spirit. Religious emblems were a book-fashion in 
 those days, and talented men, clerical and lay, racked their brains 
 
EUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 53 
 
 in endeavouring to make the working of the mind take a bodily- 
 form. How different from the simple truthfulness of Rubens : his 
 greatest picture, " The Incredulity of St. Thomas," is chiefly 
 remarkable for the unpretentious power of its reality. Here all 
 
 \W//,/ 
 
 Fig. 25.—" Faith : " Church of S. Carlo Borromco. 
 
 Fi". 26. 
 
 is dignity and repose. The simple action of the Saviour is 
 excellently rendered, the progress of conviction is admirably 
 traced in the other figures (Fig. 28). You feel that the incredulity 
 of St. Thomas is not quite removed, although he scrutinises with 
 
54 
 
 HO^^ES, HAUNTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 an earnest, intent, and awe-struck gaze, the wound in the hand 
 which is extended towards him ; but the features, and more 
 especially the hand, of the younger disciple say as powerfully as 
 words could do, that he recognises his risen Lord. This simple 
 majesty and power of expression give a higher character to the 
 works of Rubens than do their brilliant colouring and masterly 
 
 Fig. 27. — From Wooil-c.irving, Church of St. Augustine. 
 
 manipulation. The head of St. Simon, in " The Presentation in the 
 Temple," is magnificent for its dignity and elevation (Fig. 29). 
 Vandyke's "Ecstasy of St. Augustine" is the nearest approach 
 to this (Fig. 30). The aged saint, supported by youthful angels 
 of extreme beauty, is the realisation of saintly humanity. There 
 is here much grace in the forms, and brilliancy in the colour 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 of the entire composition, which is certainly one of the painter's 
 best works. The beauty of his angels and younger male figures 
 is again well shown in his picture of the dead Christ in the lap of 
 his mother, now in the Antwerp Museum. A more beautiful group 
 than the two angels and St. John cannot be studied for pathos 
 
 Fig. 28.—" The Incredulity of St. Thomas "- Rubens. 
 
 and depth of feeling. Nor is the Virgin, with her arms extended 
 transversely, a less speaking figure. She seems truly accabUe de 
 douleur, raising her imploring eyes toward heaven, as if to seek 
 renewed strength there. The action of the two angels is full of 
 sentiment and dignity— the one gazing on the wounded hand, to 
 which St. John directs his attention with a gesture of affection and 
 
 •f THl 
 
 ^U1»'I7BRSIT7) 
 
pitying sympathy, while the other, unable to endure the mournful 
 
 sight, veils his face in his black drapery (Fig. 31). In the large 
 
 Crucifixion by Vandyke (which he gave to the Convent of the 
 
 Jacobins in return for the care they took of his 
 
 father during his last illness) there is a striking 
 
 group at the foot of the cross. The angel is one 
 
 of his most graceful figures. The action of 
 
 St. Dominic, with his open arms and tenderly 
 
 Fig. 29-— St. Simon— sympathising face, and of St. Catherine of 
 
 Sienna, with her closed eyes and delicate 
 
 expression of purity, combines the qualities of dignity, grace, and 
 
 tenderness, in as high a degree as they can be found in the works 
 
 of this great master. 
 
 I'ijT. 30.— "The Ecsta-^y of Si. Augustine "—Vamlyke. 
 
 It was this power of introducing saintly legend into scriptural 
 history that gave the earlier artists so much scope for variety 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 57 
 
 in their compositions, and of which the moderns, for various 
 reasons, cannot avail themselves. When pictures were ordered for 
 churches, it became a necessary duty for the artist thus patronised 
 to introduce the saint to whom the church was dedicated ; no 
 feeling of anachronisms committed was ever allowed to interfere 
 with this arrangement of the subject. This is strikingly shown in 
 
 Fig- 31.— Pitying Angels— after Vandyke. 
 
 the portion of the picture here given (Fig. z'^). The boldest of 
 modern painters would hardly dare to introduce at the foot of the 
 cross saints who are popularly known to have lived many hun- 
 dred years after that event, and make them take the place of 
 those (St. John and the jMagdalen) who are known to have been 
 there. This license gave variety to a hackneyed subject, but it 
 ultimately led to evil effects. Artists were not satisfied with 
 
 I 
 
58 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 saintly legend, but emulated classic mythology, and revelled in 
 groups of angels and genii more fitted for Roman baths (where 
 they originated) than Christian churches. Some of this false 
 feeling displays itself in the group : the winged Cupid — for he is 
 scarcely an angel — seated at the foot of the cross has a reversed 
 torch beside him, the classic emblem of Death ; the lamp and 
 
 Fig. 32. — From the Crucifixion, by Vandyke. 
 
 skull carry out the same idea. When Art submits to the adoption 
 of such petty adjuncts, it is a sure sign of innate weakness ; the 
 fascination of such liberty is great, and soon resolves itself into 
 license ; and when weakness and license combine, we get such 
 furniture pictures as the Church was obliged to be content with in 
 the seventeenth century, and which sapped the v(>ry foundation of 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 59 
 
 religious art. We see the worst examples of this want of pure 
 religious feeling in the French school of the period of Louis 
 Quinze ; but this bad pre-eminence was partially shared by the 
 schools of Italy ; it even pervaded sculpture under the guidance 
 of Bernini, whose fluttering draperies emulated pictorial art, 
 deprived sculpture of its innate dignity, and left in place thereof 
 but a miserable exhibition of spasmodic power. The greatest of 
 all Christian temples is disfigured by monstrosities of this kind ; 
 we cannot wonder, then, that French sculptors and painters 
 should have been unable to resist the fascination of following 
 in the fashion patronised at the chief sanctuary of their faith. 
 
60 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 jiNTWERP still preserves many buildings, public and 
 private, that existed in that stormy period of the city's 
 historj' — the era of Spanish rule under the cruel Duke 
 of Alva. j\Ir. IMotley, in his history of the Dutch Republic, has 
 remarked with truth, that no "historic doubter" can possibly 
 take his defence in hand, though they have done that of a Robes- 
 pierre or a Alarat. " Pluman invention is incapable of outstripping 
 the truth upon this subject. Ilis own letters, and the official 
 records of the Spanish court, are more than enough to prove himself 
 and his master, Philip IL, monsters of cold-hearted ferocity." This 
 ** most Christian" king, simply because his Protestant subjects 
 objected to the external paraphernalia of his faith, and the intro- 
 duction of the Spanish Inquisition, devoted a whole country to 
 torture and death. His actions and those of his general '* seem 
 almost like a caricature ; as a creation of fiction they would seem 
 grotesque ; " yet they fill the pages of sober history, compiled 
 from official documents of icy coldness. Indiscriminate massacre 
 or slow torture destroyed hundreds of thousands of Belgic people. 
 When his majesty heard that many had, spite of all torture, 
 declared their faith at the stake, and rejoiced on their road to 
 death, he ordered that they should be gagged, and ultimately that 
 they should be secretly destroyed in the dungeons of their prisons. 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 6i 
 
 The king, who was never seen to smile or be gay, except for a few 
 days, after he received the news of the massacre of St. Bartholo- 
 
 ♦ Fig. 33. — ^Prison of the Inquisition. 
 
 mew, provided fitting dungeons for his fatal purpose. Follow 
 your guide through the tortuous streets of old Antwerp, and the 
 
62 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 gloomy prison may yet be seen (Fig. n). Its outer doors of solid 
 oak, strengthened by iron plates, and secured by numerous bolts 
 (Fig. 34), lead to cells in which imagination sickens. Three are 
 here represented (Figs. 35 — 37). The first, of the most usual order, 
 
 Fig. 34.^Tlie I'rison Duor. 
 
 is about seven feet high and six. feet wide, and is furnished 
 with a post and chains, with rings to secure the neck, hands, and 
 feet of the unfortunate prisoner. This has a window a few inches 
 wide, but many are without, and in suffocating darkness, like the 
 third, which is fitted for the worst i:)uriDoses, the dark hole in the 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 63 
 
 floor opening down into a pit beneath the prisons, whence the 
 tortured bodies disappeared for ever. The central cell of our 
 
 Figs. 35 — 37. — Dungeons of the Inquisition, Antwerp. 
 
 triplicate of horrors is the cell of examination ; the post and 
 chains to which the questioned were affixed, remain (Fig. 38). 
 The holes in the arched roof will be noticed, 
 through which the voice of the tortured 
 ascended to an upper chamber, where the 
 secretary of " the holy office," with official sang- 
 froid, took down what was said. It is with a 
 sigh of relief we again reach the fresh air of the 
 open street, after a visit to such an unwhole- 
 some monument of religious hate and cruelty. 
 Externally this building is not without the 
 
 , . Fig. 38. — In the Prison, 
 
 picturesque chararacter never unassociated with Antwerp, 
 
 mediaeval architecture. Numberless quaint houses and picturesque 
 "bits" reward the pedestrian in Antwerp. "La vielle Boucherie" 
 
64 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 is in this category, its quaint character obtaining an additional 
 charm from the irregularity of its position (Fig. 39). It is one 
 of the oldest buildings in the town. 
 We must turn from old buildings, however fascinating, and 
 
 ^ , !! ^ '1 'j- ~_J\ I. ■ ,1 jil I 
 
 tt,. ^"^ I ■■ 1/ -1 .-,:;:I I 
 
 \ 
 
 ^"'K- 39- — "La Viellc Boucherie." 
 
 Study the works of the artist who has given Antwerp an immortal 
 renown, and which draw towards them the footsteps of art- 
 pilgrims from all civilised countries. Rubens possessed all a 
 Fleming's love for pageantry, and was the proper artist for princes. 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 65 
 
 The wealth of colour and richness of imagination exhibited in his 
 allegorical and historic designs, and some few of his religious 
 pictures, — as " The Adoration of the Magi," — evince a tendency to 
 gold plate and jewellery, satin, brocade, and velvet. Yet at the 
 proper time he knew how to be tender, even to the tenderness of 
 simple domesticity ; witness his " St. Anne teaching the Virgin to 
 Read" (Fig. 40), a picture remarkable for beauty: the group of 
 angels hovering above them is as bright and fresh as the bunch of 
 
 Fig. 40. — "St. Anne" — Rubens. 
 
 roses they hold in their hands. This tenderness is still more 
 visible in an episode in that noble picture, " The Elevation of the 
 Cross," the first great public work executed by Rubens after his 
 return from Italy (Fig. 41). Here, amid the groups of terrified 
 and horror-stricken women, stand the Virgin and St. John, their 
 hands locked together as if seeking comfort from mutual sym- 
 pathy. St. John fixes his mournful gaze on his dying Lord ; the 
 Virgin casts a side glance of anguish in that direction — a look full 
 
 K 
 
66 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 of woe and desolation — as if she could not bear to take in the full 
 sight of the agony which that spectacle presents. These two 
 figures in their sad-coloured and grave drapery give solemn 
 power, artistically, to the whole group. In the picture of " The 
 Dead Christ bewailed by the Virgin" (Fig. 42) there is still greater 
 passion : the head of the Saviour is terribly faithful as a transcript 
 
 Fig. 41.— The Virgin and St. John— Rubens. 
 
 of death by suifering ; the Virgin averts her head in painful 
 consciousness, with the deep anguish of a mother ; the Magdalen 
 weeps with clenched hands, but her sorrow is without the maternal 
 poignancy. Such pictures may never be painted again : they 
 belong to a past race, like the cathedrals that enshrine them, and 
 which we can now scarcely imitate. There is a deep-seated 
 reflective sorrow in the face of the good centurion as he gazes on 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 67 
 
 his dying Saviour upon the cross (Fig. 43) : he leans forward on 
 his horse, abstracted from all other worldly thought, with an 
 attentive, sorrowful gaze. The sorrow of the Magdalen is more 
 poignant (Fig. 44) : her extended hands stretched imploringly 
 towards the brutal soldier who is piercing the Saviour's side, 
 
 Fig. 42. — The Dead Christ — Rubens. 
 
 as if to prevent this last outrage, is one of those touches of nature 
 which go home to the heart. 
 
 Rubens is often, and sometimes justly, accused of coarseness 
 in his pictures of martyrdoms. In the gallery at Brussels is a 
 terrible example, in which a saint's tongue is torn from the living 
 mouth. That he was capable of refinement is proved by his treat- 
 ment of the " Martyrdom of St. John," now in the cathedral at 
 
68 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 Malines (Fig. 45). \Vc copy the figure of the saint : the face full 
 of the expression of faith and confidence, looking upward, and 
 upward only, for he casts no thought towards the boiling caldron 
 in which the executioners are placing him. Irrespective of its 
 
 Fig- 43- — The Good Centurion. 
 
 Fig. 44. — St. Mary Mngd.nlen. 
 
 touching " motive," there is great grace in the pose of this figure. 
 In his "Peste d'Alost," there is much of the same quiet grace, as 
 may be seen in the figure we select therefrom. The expression of 
 trustful hope and resignation in this man as he gazes on the saint 
 is very tender (Fig. 46). 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 69 
 
 His great pupil, Vandyke, is second only to his master. In 
 the same cathedral is his version of " The Crucifixion," from which 
 we select the figures of the two thieves. They are as powerfully 
 contrasted as those painted by Rubens in his more celebrated 
 
 Fig. 45. — The MartjTdom of St. John. 
 
 work. The one on the right of the cross, with distorted features 
 and distended chest, is hopelessly dying in sin (P'ig. 47) ; but the 
 other, over whose cramped and tortured limbs the lassitude of 
 approaching death seems already creeping (so beautifully 
 betokened by the drooping hand which hangs helpless and 
 
70 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 relaxed over the cross), bears an expression of pleased resignation 
 and humble hope (Fig, 48). 
 
 The dead Christ in the arms of his mother, surrounded by 
 weeping angels, is copied from a sketch by Vandyke, formerly in 
 the Van Schamps collection at Ghent. It is remarkable for 
 tenderness, pathos, and grace (Fig. 49). 
 
 Malines is happy in the possession of one of the greatest of 
 
 Fig. 46. 
 
 Rubens's works, " The Miraculous Draught of Fishes." It is one 
 of the brightest, richest, and most brilliant pictures that perhaps 
 ever issued even from his hand. It is full of life and expression, 
 combined with great grace. Witness (Fig. 50) the two disciples 
 who are lifting the net, the younger beckoning to his partners in 
 the other vessel, and the elder intent on the haul ; the pose of 
 both is admirably conceived ; but the idea of the original is 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 71 
 
 wanted to fully comprehend its artistic power. The subordinate 
 parts of this noble picture, the brilliant colours of the various fish, 
 the waves with their foam blowing off in the wind, the sandy 
 beach with its shells, and the bird fluttering over all, are faithful 
 to nature and beautiful as examples of such art-realisations. 
 
 The rich store of artistic wealth in these sacred edifices of 
 
 Fig. 47. 
 
 Fig. 48. 
 
 Belgium is astonishing to many money-loving travellers, for they 
 represent large sums, and the fraternities who own them are not 
 always among the richest : but they have an innate love of art, 
 and a pride in the possession of works that can attract men of all 
 countries and creeds toward them. This feeling is not yet fully 
 understood in England, nor the pride with which a Belgian 
 regards the painters of his native land ; it is as if he shared in the 
 
72 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 honours the world has awarded them, saying, "I too am a 
 Belgian," as the enthusiastic master of the olden time exclaimed, 
 " I too am an artist." It bears the nearest resemblance to the 
 zeal of the old Italians, who honoured and loved artists more than 
 they did warriors, statesmen, or princes. 
 
 There is still much in these cathedrals and churches, despite 
 
 Fig. 40. — From a Sketch by Vandyke. 
 
 the fearful havoc once made in them, to remind the spectator of 
 the days of old. The Romish ritual prides itself on its unchanging 
 nature ; in this country all the appointments of the church 
 conform to the mediaeval standard ; and while the Italian church, 
 with its light operatic music, its theatric decoration, and its 
 
RUBENS AND VANDFKE, ETC. 
 
 73 
 
 undignified costume, leaves very few solemn impressions on the 
 mind, the great festivals of the Belgian cathedrals possess an 
 innate dignity and grandeur which cannot fail to affect even those 
 who may not adhere to the faith that has called them into 
 existence. There is a regal dignity surrounding these great 
 celebrations, nor is there anything trifling in the conduct of them. 
 
 ^Ife^^^- 
 
 w ^\ 
 
 V 
 
 FijT- 50. 
 
 The late Mr. Pugin, the architect, than whom no one could be 
 more devoted to his Church, was as honestly unsparing of his sar- 
 casms on the weakness and want of dignity visible in its modern 
 ceremonials and costumes as he was on modern architectural 
 abortions at home and abroad. He has shown, in his admirable 
 " Glossary of Ecclesiastical Costume," how the priestly guise has 
 degenerated from the grandeur of the Middle Ages. In Belgium 
 
we may still see costumes as grand as the priestly dresses in the 
 pictures of Titian, or the noble figures of Loyola, now one of the 
 greatest pictorial treasures of Warwick Castle. 
 
 Those who are conversant with early paintings, or with 
 illuminated manuscripts of the same era, which are often very 
 valuable exponents of the manners and customs of past ages, will 
 at once detect the unchanged character of much they will see in 
 
 Fig. 51.— A FuncKil Bier. 
 
 this interesting country. Wc give a small instance merely as a 
 sample of the whole; it is a funeral bier, covered with the cross- 
 embroidered pall, and surrounded by tall wax tapers (Fig. 51). It 
 is a sketch of to-day, but in no degree differs from one that might 
 have been made in the fourteenth century, so completely identical 
 is every feature of the modern with the ancient style. 
 
 Tlx- Roman Catholic Church preserved this rigid adherence to 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 75 
 
 good old forms until the court of Rome becam^e in itself corrupt 
 and careless. The reign of the Borgias was as fatal to manners 
 as to morals. Even in its most solemn, and, we may add, its most 
 cruel ceremonies, the taste of the theatre predominated over that 
 of the Church. Witness the memento of sanguinary old times 
 preserved in the Church of St. Saveur at Bruges (Fig. 52). This 
 faded and time-stained relic is the banner once triumphantly 
 carried before the victims of the Inquisition. The figure of St. 
 Dominic that once surmounted it has decayed by age, and gives 
 place to the crozier, pastoral-staff, and mitre of the archbishop. 
 The central painting represents the adoration of the Virgin and 
 Child by saints and angels : it is mounted on crimson satin, and 
 edged with gold fringe ; but it is impossible to look on its faded 
 hues, with the remembrance of its original use, without a shudder, 
 and a grateful feeling that the spread of intelligence among the 
 laity, and the establishment of the printing-press, has, at length, 
 banished for ever such unchristian cruelty from any Church 
 purported to be founded on the words of Him who carne to 
 save rather than condemn, and who has taught us that " God is 
 love." 
 
 In the holier thoughts inspired by these old buildings, in the 
 purer feelings evinced in the works of these old artists, let us walk 
 through the happy and prosperous kingdom of Belgium, with the 
 calm placidity of a philosophic mind. Pictures are to our walls 
 what parterres are to our flower-gardens. To those who look not 
 below the surface, a flower may be a pretty trifle to pluck, to 
 smell, or look at, and cast aside to die ; but to a properly consti- 
 
76 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 tuted mind, like that of our great poet Wordsworth, "a yellow ' 
 primrose " is infinitely more than so simple a thing as it appears 
 
 I'ig. 52. — The Banner of the Im|uisitii)n. 
 
 to the unreflective. It was to him " a thing of beauty " in its 
 exquisite colour and form; a "joy for ever" to his mind as a 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 7.7 
 
 proof of the benignity of the Creator. With some such feeling let 
 us look upon the mental works of the great masters in art, 
 unchanging in a world of change, or even improving as teachers, 
 as time grows older, and the greed of wealth covers us as with a 
 fog-cloud. 
 
 In one of the Antwerp churches is a relic of the great painter 
 
 Fig. S3- 
 
 Rubens, more " personal " in its character than any other the city 
 has to show, if we except the painting-chair which he constantly 
 used in his studio, now preserved in the picture gallery of the 
 town. The Church of St. Jacques required for its altar a new 
 railing, and the rich townsmen each gave something towards a 
 handsome one of bronze. The contribution appears to have 
 amounted to a balustrade each; that given by Rubens is 
 
78 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 inscribed with his name, and the date of the gift ; his coat of 
 arms is also placed in its centre, which we have engraved beside 
 it, on a larger scale. Fig. 53, h. The opposite coat [c] is that of 
 one of his fellow-contributors, and will remind the reader of the 
 "merchants' marks" often seen in our own churches and on 
 mediaeval tombs. 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, E2C, 79 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 |RUSSELS is so happy a combination of the best 
 features of Paris and London, that it has always 
 been a favourite place of residence with the English, 
 who at one time formed a no very inconsiderable portion of its 
 population. Of course the casual visitor goes to Waterloo, 
 though the locality is now much altered since the great day 
 of battle. The continual visit of travellers, making a residence 
 a means of profit, have so much increased the population 
 here of Waterloo and Mont St. Jean, that whereas there used 
 to be a full mile of distance between the two places, the long 
 straggling village of Mont St. Jean is now quite united to 
 Waterloo. We give a sketch of the latter place in its original 
 condition (Fig. 54); the pyramidal mound surmounted by the 
 Belgic lion, commemorating the native soldiery, is three miles off. 
 Belgium has not many monuments to show connected with its 
 own great civil wars. Outside the gate of Ghent, on the road to 
 Antwerp, are the remains of the tremendous fortress erected by 
 the Emperor Charles V., to check the over turbulent inhabitants 
 of the old city (Fig. 55). Here were imprisoned the Counts 
 Egmont and Horn, and here William the great Prince of Orange 
 led the assault of 1570, when the citizens succeeded in obtaining 
 possession of it, and soon afterwards levelled it with the ground ; 
 
8o 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 the people working as willingly as did the Parisians when they 
 razed the Bastille ; and, like them, being assisted by their wives 
 
 
 
 
 Fig. 54. — Waterloo. 
 
 and children. Within its boundary is the octagonal Chapel of 
 St. Macaire. It is enclosed by the heavy ivy-covered walls of the 
 
 ^^^^'rW 
 
 tig. 55.— The OKI Citadel, Ghent. 
 
 central keep (Fig. 56). The cloister of the Gothic Chapel of St. 
 Bavon, which also stood within the citadel, has much more 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 picturesque features. It is in the Romanesque style, and was 
 once the centre of the ancient quarter of St. Bavon, whence eight 
 
 Fig. 56. — Chapel in the Citadel, Ghent. 
 
 hundred houses were removed to make way for this formidable 
 fortress (Figs. 57 and 58). 
 
 Fig. 57.— Cloister of the Old Monastery of St. Bavon, Ghent. 
 
 Allusion has already been made to the fine specimens of old 
 domestic architecture to be seen in Belgium ; they abound in 
 
 M 
 
82 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 infinite variety. Malines possesses some picturesque examples, of 
 which we engrave one specimen (Fig. 59). Louvain is equally 
 rich, and among them is the remarkable brick building, with 
 geometric tracery over the entire front, given in Fig. 60. At Ghent 
 and at Bruges are equally good, though varied, specimens of the 
 ability of the old Flemish builders. 
 
 ]\Iany amusing details will attract an observant eye in these 
 old cities. Quaint signs, with their necessary names in broad 
 
 Flemish, greet passers by. Of these we 
 give four specimens (p. 95). It will be 
 conceded that wo use the term " neces- 
 sary " advisedly, for the " red hound " 
 (of a bright scarlet tint) and " the wild 
 cat" require their proper designations 
 to render them recognisable. 
 
 The Flemings have always de- 
 lighted in the grotesque, and in start- 
 ling popular pageantry. Every city 
 had, and has still, its appointed day of jubilee, generally in honour 
 of its patron saint, when the trade guild parade the streets in 
 fanciful dresses, accompanied by the civic giants, enormous figures 
 of animals, real and imaginary, whales, ships fully rigged and 
 manned, with heathen gods, classic heroes, and heterogeneous 
 characters to marshal the whole. No great city was without its 
 giant, and on great occasions they all assembled to do honour to 
 the advent of some great personage. The only giant who has 
 never travelled beyond the walls of his own city, is Antigon of 
 
 Fig. 58.— Columns at St. Bavon. 
 
Antwerp, and for the most sufficient reason : there is no gate of 
 the old city tall enough for him to pass under. This enormous 
 
 jri<T. 59. — Old Mansion at Malines. 
 
 figure was constructed in the reign of the Emperor Charles V. 
 (Fig. 61.) Within the body is a spiral staircase, leading to a 
 platform on a level with the neck, where a man stands to direct a 
 
8+ 
 
 HOMES, HAUXTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 windlass to turn the head from side to side when he is drawn on 
 his car through the streets. He is provided with a wife of equally 
 gigantic proportion, and a brood of young giants, about ten feet 
 high, who walk after them (Fig. 62). Their bodies are of wicker- 
 work, and conceal strong men, who give what vitality they can to 
 the monsters. They are the delight of the populace, who speak 
 
 I'ig. Oo. — Gothic lluusc at Louvain. 
 
 with warm affection of *' notre bon p6re Antigon," "sa belle 
 Dame," and '* nos amiablcs pctits G6ants ; " yet the history of the 
 ** bon p6re " would seem to call for no mark of esteem. According 
 to popular legend he was a cruel giant, who inhabited a castle on 
 the Scheldt, where Antwerp now stands, and exacted heavy toll 
 from all boats that passed : if the men did not pay, he cut olT 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 «S 
 
 their hands. Braban, one of Julius Csesar's generals, ultimately 
 conquered him, founded the seignory named Brabant after him, 
 and built Antwerp, giving it that name in memory of the hands 
 cut off ijiand i'worpen) by the giant, which hands still appear in the 
 city arms, as may be seen in the shield borne by the giant's wife. 
 
 Fig. 6 1 
 
 Fig. 62. 
 
 In spite, however, of so clear and vivacious a narrative, sober 
 topographers are more inclined to trace the name of the city from 
 its position, " an t'werf " (on the wharf), that led to its great 
 commercial prosperity. 
 
 But we must bid adieu to civic legends, and take a last glance 
 at the treasures of pictorial art the old towns enshrine. To begin 
 
86 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS' OF 
 
 at the beginning, one of the earliest and most renowTied of 
 paintings is still the great feature of the Cathedral of St. Bavon, at 
 Ghent. It is the work of the brothers Hubert and John van Eyck, 
 and possesses all their beauties as well as their faults. The 
 wonderfully sound and brilliant condition of 
 the picture is a testimony to their careful and 
 conscientious work. The principal subject (for 
 it is in many compartments) is '* The Adoration 
 of the Holy Lamb," into which design is crowded 
 more than three hundred figures, all finished with 
 the most scrupulous minuteness ; that, however, 
 •tig. 63.— VanEyck's is a qualification less remarkable than the great 
 
 Virgin. 
 
 degree of character they possess, and the vigour 
 and correctness of their drawing. Larger groups, or single figures, 
 surround this subject. One of the most striking is that of the 
 glorified Madonna (Fig. 63). Her costume is regal, as also 
 is that of the Saviour, who wears the tiara and the golden robes 
 
 of a worldly sovereign, clasped with 
 jewels across the breast, as shown in 
 our cut (Fig. 64). 
 
 In the same cathedral are two pic- 
 tures by an artist very little known, 
 but of great ability — Michael Coxie. 
 There is a series of designs (thirty-three in number) illustrating 
 Apuleus's tale of " Cupid and Psyche," which Vasari says are by 
 him, but which are most usually assigned to Raphael. Coxie is 
 not the only Fleming whose pure love of Italian art would lead 
 
 'f 
 
 
 Fig. 6 J. 
 
connoisseurs to ascribe their works to Italian artists. Otto Venius, 
 the master of Rubens, is often termed by his countrymen the 
 Flemish Raphael, from the character of his designs. The pictures 
 by Coxie in this church represent " Christ bearing His Cross " and 
 
 Fig. 65. — The ^Magdalen, by ^Michael Coxie. 
 
 " The Crucifixion : " from the latter we copy the figure of the 
 Magdalen (Fig. 65). 
 
 Bruges abounds in objects of interest, and its old streets and 
 houses are very picturesque ; it is,'however, so near the sea-coast 
 and the great landing-place, Ostend, that most English travellers, 
 with characteristic impatience, hurry past it. It will well reward 
 examination, as it contains in its churches and public buildings 
 
some of the finest art-works in Belgium. The cathedral ^or St. 
 Saveur, as it is sometimes termed) has a fine picture by an early 
 artist, Hans Hemling, worthy of Van Eyck ; but the great work 
 of this artist is in the hospital of St. John, whither he had resorted 
 for cure, after being severely wounded in the battle of Nancy, 
 1477. The picture was painted in grateful memory of the atten- 
 tion he had received at the hands of the good sisters. Here, also, 
 
 (f ^\ ^^ 
 
 ^"^ 
 
 Fig. 66. 
 
 is the chief glory of his pencil — the famous " Chasse," painted 
 with the legend of St. Ursula and the virgin martyrs. The 
 brilliancy and beauty of this work, and its marvellous freshness 
 after four hundred years, astonish all who see it for the first time. 
 As a pure specimen of the art of the fifteenth century it may be 
 said to be unrivalled (Fig. 66). 
 
 Wood-sculpture has always been much patronised in the Low 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 89 
 
 Countries ; hence it has assumed a higher character than it 
 generally exhibits elsewhere. We engrave a group from the 
 cathedral (Fig. 67), and a graceful figure of the Madonna, from a 
 
 V 
 
 
 Jig. 67.— In the Caihcdral, Bruges. 
 
 street corner (Fig. 68). We have already alluded to the interest 
 and beauty that sometimes attaches to these groups intended to 
 attract the pious feelings of pedestrians, and have given some few 
 
 N 
 
90 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 specimens from Antwerp ; but this group is the most elegant we 
 have met with. 
 
 Near the hospital stands the Church of Notre Dame, a perfect 
 museum of art. Nowhere can be seen finer examples of the wood- 
 carving which has made Belgium famous. The tombs of the 
 
 Fig. 68. — The Madonna at Bruges. 
 
 renowned Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and his daughter 
 Mary, wife of the Emperor Maximilian, are marvels of design and 
 execution. A foundation of marble is overlaid with foliations and 
 figures in gilt metal-work, and further enriched by coats-of-arms 
 in brilliant enamel colours. Funeral pomp could bo carried no 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 9' 
 
 further than this, nor is the art-workmanship of the Burgundian 
 era better exhibited than upon these sumptuous mementoes. 
 
 The great art-feature of this church, and undoubtedly the 
 finest piece of sculpture in Belgium, is the group of the Virgin and 
 
 Fig. 69. — Group attributed to Michael Angelo. 
 
 Child in one of the side chapels. It is popularly ascribed to 
 Michael Angelo (Fig. 69), but the fact of its being his work cannot 
 be proved. There is nothing unworthy of the greatest master in 
 its composition and treatment, and it is certainly too good for the 
 best Flemish sculptor, Du Quesnoy. Never was the charm of 
 
92 HOMES, IIAUXTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 simplicity more visible than in this work. The dignity of the 
 seated figure greatly adds to the grace of the infant Saviour, the 
 playful and wavy lines of whose position contrast charmingly with 
 the tranquillity and solidity of that given to the Virgin-Mother. 
 Seldom does a sculptured work assert its high place in art 
 more unmistakably than this, the pride of the people of Bruges. 
 
 In thus rapidly reviewing the art-labours of a country that has 
 earned for itself so important a position as Belgium, it will be 
 conceded that the difficulties are great, to make all compre- 
 hensible in a few pages, and by the simplest anatomy of the 
 subjects treated of, embracing, as they do, architecture, sculpture, 
 and painting. Our task has been lightened by the very truthful 
 sketches — the work of a lady artist-j-which have helped to make 
 our descriptions clearer, and very often drawn our own attention 
 to peculiar and valuable incidents in a picture. Like the naive 
 remark that gives piquancy to a narrative, a slight incident in a 
 picture may give it a greater value by an appeal at once to those 
 strong innate feelings implanted in all, and through which ** one 
 touch of nature makes the whole world kin." The painter, equally 
 with the poet, has this power ; occasionally the painter has the 
 advantage in a more direct and positive form of communicating his 
 ideas. It is the nature, even more than the art, of the painters of 
 the Low Countries, that gives them their position as an original 
 naturalistic school, in opposition to the pure idealists of the 
 Italian school. They have kept their position, and are likely to 
 keep it as long as truthfulness be valued. They cannot take the 
 high rank that by right belongs to the greater artists of the 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 93 
 
 southern schools; but they do not pretend to dispute that fact, and 
 are content to rest on their own merits. Sometimes we admire 
 only their wonderful imitative power, or perfect mastery of the 
 technicalities of art : but we are often called on to note high 
 ■ flights of thought and genuine touches of feeling. Where, indeed, 
 should we look for them, if not in the men who fought the great 
 fight of liberty and religious freedom in the marshes of Holland 
 and the plains of Belgium ? taught in the severest school of 
 cruelty and wrong, persecuted for opinion past human endurance, 
 and quite past modern belief. Keen and deep must have been the 
 feeling and thought of the Belgians of past times — the noble men 
 to whom the old world owes a depth of gratitude for crushing the 
 tyranny of Spain, at a time when that power was vigorously 
 endeavouring to stamp out with a bloody heel the last hope of 
 Protestantism. 
 
 As a mercantile nation we are also indebted to our Belgian 
 brethren ; they were the first to organise trade regulations and 
 establish commerce on a proper basis. No one but the student of 
 mediaeval history can form an idea of the absurd restrictions and 
 the dangers that then surrounded commerce. Protective laws of 
 the narrowest scope crippled home trade ; dangers by land and 
 water almost destroyed export trade. Cities exacted taxes, so did 
 nobles, over whose territories merchants passed. If they trusted 
 their property down rivers like the Danube or the Rhine, they 
 were liable to the most monstrous exaction, or sometimes utter 
 confiscation, from the robber-knights who lived in the castles on 
 their banks, and stopped all passers by for the black-mail that 
 
94 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 formed their principal, and sometimes their only income. 
 Honest traders were sometimes incarcerated in dungeons until 
 death set them free, or were tortured for money and robbed of their 
 merchandise. At last the great towns leagued together, promising 
 to aid and defend each other with money and soldiers of their own 
 raising, thus establishing a confederation that soon taught the 
 world the wisdom of commercial laws. The Hanse Towns became 
 most important cities ; the Hanseatic League was found to be of 
 as much, or more value, than royal concessions and chartered 
 promises, often made to be broken. The local government of 
 these towns was another striking feature, and the magnificent 
 hoiels de mile erected in all of them testify to the regal spirit 
 exhibited by the merchants of the Middle Ages. Indeed, their 
 pride was sometimes carried far : as when a deputation waited on 
 Charles V., and used their valuable velvet coats, trimmed with 
 costly furs and gold, to sit upon, as the benches were of wood ; 
 the audience over, they rose to depart, and had reached the door, 
 when an attendant came running to remind them of their coats 
 left on the seats behind. " We are not accustomed to carry our 
 cushions away with us," proudly remarked the last of the throng 
 as he passed out of the palace. This pride was doomed to a 
 severe lesson when Alva and his myrmidons came among them ; 
 it was subdued, but never extinguished : subdued in consequence 
 of deep trial, and purer thought, the result thereof; but living still, 
 as we hope it ever will, in the hearts of the brave and free nations 
 of Belgium and Holland. 
 
 Our own relations with both countries were at one time most 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 
 
 95 
 
 intimate : '* old John of Gaunt, time-honoured Lancaster," was 
 born in the old citadel of Ghent, which stands in the centre of that 
 city. By marriage and inheritance our nobility had interests in 
 the country ; by commerce we had much more, and our great 
 
 
 1 
 
 AN IiK WILDlv KAT. 
 
 Fig. 70. — " The Red Hound." 
 
 Fig. 71.— "The Wild Cat." 
 
 merchantmen were as familiar with the Antwerp Bourse as with 
 the Royal Exchange. As in London in the olden time signs 
 hung from every shop, many such signs are still found in Belgium, 
 examples of which are given in Figs. 70 — 73. In the days of 
 
 l/tl ^ 
 
 AN l)E nONTlC KOKV. 
 
 ^:'-^""""-^ 
 
 AN DEN CAKI'KR. 
 
 Fig. 72. — " The Good Cow." 
 
 Fig. 73-— "The Carp." 
 
 Sir Thomas Gresham our merchants had their warehouses 
 abroad as well as at home ; and the houses of the old traders are 
 still shown at Brussels, Antwerp, and other great mercantile 
 towns. But as Venice fell by an alteration in the route of traffic 
 
 r. 
 
 uiriTBRsiTrJ 
 
96 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 from the East, Antwerp and Belgium generally suffered from the 
 same cause, accelerated there, however, by internal warfare. 
 The greater equalisation of commerce in the present day has 
 changed the exclusiveness that would have become objectionable 
 or dangerous to the various nations ; and trade is in general 
 hands instead of a few, resting on its own power rather than on 
 restrictive or protective laws. 
 
 In taking our leave of this interesting country, we cannot but 
 recur with much pleasure to the wanderings we have indulged in 
 among the old cities, though we may have felt higher elevation in 
 their picture galleries. Every city has its history, every old house 
 seems to tell a tale. The wanderer in Ghent or Bruges may 
 often meet with an antique street, which seems not to belong to 
 the present time, as if its inhabitants must be only such persons as 
 we see in the marvellous mediaeval scenes depicted by their native 
 painter. Leys, of Antwerp. The picture galleries, glorious with 
 the works of the greatest men, possess a rich store, awaiting 
 visitors who will studiously search among them. Art-rambles can 
 be indulged in here second to few in interest, and historic places 
 of matchless renown visited ; the days pass quickly and pleasantly 
 during a holiday taken in Belgium ; how easily that holiday may 
 be secured by a short transit over the narrow seas that separate 
 her shores from our own, we have shown. History, even our 
 own, connects itself with every town, art with every church or 
 public building: "dull must he be of soul" that can ramble in 
 -these old cities without deeply feeling the mental advantage he 
 thereby enjoys. It is indeed a privilege to walk where the great 
 
RUBENS AND VANDYKE, ETC. 97 
 
 men of history, the great men in art, have walked before us ; to 
 realise past history by present things ; to re-people the old 
 streets in imagination, with their old inhabitants, when the noble 
 Rubens and the courtly Vandyke gave to the old city of Antwerp 
 a dignity and a glory, which its modern inhabitants, to their great 
 honour, are still proud to acknowledge. 
 
THE MILL AND THE STUDIO OF REMBRANDT. 
 
 |N the banks of the Rhine, between the villages of Layor- 
 dorp and Koukergen, there stood, at the end of the 
 sixteenth century, a large, old fashioned mill, on ground 
 slightly elevated, and commanding a less monotonous view than 
 Holland exhibits in general. It must not be understood, however, 
 that the Rhine here exhibits any of those features of romance 
 which give its banks so much attraction higher up the stream ; its 
 flat, unvaried course partakes of the melancholy of extinction as 
 it divides its water, and, losing itself in the marshy wastes of 
 Holland, flows into the sea. Herman Gerritz van Rhyn was the 
 owner of the mill, and on the 15th of December, 1606, the 
 somewhat gloomy home he inhabited was rendered more joyous 
 by the birth of a son, who was destined to make the unknown 
 name of his father immortal. The young Rembrandt van Rhyn 
 appears to have been left to grow up in boyhood with a perfect 
 freedom from all restraints, even of an educational kind. It is 
 reported that he was schooled a little at Leyden, but it is evident 
 that his attainments could never reflect any honour upon that 
 seat of learning. Application of such a kind was never to 
 Rembrandt's taste, and historic research, even when necessary for 
 
I02 
 
 HOMES, HAi'XTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 the vraisemblance of his designs, he openly and avowedly 
 despised. How soon his taste for art developed itself we do not 
 now know, but it is very likely to have been exceedingly early, 
 and the gloomy shade or vivid sunshine which alternated in his 
 
 I'ig. 74.— Rembrandt's Mill, 
 
 father's mill may have impressed his youthful imagination most 
 strongly at a time when the mind is most open to powerful 
 impressions. Ilis early days must have passed somewhat mono- 
 tonously in his home, which by his own representation had few 
 
REMBRANDT VAN RHYN. 103 
 
 attractive features.* The mill itself (Fig, 74) seems to be situated 
 over the favourite ditch of a Hollander, which stagnates close by 
 the house, a square gloomy building, with heavy dormer windows, 
 the roof partly overgrown with the rank herbage and parasitical 
 plants of a damp climate. It seems the very realisation of Tenny- 
 son's " moated grange ; " like that, 
 
 " The broken sheds look sad and strange, 
 Weeded and worn the ancient thatch." 
 
 You can detect the marshy moss which "thickly crusted all," 
 while the " sluice with blackened waters " is near, and the distant 
 prospect is but 
 
 " The level waste, the rounding grey." 
 
 A boy born here, to have become an artist, must have been 
 gifted with a genius for art, and his visible powers for practising 
 it must have been strong to have induced his parents, who appear 
 to have cared little for his mental cultivation, to obtain instruction 
 for their son of its professors. They were not wealthy, and, 
 consequently, could not obtain the best assistance : four mediocre 
 professors of painting are named by Smith in his memoir of 
 Rembrandt as his instructors.! But the very brief period he 
 remained with each, and the small assistance they could have 
 been to him, except as instructors in its simplest rudiments, is 
 
 * The etching of his father's house and mill, which is here copied, is dated 1641, and 
 was consequently done by the painter when he was thirty-five years of age. 
 
 t Prefixed to his complete and excellent " Catalogue Raisonn^ " of his works. 
 
104 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 evident from an acquaintance with their works and his own. He 
 soon left them all, and practised what he knew in his paternal 
 home ; with his taste for chiar' -oscuro there can be little doubt that 
 the strong opposition of light and shade constantly before him in 
 the gloomy mill, where his father pursued his avocations, gave 
 him the first hint of the hitherto undeveloped power he possessed, 
 and which he " subsequently carried to such high perfection in his 
 works, that he may be said to have created a new era in paint- 
 ing." * Through life he seems to have always worked as if he had 
 the effect of a small amount of concentrated light before him, and 
 as if every object he portrayed was more or less subjected to that 
 medium only. Burnet, in his " Lectures on Painting," has 
 admirably dissected this principle, as original as it is inap- 
 proachable : " in real truth," says Kugler,t " he struggled to give 
 vent to a rude defiance of all conventional excellence, and in the 
 fulfilment of this task he has, indeed, produced extraordinary 
 effects. He gives no sharply-defined forms, but merely indicates 
 them with a bold and vigorous brush : the principal points alone 
 arc made bright and prominent by striking lights ; but, at the 
 same time, the lights reflected from them penetrate in a won- 
 derful manner the surrounding darkness, to which they thus give 
 life and warmth. 
 
 He appears to have reached the age of manhood ere he left his 
 father's roof, and to have had the mill. a,nd its neighbourhood for 
 
 • Smilli's Mciiiuii dI l\.cnil)iaii(lt. 
 t •• Handbook of I'.iintin;;," Part ii. 
 
IITERSIl 
 
 REMBRANDT VAN RIIYN. ,> ©jr-ioSvi 
 
 -i^^^i 
 
 his studio, and the boors who lived near for his companions. He 
 never lost his early tastes ; and seems to have loved, in more 
 prosperous days, to revert to the lower companionships of his 
 youth. When rallied on this taste in after-life, he honestly owned 
 the little relief he found in high society, or the envied entree he 
 could command to the house of the elite of Amsterdam, saying, 
 " If I wish to relax from study, it is not honour, but liberty and 
 ease that I prefer." 
 
 How admirably has a great living artist* vindicated and 
 displayed the true position he occupied. " Men of great and 
 original genius, who, like Rembrandt, have little of what is 
 ordinarily called education, and who seem wayward in their tastes 
 and habits, are sometimes looked upon as inspired idiots. But in 
 the mind of such a man, the immense amount of knowledge 
 accumulated by great and silent observation, knowledge of a kind 
 not to be communicated by words, is something wholly incon- 
 ceivable to the learned merely in books ; and if their reading 
 has opened to them a world from which he is shut out, he also 
 lives in a world of his own, equally interesting, the wisdom 
 and enjoyment of which his pencil is constantly employed in 
 communicating to all who have eyes for the sublime aspects 
 of nature, and hearts fitted to receive such impressions through 
 their eyes." 
 
 That Rembrandt was thus diligently and usefully studying, is 
 evident from the rapidity of hand and power of expression he 
 
 Leslie, in his " Handliook for Younfj rainlcr=." 
 
io6 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 possessed in after-life. His vigour was untiring, and his industry 
 unbounded. We possess, in Smith's " Catalogue Raisonne," a 
 detailed account of 614 pictures by him, and he assures us that "a 
 list of drawings of perhaps triple the number might be made from 
 the public and private collections in England, France, and Hol- 
 land ; " then add to these his etchings, consisting of 365 pieces, 
 exclusive of the numerous examples of variations in the same 
 plates, and we have an astonishing picture of his powers and 
 industry. 
 
 His extraordinary facility of hand is evident in all his works ; 
 there is an amusing record of its power in one particular 
 instance, which deserves notice. The painter had gone to pass a 
 day's holiday with his friend Jan Six, the Burgomaster of 
 Amsterdam, at his country house.* The time for dinner had 
 arrived ; it was served ; but when they had sat down to table, the 
 thoughtless servant had forgotten to obtain any mustard ; he 
 was despatched in a hurry to the village close by to obtain it, 
 but Rembrandt, fully aware that to hurry is no characteristic 
 of a Dutch servant, at once wagered with his friend that he 
 would etch the view from the window of the dining room before 
 he returned. The painter had always some plates ready prepared 
 for occasional use at his friend's house, so he took up one, and 
 
 • The chff-tVauvrf \n our Xational Gallery, the cabinet picture, " Tlie Woman taken 
 in Adultery," was painted for the Burgomaster Six, and preserved with scrupulous care by 
 tho family until the great revolution at the end of the last century, when it was sold to a 
 French dealer, who again sold it to Angcrstcin for^^s.ooo. 
 
REMBRANDT VAN RHYN. 
 
 107 
 
 rapidly sketched upon it the simple view before him, completing 
 it before the domestic returned. Our engraving is a faithful copy 
 of this etching,* about one-third of the size of the original ; it 
 is dated 1645, and represents the most simple elements of an 
 ordinary Dutch view, — a bridge, a canal, a low, level horizon, a 
 village among trees, with a boat half hidden in the canal beyond. 
 The mark may yet be seen in the original impressions of this 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 Fi^'. 75.— Six's Bridge. 
 
 rare plate, where Rembrandt tried his etching point before com- 
 mencing his work, which is executed with the greatest freedom 
 of hand, so that a few lines only expressed the tree and boats, 
 
 * This very rare etching sold in the Verstolk sale at Amsterdam, in 1844, for/"!; 15J., 
 and would now fetch considerably more, as the value of Rembrandt's etchings has increased 
 yearly. 
 
io8 HOMES, HAUNTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 and a few decisive shadows give solidity and effect to the scene. 
 There is nothing in the etching to dissipate any faith in the tale 
 of its origin, and it is popularly known as " Six's Bridge," or 
 '* The Mustard-pot." 
 
 At this time the artist was located in Amsterdam : his first 
 recognition as a painter was at the Hague, in 1627, where he had 
 journeyed to sell a picture to an amateur, who astonished him 
 with a payment of 100 florins (^8 6s. Sd.) for it. Houbraken, 
 who relates the story, tells of the joy of the young artist, who 
 travelled from his father's house on foot to his patron, a distance 
 of about ten miles, but was too eager to acquaint his parents 
 with his good fortune to return by the same mode ; he therefore 
 mounted the diligence, and when it arrived at Leyden, jumped 
 from the carriage and ran home as quickly as his legs could carry 
 him. In the year following he took up his abode in Amsterdam, 
 and (with the exception of a voyage to Venice, which it is con- 
 jectured by some of his biographers he may have taken about 
 1635 *) never left the important capital of Holland. 
 
 Amsterdam has been aptly styled a "Dutch Venice;" it is 
 permeated with canals, and founded in the water. It is, perhaps, 
 the most artificial site in the world for a city ; being, in fact, 
 
 * The conjecture is founded solely on the fact of three etchings of oriental heads l>Lir- 
 ing the inscnption " Rembrandt Venitiis." But this, as Smith observes, " may have been 
 a mere caprice of the master," or a jest in connection witli his sulijccls or their trealnicnt, or 
 else a satire on the taste which would piefer the more ambitious .school of Italian Art to his 
 own ; a feeling fully in accordance witii Rembrandt's expressjd opinion on oilier occasions. 
 There is no ether indication llian this of foreign travel in his life or works. 
 
REMBRANDT VAN RUIN. 
 
 109 
 
 nothing but bog and loose sand, and every inch of foundation for 
 human habitation or use, has to be made by driving wooden piles 
 through this into the firmer sand below; each pile is formed of a 
 large tree, 40 or 50 feet in length, and it is recorded that upwards 
 of 13,000 were used for the foundations of the town-house alone. 
 This may give an idea of the expense of building in the city, and 
 
 Fig. 76. — Distant View of AmsterJam. 
 
 the enormous quantity of timber upon which it is constructed, 
 which led Erasmus to jocularly say of its inhabitants, that they, 
 like crows, lived on the tops of trees. The distant view of the 
 town from the Y* side is very curious (Fig. 76), with its tall houses 
 mixed with shipping, some mansions bending portentously 
 forwards, others sinking sideways or backwards, and all showing 
 
 * The Y or Ai is an arm of the Zuyder Zee, which forms the port, and this syllable, or 
 letter, resembles in sound the word used in II )lland for water: hdl-V, the term by which it 
 is usually known, means nothing more than " liie water." 
 
the insecure nature of their foundations.* But the most curious 
 feature in the view is the number of windmills mounted on the 
 fortifications on the land side of the town. There are thirty- 
 bastions now useless, and upon each of these works windmills 
 are erected, the odd effect of their sails rapidly whirling in 
 the breeze, is a peculiarity as unique as the city itself.f These 
 fortifications now make an agreeable promenade for the inhabi- 
 tants, the city being built in the shape of a crescent from the 
 water's edge. It is nearly seven miles in circumference, and 
 consists of 95 islands, formed by stacks of houses, to which access 
 is gained by 290 bridges. On the quays are many noble houses, 
 the erections of the rich and powerful merchantmen who, in the 
 palmy days of the city, flourished here. The best bear dates of 
 the days of Rembrandt, and testify to the wealth and taste of their 
 inhabitants. There are a solid dignity and a well-understood 
 comfort about these old houses, very characteristic of that strong 
 domestic attachment which the Dutch so passionately feel. In 
 their love for the substantial they even exceed the English, and 
 the ponderous character of the carved staircases and panelled 
 
 ♦ In 1S22, the enormous corn- warehouses used by tlie East India Company, lo.-idcd 
 wiih 70,000 cwt. of corn, sank down into the muddy foundation, fiom the subsidence of the 
 wooden substiucturc. The old exchange has also sunk, and been demolished. 
 
 t Our view is sketched from the borders of the jjrcat ship canal, opposite the city, and 
 shows the old church, the quay, and bastions. The boat drawn by a iioi^e is the trfcksifiuvt, 
 or travcllin},' boat, used by i)assin^'irs on canals, consi^tin},' of a low covered saloon built in 
 a broad baige, with an open railed platform above, to which passeiiijers may ascend in (inc 
 weather. 
 
REMBRANDT VAN RHYN. 
 
 rooms would more than satisfy the objections of the veriest *' John 
 Bull "to flimsiness of construction. Everything seems made as 
 much for posterity as for personal use ; and in walking over the 
 town, you see that two centuries have passed over its buildings 
 though located in the dampest position, with scarcely a " defea- 
 ture " from time, and that they may well last two more. There 
 seems no desire for change in a Hollander ; that which is 
 substantial and useful is enough for his requirements, and no idea 
 of modern improvement seems to be sufficient inducement for 
 the trouble of alteration. In walking through the best street of 
 Amsterdam (the Kalverstrasse) you see nothing but the quiet red 
 brick houses, with their " crow-step " gables, that we have been 
 familiar with from childhood in the pictures by native artists ; or 
 the heavy wooden shop-fronts, with their ponderous frames, and 
 small squares of glass, much like the old London shops in the 
 prints of the time of William and Mary. There are a few showy 
 shops here, light and airy, a la Paris ; but they seem to be looked 
 upon rather as superfluous, than a want, by the inhabitants. 
 
 One of the oldest and most picturesque buildings in the city, 
 of a public nature, is the Weighing-House, situated near the 
 Museum, and the house where Rembrandt lived. It was 
 originally a gate, before the town had increased to its present 
 unwieldly proportions, and was known as the Gate of St. Anthony 
 (Fig. 77). It is said to have been erected in the latter part of the 
 fifteenth century, and to have played its part in the wars between 
 the inhabitants and their vindictive Spanish rulers. It is a 
 quaint solid old building, and some few years since was used as a 
 
112 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 medical school, after its desertion by the merchantmen. In the 
 open space in front the scaffold used to be erected for criminals, 
 and others for spectators around it ; the burghers at one time 
 firmly believing such spectacles had their uses in deterring evil- 
 doing; hence their families and dependants were compelled 
 
 I^'K- 77- — ^^' Anlliunj's Gate, Ainslcidain. 
 
 to attend these horrible " salutary warnings," as a great moral 
 lesson. 
 
 Rembrandt's industry was untiring, as we have shown, and 
 appears to have been so far rewarded with success, that he took a 
 large house in the lUttmgracht, and littcd it u]i for tin' reception of 
 
REMBRANDT VAN RHYN. 113 
 
 pupils. He had married the daughter of a farmer named Uylen- 
 burg, living at the village of Ransdorp,* in the swampy district 
 opposite the city, appropriately called Waterland.f His pupils, 
 according to Sandrart, brought him an income of 2,500 florins per 
 year, as he received 100 florins from each for that period. His 
 paintings, drawings, and etchings must have also realised 
 considerable sums. From 1640 to 1650 appears to be the culmi- 
 nating point of his genius and his fortune. 
 
 Rembrandt's misfortunes commenced with the purchase of the 
 house delineated in our engraving % (Fig. 78). It was situated in 
 what was then known as St. Anthony's Bree Street, and which is 
 now called the Jews' quarter. It was a large handsome mansion 
 with garden attached, and was freehold. The artist appears not 
 to have been enabled to purchase it without borrowing the sum 
 of 4,180 guilders, which was advanced on mortgage; and being 
 soon after unable to meet his engagements, his entire effects were 
 seized and sold by order of the magistrates, in July, 1656. The 
 homeless painter was obliged to lodge where he could, and make 
 a charge for his necessary maintenance to the bankruptcy court. 
 
 * The scenery of this village, and the old tower in its centre, were etched by the 
 painter in 1650. 
 
 t By this marriage he had a son, Titus van Rhyn, who, educated for Art, never suc- 
 ceeded beyond copying his father's works, and died in obscurity.— 5wzVA. 
 
 X It is copied from a print published in Smith's " Catalogue Raisonn^," from a sketch 
 by Mr. Albertus Brondgeest, made before the house was destroyed in 1831 ; the same 
 gentleman caused a black marble tablet, on which the name of Rembrandt is inscribed, to 
 be inserted at his expense in front of the new one erected on the site. It is situated at the 
 back of the museum, the gardens and outbuildings of both joining. 
 
 .7ERSIT71 
 
 ■^ «"■ 
 
114 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 lie was but fifty years of age when this happened, but he did not 
 long outlive his altered position, for he is believed to have died in 
 
 Fig. 78. — Rembrandt's llouic. 
 
 1664, as his son Titus received the balance trom the same court of 
 6,952 guilders (upwards ot ;^6oo English) in the following year, 
 whi(h was paid over to him as a balance of accounts after all 
 
REMBRANDT VAN RHYN. 115 
 
 claims, including heavy law expenses, had been paid out of his 
 father's property. 
 
 From this it appears that Rembrandt, like many other unfortu- 
 nate persons, was a victim to law and lawyers ; and added another 
 to the long list of men of genius who are fed on by the cunning 
 harpies around them, but who are still ever ready to sneer at the 
 want of business habits displayed by their prey — a sneer too 
 frequently repeated by the wealthier ignorant, always glad to drag 
 
 
 Fig. 79. — Autograph of Rembrandt. 
 
 genius down to their own low level. The parsimony attributed to 
 Rembrandt is not unusual with his countrymen in general ; and 
 the stories of his dining off a herring, or a slice of bread and 
 cheese, need excite no wonder in a land where all practise thrift. 
 The fac-simile of his autograph which we engrave is from a letter 
 to the great Huygens, written on a piece of paper which had been 
 previously used to fold round a copper-plate ; but with the artist's 
 little love of trouble, we may account for that by other than 
 
ii6 
 
 HOMES, HAL NTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 parsimonious reasons.* The tales so readily told of the painter's 
 parsimony, and his unworthy tricks in accumulating money, are 
 almost disproved by the melancholy close of his life. Still, at one 
 period he must have earned much. Smith, his best biographer, is 
 inclined to infer that his difficulties resulted from indiscreet 
 
 Fig. 80. 
 
 conduct in the management of his affairs. Another easy mode of 
 accounting for much loss of cash, is in the suggestion also thrown 
 out in the same work, that the painter's intimacy with Manasseh 
 lien Israel and Ephraim Bonus may have tempted him to part 
 with his moriey for alchemical pursuits, as both those persons 
 
 * Autopraphs of Rembrandt are very rare ; four letters in Sloepkcn's collection sold m 
 London for ^33 ii«. ; the above was in the Donnadieii sale. 
 
were addicted to cabalistic studies, and the former wrote a book 
 on the subject, for which the artist etched four plates remarkable 
 for mysticism. The etching of Faustus in his study, gazing 
 on the mystic pcntapla which irradiates his gloomy chamber, 
 gives us the best realisation extant of the cabalistic belief of the 
 occult philosophers, and proves how far the artist had studied and 
 was familiar with the dreamy science (Fig. 80). 
 
 Rembrandt's scholars were many ; but his power of chiar' -oscuro 
 did not descend to any of them. Among them were Gerard Dow, 
 Nicholas Maes, and Ferdinand Bol, all excellent in their way, but 
 characterised by few peculiarities like those seen in the works of 
 their early preceptor. Rembrandt cared little for historic pro- 
 prieties. 
 
 The originality and peculiarity of Rembrandt's genius has 
 left him undisputed master of his own walk in art. It would be 
 impossible to improve his faults without injuring his productions. 
 By the magic of his hand he has at times elevated low and dis- 
 gusting forms into covetable marvels of light and shade : the 
 grand management of pictorial effect is always present, while at 
 times the conception of each picture in its totality is unrivalled in 
 art. 
 
THE COUNTRY OF CUYP. 
 

 Fig. 8i.— View of Doit. 
 
 THE COUNTRY OF CUYP. 
 
 jF the accepted characterisation of a nation's felicity, 
 conveyed in the well-known aphorism, " Happy is the 
 country whose history is a blank," may be equally 
 applied to individuals, then may we safely conclude that the old 
 Dutch painters were among the happiest of the sons of Adam. 
 Their lives were generally so entirely void of what play\vrights 
 term " incident," that we know little more of them than is 
 conveyed in the three facts — that they were born in Holland; 
 painted in the land of their birth ; and were buried very little 
 distant from the spot on which they were born. Contented with 
 
 R 
 
HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 the calm monotony of their native land, they studied its 
 narrowed sphere with so intense an application, and delineated 
 it with so much truthfulness, that they imparted a charm to 
 incidents and scenes the most unpromising, and arrested the 
 attention of connoisseurs absorbed in the grander flights of 
 Italian art, compelling, by the innate merits of their work, a 
 place of honour to be assigned the Dutch school, as a creation, sui 
 generisy among the honoured of " the world of art." 
 
 It is with national painters as it is with national poets, they 
 suffer by translation. It is not possible fully to appreciate Dutch 
 art without visiting the Low Countries. It is not possible fully 
 to feel the beauties of a national poet, unless we put ourselves in 
 the position of his countrymen, and learn to understand the similes 
 he brings from familiar objects, and appreciate their force upon 
 the native mind. The Ranz des Vaches may be played in our 
 streets without any other notice than its quaint or pleasing 
 melody elicits ; but its tones had so many home-associations for 
 the Swiss soldiers of the armies of Napoleon, that after hearing it 
 they deserted in such numbers as to oblige their imperial master 
 to prohibit it in his camp. The golden sunsets of Cuyp, and the 
 rich green meadows of Paul Potter, can be fully appreciated by 
 any admirer of nature ; but the quainter peculiarities of Dutch 
 art — its low, swampy landscapes, sometimes varied by ridges of 
 sand, always abounding in water and sky, with a low horizon, 
 having at times an unnatural look ; its cottage roofs scarcely 
 peeping above the raised causeways so laboriously constructed for 
 necessary transit ; its stunted willows and avenues of limes ; its 
 
ALBERT CUYP OF DORT. 
 
 &:mS^ 
 
 luxuriant herbage ; its thousands of windmills ; its well-fed cattle, 
 and equally well-fed peasantry, — are all so many truths, the more 
 forcibly brought to the mind in travelling over the land whose 
 painters have fixed them on canvas for ever, and made them 
 familiar to the whole world. 
 
 One instance of this is as good for the purposes of illustration 
 as a hundred would be. In the skies of Wouvermans particularly, 
 we constantly see the bright blue partially obscured by a group of 
 clouds of a perfectly smoky tint — a deep rich brown, totally unlike 
 cloud tints among ourselves, and bearing a disagreeable similarity 
 to our native horror, a " London fog " — now, this is as true a tran- 
 script of a Dutch sky, as Ostade's boors are faithful portraits of 
 his countrymen ; and it is impossible to be some hours in Holland 
 without seeing the perfect honesty of many other points in their 
 delineations, which might be considered tasteless or unnatural by 
 the critic who judges at his own home. It, therefore, follows that 
 peculiarly national art can never be fully appreciated out of its 
 country, or by persons who are not familiar with its features ; and 
 it also argues the extraordinary abilities of the native artists ol 
 the Dutch school, who could, out of such unattractive and 
 unpromising materials, create a position now universally 
 accorded them, antagonistic as it is to the classic and spiritual 
 schools, which alone were considered to be worthy of attention in 
 the days when it first came fresh upon the world. It was truth 
 again a victor ! 
 
 Leslie, in his sound and sensible "Handbook for Young 
 Painters," has excellently explained this. He says— " Italy is 
 
12+ HOMES, HAUNTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 sometimes called * the land of poetry;' but Nature impresses the 
 varied sentiments of her varying moods as eloquently on flat 
 meadows and straight canals, as on mountains, valleys, and 
 winding streams ; and visits the mill and the cottage with the 
 same splendid phenomena of light and shadow as she does the 
 palace. This was well understood by Cuyp and Ruysdael, and 
 their most impressive pictures are often made out of the fewest 
 and the simplest materials. There is a small sunset by Cuyp in 
 the Dulwich collection. It has not a tree, except in the extreme 
 distance, nor scarcely a bush ; but it has one of the finest skies 
 ever painted, and this is enough, for its glow pervades the whole, 
 giving the greatest value to the exquisitely-arranged colour of a 
 near group of cattle, bathing the still water and distance in a 
 flood of mellow light, and turning into golden ornaments a very 
 few scattered weeds and brambles that rise here and there from 
 the broadly-shadowed foreground into the sunshine." 
 
 Albert Cuyp was born at Dordrecht (or Dort, as it is usually 
 abbreviated), in the year 1606. It was the year that also gave 
 another of its greatest artists to Holland — the profound master of 
 light and shade, the " gloomy Rembrandt." The father of Cuyp 
 was a landscape painter, but Jacob Gerritz Cuyp never raised his 
 works above a quiet delineation of nature, the simple repose which 
 might satisfy his countrymen, but would never lay claim to atten- 
 tion out of Holland ; it was reserved for his son to give poetry to 
 this prose, and by patient stages to work upward to greatness, 
 and slowly to fame; — so slowly, indeed, that death arrested the 
 painter's hand ere he knew the value the world would put upon 
 
ALBERT CUVP OF DORT. 125 
 
 his labours. In his own time his works can scarcely be said to 
 have been appreciated, and we have no record of even fair prices 
 being given for them ; indeed, it is asserted by one of our best 
 authorities,* that down to the year 1750 there is no example of 
 any picture of Cuyp's selling for more than thirty florins, which is 
 about five shillings less than three pounds in English money. 
 How would the worthy painter be astonished if he now saw his 
 works fetching from ^500 to ;,^iooo each, and sometimes more! 
 It is the great gift of genius alone to arrest the oblivion which 
 generally follows in the footsteps of time, and, reversing the order 
 of decay, rise triumphant over its common laws. 
 
 Cuyp was born in stirring times, when his countrymen were 
 actively engaged in resisting the oppression of Spain. They had 
 not been permitted to enjoy peacefully the unenviable swamps of 
 Holland or the simple faith of their fathers, without a struggle 
 unequalled in the annals of history. The bloody Alva, that fierce 
 and inhuman protector of the Roman Catholic Church, had 
 murdered its men in cold blood, at Leyden and elsewhere, after 
 guaranteed submission to his arms, and their surviving country- 
 men had seen that Spanish oaths were as fragile as reeds ; so, 
 after losing the best men of their race, and laying their country 
 beneath water, enduring horrors and miseries which might have 
 been thought impossible among civilised men, they established 
 at Dort a synod which opposed further attempts successfully, and 
 ultimately gave independence to the Dutch. 
 
 * Smilh, " Catalogue Raisonne." 
 
126 HOMES, JI AUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 Dort at this time became the important centre of political 
 negotiation, and here the Stadtholder had his residence, and met 
 those men from whose councils were framed the general inde- 
 pendence of the country.* Here resided Barneveldt, one of the 
 purest patriots in an impure age ; and here was he arrested and 
 carried to the Hague to die on a scaffold, sacrificed by the very 
 people he had served so well, and who were blindly misled by their 
 treacherous Stadtholder, Prince Maurice. At this time Cuyp was 
 thirteen years of age, and must have been in the way of seeing 
 and hearing much of an exciting kind ; indeed, excitement of the 
 strongest was at that time abundant in Holland. Home miseries 
 were, however, succeeded by great successes abroad, and the trade 
 and wealth of the country gradually grew in spite of savage 
 internal dissensions, until the peace of Munster, in 1648, gave 
 over-taxed Holland free leave to recover itself; but they had 
 again the misfortune of a bad governor in William II., who 
 embroiled the country in party war; his death in 1650 once more 
 seemed to promise peace, but growing dissensions arose between 
 England and Holland, and Blake and Van Tromp fought for 
 each country at sea. The death of Van Tromp in 1652, and 
 the gloomy prospects of their trade, induced the Dutch to again 
 
 • The island on which Dort is situated may be called Holland //v/t-r, inasmuch as 
 historians inform us it was one of the first settlements made by its earliest ruler on this 
 district, once submerged by the sea, and to which the name Holt land, or woodeii land, was 
 ajjplied. It thus casually formed a bit of unclaimed land, which gave Count Thierry, who 
 had seized it, a right of independent sovereignty in the eleventh century, which he vigor- 
 ously upheld, and assisted surrounding districts in doing the same. The water about it is 
 still called Hollands Diep. 
 
ALBERT CUYP OF DORT. 127 
 
 apply for peace to Cromwell, which was obtained from him on 
 terms so inglorious that universal discontent and rebellion spread 
 throughout the republic, and increased into a flame during the 
 early part of the reign of our Charles II. The Dutch were aided 
 by Louis XIV., only to meet with his strenuous opposition on the 
 death of Philip IV. of Spain, at a time when the people might 
 have fully expected repose, and a formidable aggression on the 
 part of the French army forced them once more to internecine 
 war ; the sluices were again opened, the country submerged to 
 destroy the invaders, and extensive tracts of land, which had 
 taken years of persevering labour to protect against the sea, 
 were reduced to barrenness and desolation. The murder of the 
 De Witts, in 1672, gave the whole power into the hands of the 
 young Prince of Orange (afterwards our King William III.), who, 
 by his admirable judgment, unflinching courage, and pure 
 patriotism, raised his devoted country from the dust.* 
 
 Cuyp lived quietly through all this. The year of his death has 
 not been recorded, but it was certainly after 1672, as his name 
 appears in a list of the burghers of Dort made during that year ; 
 and one writer, Immerzeel, of Amsterdam, states that he was 
 living in 1680. Wars of policy and religion appear not to have 
 affected his calm course. Ilis Holland was not the Holland of 
 
 * It is recorded of him, that when the proposal was made to him of constructing 
 Holland into a kingdom, of which he was to be sovereign, provided he gave up to England 
 and France what they required, and his consent urged because nothing could save Holland 
 from ruin, he heroically refused, declaring "There is one means which will save me from the 
 sight of my countrj-'s ruin— I will die in the last ditch." 
 
,28 HOMES, HAUNTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 feud and dissension, but the calm home of the peasant living 
 happily among flocks and herds in genial sunshine. 
 
 " His soul was like a star, and dwelt apart." 
 
 His world was nature, without the baser elements introduced 
 therein by man ; repose was his treasure ; and his own quiet 
 temperament is reflected in his portraits, glows upon his canvas 
 with a warmer radiance, and elevates the scenes he depicts with a 
 poetry that scarcely belongs to the country itself. It may be 
 asked. Where, amid all this flatness and apparent monotony of 
 scene, did Ruysdael study his romantic waterfalls, or Cuyp his 
 hilly landscapes ? The former must have dealt at times in the 
 imaginative, but Cuyp might readily have strolled from his native 
 Dort into the province of Guelderlandt, and been among scenes as 
 far removed from general flatness as he ever depicted. With his 
 dreamy love of nature, he must have gladly escaped from the poli- 
 tical and religious dissensions which agitated that city in his time, 
 returning to it only as to a workshop wherein he might elaborate, 
 his sketches made in the peaceful fields, and dispose of them at a 
 moderate rate among his less happy fellow- townsmen. His 
 patrons are not generally known, with the exception of Prince 
 Maurice of Nassau, who was attached to his pictures. It is quite 
 possible that the painter's life was inexpensive and unambitious ; 
 his pictures would appeal directly to his fullow-citizons and Ihoir 
 ncigh1:K)urs ; and his niodrrato wants and wish<>s l)o amply satis- 
 fied Ijy the small amount of patronage Ihey could oHVt, yet enough 
 
ALBERT CUFF OF DORT. 
 
 129 
 
 for his small wants and pleasant dreamings as a free man in 
 his native fields. 
 
 The visitor to Dort will now see a very different city to that 
 Cuyp inhabited ; it has undergone changes, but many of the old 
 buildings remain. As he approaches it by the steamboat from 
 the Moerdyke, he will be struck by the peculiar aspect of the 
 grand canal (Fig. ^2). It is walled by dykes, constructed most 
 
 Fig. 82. — The Grand CanaJ, near Dort. 
 
 laboriously of earth or clay, and interwoven with a wicker-work 
 of willow-boughs, which has to be continually renewed as it rots 
 away. This accounts for the great cultivation of willows in 
 Holland. The long lines of trees which edge the road on the 
 summit of the dykes have also their uses, irrespective of the 
 pleasant shade their bowering foliage affords, for their roots assist 
 in holding the earth together. So careful of these dykes are the 
 inhabitants, that in some places they will not allow a plant to be 
 
130 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 plucked by the roots from their sides, for there is record of a great 
 inundation, accompanied with much damage, having ensued by- 
 such an act, which gave waterway to a banked canal, the small 
 leakage thus occasioned having rapidly increased, and ended in a 
 torrent which was fatal to the level land near it. The wind- 
 mills that surround Dort play an important part in ridding the 
 land of superfluous water, which is raised from the low country 
 by their means to the higher embanked canals, and thence carried 
 out to sea when the tide will allow the opening of the great flood- 
 gates. The amazing number of windmills in Holland may be 
 accounted for by the fact that they are destined to do at least three 
 times the work they do in other lands. They not only grind grain 
 of all kinds, as with us, but they are extensively employed in 
 sawing wood, and, as we have already stated, still more 
 extensively in drainage. Consequently, wherever there chances 
 to be a rising ground, there a windmill is stationed, and their 
 numbers are sufficient to have quenched the ardour of the 
 knight of La Mancha himself, who must have considered 
 Holland entirely peopled with giants, with whom his single arm 
 could only hopelessly contend. 
 
 The traveller who, like Oliver Goldsmith's, would wish to see 
 
 "Embosom'il in the deep, where Holland lies," 
 
 would find his quickest course by rail from Aiitwt rj). As soon as 
 he leaves that quaint historic city, he finds the flat land assume a 
 different aspect to the flat lands of Belgium ; it is damper and 
 more arid, patches of sand and rushes occasionally appear, and 
 
ALBERT CUYP OF DORT. 
 
 i3» 
 
 the inroads of the sea in the old times are visible. By the time he 
 reaches the frontier town of Roosendaal (Fig. 83) he will fairly 
 feel that he is in another land. Here, while the most minute in- 
 spection of the luggage of the entire train is made by the govern- 
 ment officials, he may study the view before him, which we have 
 faithfully recorded in our engraving, and which is as charac- 
 
 Fig. 83. — The Village of Roosendaal. 
 
 teristic ot the country generally as anything he will meet on his 
 journey. The low sand-ridges in the foreground, with a few 
 stunted bushes on them ; the higher sand-hills crowned by a 
 windmill; the housetops appearing from the lowland beyond, 
 looking as Hood happily described them, " as if set like onions to 
 shoot up next season ; " the masts of the vessels mixed among all, 
 
132 HOMES, HAL NTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 indicating the presence of a canal in the marsh, too low to 
 be detected, are all strikingly peculiar features of this unique 
 country. 
 
 Holland being at a lower level than any land on the continent 
 of Europe, has been reclaimed from the sea by an amount of 
 labour, in the way of artificial ramparts against its continued 
 encroachments, unparalleled in the world. Goldsmith has well 
 described this : — 
 
 " Methinks her patient sons before me stand, 
 Where the broad ocean leans against the land, 
 And, sedulous to stop the coming tide. 
 Lift the tall rampire's artificial pride. 
 Onwards, mcthinks, and diligently slow, 
 The firm connected bulwark seems to grow ; 
 S])reads its long arms amidst the wat'ry roar, 
 Scoops out an empire, and usurps the shore ; 
 While the pent ocean rising o'er the pile. 
 Sees an amphibious world beneath him smile ; 
 The slow canal, the ycllow-blossom'd vale, 
 The willow-tufted bank, the gliding sail, 
 The crowded mart, the cultivated plain, 
 A new creation rescued from his leign." 
 
 The necessary expense of this continued strain on the energies 
 and wealth of the inhabitants, who have constantly to guard 
 against the dangers by which nature has surrounded them, 
 renders Holland a very expensive country for residence. The 
 taxation in every way is immense, and with a national debt 
 exceeding that of England, the people pay local taxes to a large 
 amount, while personal property, even furniturt\ ]ii(-tures, and 
 prints, are taxed by yearly rates, increased as every trifle a man 
 acquires in his home is increased ; hence we find a sordid love ot 
 
gain among the middle classes degenerating into downright 
 cheating among the lower. The stranger visiting Holland must 
 expect to be " shorn as a lamb," echoing Goldsmith's not very 
 complimentary lines on the Dutch, following those in the poem 
 we have just quoted. 
 
 On reaching the Moerdyke and embarking in a boat winding 
 among the large islands known as Overflakke, Beyerland, &c., 
 and which seem to have been formed originally by the spreading 
 currents of the Maas (or Meuse) over the once sandy levels of the 
 sea, the stranger will more fully understand the amphibious life 
 of the Dutch — 
 
 " A land that lies at anchor, and is moored, 
 In which they do not live, but go abroad."* 
 
 With that strange love, born of early associations, a Dutchman 
 seems to dote on the fetid canals of his infancy ; and wherever 
 the water is most stagnant, and the stench most oppressive, there 
 he builds his summer-house, and goes in the evening to smoke his 
 pipe and enjoy himself. How happily has Washington Irving 
 depicted this abiding trait in his " Knickerbocker! " The Dutch- 
 men of America, true to their home pleasures, repaired to the 
 dykes "just at those hours when the falling tide had left the beach 
 uncovered, that they might snuff up the fragrant effluvia of mud 
 and mire, which, they observed, had a truly wholesome smell, and 
 reminded them of Holland ; " but all this must have been only an 
 approximation to the real thing, inasmuch as the smell of a 
 
134 HOMES, HAUNTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 genuine Dutch canal, when its fetid waters are only slightly 
 moved by the heavy, slow-going barges, is something which 
 exceeds description. Yet in these localities do we continually 
 find gaily-painted pleasure-houses, rejoicingly inscribed with 
 words over their portals, such as " Wei tevreden " (well-con- 
 tented) " Gernstelyk en wel tevreden " (tranquil and content), 
 and others all equally indicative of the content and happiness 
 they produce to their owners.* 
 
 Nothing can exceed the vivid colours of the country houses we 
 pass. The brightest of greens, the gayest of reds, the richest of 
 blues cover their surfaces. They are generally separated from the 
 road by the ditches which form a sort of network over the 
 landscape, and the proper way of reaching them is indicated by a 
 wooden door, regularly built up and standing alone — made, in 
 fact, for making's sake — on the edge of the ditch. These 
 advanced gateways are frequently seen in the pictures of Rem- 
 brandt, Teniers, and Ostade f (Fig. 84). You cross the wooden 
 bridge and enter the farm. The pasturage, upon which so much 
 depends, is stacked close by the house, and is generally built up 
 round a strong pole, to prevent its dispersion in a stormy wind 
 which sometimes unmercifully sweeps over the flat lands.* 
 
 • To the left of our view of Bioeck (Fig. 87) tlicrc is a yood examjjlc of one of these 
 erections in a sort of Chinese taste. 
 
 t Our engraving represents one near Lcyden, which is completely iiicnlical witli those 
 dcpictetl two centuries ago by the artists nanicd. 
 
 X In I'ig. 85 we have shown this useful and simple mode of stacking, which is universal 
 in llollind. 
 
ALBERT CUYP OF DORT. 
 
 135 
 
 As they are finished they are surrounded by other poles, 
 supporting a movable roof, which is drawn downward as the 
 stack is consumed, and so it is sheltered while any remains. 
 The farm-house will strike a stranger most forcibly by the solid 
 comforts it exhibits, the rich massive furniture it contains, the 
 looking-glasses in ponderous carved frames, and the heaps of rich 
 old Japanese and other china which abound everywhere, — an 
 evidence of the former trade of the country, once so exclusively 
 
 Fig. 84. — A Dutch Fann-gaie. 
 
 Fig. 85. — Hay-stacks. 
 
 and prosperously carried on. The kitchens, with their brightly- 
 scoured kettles, bring to mind the kitchens of Gerard Dow, and 
 the sleek kitchen-maids seem to have sat to Maas for his servant- 
 wenches. But the wonders of the farm are the dairies : here they 
 revel in cleanliness, sprinkling the stalls of the stables with snow- 
 white sand, stroked into a variety of ornamental geometric figures 
 by the broom, when the cows are away ; and when these are 
 present they are as carefully attended to as if they were children, 
 their tails being hung in loose strings to the ceiling, lest they 
 
,36 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 should dabble in the mire ! When the cold season sets in, the 
 animals are protected in the fields by a coarse sacking fastened 
 over their backs, much like the coverings here adopted for 
 favourite greyhounds, and the milk-maid is paddled lazily up 
 the stagnant canals that pass round each field in place of our 
 hedges, until she lands on the square patch of swampy grass, 
 achieves her labours, gets into her boat, and is pushed or paddled 
 by a stout swain, pipe in mouth, to the next rectangular plot 
 until her pails are sufiiciently filled, when she is pushed gently 
 toward the farm. There is no use in hurrying a Dutchman ; he 
 does all things leisurely ; anxiety on your part will only make 
 him more perseveringly stolid, and irritation more obstinately 
 immovable. 
 
 Town life differs from country life only in the extra gaiety 
 produced by better dwellings, and a greater concourse of people ; 
 its formality is as great. The heavy carriages which traverse the 
 streets of Amsterdam upon sledges instead of wheels, drawn by 
 large black horses, are more indicative to a stranger of a funeral 
 than a friendly call. The provision made upon the gabled houses 
 for the board and lodging of the favourite storks (Fig. 86) also indi- 
 cates the quiet character of the youthful Hollander;* there are no 
 gamins here, such as infest the streets of Paris : they could not 
 live many days in this ungenial clime. We can fancy the misery 
 
 ♦ These ncbls are consliuctcd on small beams of wood, |)laccvl In- the iiiliahitaius on 
 their house-ritlgcs, as it is considered lucky to induce storks to build. They come icjjulaily 
 to their old nests in their periodical visits, and they arc never molested. To kill or injure 
 one would be considered as a sacrilegious act. 
 
ALBERT CUYP OF DORT. 137 
 
 of one of them, seized by proper officials, and put into the heavy 
 charity dress, to learn what was proper of a Dutch pedagogue. 
 The lugubrious little old figures that pass for children in pictures 
 of the old native school, seem to have 
 never differed from their parents but in 
 age or size. Formality runs through every- 
 thing in this land ; the night watchman 
 still 
 
 *' Breaks your rest to tell you what's o'clock ; " 
 
 but he does more than this ; he announces 
 
 , , , , r -, Fig. 86.— A Stork's Nest. 
 
 his approach by a huge clapper of wood, 
 
 which he rattles loudly, probably to warn thieves of his ap- 
 proach, that they may leisurely pack up and go away, and 
 then the guardian, like Dogberry, may " presently call the 
 rest of the watch together, and thank God they are rid ol 
 a knave ! " 
 
 To see the perfection of Dutch cleanliness or village-life run 
 mad, the stranger should visit the renowned Broeck (Fig. 87), in 
 Waterland, as the district is properly termed in which it is 
 situated. From Amsterdam the grand ship canal, which extends 
 for nearly fifty miles to the Texel, will be seen en route, and a four- 
 mile drive deposits the stranger at the entrance of the village. 
 There he must alight and walk over the village, for all carriages 
 and horses are forbidden to enter this paradise of cleanliness. It 
 is recorded that the Emperor Alexander was obliged to take off 
 his shoes before entering a house. A pile of wooden sabots at the 
 
138 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 doors testify that usual custom of its inhabitants (Fig. 88).* The 
 rage for " keeping all tidy " has even carried its inhabitants so far 
 as to tamper with the dearest of a Dutchman's treasures — his 
 pipe ; for it is stipulated that he wear over it a wire net-work, to 
 
 f^J^^. 
 
 Fig. 87.— The Village of Biocck. 
 
 prevent the ashes from falling on the footpaths; these are con- 
 
 • These sabots, once so popularly known by name in England, when it was the custom 
 to talk of William III. as having saved the nation from " popery, slavery, and wooden 
 shoes," are generally formed of willow and elm. They are very cheap, and threepence will 
 purchase a pair of the commonest kind, such as we engrave ; but others arc ornamented 
 with carved bows and buckles, painted black, and smart looking ; these are much dearer, 
 and worn by the better class of farm-servants, who sometimes protect the foot by a soft 
 inner shoe of list. 
 
ALBERT CUFF OF DORT. 139 
 
 structed of small coloured bricks, arranged in fancy patterns, and 
 are sometimes sanded and swept in forms like those we have 
 described in dairies. Nothing can exceed the brightness of the 
 paint, the polished coloured tiles on the roofs, or the perfect 
 freedom from dirt exhibited by the cottages, which look like 
 wooden Noah's arks in a genteel toy-shop. The people who live 
 in this happy valley are mostly well off in the world, and have 
 made fortunes in trade, retiring here to enjoy Dutch felicity. The 
 pavilion and garden of one rich old clergyman. Mynheer Bakker, 
 has lonsf been a theme of admiration. The good man revelled in 
 
 A Wooden Shoe. 
 
 a caricature of a garden in which he sunk much money ; and at 
 his death left a will by which it should be kept up. This is no 
 inexpensive thing in Broeck, for, owing to the boggy nature of 
 the soil, it continually requires attention and renovation.* In this 
 garden are crowded summer-houses and temples of every fanciful 
 style yet " unclassified." Plump Dutch divinities stare at wooden 
 clergymen, who pore over wooden books in sequestered corners ; 
 while wooden sportsmen aim at wooden ducks rotting on the 
 stagnant water. The climax of absurdity is reached at a small 
 
 * The gardener informed us that the surface sunk at the rate of half a foot in a year. 
 
140 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 cottage constructed in the garden, to show, as our guide informed 
 us, how the country folks " make the money," You enter, and 
 your guide disappears as rapidly as a Dutchman can, and leaves 
 you to contemplate a well-furnished room, with abundance ot 
 crockery, an immense clock, and a well-stored tea-table, at which 
 sit two wooden puppets, as large as life ; the old man smoking his 
 pipe, and preparing the flax, which the old woman spins, after the 
 field labours are over. All the movements of these figures are 
 made by clockwork, worked by the invisible gardener, and 
 concealed under the floor. In former times the good lady 
 hummed a song ; but her machinery being now out of order, the 
 stranger is only greeted on his entrance by some spasmodic yelps 
 from a grim wooden dog, that always faithfully keeps watch and 
 ward at her feet. 
 
 In Broeck no one enters a house by the front door, nor is any 
 one seen at a front window. The front of a house is where the 
 " best parlours " are, which are sacred to cleanliness and solitude. 
 Irving's description of such an apartment is rigidly true : " the 
 mistress and her confidential maid visited it once a week, for the 
 purpose of giving it a thorough cleaning, and putting things to 
 rights ; always taking the precaution of leaving their shoes at 
 the door, and entering devoutly on their stocking-feet. After 
 scrubbing the floor, sprinkling it with fine white sand, which was 
 curiously stroked into angles and curves and rhomboids ; after 
 washing the windows, rubbing and polishing the furniture, and 
 putting a new bunch ot evergreens in the fire-place, the window 
 shutters were again closed to keep out the ilies, and the room 
 
ALBERT CUYP OF DORT. 
 
 141 
 
 carefully locked up till the revolution of time brought round the 
 weekly cleaning-day," The people of Broeck always enter their 
 
 Fi?. 8q. — Dutch Head-dresses. 
 
 houses by back doors, like so many burglars ; and to ensure the 
 front door from unholy approach, the steps leading up to it are 
 removed, never to be placed there but when three great occasions 
 
 Fig. 90. — A Fanner's "Wife. 
 
 open the mystic gate, and these are births, marriages, and 
 funerals ; so that to enter a Dutchman's house by that way is 
 indeed an " event." 
 
142 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 The country girls generally wear the plain and ugly caps 
 represented in our cuts (Fig. 89) ; but the richer farmers' 
 daughters, particularly in North Holland, are extremely fond of 
 a display of the precious metals in their head-dress. Pins of 
 gold, to which heavy pendants hang, and elaborated ear-rings 
 frequently appear, and occasionally the hair is overlaid entirely 
 by thin plates of gold covered with lace ; the forehead banded 
 
 Fig. 91. — A Dutch Road Scene. 
 
 with silver richly engraved ; bunches ol light gold flowers hang 
 at each side of the face, and pins and rosettes are stuck above 
 them. We have engraved a specimen of this oppressive finery, 
 (Fig. 90), which is sometimes further enriched by a few diamonds 
 on the frontlet of the wealthy ladies ot Broeck when they appear 
 on a Sunday at church. 
 
 It would seem as if a Dutchman really loved the ponderous, 
 for nowhere else may be seen the weighty wooden carriages in 
 
ALBERT CUYP OF DORT. *"^£rjSJii^3*^ ' 
 
 which they delight to drive along the country roads ; they are 
 solid constructions of timber, elaborately carved and painted, 
 resting on the axles, and never having springs (Fig. 91), which, 
 indeed, are not so essentially necessary as with us, owing to the 
 softness and flatness of the roads. The guide-posts are equally 
 massive, and the outstretched hands with stumpy fingers which 
 point the route to be taken, seem to be made for future genera- 
 tions. The wooden shoes of the peasantry make the foot the most 
 conspicuous part of the body, and ensure slow- 
 ness ; while in some places the horses are pro- 
 vided with a broad patten strapped across the 
 foot, and making their movements as measured 
 and sedate as their masters.* The tenderness 
 with which they look after their beasts, and comb 
 and plait their tails, shows no necessity for a 
 " Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to 
 Animals " in Holland. The solicitude for their 
 cows and pet storks we have already noted ; and ^^^' ^^''^^ Horse- 
 the number of their charitable institutions is so 
 great, that poverty or want never meets the eye of a traveller. 
 There is a well-fed comfort pervading all classes, and a 
 scrupulous neatness and order over the whole country, the 
 
 * The boggy nature of the soil of Holland, and the mischief which might be done by 
 the sinking of a horse's feet, have led to these inventions. The low countries of England can 
 also produce examples of broad protections to prevent a horse from sinking or cutting 
 up the swampy land, somewhat similar to those used in Holland, and which entirely sur- 
 round the shoe. 
 
,44 HOMES, HAUNTS, AXD WORKS. 
 
 result of a constant cheerful industry, which scarcely asks for 
 rest. 
 
 It is not the custom ol the travelling English to visit Holland ; 
 it is a terra incognita to them, though other parts of Europe are 
 filled by them to repletion. In these pages we have endeavoured 
 to bring its features strongly before our readers, to enable them, 
 if they will, by aid of pen and pencil, to travel in imagination 
 with us over the land of Cuyp, Rembrandt, and Paul Potter. 
 
THE HOME OF PAUL POTTER. 
 
 jHE Hague has ahva3's been considered the most aris- 
 tocratic and pleasant of Dutch towns. Its old name, 
 Gravenhaage, indicates its position as the boundary of 
 the principality of the ancient Counts of Holland. Its pleasant 
 and healthy position gave it an advantage over most other towns 
 when Holland became a kingdom, and it was chosen as the 
 residence of the court. Its close proximity to the sea, the healthy 
 character of its location, and the fresh beauty of the wood which 
 for ages was allowed to grow as nature pleased in its close 
 vicinage, were all charms uncombined elsewhere, and " Ics deliccs 
 dc la Ilayc" were spoken of even at the court of ^"ersailles. The 
 palace of the Stadtholder was here, and the picturesque pile of 
 building used as the town-hall was the scene of many an event 
 and discussion vital to the interests of Holland, in an age fruitful 
 of great events to that country, whose annals possess an interest 
 second to those of no other modern European state. It would 
 almost be expected in the nature of things that the marshy tract 
 of unproductive sand which forms this country, would be left to 
 the quiet possession of the industrious people who had with such 
 unwearied assiduity reclaimed it from the sea. Scarcely would it 
 
m8 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AM) WORKS OF 
 
 be possible to mark out a place in the old maps of Europe less 
 attractive for the foundation of a settlement, presenting greater 
 
 ^ p ctitl'Us y^ otte/f.-^- ■ 
 
 difficulties to bo overcome, and dciiianding more constant care to 
 preserve wlu-n llicsc dinicullics had been conquered. It \vas 
 
PAUL POTTER. 
 
 149 
 
 rescued from the sea only to be reclaimed by it upon the slightest 
 relaxation of vigilant watchfulness ; but the fear of encroach- 
 
 ^\<g. 94. — Town Hal], the Ha^'ue. 
 
 ments from their natural enemy was as nothing to the native 
 Hollanders, compared to those which had menaced for many 
 
150 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 centuries their civil and religious liberties ; and the records of no 
 country present more noble instances of unflinching patriotism 
 and bold love of liberty than theirs do, when its sons were vindi- 
 cating for its unwholesome swamps the only attractiveness they 
 could ever possess — the consciousness that it was the country of 
 free men. 
 
 We have already noted, in the lives of Rembrandt and Cu}'p, 
 the quietude with which their days passed amidst the din and 
 bustle of an age of political and religious warfare. In Paul 
 Potter we have another instance of this mental abstraction, which 
 could allow the mind to be withdrawn from the ordinary doings of 
 the world, to pursue a calm course of its own, achieving its own 
 greatness by a placid energy which could not be turned aside 
 from its goal. His life was a short one, but he employed his 
 brief sojourn most earnestly in the study of Art through Nature. 
 He won, and will ever hold, an undying name as its true 
 exponent, while his works increase in value as time adds to 
 their years, and true criticism advances our knowledge. Thus 
 the painting which delighted at first as a simple transcript of 
 nature, becomes, as we study it more, like nature itself — a hidden 
 mine of poetry, awaiting the research of the earnest studiMit who 
 will seek to discover it. 
 
 The Hague may be considered as the "homo " of Paul Potter, 
 in the best sense of the word — that sense which makes the word 
 convey to the mind all that is genial and lovable, and that marks 
 the happy residence where intellect expands itself freely, and 
 attaches itself fondly to the place of its growtli. I hoiii^li 
 
Amsterdam was the city of his early days, the Hague was the 
 home of his choice, and his happiest years were passed within its 
 boundaries ; or in wandering beneath the shade of its neigh- 
 bouring wood ; or seeking subjects in the fertile fields of its 
 vicinity. His desires and wants w^ere bounded by this simple 
 practice, and his native genius could elevate all he saw so readily 
 and well, as to insure a place of honour on the walls of a palace 
 to the simplest rural scene Holland might offer to his inspired 
 pencil. 
 
 Paul Potter was bom, in the year 1625, in the town of 
 Enkhuysen, where his father practised art, but ranked low as a 
 painter. His ancestors had held honourable posts in that city, 
 and were descended from the noble house of Egmont. Soon after 
 his birth his father went to Amsterdam as a permanent residence, 
 and here he taught his son all that he knew of the rudiments of 
 art. He never had another master, nor did he seem to want one, 
 for his own genius did for him what no master alone could effect ; 
 and at fourteen years of age his great ability as an artist was 
 acknowledged ; but he felt the trammels of home life, and left it 
 soon afterwards for the Hague. 
 
 Holland at this time had declared itself free from foreign yoke; 
 the tyranny, falsehood, and cruelty of Spanish rule had been 
 effectually opposed, even to the partial destruction of the country, 
 and a brighter day dawned on its brave people.* Spain had 
 
 * The i^reat dykes, upon wliich the very existence of the country depends, as already 
 stated at p. 127, were cut in many places to submerge invading amiies ; and at Leyden, 
 during the memorable siege in 1575, the sea flowed up to the walls of the town, destroviii" 
 
152 HOMES, IIACXTS, A XI) WURKS OF 
 
 become weakened in its resources, Germany was torn by 
 religious wars, France was the ally of Holland, while England 
 was busied with its own great civil war, in determined opposition 
 to the encroachments on its liberties made by Charles I, Holland 
 at last held a proud and independent position under its Stadt- 
 holder, Prince Frederick Henry. By land its arms had been 
 successful, but at sea they were glorious ; and the brilliant 
 victory of Van Tromp, known by the name of the battle of the 
 Downs, from having been fought off the coast of England on the 
 2 1 St of October, 1639, raised the naval reputation of Holland to 
 the highest point. The trade of the country had steadily 
 increased, and the distant settlements of Brazil and Batavia, as 
 well as the enormous trade with the East and West Indies, 
 enriched the merchants of the land immensely. Although taxa- 
 tion was enormous, and its national debt excessive, the country 
 enjoyed great wealth and power and the taste for pictures and 
 the luxuries of life increased greatly. 
 
 The prospects of Potter were therefore good ; and the objection 
 made by the rich architect, Balkenende, whi>n he asked his 
 daughter Adrienne in marriage, that he was " onlv an animal- 
 painter," and ineligible for such an honour, was soon removed by 
 the patronage so profitably enjoyed by the young artist ; at the 
 
 above one IhousaiKi Spanish solilicis, the iiilial)iUuits sallyinij out in boats, and continuing 
 an amjihibious combat willi others who had ascended trees. The whole countiy (or twenty 
 lea(^cs around was ruined for agricultural pursuits for many years. Indeed, during these 
 wars, it became almost reduced to its urit;inal state a tract of waste mud, saml, and stagnant 
 water. 
 
PAUL POTTER. 
 
 '53 
 
 age of twenty-five, Potter therefore married the lady, somewhat 
 gay and flighty for a Dutchwoman, and settled himself in one of 
 the best houses of the town, which was soon frequented by the 
 principal men of Holland, who deluged the painter with com- 
 missions, which he executed with untiring energy and comparative 
 ease, because he had in the close vicinity of his home an abundant 
 
 Fig- 95- — A Dutch Polder. 
 
 field of study, and his favourite flocks and herds were ever near 
 him in infinite variety. 
 
 The rich character of the vegetation of Holland is due to the 
 irrigation the soil continually receives. The whole country is 
 a network of canals, but it is in " the Polders " (Fig. 95) that the 
 greatest fertility is seen ; this is a technical term for a tract of 
 ground which has been once a morass or lake, below the level of 
 the sea, but which has been reclaimed by clearing away the 
 water. The great lake of Haarlem has recently been converted 
 
154 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 into most profitable garden and pasture-land in this way. This 
 is done by the simple process of forming a raised bank all round 
 the lake, to prevent water from flowing into it. A series of wind- 
 mills, each working water-wheels, is then erected on this dyke to 
 pump the water upward into a canal on their own level, from 
 whence it is drained off into the sea, or lifted into a series of 
 higher canals by the same wind-agency. Thus we find sometimes 
 three or four stages of canals used to lift the water to a proper 
 level for drainage. The fertile soil which forms the bed of the 
 Polder is laid out into a series of fields in the form of parallelo- 
 grams, each separated on all sides by a deep ditch, the waters in 
 which form the only means of communication with the fields, and 
 render other guard over cattle unnecessary, as they cannot roam 
 from the confined space allotted to them. The small ditches are 
 continually kept to a proper level by the industrious water-mills, 
 and the canals thus filled communicate with the others which 
 intersect the country, and give water-way* for commerce of all 
 kinds, and the supply of the markets. Thus a very large pastoral 
 portion of Holland is artificial, and requires constant watching ; 
 the least neglect or inattention might prejudice much property, 
 and ruin an agricultural district,! It has been well obser\'ed that 
 
 ♦ This simple and convenient mode of transit is abundantly adopted in Holland. It 
 suits the quiet liabits ol" the pcoi)le best to glide leisurely over tlie canals from town to town 
 in the treckschuyt, or passenj^cr-boat in the summer ; wiiiie in the winter season the whole 
 ])oj)ulation d(m their skates, and travel with {jreat rajiiility over tiic ice, which aflords 
 increased facilities for communication all over tiic country. Market-wonicu will cany 
 their wares an incredilile distance in this way. 
 
 t So short a time ago as the year 1825, the whole of Ilolhmd was in jjreat danger fiom 
 
PAUL POTTER. 155 
 
 "the inhabitant of the provinces bordering on the sea, or the 
 Rhine, constantly threatened with the danger of submersion, is 
 not more secure than he who dwells on the side of Etna, or at the 
 foot of Vesuvius, with a volcano heaving beneath him. A stranger 
 can have a full impression of this only when he walks at the foot 
 of one of these vast dykes, and hears the roar of the waves on 
 the outside, sixteen or twenty feet higher than his head."* In the 
 days of Potter the system of perfect drainage now seen in Holland 
 had not been introduced ; the small streams w^ere allowed to flow 
 and spread lazily over the land, and the engraving we copy of a 
 Dutch seaport (Fig. 96), from the curious " Book of Emblems," by 
 J. Cats, published at Dort in 1635, gives an excellent idea of this. 
 The sluggish stream which flows from the village inundates the 
 fields irregularly, and men are employed in marking its boggy 
 boundaries by warning-posts. The sea-wall for the protection of 
 the port, formed by the stems of trees, stretches far away, and 
 makes an agreeable promenade. These ramparts are generally 
 formed of clay, their surface sometimes being protected by wicker- 
 work of willow-twigs, which, as they perish in the course of three 
 or four years, require to be constantly watched and renewed. 
 
 the quantity of water which rushed from the mouths of the Rhine and Meuse, and the extra- 
 ordinar}' height of the tides. It is declared that had the sea continued to rise but one 
 quarter of an hour more, the great dykes which protect Amsterdam would have overflowed, 
 and that city might have been ruined. As it was, it occupied more than two years of 
 incessant labour to repair the damage done. 
 
 * The coat of arms of the province of Zealand fancifully alludes to the geographical 
 position it holds, and consists of a lion half submerged in the waves, with the motto, ^^Luctor 
 et emergo," I struggle to keep above water. 
 
'56 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 The base, if not protected by piles, is generally faced with stones, 
 or walled with hard-baked bricks, called clinkers, while rows of 
 piles form breakwaters as a further protection to their solidity. 
 Thus continuously has the Hollander to labour in the preservation 
 of his country, and nowhere is industry so strikingly visible as 
 among the Dutch ; for it meets the eye continually, and challenges 
 observation everywhere. The ground beneath the feet is " made 
 
 V\'^. 96. — A Dutch Seaport : 1635. 
 
 earth," to use a gardener's term ; sometimes brought from con- 
 siderable distances, and only preserved from being washed away 
 by the embankments just alluded to. This necessary attention to 
 the state of the land produces an extremely artificial look over its 
 entire surface. It seems as if the whole country had been 
 constructed by human labour; more particularly as the Hollander 
 scarcely allows a blade of grass to grow freely — all is trimmed 
 and tended with care ; while bushes and shrubs are subjected to 
 
the gardener's shears, and cut into those wonderful figures of 
 birds and beasts occasionally to be seen in quiet English villages, 
 where Dutch taste has penetrated.* Even large trees occasionally 
 assume the form of square masses of foliage supported on naked 
 upright stems, or else are tortured on iron frameworks till they 
 look as little like trees as a Chinese lady's foot resembles that of 
 the Venus de Medicis. 
 
 In Holland the laws of nature seem to be reversed ; the sea is 
 higher than the land — the lowest ground in the country is 24 feet 
 below high-water mark, and when the tide is driven high by the 
 wind, 30 feet ! In no other country do the keels of the ships float 
 above the chimneys of the houses, and nowhere else does the frog, 
 croaking from among the bulrushes, look down upon the swallow 
 on the house-top. Where rivers take their course, it is not in beds 
 of their own choosing ; they are compelled to pass through canals, 
 and are confined within fixed bounds by the stupendous mounds 
 imposed on them by human art, which has also succeeded in 
 overcoming the " everywhere-else " resistless impetuosity of the 
 ocean. In a very extensive range of the country there is not a 
 stone or pebble to be found in the alluvial or sandy soil ; and 
 there are no hills, save such as are raised by the winds ; unless, 
 indeed, we take into consideration those vast artificial mountains 
 of granite which have been brought at enormous expense from 
 Norway and Sweden, and sunk under water to serve as barriers 
 to the sea. Excepting the eastern provinces, the parks of 
 
 See subsequent article, " The Dutch Landscape and Flowei-Painters." 
 
 . JRSIT7] 
 
is8 HOMES, HAUNTS, A XT) WORKS OF 
 
 Haarlem and the Hague, and the avenues leading from one 
 city to another, the land does not produce much wood ; but then 
 entire Norwegian forests have been buried beneath the mud in 
 the shape of piles.* 
 
 It is in some degree surprising that so pure and good a school 
 of natural art should have been formed by its native-born 
 painters, and still more remarkable that men thus compelled to 
 see only conventional views of nature's beauties, should look upon 
 the goddess dressed in Dutch taste, but delineate her in all the 
 freedom of the purest innocence and simplicity. We might have 
 expected a sort of Chinese landscape painting to have pre- 
 dominated, and cattle to have rivalled in pictures the productions 
 of their own pottery at Delft ; but the painters of Holland never 
 committed this error, they seem to have avoided with scrupulous 
 care any other than the purest features nature presented to them. 
 To them she denied her grander traits — the rocky beauties of 
 Switzerland, or the verdant graces of Italy. With them the all- 
 glorious Rhine became a flat heavy stream, pouring its many 
 mouths to the sea in a swamp of mud ; yet limited as the field of 
 native art thus necessarily became, the Dutch artists, by their 
 unwearied study of nature, and profound and patient delineation 
 of its most minute characteristics, founded a school at once 
 original and excellent. 
 
 Among all their national painters, none held higher rank 
 than Paul Potter, whose finest work, "The Young Bull," still 
 
PAUL POTTER. 159 
 
 decorates the public gallery of the Hague, the favourite residence 
 of the painter, the scene of his studies and his triumphs, but 
 wanting, alas ! in the greatest joy of all — domestic felicity. His 
 wife was fond of flirtations, which gave the peaceful painter 
 constant uneasiness, and to such an extreme was this at last 
 carried, that the artist one day caught his wife listening to one of 
 her admirers ; when, enraged beyond measure, he cast over them 
 the net-work he carried on his arm, and which he had taken 
 from his horse, who wore it to keep off the flies ; then tying them 
 together with it, he exposed them both to the laughter of the 
 friends in his house. So ridiculous and disgraceful an affair 
 soon became the talk of the town, and at last grew to be so 
 disagreeable as to oblige the painter to remove to Amsterdam. 
 
 It was in 1652 that the painter settled in that city. The 
 Burgomaster Tulp was his great patron, and enriched his fine 
 gallery with the principal works of the artist. Amsterdam was 
 at this period one of the wealthiest of European cities, and its 
 rich traders delighted in embellishing their houses with pictures, 
 carvings, and the rarest and most costly works of India, China, 
 and Japan — a taste which has survived to the present day ; and 
 nowhere is so much of the finest work of this kind to be seen 
 as in Holland, while rare old china is in the dealers' shops 
 as common as Staffordshire ware among ourselves. The noble 
 old houses of Antwerp, constructed by the De Ruyters, the Van 
 Tulps, and the rich burghers of old days, still stand to attest 
 their wealth and magnificence ; but if we would see the city as in 
 the days of its greatest glory, we must turn over the pages 
 
of the chroniclers of its great public events. There is a 
 magnificent volume devoted to a detail of the reception given 
 by the city to Catherine de Medicis, embellished by the most 
 minute and beautiful engravings by Savery, and we have 
 selected a view on the grand canal (Fig. 97) from this rare volume, 
 to illustrate the Amsterdam of Potter's era.* The view com- 
 prises a group of imposing houses, intersected by smaller canals, 
 over which miniature bridges are carried, and it gives an 
 excellent idea of the characteristics of one of the most extra- 
 ordinary cities of Europe. Some few of these noble mansions 
 still remain in Amsterdam in all their pristine integrity, giving 
 a stately look to its old quays as their time-honoured fronts 
 surmount the trees which line the borders of the canals. Their 
 architectural characteristics might be considered as " debased " 
 in the judgment of a severe student of architecture ; but they 
 have an imposing effect with their rich arcades, floriated 
 pilasters, and fanciful gabled fronts, surmounted by statues or 
 vases of flowers. 
 
 After the removal of Potter to Amsterdam, he enlarged the 
 proportions of his pictures, forgetful of the important fact that 
 size does not constitute greatness — for the ancient artists of 
 Greece developed their genius as grandly upon an intaglio or 
 a coin as they did upon the Klgin marbles. Ho was, in fact, 
 
 • It is cnlilled " Ulyde Inkomst dor Alleicloi)rhij^lili}^lislc Kniiinninnc Mari.i dc' 
 Medici t'Ainstcrduni," and was i)ul)lishcd in tlial city in i()j<); her niajtsty having; i>aid 
 Ihe visit on licr way to ICnt;land, to visit lici il.m^litii, 1 Icniietla-Maiia, wilL-of our Cliarles I. 
 
 -J 
 
PAUL POTTER. 
 
 i6i 
 
 betrayed into this by emulation rather than design, for he saw 
 there, in the possession of wealthy amateurs, pictures of far 
 larger proportions than he had been in the habit of painting, 
 and he was anxious that size should be no bar to his success. 
 
 lig. 97. — Auislcidaiu ill 1O39. 
 
 The life-sized pictures of animals he now painted, although 
 characterised by vigour and truth of touch, lose greatly in 
 interest and beauty by their gigantic proportions, and the 
 celebrated bull at the Hague disappoints at first sight, while 
 
 Y 
 
i62 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 few would wish to possess it in preference to his less obtrusive 
 works. But to whatever scale the artist worked, he was always 
 the captivating exponent of simple nature, and gave a truth, and 
 a life, and a poetry to his scenes, which elevate the commonplace 
 to the classic. 
 
 An early death awaited the artist ; he had not completed 
 his twenty-ninth year when he expired of a decline, leaving 
 behind him the wife he fondly loved, in spite of her blamable 
 levities, and a little daughter three years old. In the great 
 chapel at Amsterdam (Fig. 98) lie the remains of Paul Potter, 
 one of the greatest artists of Holland. He reposes in the very 
 reverse of the quiet scenes he loved so well to depict. All around 
 is the bustle of life, the throng of commerce, the din of busy 
 feet. The quaint and characteristic steeple peeps over tall 
 warehouses, surrounding busy docks where produce is unladen 
 from all quarters of the world. You cannot rest on the bridges 
 which span the canal to reflect on the mausoleum of the painter, 
 for the heavily-laden cart is constantly moving with merchandise, 
 or the quaint old coach almost noiselessly sliding on its sledge in 
 place of wheels, might too dangerously disturb your reverie. 
 There is something incongruous in seeking the grave of the 
 pastoral painter in such ungenial scenes ; and in the very midst 
 of "life's fitful fever" to find the grave of one who revelled in 
 "fresh fields and pastures new;" who studied them with a poet's 
 love, and delineated them with the highest artistic power; whose 
 whole soul was imbued with a love of nature, and who should 
 have slept where trees shadow and flowers garnish the sod. 
 
PAUL POTTER. 
 
 163 
 
 An artist like Potter is a creator of a style ; his genius enables 
 him not only to delineate what he sees, but to express the 
 hidden sentiment which gives the charm to nature itself. He 
 has gone below^ the surface. He has been thus contrasted with 
 painters of his school by a modern critic : " Others have painted 
 
 Fig. yb.— The Great Chapel, A:nsteidam, 
 
 cows, oxen, well-drawn sheep, all well-coloured and painted. 
 He alone has seized their expression, the physiognomy of their 
 inner existence, of their instinct. We admire the flocks and 
 herds of Berghem, of Van der Velde, of Karel Dujardin ; we 
 are touched by those of Paul Potter." 
 
 It should ever be remembered that it is to the artists of 
 
Holland we owe a relief from the trammels of the mere 
 "academic" school. It is to their love of nature, and persevering 
 study of her beauties that we are indebted for a purely natural 
 series of pictures, which rely alone for immortality on their true 
 reflection of her varied beauties. The world as it lay around us 
 was long a book unstudied in the flights of fancy after the ideal. 
 To them was given the power of discovering the gold that is 
 hidden amid the dross ; the poetry that is in humble nature ; 
 the sentiment that lurks beneath the simplest form. They 
 created therefore a new school of art, and a school which might 
 successfully appeal to all, by the simplicity of its sphere of 
 action. The minute traits of nature in their pictures resemble the 
 charming traits of her features which delight us in the poetry 
 of Shakspere or of Burns. As the " lush woodbine " or the 
 " mountain daisy " could gladden the hearts of these noble poets 
 into song, so the changing aspects of the sky could elevate into 
 grandeur the simplest elements of Rembrandt's pictures, and the 
 level meads and happy cattle of Paul Potter give a sentiment 
 of happiness to the spectator, like that felt by Goethe's "Faust," 
 when, tired of all the artificial glories of life, he feels his loftiest 
 emotions arise from the contemplation of the fertile fields and 
 happy peasantry around him. Truly 
 
 "One touch of Nature makes tlie wliolc woiKl kin," 
 
 and while this cosmopolitan relationship exists the Dutch painters 
 will find admirers. 
 
THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 
 
 ''■^=-=^^' 
 
 HE Hollander, as represented by his own native artists, 
 is as distinct from the rest of the genus homo as the 
 style adopted by the hands which have immortalised 
 his peculiarities. He is known everywhere — by the rich connois- 
 seur who glories in the possession of the original works of 
 Ostade, Gerard Douw, Brauwer, or Jan Steen ; and by the poorer 
 lover of art, in the many copies produced by the facile hand of 
 the engraver. The entire truth of these pictures, and their 
 quaint originality, thus enforce full claim upon attention, even 
 when divested of the charm of colour. Well, then, may the 
 wealthy collector of taste rejoice in the possession of genuine 
 works so remarkable for both qualities as are the pictures 
 by the painters of _ the Netherlands. With them originated 
 that peculiar choice of subject from ordinary life which has 
 received the soubriquet of genre-painting y from the impossibility 
 of classing it with the grander imaginings of the Italian school. 
 Art was in that school principally devoted to the sacred service 
 of the Church, or the dignified realisation of historic scenes ; 
 it therefore always possessed a certain elevated dignity when 
 it approached ordinary life in portraiture ; but in no instance did 
 
1 68 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 it free itself from conventional or scholastic education, and give 
 itself up to the delineation of everyday life with the zest of 
 
 Jfi aP. 
 
 Jf.oji:^^ 
 
 an Ostade, who would bestow all the graces of art on an old 
 woman threading her needle ; or with the dashing joviality of 
 Jan Steen, who would revel in a tavern scene with greater gusto 
 
than had ever been seen before in the history of imitative art. 
 
 Their success as a school produced a revolution in the general 
 
 canons of criticism, and the ability displayed in their works 
 
 asserted a position for a new body of painters then struggling 
 
 into notoriety, who, discarding the grandiose (by this time become 
 
 a little absurd from the scholastic tendencies of its devotees, 
 
 who too frequently indulged in mixing the real and the fanciful, 
 
 the present world with the past, history and mythology in unreal 
 
 conjunction), placed their starting-point in Nature alone, making 
 
 her works the limit of their studies, and bringing only the graces 
 
 of art to the proper adornment of what she placed before them — 
 
 believing no created thing unworthy their earnest attention, and 
 
 no attention ill-bestowed that could present it to their fellow-men 
 
 surrounded by all the artistic graces consistent knowledge could 
 
 bring to bear on its delineation. 
 
 This term genre, was applied somewhat scornfully by the 
 
 French critics, in the days of the Grand Monar que, to designate a 
 
 school of art they could not comprehend, and which they chose to 
 
 consider as out of the pale of art-proper, or rather the art of 
 
 Versailles. Louis XIV. would never admit a Dutch picture into 
 
 his galleries, which were, however, open to the travesties of 
 
 Scripture subjects his native artists painted with so much 
 
 complacency, as well as to the theatrical flutterings of Bernini's 
 
 sculpture. The grandiose trifling, which then passed for dignity, 
 
 and the constrained manners which made up an etiquette as 
 
 wearisome as if it were Chinese, gave no scope for the minds 
 
 nurtured in formal conventionalities to understand the charm of 
 
 z 
 
,7o HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 simplicity or Nature. The lowest grade of a true art takes 
 higher stand than the art produced in the hotbeds of the French 
 court, nurtured under unnatural auspices : its despised products 
 have passed away like all other " whims of a day," but the 
 greater works of the honest Dutchmen remain. 
 
 Though Ostade is inseparable from Dutch art, and by his 
 genius was the earliest to raise it to renown, he was not a native 
 of the country. He was born at Liibeck, in Germany, in 1610. 
 Hence some biographers unhesitatingly place him among German 
 artists ; but he was unquestionably German only by the accident 
 of birth ; for abandoning his native country early in life, the 
 formation of his mind and the knowledge of art he possessed 
 were essentially Dutch. Like many a foreigner undergoing the 
 change of thought and habit produced by a residence among 
 strangers, he became ultimately more national than the native 
 born, and earnestly devoted his ability to the delineation of the 
 people of his choice with a zest and power hitherto unknown. 
 Holland did not in his time want for wealthy amateurs, and, 
 although the long life of Ostade was spent amid political turmoil, 
 the country was improving in wealth and importance beneath 
 the rule of great public men. It is to Frank Hals, of Haarlem, 
 that he was indebted for the knowledge he obtained of the mere 
 manipulation of art. Frank was a free, dashing painter, but a 
 perfect tradesman in his profession. He had considerable tact in 
 producing saleable pictures, and also in discovering young 
 and needy men of genius who would aid him in multiplying 
 them quickly. His wife, as avaricious as himself, fostered the 
 
THE D UTCH GEN RE- PA INTERS. 1 7 1 
 
 trading spirit, and between them they made the studio a mere • 
 shop, and the pupils mere mechanics. At the time Ostade was in 
 this state of servitude he had as a fellow-pupil Adrian Brauwer, 
 with whom Hals had accidentally become acquainted, and whose 
 ability he had detected in the humblest employ. His mother 
 was a poor milliner at Haarlem, and he used to sketch on paper 
 for her the flowers and other ornaments with which she 
 embroidered the caps and collars of her customers. The ability 
 shown by the boy in designing these decorations induced Hals to 
 examine his sketches, and ask if he Avould like to be a painter. 
 The boy readily replied in the affirmative. His mother was 
 consulted on the subject, but she would agree only on condition 
 that Hals should entirely provide for him during his pupilage. 
 He consented ; but, with wretched parsimony, when he found 
 the lad's ability, locked him in a wretched garret, and made him 
 labour continuously with hardly sufficient food, without money, 
 and without relaxation. His fellow-students, however, behaved 
 more mercifully by him, and commissioned him to make them 
 sketches for a few pence each in such few moments as he could 
 snatch for that purpose. His master discovered this, and 
 punished the poor lad by making him work harder on still less 
 food, until, persecuted more than nature could bear, he broke 
 from his prison and escaped. With the childish experiences of a 
 boy, he made provision for the first day of his liberty by 
 purchasing as much gingerbread as he could carry in his pockets ; 
 and then ensconcing himself beneath the carved case of the 
 famous great organ in the principal church of the town, leisurely 
 
lyi HUMES, HAUNTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 enjoyed this delicacy. After a few hours his situation became 
 irksome ; he was lonelier than in Hals's studio, for his artistic 
 implements were wanting ; hunger, too, outmatched his ginger- 
 bread, and he ventured forth ruefully to the church porch. Here 
 he was recognised by a passer-by, who had known him in his 
 master's house ; from the poor boy he learned his melancholy 
 stor}--, and at once offered to be the mediator between them — 
 succeeding so well that Hals behaved better to him ; for he was 
 anxious to profit by his genius, and had sold many of his works 
 at high prices, as the production of a foreign artist of great 
 merit. 
 
 It was at this time that Ostade came into Hals's studio as 
 a pupil, and fully appreciating Brauwer's ability, and indignant 
 at the manner in which he was treated, urged him to try his 
 fortune on his own account, and escape to Amsterdam, which was 
 then full of connoisseurs. Brauwer took his advice, and luckily 
 went on his arrival to an inn kept by one Van Sommeran, 
 who had been a painter in early life, and whose son still 
 practised the art. Here he was well received, and his talent 
 appreciated. It was soon discovered by an amateur, to whom 
 his first picture was shown, that he was the "foreign artist" 
 whose works Hals had sold so highly. He was well-paid for his 
 work, and became, from the depth of poverty and privation, 
 free and comparatively rich. It is little to be wondered at 
 that he revelled in the change. He gave himself up to tavern 
 life, painted sottish scenes, and the rude brawls they engendered, 
 and spent his money among the drunken boors he painted — 
 
THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 173 
 
 caring little to work before it became absolutely necessary to 
 obtain money for his creditors. 
 
 Ostade, possessed of true German phlegm, went on a steadier 
 course. Disgusted with his master, he quietly abandoned him, 
 but settled down beside him in the city of Haarlem to obtain 
 honestly patronage for his own talents. He tried them in 
 various ways ; but being a young and inexperienced man, he 
 fledged his wings in imitative art, and endeavoured to rival 
 the works of Rembrandt and Teniers. He did not succeed ; yet 
 he did not fully feel his own power of originality until his old 
 fellow-pupil Brauwer paid him a friendly visit, and urged him to 
 throw away conventionalities, and depend on the strength of 
 his own genius. The hearty advice of the grateful young painter, 
 to whom he had once tendered advice as useful, determined 
 his course, and he struck out a style which has invested his 
 pictures with a charm all his own. 
 
 Unlike Brauwer, Ostade was a quiet, industrious man. He 
 married the daughter of Van Goyen, the marine-painter, and 
 a large family was the result of the union, for whose support 
 he laboured unceasingly until the necessity for improving his 
 monetary affairs induced him to make a change, and he decided 
 on returning to his native town to settle there ; but he got 
 no farther on his road than Amsterdam, where he found so much 
 patronage, that about the year 1662 he settled there, making the 
 neighbouring villages the scenes of his study ; and, with the 
 characteristic quietude of his life, having found out his forte, 
 a fair field for study, and a due amount of patronage, he never 
 
17+ HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 left Amsterdam ; and died among his patrons in 1685, at the ripe 
 age of seventy-five. 
 
 In his pictures we see the best transcript of Dutch life in that 
 era : the happier and better class of subject was chosen for his 
 delineation. The tavern brawls, the drunken orgy, or the coarse 
 village fete, had no charms for his pencil ; but the rustic at home 
 amid his family, or enjoying himself with his pipe, or listening 
 over the trellis-hung door of his cottage to the travelling 
 minstrel's simple melody, often employed his pencil, as is seen 
 in the example here given (Fig. 100). He never caricatures their 
 simple life ; and, while displaying it in the most complete 
 homeliness of its character, never offends by want of taste, 
 however low the grade of the persons he may represent. Poor 
 though they may be, they are seldom repulsive, as in many of the 
 works of the artists of the Low Countries ; while the heartiness of 
 their joy as they look on their children, or revel in the simple 
 pleasures they can obtain, gives them an interest and a claim on 
 attention that pure honesty always may command. They show 
 how much poetry there is in common things, and how much lurks 
 beneath 
 
 " Tlic .slioit ami simple annals of the jiodi ." 
 
 The life of Brauwer possesses great stirring interest ; indeed, 
 it may be said to be the most eventful career led by any Dutch 
 painter. They generally passed through their course of life 
 so quietly and simply, so industriously and prosperously, that 
 we know littl<' more of them than that they lived, painted, 
 and died. The adventurous spirit of Brauwer, and the erratic 
 
176 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 nature of his tastes, led him into a more chequered path. 
 Cradled in poverty, a slave to a bad master, as he emerged 
 to manhood he ran a reckless course, when liberty and money 
 came into his possession. He must have been occasionally taken 
 for a madman by his stolid countrymen. Many are the quaint 
 
 y\'^. loi. — The Citadel of Antwxip in 1003. 
 
 stories told of the painter — his recklessness and his buffooneries, 
 which must have frequently set the tavern in a roar. lie had 
 much caustic humour also ; and it is narrated of him, that being 
 invited to a wedding, and feeling it was only because he had 
 discarded the slatternly clothes he usually wore, and donned 
 a suit of velvet, he soaked his new coat in the richest sauces 
 on the table, declaring that the s^'-ood cheer could only be properly 
 bestowed on the thing invited ; and then casting it on the fire, he 
 
THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 177 
 
 coolly walked back to his old tavern companions. Immersed in 
 his studies of low life, and enjoying only such scenes as he loved 
 to paint, he never sought to amass money ; and it is recorded 
 of him, that on one occasion, when a considerable sum was paid 
 him, he abandoned his pencil and home for nine days, until 
 he had spent it all, returning penniless, and praising heaven that 
 he had at last got rid of it. 
 
 This reckless life naturally produced the usual bad results, 
 even to a man of so few wants as Brauwer. His debts accumu- 
 lated, and at last were so portentous that he saw no escape 
 from his liabilities but flight. He left Amsterdam, and hurried to 
 Antwerp ; but when he reached that city he was at once arrested 
 by the soldiery, for the thoughtless painter had no passport, and 
 the Hollanders were waging fierce war against the Spaniards, 
 who claimed to be their governors, and in whose hands Antwerp 
 was held. He was at once marched to the citadel* (Fig. 101) as a 
 Dutch spy, and in it encountered the Duke d'Aremberg, who 
 was imprisoned there by order of the Spanish king, and whom 
 the painter imagined to be the governor of the fortress. In 
 profound tribulation Brauwer told his simple tale, and assured 
 him he was only a poor painter. To test his story, the duke 
 
 * Our engraving exhibits the aspect of the citadel of Antwerp at the time when the 
 painter was prisoner there ; it is now a much stronger position. In his time it was fed by a 
 canal connected with the Scheldt, and the ramparts economically served the purpose of 
 foundations for windmills to grind the com of the garrison. The necessary houses for troops 
 are arranged with Dutch formality ; a chapel is also contained within its bounds, and an 
 open space for the exercise of the soldiery. It was constructed by the celebrated engineer, 
 Pacciotti, that the cruel Duke of Alva might overawe the men of Antwerp. 
 
 A A 
 
178 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WURKS OF 
 
 good-naturedly sent a messenger to Rubens, then residing close 
 by, and obtained from him canvas and colours for Brauwer, 
 who at once set to work, and painted a group of soldiers who 
 were engaged beneath his prison window in a game of cards. 
 When it was finished it was shown to Rubens, who at once 
 declared it to be a work of Brauwer's. That really great and 
 generous man went -immediately to the governor, begged for the 
 liberty of his fellow-artist, and ultimately obtained it on 
 becoming personally answerable for his conduct. He did not 
 rest here ; but took Brauwer to his own princely mansion in 
 Antwerp, where he gave him a chamber for his exclusive use, 
 clothed him anew, and assigned him a place at his table. 
 
 Fortune now seemed to have done her best for Brauwer, 
 but he was not the man to value her smiles. His short residence 
 in the house of the courtly Rubens, who lived more like a prince 
 than a painter, instead of elevating only depressed a man whose 
 chief joy centred in tavern life. Like old Walter Llapes, his 
 aspiration was — 
 
 "In a tavern to be till the day of his death, 
 Witii no stint tq the full-flowinfj bowl, 
 That angels might sing, as he drew his last breath, 
 ' Rest and peace be to this thirsty soul.' "• 
 
 * Walter Mapes flourished in the twelfth century as Archdeacon of Oxford. This 
 thirsty cliurchman thus expressed himself in the fiiht stanza of his celebrated convivial song, 
 with a strength above our translation — 
 
 " Milii est propositum in tabema mnri, 
 Vinum sit apposilum niorientis ori, 
 Ut dicunt, cum venerint angelorum chori, 
 ' Dcu8 sit propitius huic j)otatori.' " 
 
THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 
 
 M9 
 
 He made a precipitate retreat from Rubens' house to the 
 beershops, selling his clothes for drink. Becoming acquainted 
 with a boon-companion, one Joseph van Craesbeck, a baker, 
 he took the offer he gave the painter to board and lodge him 
 on condition that he gave him lessons in art. Master and pupil 
 were as constantly carousing as painting, until at last all things 
 
 Fig. 102. — Gate of St. Julian's Hospital, Antwerp. 
 
 went so ill with them that flight was again necessary, and both 
 started for Paris. Brauwer, however, found the life of the 
 Parisian unlike the beer-drinking of Belgium and Holland, and 
 longed to return. But he got no farther on his road back than 
 Antwerp, where he arrived, suffering from disease, exhaustion, 
 and neglect. As a pauper he was received in the old public 
 
hospital of the city (Fig. 102), and there died wretchedly, in the 
 year 1660.* His body, wrapped in the straw pallet upon which 
 he died, was inhumed in the burial-ground devoted to the 
 plague-stricken ; but his old friend Rubens, hearing of this, and 
 much moved at the untimely end of so true a genius and so 
 great an artist, had him re-buried at his own cost, with all 
 honour, in one of the principal churches of the city, and deter- 
 mined to erect a monument to his memory. He perfected his 
 design, but was himself numbered among the dead ere he could 
 have it executed. 
 
 In Gerard Douw we find the quietude of an Ostade. 
 Throughout a long life he resided at Leyden (Fig. 103), and 
 devoted his whole thought to his art. Painstaking in a most 
 extraordinary degree, he laboured unremittingly on his pictures ; 
 and Sandraat, in recording a visit he paid him in company with 
 Bamboccio, narrates, that Douw declared he should bestow three 
 days more in finishing a broom in one corner of the picture, 
 which had already attracted the attention of both by its laborious 
 manipulation. In all his works he indulged the same love of 
 minute finish ; and he was as careful of the colours he used, 
 grinding them himself, and treading his studio on tiptoe, lest 
 he should raise dust on his palette to injure their brilliancy. The 
 richness and purity of his colouring are still unrivalled ; and 
 though with some painters such extreme love of minute finish 
 
 • Tlie pulilic Ii()s|iital of Antwerp is appropriately named after St. Julian, that saint 
 being the patron of travellers. It is still a lar^e and useful establishment, but preserves no 
 traces of its antique features except the old Gothic doorway given above. 
 
THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 
 
 might sink their works to tameness, those of Douw have a vigour 
 and an expression never excelled by any artist of his age. His 
 pictures of Dutch life are perfect. " The Village School," in the 
 Museum of Amsterdam, is often quoted for its peculiar power, 
 and the difficulty the artist created for himself only to conquer it. 
 
 Fig. 103. — Leyden. 
 
 It represents a large room filled with figures, and lighted by four 
 candles at different parts of the composition. But a finer, if 
 not the finest work by Douw, is the picture in the Louvre, known 
 as "La Femme Hydropique," which displays his wonderful 
 colour, drawing, composition, and knowledge of effect, in the 
 most satisfactory manner. >$^^^^ •^^'^-^0§' 
 
 i^imX^ 
 
In Gerard Douw's works we view the superior life of the 
 Dutch. He has no love for the delineation of vulgar or coarse 
 scenes, such as delighted too many of his compeers, and gave too 
 much weight to critical objections to their works in general. 
 Refined minds, used to the purities and high resolves of the 
 Italian schools, received a repulsive shock from the scenes of 
 Brauwer and Jan Steen, and could scarcely tolerate the simple 
 truth of Teniers, or the grand imaginings of Rubens, accom- 
 panied by the coarseness which seemed almost inseparable from 
 the governing ideas of these masters. Ostade, on the contrary, 
 elevates all he touches ; his youthful figures breathe health and 
 win affection ; his men and women are not the tanned and 
 wrinkled creatures repulsive to eye and mind, but rather lovable 
 from the deeply-traced furrows with which sixty winters of genial 
 thought have seamed their faces — '* frosty " the end of their 
 life scarcely seems, it is so "kindly" withal; and if we would 
 pleasantly dream over the old time in Holland, and live in 
 imagination among the people of the seventeenth century, we 
 must go to the works of Ostade and Douw (Fig. 104), 
 
 It is by studying the paintings of Jan Steen we become most 
 intimately acquainted with the everyday life of the Dutch. Like 
 our own Hogarth, he had the keenest sense of humour ; and, like 
 him, he has been too frequently stigmatised as a slovenly painter, 
 or as a caricaturist. Both artists handled their pencils freely 
 enough, but they only did as much by one touch as less 
 impressible minds could do by a dozen ; while their equally 
 powerful perception of humorous character \od them to fix its 
 
THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 
 
 183 
 
 broadest features on their canvas. Careful execution, free con- 
 ception, vivid and powerful colour, and vigorous chiaro-osctiro, 
 are declared by Dr. Waagen to be found in the works of Jan 
 
 Fig. 104.— Hall of an Old House, Leyden. 
 
 Steen. Dr. Kiigler says, "They imply a clear and cheerful view 
 of common life, treated with a careless humour, and accompanied 
 by great force and variety of individual expression, such as 
 
1 84 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 evinces the sharpest observation. He is almost the only artist of 
 the Netherlands who has thus, with true genius, brought into full 
 play all those elements of comedy. His technical execution suits 
 his design ; it is carefully finished, and, notwithstanding the 
 closest attention to minute details, is as firm and correct as it is 
 free and light." In the landscape backgrounds of some of his 
 pictures — such as "The Game of Skittles," in Lord Ashburton's 
 gallery — we find qualities which the late J. W. W. Turner 
 declared " worthy of Cuyp." Some of his scenes of better-class 
 life — such as that known as "The Parrot," in the gallery at 
 Amsterdam — are full of grace and careful manipulation. It is, 
 however, chiefly by such pictures as his " Feast of St. Nicholas," 
 in the same collection, that he is best known ; here his humour 
 and expression are so great, that a French critic says you seem to 
 know the thoughts of each person in the picture. In Mr. 
 Baring's gallery there is a marvellous instance of his power — 
 an old woman looking up with a grotesque earnestness into a 
 doctor's face, who has come to attend her daughter. The lifelike 
 energy and vivid expression of fleeting humour in each feature 
 are perfectly wonderful. It is at once simply and boldly painted, 
 as if the expression had been caught by photography. 
 
 As reckless as Brauwer, Steen lived a happier life : he was 
 idle, gay, and thoughtless, but not vicious. Always poor, and 
 careless of money when he had it, he rattled through life, taking 
 its rough lessons with perfect good humour, and never caring for 
 the morrow. He was born at Leyden, in 1636, and died there in 
 1689. He married early, and had several children. His wife, 
 
like himself, was careless and equally improvident ; she appears 
 to have been quite as neglectful of all household duties and 
 provisions for the future as her husband. If what is affirmed 
 of some of his paintings be true, they represent her in no 
 creditable state of ebriety, and her whole household in confusion. 
 Unluckily, they both started in life in a brewery at Delft, which 
 was furnished for them by the artist's father, who was in that 
 trade. The young couple, however, kept their taps constantly 
 running for their own use and that of their friends, until 
 bankruptcy closed the doors, and Steen took up art for a fresh 
 living. The life of a tavern-keeper had, however, too great a 
 charm for Jan to relinquish readily, and he came back to Leyden 
 on the death of his father, and opened house as one of that 
 fraternity. Hither soon came all the topers of the town, and 
 many a careless artist to boot. Among them were IMieris and 
 Lievens ; the figure of Peace extending her olive branch, which 
 Jan painted for his sign, was indicative of the little trouble 
 the painter-publican chose to give his customers. Hence the 
 topers never troubled themselves to pay, and Jan, faithful to his 
 sign, gave them no uneasiness about it, until again compelled 
 to close his too friendly doors through debt. His careless wife 
 died soon after ; and his neglected children frequently became the 
 models for many of his pictures. He contracted a second 
 marriage with a woman who sold sheep's heads and "trotters" 
 in the butcher's market ; and he painted, and drank, and took 
 the world easy until his death, when he left his wife with nine 
 children, one of whom took to sculpture as a profession. 
 
 B B 
 
1 86 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 In spite of his culpable carelessness, and love of slatternly 
 ease and tap-room life, he had superior friends. The gentlemanly 
 Karel du Moor painted his humble second wife's portrait to 
 gratify them both ; Gabriel Metzu, the quiet and elegant 
 delineator of Dutch aristocratic life, was also his friend, and 
 sat with his wife to Jan for their portraits ; and Mieris, we have 
 already noted, was his boon-companion. The elegance of the 
 pictures by this latter artist, who always chose the higher life of 
 Holland, like his fellow-artist, Metzu, for the subjects of his 
 pencil, and delineated such scenes so admirably, would scarcely 
 have led to the conclusion that he could have found pleasure 
 in Jan's tavern at Leyden. But the fact is that Jan was a sound 
 artist, and could mix up agreeable knowledge with his farcical 
 jovialities. The orgies of Jan's tavern proved so fascinating, 
 that it is recorded Mieris was nearly drowned one night in a 
 dyke as he returned home in one of what Burns calls " The 
 wee short hours ayont the twal," rather the worse for liquor. 
 The painter was fished out by a cobbler, who, astonished at 
 his velvet dress and gold buttons, was still more surprised to find 
 the saved man only a poor painter ; but most astonished of 
 all when the artist, in his gratitude, made him a present of one of 
 his pictures, for which he obtained eight hundred florins. 
 
 It is in the works of Jan Stecn that we more particularly 
 see the ordinary life of the Dutch people depicted. Their 
 manners and customs may be there truly studied. ** The Feast 
 of St. Nicholas," at the museum at Amsterdam, and " The Mar- 
 riage," in the collection of Mr. Baring, illustrate our meaning. 
 
Stolid and unchanging as Dutchmen appear to be, two 
 centuries have not passed over their country without producing 
 very considerable changes in it. While the tourist will note, 
 as we have already done, much that reminds him of his first 
 impressions of Dutch life obtained from Dutch pictures, there is 
 also much that has passed away from the land for ever, and 
 which only exists in such representations. You still observe the 
 ivy-grown farm-house, with its " thick-pleached orchard," and its 
 quaint walls and gates ; but you see no longer the loosely-dressed 
 boor, with his wide Spanish doublet and balloon-breeches. 
 Paris has invaded Holland, and the Magazin des Modes has 
 had power enough to transform a Dutchman into a comparatively 
 fashionable being. Village life now is not the village life of 
 Ostade and Gerard Douw — it is less picturesque and less 
 slatternly ; it displays more of Dutch formality than we see 
 in their w^orks, but it has more of comfort and respectability. 
 It is in the quiet village inns that are still scattered over the land 
 we may now detect the last relics of old manners. As you 
 approach the principal towns you see many of these welcome 
 hostelries, the doors bowered over with grape vines, and looking 
 worthy the pencil of an Ostade, while the long shed beside their 
 trim gardens may, mentally, be easily peopled by the skittle and 
 tric-trac players of Teniers. In the open space before the house 
 a tall pole, some thirty feet in height, is frequently to be 
 observed ; it is crowned on gala days with a sort of weathercock, 
 and the wooden bars, placed at some distance around it, are 
 the marks where the men stand to shoot at it. It is the old 
 
188 HOMES, HAUNTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 papcguay, or fictitious parrot, which exercised the ability of the 
 young villagers at a time when archery was generally enforced as 
 a practice. In our country the custom was also adopted, and 
 shooting at the popinjay was as usual in an English village 
 of the time of Elizabeth as it was among the Dutch, who still 
 preserve their village life more unchanged than we do. Popular 
 customs are at all times the last to succumb to fashion ; and 
 while large towns vary continually, and take the most recent tone 
 of manners, the village goes on in the present generation pretty 
 much as it did in the last. Novelties are not so welcome there, 
 and are looked upon generally with a characteristic distrust. 
 
 But while we speak of changes in Holland since the days of 
 the old painters who have made its past age famous, it must 
 be borne in mind that they are the slow results of nearly two 
 centuries, and after all by no means make so great a change 
 during that long period as has been effected elsewhere. Even in 
 the towns many old customs are retained that have been in use 
 time-out-of-mind, and which have been immortalised in some 
 picture of one or other of the old masters of Holland. We have 
 already noted the humorous works of Jan Steen as the truest 
 transcripts of the manners which he saw around him. One 
 of them depicts a fellow dancing joyously into a room with a 
 fresh herring in liis hand, exultingly upheld by the tail. His 
 antics are received with a broad smile from all present. It would 
 be difficult for an ordinary spectator to understand all this, did 
 he not know that a fresh herring is considered by the Dutch 
 a panacea for every complaint ; and their arrival on their shores 
 
is hailed with so much joy, that the first who hears the news 
 generally makes it publicly known by hanging at his door a 
 frame, decorated with evergreen flowers and coloured paper, 
 in honour of the joyful event (Fig. 105). This silent mode of 
 communicating intelligence is used on other occasions. Thus, 
 at Haarlem, it is a custom on the birth of a child to affix to 
 the principal door, to denote the event, a pincushion, which 
 
 Fig. 105. — The Ilcning Sign. 
 
 is constructed of red silk, covered with lace, and deeply fringed. 
 The sex of the child is defined by a small piece of white paper 
 placed between the lace and cushion if it is a girl, but the 
 absence of all mark denotes a boy (Fig. 106). This custom has 
 other and solid advantages; it not only prevents intrusive 
 curiosity, but for a certain period the house is protected from 
 actions for debt— no bailiffs dare molest it, no soldiers can be 
 
1 90 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 billeted on it, and when troops march past the drums invariably 
 cease to beat.* 
 
 One Dutch town is so much like another that but for a few 
 remnants of an ancient kind they would become monotonous 
 to the stranger. Some of these relics are extremely picturesque ; 
 and at Haarlem the old Butchery is so costly and beautiful 
 a building, with its varied walls of white stone and red brick, and 
 its richly-carved decorations, as to make it 
 one of the principal features of the town. We 
 must, however, go back to old engravings if 
 w^e would see the very streets in which the 
 men of the days of Douw and Mieris walked. 
 Fortunately, their features have been pre- 
 served in old engravings scattered through 
 books sometimes devoted to subjects of an- 
 other kind. Our view of the stadtholder's 
 house at Haarlem (Fig. 107), and the sur- 
 rounding buildings, is of this nature ; and is 
 copied from La Serre's very curious volume 
 descriptive of the reception given to the queen-mother. Queen 
 Catherine de Medici, by the principal Dutch towns, in the year 
 1635, w^hen she paid a visit to the Low Countries on her way to 
 her daughter Henrietta-lNIaria, the queen of Charles L, performing 
 
 Mg. 106.— The Birth- 
 Token. 
 
 ♦ The custom is traditionally reported to have originated owing to the death of a 
 merchant's wife, whose house had bc-jn entered noisily and rudely by olhccrs, on the occa- 
 sion of his bankiiiplcy, during licr confnienicnt. 
 
THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 
 
 iql 
 
 the journey from Bar-le-Duc to Gorcum, and crossing the sea 
 from thence to Harwich. 
 
 Some of the Dutch towns are less altered in their general 
 features than might have been imagined, and this is strikingly 
 the case with the chief of them, Amsterdam. The peculiar nature 
 
 Fig. 107. — The Stadtholder's House, Haarlem, 1O35. 
 
 of its foundations, and the difficulty of tampering with its 
 necessary arrangements, may have induced this. The visitor at 
 the present time looking at it across from Waterland, will see a 
 city in no degree changed in its broad aspect from the days of 
 Rembrandt. When Catherine de Medici made her "happy 
 
iq2 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 entry" into that city, in 1C35, its features from this point 
 were delineated by De Vlieger, and have been copied in our cut 
 (Fig. 108). It might have been sketched yesterday, so completely 
 does it give the striking characteristics of this old city of the sea. 
 
 The Hague, as it appeared during the palmy era of Dutch 
 art, is seen in another of our cuts, and that being the " fashion- 
 able " locality has changed most ; indeed, there has been a 
 
 I'iy. 108. — Amsterdam, 1635. 
 
 visible desire to make it accord to the refinements and tastes 
 of modern high life, as much as can be consistent with national 
 character (Fig. 109). It is the residence of the court, and is 
 to Amsterdam what the Versailles of the days of Louis XIV. 
 was to Paris. There is one characteristic feature of the Hague 
 which has remained unchanged, — and that is the favourite 
 promenade on the road to Scheveningen, or Scheveling, as it is 
 sometimes called. It is an avenue of oaks and limes, nearly 
 
THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 
 
 '93 
 
 three miles in length, perfectly straight, and bounded by the 
 little steeple of the parish church of Scheveningen at the farther 
 end, which may be seen from the Hague. The trees are here 
 allowed to grow in full luxuriance, and shadow the road, which is 
 never lonely — for the Hague is the most pleasant and healthy 
 
 Fig. 109.— The Hai^uc, 1635. 
 
 of Dutch towns, and the favourite resort of the Hollander. 
 The refreshing sea-breeze may always be inhaled here; hence 
 pedestrians and equestrians choose this road, and the idle find 
 constant amusement in sitting under the trees and watching 
 the passers-by. Scheveningen is a little fishing village on 
 the sea-shore, occupied by about three hundred fishermen, and 
 
 c c 
 
'9+ 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 their carts may be met on this road in the morning, drawn by 
 strong dogs, conveying fish to the Hague (Fig. i lo). The situation 
 of the village itself is particularly dreary ; the sea-margin is a 
 sandy desert, planted here and there with rushes to prevent 
 
 Fig. no. — Tlic Koail to Schcvoningcn. 
 
 the sand from blowing over-land in stormy weather. It is of 
 interest in English history as the place from whence King 
 Charles II. embarked to resume the sovereignty of England,* and 
 as the birth-place of William III. 
 
 • There is a very interesting and curious picture, representing this event with tnio Diitcli 
 minuteness, in the Gallery at Hampton Court. 
 
The pictures of IMetzu, Mieris, and Terburg exhibit the 
 highest tone of Dutch society, — the wealth and comfort of their 
 indoor life, the richness of their apparel, the simple dignity 
 of their bearing. A Dutchman may feel proud of the ancestry 
 delineated by his native painters, of the patriots who fought and 
 bled more determinedly for their liberties than the men of any 
 other nation have been called upon to do. In the really grand 
 picture at Amsterdam, representing the city-guard met to 
 celebrate the important treaty of Miinster, which gave inde- 
 pendence to the Dutch after long years of Spanish treachery and 
 cruelty, the painter has truthfully portrayed men, certainly 
 without ideal gracefulness, but with innate manly dignity which 
 gives a lifelike charm to the picture, and has obtained for 
 Van der Heist the highest position in this branch of art.* To a 
 morally-balanced mind the home-scenes of such painters are 
 as capable of imparting pleasure as the more ambitious attempts 
 of the heroic school, inasmuch as they generally steer clear of 
 anachronisms and false sentiment. Art is catholic in its views, 
 and should be received on broad principles ; it would be unfair to 
 disregard a Greek cameo because it does not overpower the 
 
 * Sir Joshua Reynolds has given his opinion of lliis noble picture in the strongest 
 manner; he says it is " perhaps the finest picture of portraits in the world, comprehending 
 more of those qualities which make a perfect portrait than any other I have ever seen." 
 Kiigler also testifies to its truth, boldness, and brilliancy. It has been recently veiy 
 carefully and beautifully engraved, but we lose in the engraving the admirable colouring 
 which gives so great a charm to the noble original, malcing it rival in attractiveness the 
 " Night Guard " of Rembrandt, which hangs opposite to it in tlie Galleiy of the Hague. 
 Two such pictures may be sought in vain elsewhere. 
 
eye like a bas-relief by Phidias — particularly as a study of both 
 would assure us that the same great principles governed the mind 
 which produced each. The minute finish which some find 
 objectionable in such works as those of Douw and Ostade, 
 may be excused as necessary results from minds schooled to 
 patient labour, but they never forgot the true fundamental 
 principles of art ; for however laboured their works appear, 
 their design and general arrangement of colour are broad 
 and bold. As compositions they may be viewed at any 
 distance satisfactorily, but they will also reward the nearest 
 scrutiny. 
 
 The painters just named were particularly happy in the 
 delineation of what are sometimes termed '' conversation-pieces " 
 — an old-fashioned designation which is singularly and usefully 
 characteristic of such designs. In them we see a sort of 
 photographed view of old Dutch manners. The wealth of 
 Holland peeps forth in every one of them. The costly silks, 
 velvets, and furs of the ladies, are rivalled by the velvets, 
 feathers, and gold lace of their gallants. The ebony cabinets, 
 carved chairs, and massive furniture, which generally fill the 
 rooms delineated, display the wealth and love of comfort which 
 reigned paramount in the dwellings of the rich merchants of the 
 Low Countries. The very ponderosity of the various articles are 
 characteristic ; so also are the Indian jars and carpets, the 
 parrots and monkeys, whicli hint very plainly the far-sighted 
 spirit of trading enterprise that gave the Dutch nation a well- 
 deserved pre-eminence in the seventeenth century. The traveller 
 
THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 197 
 
 may yet trace in Holland the old love for the products of Eastern 
 taste and skill, and the porcelain of China and Japan is still 
 the ordinary ware of the Dutchman ; he also revels in a 
 Chinese summer-house, and delights in a monkey or an aviary 
 of birds, whose notes seem but the outpourings of a sad 
 reminiscence of a sunny land far away, to which they will never 
 return. 
 
 Imitative aft can never be carried further than it was by 
 Terburg in his famous picture known as "The Satin Gown," 
 a picture which has been made more known by the notice it 
 has received by Goethe in his *' Wahlverwandschaften." He 
 describes it as representing a noble, knightly-looking man, who 
 sits with one leg over the other addressing himself to the 
 conscience of his daughter, who stands before him. "She is a 
 majestic figure, in a full and flowing dress of white satin ; her 
 back only is seen, but the whole attitude shows that she is 
 struggling with her feelings. The mother, too, seems to be 
 concealing a little embarrassment, for she looks into a wine-glass 
 out of which she is sipping." The extraordinary qualities it 
 possesses as a transcript of Nature are unrivalled, and the satin 
 gown of the principal figure is reality itself. 
 
 There was a still lower class of imitative art practised with 
 unremitting patience and assiduity by some few Dutch painters. 
 They devoted themselves to " still-life," and produced repre- 
 sentations of the humblest furniture of the kitchen. At the 
 head of this class stands William Kalf, who was born at 
 Amsterdam in 1630, and died in 1693, having devoted his life not 
 
only to the delineations of the gold and silver cups* of the wealthy 
 burgomaster, but to the humblest utilities of his establishment. 
 Yet such simple subjects give the painter opportunities for 
 composition, colour, and chiaro-oscuro of the finest kind. He 
 brought great rules of art to bear on all he delineated, and 
 he elevated the commonplace to the poetic. " In the treatment 
 even of these things there is an ideal, or beautiful, as distinct 
 from a literal imitation." f 
 
 The camp life of the Dutch was ably represented by a series of 
 painters, who delighted to depict 
 
 " Battle's magnificently stern array." 
 
 It was, unhappily, too common a sight in Holland ; the history of 
 the country is that of one continuous struggle for freedom. The 
 frightful scenes which Callot has depicted in his " ^liseries of 
 War" were enacted over and over again by the cruel agents 
 of the Duke of Alva upon the devoted and suffering people. 
 While they must have hated the sight of a Spanish trooper, they 
 must have looked with joy on the native defenders of their 
 country. Certainly, never were soldiers braver than the soldiers 
 of Holland ; never did men fight more devotedly for a country ; 
 never were imperishable deeds of pure patriotism graven deeper 
 
 * Tiic Dutch i)oct who composed his epitaph declares in it, that all the plate he ever 
 painted would not be suniciont reward to so virtuous a man as was the rdinctl and patient 
 painter of these metallic treasures, many of which are remarkable for their fancy and taste 
 in design. 
 
 t Leslie, " Lectures on Tainting," p. 243. 
 
on the eternal tablets of fame. We see only in the painting of 
 the Hollander the picturesque features of war — 
 
 " The mounting in hot haste the steed, 
 
 The mustering squadron and the clattering car, 
 That pouring forward with impetuous speed 
 Doth swiftly form the solid ranks of war." 
 
 The prince of painters in this branch of art is Philip 
 Wouvermans. There is a picturesque beauty given by him to 
 camp-life, which has an irresistible charm for the eye. We see 
 the bustle which follows the trumpeter's call to horse ; we notice 
 the readiness of the well-caparisoned officer, the grudging 
 departure of the common soldier, absorbed in gambling or 
 drinking till the last moment has arrived to fall into the ranks. 
 The gaiety of the uniforms, the beauty and vigour of the horses, 
 the entire " pictorial element " which reigns over the scene, 
 makes us feel that war thus 
 
 " Hid in magnificence, and drowned in state, 
 Loses the fiend." 
 
 It is a proof that the world has increased in humanity as the last 
 two centuries have passed over it ; for it has been the province 
 of modern art alone to rob war of its false glories, and teach us 
 to look on the reverse of the picture. Never was a poem more 
 touchingly written than that which Sir Edwin Landseer has 
 painted in his pictures of "Peace" and "War:" never did 
 philosopher descant more convincingly on the text that it is 
 chiefly 
 
 " Alan's inhumanity to man 
 Makes countless thousands mourn." 
 
HOMES, HAUNTS, AXD WORKS OF 
 
 Wouvermans was the perfect type of a Dutchman — reserved, 
 industrious, and eminently fond of home. During his whole 
 lifetime he lived in Haarlem (Fig. 1 1 1), unvarying the calm tenour 
 of his course. From such a reserved man one would hardly 
 expect these vivid pictures of peculiar phases of life. He also 
 
 Fi". 1 1 1. — Gate at Haailcni. 
 
 delighted in painting jovial parties of sportsmen — sometimes 
 riding out with ladies, equipped for hawking, and sometimes 
 galloping over heath and plain after the hunted stag, or reposing 
 in the cool shade near a spring. Kiigler, who notrs this, also 
 remarks, that " one of the points of interest in these pictures 
 
THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 
 
 201 
 
 is the feeling for well-bred society and decorum, assisted by some 
 little hint at a novel-like relation between the personages 
 represented. The other main point of interest in Wouverman's 
 
 Fig. 112. — Wouvermans. 
 
 pictures is derived from the taste and knowledge with ^which 
 he delighted to paint the horse, that constant companion of 
 the out-door-life of a gentleman, in all its various and manifold 
 
 D D 
 
situations. In many of his works the horse is treated as the 
 principal figure ; he painted him in the stable, being saddled, 
 in the maiiegey when taken to water or to the fair (Fig. 113). 
 Other subjects which afford opportunity for prominently dis- 
 playing the figure of the horse — such as battles, attacks by 
 robbers, or adventures of carriers — were frequently painted by 
 
 .'"^"■V 
 
 Fig. 113. 
 
 him." He had a somewhat ideal mode of treating landscape 
 accessories, which are all subservient to the general effect of the 
 figures introduced. Although his brother Peter was one of the 
 most successful imitators of his peculiarities, Philip may be 
 safely said to have originated and ui)li('ld hy liis own genius 
 a peculiar phase of art, which hius never since been so success- 
 fully cultivated. 
 
THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 203 
 
 Van der Meulen, more ambitious, and less caring for the 
 quietude of home-life, became a camp-follower of Louis XIV., 
 and painted the campaigns of that monarch from observation, 
 industriously covering the walls of Versailles with pictures 
 of its master's heroism ; and here the Grande Mo7iarque could 
 repose amid the contemplation of his own glories, and listen 
 to the adulations of Boileau and Racine. The full-dressed 
 glories of his battles, as depicted by his Dutch servant, seem to 
 render war a mere showy masquerade, did we not see the 
 devastation which proceeds far away from king and courtier 
 in the distance, and know from the truer page of history the 
 wanton and wicked invasions this cold-hearted voluptuary con- 
 tinually made upon better men than himself. 
 
 Marine-painting more naturally fell within the scope of the 
 Hollander, and nowhere else did the art flourish so well as 
 among the Dutch painters. Ludolf Backhuysen and William 
 Van der Velde are names which take highest place in this 
 department. It is recorded that Admiral de Ruyter ordered 
 cannon to be fired from his noble vessels of war, for the 
 express purpose of its effects being studied by the latter artist 
 when engaged in painting his sea-fights. 
 
 It therefore is in "the actual," as exhibited in every phase of 
 life and nature, that the artists of Holland achieved their 
 position ; but paramount as their claims may be in this 
 particular, we find sublimity combined with it in the works of 
 Rembrandt, and poetry in Cuyp and Ruysdael. All is, however, 
 strongly tinged with native feeling, so unmistakably pronounced 
 
204 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 that we could not mistake a Dutch picture for the production 
 of the painters of any other nation. It is as visible in the 
 landscapes of Hobbema as it is in the peasant scenes of Ostade. 
 But it was chiefly the popular scenes of Dutch life by the genre- 
 painters that gave celebrity to this new school of art, and made it 
 generally popular. 
 
 We by no means intend in this place to combat the 
 objections made to this style of art by the admirers of the 
 ideal school, or the elevated conceptions of the great masters 
 of Italy ; but simply to plead for the fact of as much ideality 
 and poetry existing in the works of the Dutch as their sphere 
 of action will allow. We plead for their truth ; for the perfect 
 art-power they have in displaying this truth ; for the sentiment 
 and feeling that continually lurk beneath it, to gratify all who 
 will diligently search for it, there as elsewhere in the world 
 it remains — hidden from merely superficial observation. M. 
 Charles Blanc has grappled with the most difficult portion of 
 this subject when treating of the works of Rembrandt ; we will 
 only, therefore, refer to the labours of such artists among the 
 other painters of the Low Countries as make ordinary life the 
 subjects of their pencils. Leslie, in his '* Lectures," has put 
 these claims clearly. He says, " The great merit of the Flemish 
 and Dutch painters is the absence of all affected and mawkish 
 sensibility — all that stage trickery on the spectator, by which 
 he is made to believe himself touched to the heart. This false 
 sentiment began with Greuze, and has ever since more or less 
 infected art." Their power of conveying interest to the most 
 
THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 205 
 
 ordinary actions he illustrates by one public example. He says, 
 "There are few pictures in our National Gallery before which 
 I find myself more often standing than the very small one by 
 Maas, the subject of which is the scraping of a parsnip. A 
 decent-looking Dutch housewife sits intently engaged in this 
 operation, with a fine chubby child standing by her side watching 
 the process, as children will stand and watch the most ordinary 
 operations, with an intensity of interest as if the very existence 
 of the whole world depended on the exact manner in which 
 that parsnip was scraped. It is not the colour and light and 
 shadow of this charming little gem, superlative as they are, 
 that constitute its great attraction ; for a mere outline of it would 
 arrest attention among a thousand subjects of its class, and 
 many pictures as beautiful in effect might not interest so much ; 
 but it is the delight at seeing a trait of childhood we have often 
 observed and been amused with in Nature, for the first time 
 so felicitously given by art. I have noticed the natural manner 
 in which Raphael and other great painters represented children 
 as wholly uninterested in that which engages the attention of 
 their elders. Here the incident is exactly the reverse, and 
 treated with equal felicity." It may startle some few minds to 
 find this conjunction of the names of Raphael and Maas ; but no 
 happier instance could prove the fact that 
 
 " One touch of Nature makes the whole world kin." 
 
 If we owe the artists of Holland no other gratitude for their 
 labours, let us at least award them this their just due — all honour 
 
 
2o6 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF 
 
 for the true and persevering study of Nature. The world had 
 been in danger of losing simplicity in art, and getting the 
 laboured results of scholastic rules instead : an art that every one 
 might comprehend, and be improved by the comprehension, 
 was evolved from the ateliers of Holland. It taught that the 
 world around us is filled with poetry to reward the ardent seeker 
 of the beautiful, and it displayed this truth with all the vigour of 
 an honest nature. 
 
 The lives of these artists are instructive even in their 
 unobtrusiveness. Brief as our notices have necessarily been of 
 their career, there is little more to record of them. They passed 
 their lives in the closest study of Nature, and found in her varied 
 beauties enough to employ it well in imitating her charms ; 
 content in the sphere of action to which their genius had assigned 
 them, they worked on regardless of the more prosaic men around 
 them, and patiently waited the recognition of the inherent truth 
 of their works. Some were honoured in their own day, and 
 reaped the harvest they had sown, but others lived poor and 
 died neglected ; yet who shall say they were not happier men 
 than the wealthier merchants of their land ? Untrammelled by 
 the cares of trade, and freely roaming in scenes his heart 
 responds to, the painter, however poor, is wealthy in his nobk-r 
 aspirations after the beautiful, implanted in the world by the 
 divine hand of its Maker. The mammon-worshipping professor 
 of art may be endued with genius occasionally, but he is a 
 rara avis^ and is considerably outnumbered by his less wealthy 
 brethren. It is, however, essential to greatness that it be allied 
 
THE DUTCH GENRE-PAINTERS. 207 
 
 to devotion, and that cannot be without some abandonment 
 of self. The world, it has been said, frequently knows nothing 
 of its greatest men ; but are not such men made great by- 
 abstraction from its narrowing jealousies, its struggles for power, 
 its sacrifice of simplicity and pure-mindedness at the shrine of 
 wealth and worldliness ? 
 
THE DUTCH LANDSCAPE AND FLOWER-PAINTERS. 
 
 E E 
 
THE DUTCH LANDSCAPE AND FLOWER- 
 PAINTERS. 
 
 j|ANDSCAPE-PAINTING as an independent art, is the 
 youngest of the category. Beautiful as were the back- 
 ground views introduced into the works of the old 
 painters, they were backgrounds merely, and secondary to the 
 main intention of the picture. As an art self-reliant in its claims, 
 it does not appear to have come boldly forth, willing to stand on 
 its own merits, before the close of the sixteenth century. It is to 
 the artists of the Low Countries that we owe this now popular 
 branch of art. The landscape backgrounds of the early German 
 and Flemish masters certainly originated the art, but it was the 
 later painters of Holland who perfected its power. Appended 
 to Kiigler's remarks, in his "Handbook of Painting," that 
 " Landscape, in the hands of Titian and Giorgione, sometimes 
 assumed an independent character, and it is said that Titian was 
 the first to treat it as a separate branch of Art," we have this 
 note, by Sir Charles Eastlake — " Landscape-painting in Italy, 
 however independent in its perfection, appears in its origin 
 to have been indebted, in more than one instance, to a German 
 influence. Vasari distinctly says that Titian kept some German 
 
HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF THE 
 
 landscape-painters in his house, and studied with them for some 
 months. In Bologna it is probable that Denys Calvert, a 
 Flemish artist, first excited the emulation of the Caracci, 
 Domenichino, and others, who, in the end, formed so distin- 
 guished a school of landscape-painters. In both these instances 
 a certain resemblance to the German manner, however differently- 
 modified by the character of the schools, is to be recognised, 
 especially in the umbellated treatment of the foliage." It is 
 impossible for any student of mediaeval art not to have been 
 frequently struck by the great beauty of the landscape back- 
 grounds introduced into the historic or religious pictures of 
 that period. It is true that they are always conventionally 
 treated, and rendered subservient to the ruling motive of the 
 picture ; but we cannot wonder that landscape should eventually 
 assert its own sole power of charming, by the repose and beauty 
 it imparts, even when used as a simple accessory. The works 
 of Van Eyck, Memling, and Diirer, frequently allow landscape to 
 share at least one half of the attention of the spectator ; and they 
 appear to have intended this, to give a certain air to their 
 compositions which would else be wanting. It was their avowed 
 object to delineate great space, and they did this by invariably 
 carrying the eye of the spectator to the extreme distance of the 
 view by concentrating the light upon the horizon : nothing 
 can exceed the brilliancy, beauty, clearness, and depth of space 
 exhibited in these early works. It induced others of the school to 
 go further, and make the figures in a historical or religious 
 picture secondary to it; but it was not until the beginning of 
 
DUTCH LANDSCAPE AND FLOWER-PAINTERS. 213 
 
 the seventeenth century that the grand conceptions of Poussin 
 and Rubens gave entire independence to this branch of art, 
 and proved its innate power to command alone its own tribe 
 of worshippers. The Dutch painters afterwards persevered in the 
 new track until the triumph was complete. 
 
 The fantastic redundancy of details, the conventional [forms 
 of trees, and the equally conventional treatment of the general 
 effect in very early landscapes by the artists of the Low Countries, 
 were completely cast aside in the grander and truer works which 
 resulted from the ateliers of Holland. Annibale Caracci had 
 sometimes devoted himself to the delineation of the scenery 
 of the Apennines ; and contemporary with him there lived at 
 Rome Paul Bril, who, born at Antwerp, combined the taste of 
 his native school with that of the greater Italian. Suddenly, 
 a series of landscape-painters appear upon the stage, and the 
 early parts of the century saw the master-minds of Poussin 
 and Rubens joined by Claude, the most charming of all. He 
 received his early training from the Fleming, Paul Bril ; and one 
 great trait of the early school is visible in his works — the love 
 of repose, and the idea of air and space, given by condensing the 
 light on the horizon, or in the extreme distance of the picture. 
 The ideal beauty thus evolved in the works of these great men 
 kept up and stimulated the school of landscape-painters in 
 the Low Countries, and contemporary with Claude and John 
 Both, were Jacob Ruysdael, John Wynants, John Baptist Weenix, 
 and his greater pupil, Nicholas Berghem, who were all occupied 
 on landscape solely ; while such master-minds as those of Cuyp 
 
and Potter made its beauties an integral part of their immortal 
 works. Rembrandt had devoted his powerful genius to the 
 display of effects hitherto undeveloped in the art, and the 
 grandeur with which he invested a simple landscape by the aid 
 of powerful chtaro-oscuro, and the study of storm and sunshine, as 
 in his famous " Three Trees," vindicated the art from a low level, 
 and gave it a position that only the genius of our own great 
 masters, Gainsborough, Constable, Wilson, Turner, Linnell, and 
 others, could elevate. 
 
 This youngest daughter of the arts, though unquestionably 
 the favourite of the public, has been received by her sisters in 
 some degree as an interloper, and her claim to equal sympathy 
 denied. Surely this is unjust : is God's beautiful world less to be 
 valued, or less worthy our study, than the world of man's 
 passion ? " Rocks, trees, mountains, plains, and waters," says 
 Leslie, " are the features of landscape ; but its expression is from 
 above. The love of landscape is a love so pure that it can 
 never associate with the relishes of a mere voluptuary, and 
 wherever such a love is native, it is the certain indication of 
 a superior mind." Constable declared of one of Gainsborough's 
 landscapes, " I cannot think of it, even now, without tears in my 
 eyes." How many of Constable's pictures are redolent of all the 
 freshness of earth's beauties ! so fresh, so pure, that wc may 
 almost exclaim with Gray — 
 
 " I feci the gales that from ye blow 
 A momentary bliss bestow." 
 
DUTCH LANDSCAPE AND FL WER-PAINTERS. 2 1 5 
 
 Any eulogy on Turner, whose pictures are poems, would be 
 inappropriate here ; an abler pen has enforced his claims to 
 honour. We would merely remark that it is unbecoming in 
 Englishmen, at any rate, to depreciate this lovely art; for, 
 rivalled as we may be in other branches, in this the genius of 
 English painters is acknowledged to be supreme. 
 
 In the pictures by Ruysdael there is a grandeur of composition 
 and a boldness of treatment which belong to no other Dutch 
 landscape-painter. He alone displays mountain scenery and 
 foaming cataracts, which must have been idealisations in a great 
 degree — he could not have studied the grand features he depicts 
 in the monotony of his own land, which some authors assure 
 us he never quitted. It has been conjectured that he rambled 
 to Guelderland and Westphalia ; but, allowing this, he must 
 have exaggerated what he could see there, to produce the noble 
 mountains and boldly-dashing waterfalls he delighted to depict.* 
 He was born at Haarlem in 1636 (Fig. 115), and was the son 
 of a picture-frame maker. Of a gloomy and reserved temper, 
 he lived alone, and died poor in 1681 ; yet his works have a rare 
 
 * It has been asserted that Ruysdael constructed models to paint from, composed of 
 small twigs and fractured stones, which he exaggerated into trees and mountains, and so 
 composed his works. Such antagonisms might be doubted, had we not other instances 
 where the artistic mind has been stimulated by the very opposite means that would 
 ordinarily be supposed were used. Thus it is known of Guido that his most beautiful 
 female heads were painted from a male colour-grinder, who is described as perfectly 
 hideous, and whose features were transformed into a itagdalen, with the same pose and 
 chiaro-oscuro, but with perfect beauty ; the artist evidently using his model as a means of 
 producing beauty by contrast alone. 
 
2l6 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF THE 
 
 excellence. The ideality which invests his scenes is gloomily 
 
 grand, worthy of tho solitary man who lived only for his art, 
 and saw only the severe or terrible features of nature. If he 
 
DUTCH LANDSCAPE AND FLOWER-PAINTERS. 
 
 217 
 
 painted a native scene, which seldom occurred, it is invested with 
 the mouraful gloom of Holland, rather than with the happier 
 features depicted by other artists. His pictures are to landscape- 
 art what the Spanish school is to the French — vigorous and 
 grand, but terrible. His scholars, Hobbema and De Vries, lose 
 
 Fig. 115. — Street in Haarlem. 
 
 his gloom ; but the former retains much of his grandeur, though 
 devoted to less ambitious scenes. 
 
 Casting away all lugubrious views of his own countr}', 
 Berghem delighted in representing simple nature in full joyous- 
 ness. In this quality he differs from most masters of the Dutch 
 
 F F 
 
2i8 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF THE 
 
 school. He is the very reverse of his friend Ruysdael. The 
 gloomy grandeur of his solitary and poetic mind impresses itself 
 on the scenes he depicts ; and you cannot study them without 
 a feeling of " divine melancholy " creeping over the mind. 
 Berghem, on the contrary, delights in bright skies, light clouds, 
 and cheerful pastoral scenes. Unlike Ruysdael, he seeks not 
 northern gloom, but rather southern sunshine. He was born 
 at Haarlem in 1624, and was the son of Peter Van Haerlem,* 
 a painter of very moderate ability, who lived by delineating those 
 pictures of still-life in which the Hollanders delighted. He had, 
 however, excellent instruction from the artists who knew his 
 father, and who liked the cheeerful disposition of the son ; and 
 his uncle Weenix, whose daughter he married, improved his 
 tastes. He was intimate in the best part of his life with 
 Wouvermans, Everdingen, Both, and Ruysdael ; and his time 
 passed happily in the varied society of such friends. With them, 
 or with nature, or else in delineating her better features in his 
 own studio, he knew peace ; but not with his wife, who was in 
 disposition sordid, while the painter possessed the geniality of 
 soul which beams forth on his canvas. It is related of her that 
 she constantly spurred him to exertion by knocking against the 
 wall of his studio, and kept his earnings that he might not 
 
 • The name he is popularly known liy is a sobriquet, which originated, it is said, in his 
 escaping from the infliction of some chastisement from his father's house to that of the 
 painter Van Goycn, who, fearful that the irritated parent should reach him, called to 
 the inmates, Bcrtf hem (or, hide him). 
 
indulge his taste for old prints. In the Chateau of Bentheim, 
 where he resided, he had but to walk to the windows of his studio 
 to gaze on green meadows, luxuriant trees, and cattle in every 
 variety of grouping. Some writers affirm that he must have 
 travelled to Italy, and could not have obtained by the aid of his 
 own large collection of prints the ruins and temples he so well 
 depicted in some of his works. They do not, however, sufficiently 
 take into consideration the great constructiveness of some artistic 
 minds — the way they comprehend one object through another. 
 All Berghem's southern scenes are really translated into Dutch. 
 His power of imitation is known to have been so great, that 
 he could deceive connoisseurs by painting in the precise style 
 of other artists. 
 
 He had many pupils, among whom the only happy hours 
 of his life passed. Karel Dujardin is conjectured to have been 
 one ; but he certainly taught Peter de Hooge, Dirk Maas, and 
 Artus Van der Neer. This latter artist delighted to paint the 
 effects of evening and night. "A piece of w^ater in a wood, sur- 
 rounded by high dark trees ; a lonely canal, whose tranquil surface 
 reflects the light of the moon ; a city in repose, steeped in the 
 quiet moonlight — sometimes the calm peacefulness of night broken 
 by the glaring light of a conflagration ; these are the subjects 
 which Van der Neer delighted to repeat in the most free and 
 pleasing style ; and with these he again and again rivets the eyes 
 of the spectators."* In our National Gallery we possess a 
 
 * KiJsler's " Handbook of Painlino." 
 
220 HOMES^ HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF THE 
 
 charming specimen of his power of conveying the peculiar effects 
 of moonlight — an effect which could not be secured by sketching, 
 and therefore argues a most retentive memory for the varied hues 
 of nature. 
 
 There is another and a distinct class of students of nature 
 whom the Dutch school originated — they who "represent what 
 may be called the still-life of field-plants, under whose friendly 
 shelter beetles and lizards, little birds and snakes, pass their 
 unheeded existence ; "* or who depict the magnificent bouquets in 
 richly-sculptured vases, with which the rich merchant princes 
 of Holland decorated their mansions ; or else dispose of them 
 in "most admired disorder, strewn upon a table, or entwined 
 around a picture or bas-relief." John Breughel was one of the 
 earliest artists who delighted in making pictures of these " stars 
 of the earth;" and he was succeeded and outstripped by his 
 scholar, Daniel Seghers, who first grouped their forms and 
 colours into harmonious conjunction, and carried high prin- 
 ciples of composition into his works. A peculiar poetic 
 feeling also pervades the flower-painting of John David de 
 Heem ; and from his atelier proceeded many excellent scholars, 
 and among them some few ladies, to whom the art has always 
 presented charms. The most celebrated lady flower-painter was 
 Rachel Ruysch, or Van Pool, her married name, who flourished in 
 the latter half of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth 
 
 • KiiKlci's "llaiidlwok i>r I'.iintiii;,'." 
 
DUTCH LANDSCAPE AND FLOWER-PAINTERS. 221 
 
 century. At the same period lived John Van Huysum, whose 
 flowers are said to want only perfume to make them real. 
 
 This celebrated artist was born at Amsterdam in 1682, and 
 was the son of a house-decorator. The incidents of his life 
 consist, as usual with Dutch artists, of the catalogue of his works. 
 Between painting at home and visiting the flower-gardens of 
 Haarlem, his days passed quietly away. He died in 1749, after 
 having enjoyed great patronage for his works, which were sold at 
 a high rate, and were sought for by most of the European 
 sovereigns and nobles. 
 
 The taste for decorative gardening and rare flowers was at 
 this period carried to the greatest extent ; men would ruin them- 
 selves to possess a certain tulip-bulb ; the records of no country 
 produce parallels to the mania for flowers which once beset the 
 Hollander. Haarlem was the grand centre of their growth, and 
 thither came rich amateurs from all parts of Holland, as well as 
 from distant countries.* The flower-gardens of this city are still 
 famous, and hyacinth-bulbs are even now sent from thence to all 
 parts of Europe. One of Captain Cook's companions declared 
 that when at sea, opposite the coast beyond Haarlem,, when the 
 wind set from the land, " through the placid atmosphere we could 
 distinguish the balsamic odour of the hyacinth and other flowers r" 
 
 * It is recorded that the anemone was first brought to England from a Dutch garden, 
 whose proprietor was so chary of his flowers that on no consideration would he part with 
 plant or seed. The visitor accordingly arrayed himself in a shaggy great coat, which 
 brushed the seed from the plant in passing, and which was carefully gathered from the 
 folds of the garment after his departure from the garden. 
 
There can be no more beautiful sight than these Dutch gardens, 
 with their glorious beds of flowers. The soil of Holland seems to 
 suit their growth, and the brightness of their hues contrasts 
 forcibly with the deep green of the trees and hedges. Wherever 
 you travel in this country you see this love of pleasure-gardens ; 
 and over the decoration and "stock" large sums of money are 
 expended. Rows of summer-houses gay with the brightest 
 colours line the canals, each inscribed with a name or motto, as 
 "Rosenthal," " Lilienthal," &c., or "Lust en rust" (Pleasure and 
 ease), "Niet zoo zwaalyk" (Not so bad!) " Vriendschap en 
 gezelschap " (Friendship and sociality), " Het vermaak is in't 
 hovenieren " (There is pleasure in gardening), &c. Here the men 
 smoke and the ladies knit, amusing themselves with looking 
 out on the passers-by. In front of its windows a canal or ditch 
 stagnates, its waters only disturbed by the passage of a boat, or 
 the plash of the enormous water-rats or frogs with which they 
 abound. Thus, in the words of Beckford, " Every flower that 
 wealth can purchase diffuses its perfume on one side ; while 
 every stench a canal can exhale poisons the air on the other." 
 The gardens of the ancient chateaux of Holland were much more 
 artistic than the modern : arcades were formed of clipped yews, 
 or trained creepers, over trellisscs supported by caryatides, as 
 shown in our cut from a Dutch print dated 1653 (Fig. 116). Now 
 they are generally quite square, bounded by clipped hedges, with 
 every walk geometrically true, and embellished witli rows of stiff 
 poplars, or square-cut trees at each angle, to complete the 
 monotony ; a fish-pond generally occupies the centre ; or, if the 
 
D UTCH LANDSCAPE AND FL O WER-PAINTERS. 2 2 3 
 
 garden be a small one, a small post is placed in the midst, 
 supporting a large glass globe darkened inside, and which serves 
 as a mirror to reflect the neighbourhood all around it. Trim box 
 borders edge each parterre, which is religiously devoted to the 
 display of one kind of flower alone, and nothing like a weed is to 
 be seen anywhere (Fig. 117). It would seem as if the constant 
 care a Dutchman must bestow on his land., to protect it from 
 
 Fig. 116. — Dutch Garden, 1653. 
 
 destruction, and " make " the earth fit for produce, induces him to 
 think all nature requires his improving hand ; hence the trees are 
 mercilessly trimmed and cut, and the stranger in Haarlem is 
 amused with the square and oblong masses of foliage which appear 
 so compact upon the summits of the poles in front of the houses 
 (Fig. 118). These stems of the tortured plants are sometimes 
 further improved (and the stranger more completely mystified) by 
 
224 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF THE 
 
 being painted with the bright colours a Dutchman so delights in. 
 These town-trees are most frequently trained over an iron trellis- 
 work, to which each branch is affixed, like an espalier to an 
 orchard-wall, and every straggling shoot or leaf lopped away. 
 Sometimes, at a street comer, a naked stump supports a flat 
 screen of verdure, which faces each angle of the house like a fire- 
 screen (Fig. 119). The trees most employed are the yew, the 
 
 Fig. 117. — A Modern Dutch Garden. 
 
 holly, and the box : here the patience of the gardener reaps a rich 
 reward, and in process of time he can torture them into any 
 form : — 
 
 " The sufiering eye inverted nature sees, — 
 Trees cut to statues, statues thick .is trees." 
 
 It would scarcely be imagined that so stolid a people as the 
 Dutch would be carried away by an enthusiasm for flowers. Yet 
 the annals of their tulip-mania, in the seventeenth century, are 
 
DUTCH LANDSCAPE AND FL WER-PAINTERS. 2 2 ^ 
 
 unequalled in the world. In 1635, the rage among the Dutch 
 to possess them was so great, that the ordinary industry of the 
 country was neglected, and the population, even to its lowest 
 dregs, embarked in the tulip trade. As the mania increased 
 prices augmented, until, in the year 1635, many persons were 
 known to invest a fortune of 100,000 florins in the purchase of 
 forty roots. One tulip, named Admiral Liefkin, was valued at 
 
 Fig. nb. — Dutch Tree. 
 
 4,400 florins ; the rarest, named Semper Augustus, at 5,500. At 
 one period only two of these bulbs were in Holland, one at 
 Amsterdam, the other at Haarlem ; for the latter, twelve acres of 
 building ground was offered ; the former was purchased for 4,000 
 florins, and a carriage and horses. Hunting, a Dutch writer of 
 the day, has written a folio on the rage, which now took the form 
 of gambling, and regular marts for tulip-sales were opened in all 
 the principal towns of Holland ; but, though large purchases were 
 
 G G 
 
226 
 
 HOMES, HAUNTS, AND WORKS OF THE 
 
 eiFected at enormous prices, the tulips did not really make part of 
 the transaction : they represented but a gambling medium, and 
 ultimately the holders of the bulbs, who sold to realise their 
 profits, found, when the furore had abated, that they represented 
 no real property. Hundreds became ruined men, and it was 
 many years before the country recovered from the miseries this 
 gambling in flowers had produced. 
 
 By the aid of these notes and sketches we hope to have made 
 
 Holland better known to Englishmen. It is a country whose 
 quaint peculiarities have no semblance elsewhere. Its features 
 are unique, its people highly national ; its history one of the most 
 exciting and glorious that can be offered to the student or 
 the patriot. In its connection with the development of the great 
 Reformation in the Church, or with the politics of our own 
 country, it abounds in interest; and it is somewhat singular 
 
DUTCH LANDSCAPE AND FLOWER-PAINTERS. 227 
 
 that a country which offers so much to attract the attention 
 of the educated tourist should be so little visited. 
 
 We now bid adieu to the Dutch painters. In the course of our 
 remarks we have enforced the nature of their peculiar claims, and 
 we need not here recount them. No school was more realistic 
 in its tendencies, none honester in its truthful delineation of 
 nature, or more capable of evolving the poetry in ordinary life. 
 Spite of all prejudice they worked the mine well which they knew 
 contained the gold, and though some of the dross may adhere to 
 the metal, the gold is there in its native purity also. 
 
THE HOUSE OF MICHAEL ANGELO, 
 AT FLORENCE. 
 
THE HOUSE OF MICHAEL ANGELO, 
 AT FLORENCE. 
 
 |ERO-WORSHIP is natural to all men, and the most 
 anti-poetic have their heroes, whom they worship 
 all unconsciously themselves, while laughing at the 
 enthusiasm of more poetic minds. The constructor of the most 
 matter-of-fact piece of machinery has some other machinist in his 
 mind's eye, to whom he looks up with the reverence, not unmixed 
 with the awe, belonging to a superior. All this is but another 
 phase in the mental homage paid from man to man when the mind 
 of each is attuned to the same study, and can therefore best 
 appreciate triumphs attained by the earnest thought of his fellow. 
 The man who studies a steam-engine, and he who dreams over 
 a picture by Turner, are both similarly occupied in hero- 
 worshipping ; their heroes only are different. 
 
 Coleridge, who spent a life in day-dreams, had a particular 
 objection to that off-shoot of hero-worship, which invests with a 
 sacred interest all that connects itself with the worldly presence 
 of the hero ; and he consequently argued against the custom of 
 visiting localities sanctified by the residence of men of genius. 
 
232 THE HOUSE OF MICHAEL ANGELO, 
 
 He held that it was a disenchantment, a destruction of previous 
 imaginings, to go to a place and find it a very different thing to 
 that you had built up in your own mind. But the same argument 
 would hold good with regard to portraiture, and prevent us from 
 thus studying our great authors, lest our notions of their features 
 should be rudely destroyed. It is clear that the great majority of 
 the world differs entirely from Coleridge, and desires to see 
 memorials of the men, and the localities they lived in, as the best 
 mode of realising their sojourn on earth. 
 
 Llany weary miles have been trodden, and much peril and 
 privation undergone, in thus wandering in the pathways of the 
 great departed ; but " the labour we delight in physics pain," and 
 it may be doubted if happier moments are ever passed than those 
 enjoyed by the enthusiastic man employed in such investigations. 
 It has been my fortune to enjoy many, and to secure them I 
 have travelled often out of my w^ay for very long distances, always 
 abundantly rewarded in the end ; and never better than recently, 
 when a run by rail from Leghorn to Florence gave me the chance 
 of seeing the house of Michael Angelo, an art-hero worthy all 
 worship. Let it be now my pleasant task to conduct the reader 
 over this old mansion, and, by the aid of a few woodcutsf, 
 endeavour to give a true idea of its features to those who only 
 "travel in books." 
 
 Some twenty years ago, when the last descendant of the great 
 sculptor died in the person of the Minister of Public Instruction, 
 the Cavalier Buonarotti, the Florentine Government secured the 
 house known as the " casa Buonarotti " as public property. It 
 
AT FLORENCE. 
 
 233 
 
 had been in the possession of the family of Michael Angelo nearly 
 three centuries ; when they failed the mansion was bought by the 
 modern townsmen. The house is substantially the same as when 
 he inhabited it ; but not nearly so much so as those who put faith 
 in guide-books would be led to imagine. Thus the best of them 
 
 Fig. I20. — House of Michael Angelo. 
 
 informs us the house is preserved precisely as he left it, which is 
 simply not true. When we speak of it as substantially the same, 
 we allude to its external general features and the internal 
 arrangement of the rooms, but modernisations appear in both ; 
 they have been " adapted " to the changes in manners during the 
 long time which has elapsed since the sculptor's death, and hence 
 the house has in a great degree become a " comfortable modern 
 
 H H 
 
residence," rather than a mediaeval home of somewhat gloomy 
 security. 
 
 The external features of the mansion may be readily compre- 
 hended in the sketch (Fig. 120). It is a solid square of large 
 size, as worthy the name of palazzo as any other in Florence. It 
 stands in the Via Ghibellina, at the corner of the street known as 
 the Via dei Marmi Sudici. The aspect of such houses gives at once 
 an idea of well-arranged suites of rooms. In his old age Michael 
 must have well appreciated his home, and it is easy in going over 
 it to realise the great artist resting in his well-earned fame. The 
 lowermost windows to the street are guarded, as all are in Italian 
 towns, by strong external ironwork, giving it a somewhat prison- 
 like look. A wide doorway leads through a passage to the inner 
 open court of the house ; a door in the passage admits to the 
 ground-floor apartments, now occupied by two tenants, one being 
 an artist. Beside the artist's door, to the right, is the stair 
 leading to the upper floors. The large range of windows in these 
 floors are not all rcal^ some few are blanks, and the whole have 
 probably been altered during the last century from the irregular 
 series which once covered the facade. The street in which the 
 house stands is a wide and pleasant one ; it is on the quiet out- 
 skirts of the town ; the wall which encircles Florence is not many 
 hundred yards from it ; and you see the picturesque hills around 
 the glorious old city rise gradually above as you stand on the 
 threshold of Michael's door. The palace of one of the old nobles 
 faces the sculptor's house; close beside it is another; and the 
 narrow street opposite, the \'^ia ddhi I'in/ocheri', leads direct to 
 
the great square and church of Santa Croce, whose windows and 
 sculptured walls may be clearly seen from the same point of view. 
 The most original and unchanged " bit " of the house is the 
 small court-yard (Fig. 121). Here the quaint construction of the 
 building is most visible; the bracketed gallery, tall tower, and 
 
 l-'iy. 121. — Court-yard. 
 
 angular passages, with their narrow windows and bold defiance of 
 symmetry, carry the mind back to the time when the sculptor 
 inhabited it. The feeling is aided by the curious collection of frag- 
 ments of antique sculpture inserted in the walls. Michael's love for 
 Greek and Roman art was profound ; he lived at a period when 
 enthusiasm like his might be well indulged, and continually called 
 
236 
 
 THE HOUSE OF MICHAEL ANGELO, 
 
 forth by the discoveries then constantly making in Rome. In his 
 time the finest antiquities were exhumed ; and those we look upon 
 here are such as he could secure for himself. They are very 
 varied in character and quality ; but they are valuable as showing 
 how catholic his tastes were, and how much he respected all that 
 
 Fig. 122. — Group of Relics. 
 
 time had left us as aids to understand the life of past ages. 
 Small as the collection is, it includes statues, basst-rcltczn\ funeral 
 ctppiy and inscriptions ; as well as a few early Christian inscrip- 
 tions from the catacombs, noting, in the simple phraseology of 
 the true faith, the last resting-places of " the just made perfect." 
 An arched staircase, somewhat steep, with a convenient 
 
AT FLORENCE. 237 
 
 handrail beside it, leads to the suite of rooms on the first floor ; 
 these are the rooms to which the public are admitted every 
 Thursday. They are stately in their proportions, and communi- 
 cate freely with each other. The first contains a large glass case 
 filled with antique fragments, collected by Michael Angelo, with 
 additions by the Cavalier Buonarotti, his ultimate representative. 
 Fragments of sculpture, specimens of Greek and Roman cinerary 
 urns, small basst-relievi^ and a host of minor articles, are here ; it 
 is, in fact, such a collection as a man of classic taste would desire. 
 On the walls are a few sketches, and here is hung the cross-hilted 
 sword worn by Michael himself (Fig. 122) ; the handle is of steel, 
 the grip covered with plated wire to give a firmer hold ; it is 
 a good characteristic relic of the days when swords were essential, 
 as well to indicate as to protect a gentleman. We pass from this 
 into a capacious chamber, and thence into a long saloon at the 
 angle of the house, lighted by two windows, between them a 
 sedent statue of the sculptor by Antonio Novelli (Fig. 123). It is a 
 good figure badly placed, with cross lights, or no lights at all — 
 one of the sacrifices of art to expediency we are often condemned 
 to feel. The walls and ceiling of this room are panelled, and the 
 panels are pictured with scenes of the principal events of the 
 sculptor's life, by Cristoforo Allori, Beliverti, Jacopo da Empoli, 
 and Matteo Rosselli. Smaller compartments in chiaro-osairo 
 continue the series of minor events in the artist's history, and 
 occupy their place beneath the larger coloured pictures. The 
 ceiling is panelled into fifteen compartments, and here again 
 are other delineations of the same kind. They are generally 
 
238 
 
 THE HOUSE OF MICHAEL ANGELO, 
 
 admirably done, and most gratifying for the noble feeling they 
 exhibit of modern art-reverence towards its past professors. 
 English artists seem to feel little or no love for the great who 
 have gone before ; and it is rarely that they paint incidents in the 
 lives of men of their own profession, though many smaller scenes 
 
 Iny. 123. — Saloon. 
 
 from the pages of Pepys and Boswell, or the pure inventions of 
 the novelist, are so immortalised. The continental painters, on the 
 contrary, most frequently select scenes from art-biography, and 
 some of their most successful works have resulted from that source. 
 The number of pictures in this chamber, and their power as works 
 
AT FLORENCE. 
 
 239 
 
 of historic value, show that in the comparatively quiet life of an 
 artist there is abundant scope for imaginative genius to work in. 
 
 In this room is a large oil painting by Michael Angelo ; it is a 
 " Holy Family," one of the very few works of its class that can be 
 with certainty ascribed to him, exhibiting his powers and defects 
 
 Fig. 124. — Writing-Closet. 
 
 in about equal degrees. It has his grandeur ot conception, with 
 occasional faulty drawing, and decidedly bad colour ; the latter a 
 defect visible in all his works. A door on each side of this picture 
 conducts to a square chamber, with a richly-panelled ceiling ; the 
 walls covered by presses of oak, containing folios of sketches by 
 Angelo, among them that for his celebrated fresco "The Last 
 
 
Judgment," and various personal relics. In the passage to this 
 chamber are placed two busts and a boldly sculptured arm ; — all 
 antique works of the Roman era which were found in the studio of 
 Michael at Rome, and removed thence after his decease. The 
 most interesting memorials are kept in a small closet in this 
 apartment, which was used by the sculptor for writing in (Fig. 124). 
 A railed escritoire so completely crowds this sancfufTt that it admits 
 but a small seat in front. In the escritoire is kept one of the 
 slippers he used to wear : it was laced up the front, is of roomy 
 proportion, as will be seen in our cut (Fig. 122). Upon the 
 wall above are hung the crutch- sticks he used in walking. The 
 streets of Florence are flagged like those of ancient Italy, in large 
 irregular flags of stone, and in wet weather afford an uncertain 
 hold ; consequently both these sticks have been furnished with 
 ferrules cut into points to give greater security on the slippery 
 pavement. Our group of relics exhibits both these sticks (Fig. 122). 
 The other rooms contain some few specimens of old furniture, 
 and we engrave an example of the chairs (Fig. 125). The walls 
 are covered with sketches by Michael Angelo ; some will at once 
 be recognised as the originals from which Ottley copied the 
 examples in his work on Italian Art, particularly the fine head of 
 "Cleopatra," and a "Madonna and Child." Here is also the 
 altar-piece, in low relief, after the manner of Donatello, in 
 which Angelo gave another conception of the Madonna ; and a 
 copy of it in bronze attributed to John of Bologna, ihe same 
 artist's bust of Michael Angelo is in the last apartment of the suite. 
 We will leave the house, and pass up the narrow street oppo- 
 
site to the church of Santa Croce — aptly and justly styled '* The 
 Westminster Abbey of Florence " — for so short a distance is it to 
 the sculptor's grave. In the nave of the solemn building, among 
 the great and good of the past, who have made Florence famous, 
 rests the aged sculptor. His tomb was erected some time after his 
 
 Fig. 125. — Specimen of Furniture. 
 
 decease ; it is more ambitious than pleasing (Fig. 126). It is com- 
 posed of coloured marbles ; figures (life-size) of Poetry, Painting, 
 and Architecture, are seated at the base of a sarcophagus, which is 
 surmounted by Lorenzi's bust of Michael Angelo. As if to afford 
 a foil to a questionable work by an unquestionably worse one, the 
 wall above and around it has been painted with drapery, and 
 
 I I 
 
242 
 
 THE HOUSE OF MICHAEL ANGELO, 
 
 angels upholding it, in the worst style of fresco. This addition we 
 have felt justified in omitting from our cut. The great ones of 
 the earth, who have nothing but birth or title to be remembered 
 by, may require elaborate monuments to secure them from 
 oblivion ; Genius asks but a plain stone, where the living heart 
 
 riy. 120. — The Tomb. 
 
 of a true worshipper may beat more quickly with thoughtful love 
 towards the clay beneath. 
 
 In rambling through the pleasant streets of Florence, en- 
 countering on all sides the finest art-workmanship of its palmiest 
 days, we constantly feel the spiritual presence of Michael and 
 his compeers. Rome itself does not call forth greater memories. 
 
You gaze admiringly upon works of the widest renown, belonging 
 to the best periods of art, and which have often been the very 
 origin of new phases in its practice. You study them as Angelo 
 did, and with him for your critical guide — for he was no niggard 
 in his praises of fellow-artists, if these laudations were fairly 
 earned. Many anecdotes of his impulsive ardour are on record ; 
 and he often spoke to a life-like statue as if it really lived. Thus 
 to Donatello's '* St. George " he cried, " March ! " after he had been 
 struck by its grand military bearing. This and other noble works 
 are still in the niches where he contemplated them, and unpro- 
 tected by aught but the reverence of the Florentine people. The 
 grand old city is freely adorned with priceless sculpture, part of 
 the art-history of the world ; and all is free to the touch of the 
 commonest hand, yet no instance of mischief done to any is on 
 record. The natives have been so familiar with these works from 
 childhood, that they are as household gods to them. Would that 
 this reverence was as visible elsewhere, and iconoclasm as little 
 known as in the ducal city of Florence ! Our fellow-countrymen 
 might often learn lessons of wisdom, good sense, and right feeling, 
 with reference to art-works, from the conduct of the humble 
 classes of foreigners, upon whom we are too apt to look down. 
 
RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 
 
 E consecrate the memory of great men, and when the 
 master-spirit has flown to Him who gave it, is it not 
 pardonable — nay, laudable — that we treat reverently the 
 relics of their sojourn here — that we make pilgrimages to the 
 homes they once inhabited — that we endeavour, as best we may, 
 to call up to the mind's eye the very habit and manner of the 
 great souls long departed, and let the mind linger over their 
 earthly haunts as if awaiting their presence again to revivify the 
 scenes made sacred to us by such connection ? There is, perhaps, 
 no spot more abounding with associations of all kinds, to interest 
 men of every civilised country, and induce many hundred 
 pilgrimages, than those few miles of ground upon which stands 
 Rome, that imperial ruin in a papal garb : — 
 
 " We cannot tread upon it but we set 
 Our foot upon some reverent history." 
 
 The mind is here overwhelmed by the crowding memories of the 
 great events of bygone time ; " centuries look down upon us " 
 from the ruined Colosseum — from the ivy-clad masses of wall 
 
248 RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 
 
 where once stood the palace of the emperors of the world. These 
 arches record their victories and their triumphs. This dirty, ill- 
 enclosed space, now named from the cows that rest upon it after 
 dragging the rude carts of the peasantry into Rome, was once the 
 Forum — the very focus of all that was great in the whole history 
 of the old world : — 
 
 " Still the eloquent air breathes — bums with Cicero." 
 
 On this small patch of ground occurred events which form the 
 most cherished memorials of history. Around us on all sides are 
 the crumbling mementoes of the great of old, whose presence 
 stirred the nations. The very fragments — the shadows of a shade 
 — of their past greatness have been sufficient to revivify the 
 human mind after many ages of mental darkness ; and the long- 
 buried works of the old Romans, in the palmy days of Michael 
 Angelo and RafFaelle, quickened the genius of their great minds, 
 guided their thoughts aright, and ultimately led to the purity and 
 nobility of modern art. 
 
 The great revival of learning in the fifteenth century led the 
 student back from the legendary history of the middle ages to the 
 more ennobling study of the classic era; and this acquaintance 
 with the acts of the great led to the desire to possess more 
 tangible relics of their period. Hence coins and medals were 
 sought after, not merely as works by ancient hands, but as 
 authentic records of their history, rendered the more valuable by 
 their autograph character. Inscriptions were sought for the same 
 reasons. Statues were untombed, and gazed at in wonder, for the 
 
RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 249 
 
 truth and beauty of their proportions, as contrasted with the gaunt 
 conventionalities of their own schools of sculpture. Men regarded 
 these works as the productions of superior beings ; but such 
 contemplation resulted in elevating the minds of the students, and 
 slowly, but surely, the long-lost arts broke in full radiance from 
 the clouds which had so long obscured them. 
 
 It was in these great days of resuscitation that RafFaelle lived. 
 The popes and the nobles vied with each other in obtaining the 
 best works of ancient art, and liberally rewarded the discoverers.* 
 Lorenzo de Medici, well distinguished as " the Magnificent," made 
 his palace at Florence a museum of art, and liberally gave free 
 access to all students who chose to come there. Michael Angelo 
 was of the number who studied in the beautiful garden where 
 the sculpture was located, and the great duke often spoke 
 encouragingly to the young lad who laboured there so thought- 
 fully and so well. Words led to deeds, and it was not long 
 afterwards that the duke adopted Michael as his protegCy gave him 
 a room in his palace, and was the friend of him and his family. 
 
 * Felice de Fredis, who discovered in 1508 the celebrated group, the Laocoon, in the 
 Baths of Titus, had bestowed on him in consequence, by the Pope Julius II., the lucrative 
 gift of the tolls and customs received at the Gate of St. John Lateran— an ample fortune in 
 itself. Michael Angelo, who was in Rome at the time, describes the excitement the event 
 caused. By a happy omen had his godfathers named him Felice. The gift was so large that 
 the Church of St. John importuned the succeeding pope to compound with him for its 
 restoration ; but he only gave it up for the noble place of Apostolic Sccretar)-, which he 
 enjoyed until his death in 1529. He lies buried in the left transept of the Church of the Ara 
 Cceli. The inscription on his grave-slab is nearly obliterated. Is there no kind hand in 
 Rome, the city of sculptors, to recut the few lines recording the name of one who did the 
 world of art much service ? 
 
 K K 
 
250 
 
 RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 
 
 death only severing the tie. Many other artists had to thank the 
 
 liberal duke for the use of his art-treasures, and RafFaelle was 
 
 among the number. The Cardinal Bembo, one of the most 
 
 enlightened men of that day, rivalled the hospitality of the 
 
 Medici, and received Raffaelle into his palace as an honoured 
 
 guest ; — and are not the names of both noble men more nobly 
 
 immortalised by such patronage ? 
 
 The early life of RafFaelle was happily circumstanced. His 
 
 father was himself an artist, who saw his son's great genius, and 
 
 fostered it from the birth. The child's early life was passed in a 
 
 lovely home, rendered cheerful by the practice of refined pleasures, 
 
 the only labour known there being the cheerful toil that awaits the ! 
 
 student of art. Of pleasant manners and agreeable looks, the 
 
 boy-artist made friends everywhere, and the record of his whole 
 
 life is a narration of the accession of new friends. In the Italian 
 
 cities where he went for study he made warm friendships with the i 
 
 best and greatest in art and literature. It rarely falls to the lot 
 
 of a biographer to narrate a life of such unvarying happiness as ; 
 
 that of Raffaelle. Pleasant and profitable as this genial study j 
 
 and companionship would naturally be to the young painter, 
 
 whose devotion to art never relaxed, and whose patrons increased 
 
 with his years, greater triumphs awaited him in the imperial city | 
 
 itself; and hither, in 1508, he travelled at the request of Pope 1 
 
 I 
 Julius II., to decorate the halls of the Vatican, the invitation 
 
 having come through his uncle Bramantc, the great architect, 
 
 who enjoyed the patronage of that pontiff. The artist was now 
 
 twenty-five years of age, and liad already given evidence of his 
 
RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 
 
 251 
 
 powers ; he had the fullest scope for their exertion, and the 
 remainder of his too short life was devoted to the glory of the 
 church and its head in Rome. 
 
 fitr. 127. — J^al'tadle's First Residence, Rome. 
 
 In the labyrinth of short streets that lead to the heart of the 
 old city, opposite Hadrian's Bridge, is situated the house in which 
 Raffaelle first resided (Fig. 127}. It is in a narrow street, known 
 
252 RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 
 
 as the Via Coronari ; the tall houses close it in, so that the sun never 
 reaches the lower stories — a valuable arrangement where shade is 
 grateful, but which gives a gloomy and stifling look to Italian 
 towns. The house is featureless, and might not be recognised but 
 for the nearly decayed chtaro-oscuro portrait of its great tenant, 
 which was painted by Carlo Maratti in 1705, when it was renovated 
 and partly rebuilt. The interest of this house, in connection with 
 RafFaelle, did not cease with his life : it was ceded at his wish to 
 the Church of St. Maria della Rotonda, after his death, by his 
 executor, Baldassare de Pescia, the Papal Secretary, that a chapel 
 might be endowed to the honour of the Virgin in that venerable 
 building, where prayers should be said for the repose of his soul. 
 At that time the house produced a rent of seventy crowns per 
 annum. In the year 1581, at the desire of Siticella, arch-priest of 
 the Pantheon, Gregory XIII. united the property to the revenue 
 of his office; and in the year 1705, the arch-priest of that time 
 mortgaged the house to pay for the repairs noted above. It now 
 produces a very small surplus, and that is said not to be applied to 
 the purposes indicated in the will. 
 
 The chief memorials of Raffaelle's residence in Rome are the 
 immortal works which still decorate the papal palace of the 
 Vatican. The hall called della Scgnatura was first decorated by 
 him with the great compositions known as " The Dispute of the 
 Sacrament," "The School of Athens," "The Parnassus," and 
 " Jurisprudence." They occupied him nearly three years. Toward 
 the end of that period the sight of Michael Angelo's grand con- 
 ceptions in the Sistine Chapel are believed to have influenced the 
 
RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 253 
 
 young painter to a greater elevation in the treatment of his works. 
 The sybils and prophets in the Church of Santa Alaria della Pace, 
 as well as the painting of the prophet Isaiah in the Church of 
 St. Augustin, executed about this time, are cited as proofs of this 
 influence. On the walls of the palace of Agostino Chigi he had 
 painted his famous " Galatsea," and had achieved for himself a 
 fixed and honourable position in Rome, surrounded by friends of 
 the highest and most influential kind, and some few scholars 
 who aided his labours. 
 
 In 1 5 1 2 the second hall of the Vatican was commenced ; in the 
 February of the following year the pope died. Julius was more of 
 a soldier than a churchman ; and is recorded to have told Michael 
 Angelo to place a sword rather than a book in the hand of the 
 bronze statue he destined to commemorate him. Leo X. had 
 more refined taste, and became celebrated as a patron of the 
 arts. To narrate all Raffaelle's labours for this pontiff would be 
 to give a list of renowned works, familiar to the whole world 
 for their lessons of beauty, cultivated by the highest tech- 
 nicalities of art. Suflice it to say that the art-labours of the 
 Vatican never ceased, and when Bramante died Raifaelle was 
 appointed his successor. His first architectural work was the rows 
 of galleries which surround the court-yard of the Vatican, the 
 foundations of which had only been laid by his uncle Bramante. 
 These triple arcades rising above each other, and commanding 
 magnificent views over Rome, were richly decorated by Raffaelle 
 with designs which startled the world by their novelty and 
 captivated by their beauty. Founded on the antique mural 
 
254 RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 
 
 decorations then recently discovered in the Baths of Titus, the 
 genius of the painter adopted their leading ideas, infusing the 
 composition with his own fancy and grace, and thus gave a new 
 decorative art to the world. RafFaelle was ever alive to the 
 progress of art, and its interests were consulted by him in the 
 largest way. He fostered the genius ot Marc Antonio Raimondi, 
 the engraver, at a period when the graphic art was in its infancy ; 
 in the midst of his laborious occupations he found time 
 to design for him subjects for his burin^ and to superintend their 
 execution. But more than all, he defrayed the whole expenses 
 of these engravings himself, taking Marc Antonio under his 
 protection until the new art had established itself in popular 
 favour, and could be followed as a lucrative profession. To 
 RafFaelle, therefore, the art of engraving and the traders in 
 prints owe a deep debt.* 
 
 The early artists were men of multifarious accomplishments ; 
 they were not painters only. We have record of their power in 
 many branches, and examples of their versatility still remain to us ; 
 hence we need feel no surprise that the painter RafFaelle was 
 installed to the post of papal architect. Michael Angelo also 
 
 * It should be noted, however, that Albert Diircr was really the chief populariser of the 
 art. His prints on copper and wood (the latter particularly) had circulated over Northern 
 Europe, and were well known in Venice. RalTaclIc saw at once the latent jiowcr by means 
 of which he mij^lit |)ropa(,'atc and perpetuate his own de>igns, and at once cncouraj;cd the 
 labours of Marc Antonio. This enj,'ravcr had copied in Venice many of Diirer's engravings 
 to his detriment, and Diirer had complained to the magistracy for redress. It is to Diircr we 
 owe the discovery of etching and corroding a plate by aciil, one of the greatest boons to the 
 engraver, and an enormous saving of labour. 
 
RAFFAELLE IN ROME, ,. . o» 
 
 vat 
 
 ^"^^ggi^. 
 
 practised architecture, as well as sculpture and painting ; but more 
 than this, he fortified the city of Florence, and successfully 
 superintended its military defence during six months, when it was 
 attacked by the Prince of Orange in 1529. Benvenuto Cellini has 
 also left record of his fighting powers, w^hen he served in the siege 
 of the Castle of St. Angelo, in 1528. Albert Diirer introduced the 
 Italian style of fortification to his native city of Niirnberg, and 
 wrote a treatise on the art ; he was also painter, sculptor, 
 designer, and engraver on wood, copper, and stone. Leonardo da 
 Vinci excelled in the arts, and added thereto such sound 
 philosophical views as to have been greatly in advance of his age ; 
 indeed, his research in optical science has led to his being 
 considered the father of the modern daguerreotype and photo- 
 graphy, inasmuch as he propounded the possibility of securing 
 images by the action of light alone. 
 
 Of Rafifaelle's architectural powers Rome has varied examples. 
 The principal are at the Vatican and St. Peter's, the construction 
 of which he superintended during the rest of his brief life. On the 
 authority of Vasari we may attribute to him one of the most 
 beautiful of the Roman palazzi, the Villa Madama. The Caffarelli 
 Palace is also known to be his design,* as well as the very 
 beautiful funeral chapel for his friend and early patron Agostino 
 Chigi, in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo. Among the 
 quiet gardens of the Celian Hill is one of his most picturesque 
 
 * It is opposite the Church of St. Andrea della Valle, and is now called the Palazzo 
 Vidoni ; the upper portion is not Raffaelk's work. 
 
2s6 
 
 RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 
 
 works, the little Church of Santa Maria in Navicella, an edifice 
 abounding with the most interesting artistic associations. It 
 stands on the site of the house of one of the earliest Christian 
 saints, St. Cyiac, and was built by Leo X. entirely from Raffaelle's 
 design, with the exception of the simple and elegant little portico, 
 which is by Michael Angelo. The paintings within are by Raf- 
 
 I'ig. 128. — Tiic Cluircli of St. Alalia in isavicella. 
 
 faelle's favourite scholars, Julio Romano and Pierino della Vaga. 
 This interesting church takes its distinguishing name from the 
 marble galley placed on a pedestal in front of the portico, by 
 Pope Teo X., in whose time it was discovered. It is a curious 
 work of the Roman era, and is seen in our cut with other classic 
 fragments placed beside it (Fig. 128). 
 
 Raffaclle had now achieved so high a position in Rome, and 
 
RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 257 
 
 was so overwhelmed with commissions, that his scholars and 
 assistants increased greatly. But for their aid it would have been 
 impossible for him to have executed so large a number of works. 
 It became his practice to design, superintend, and finish only ; 
 but the labour of carrying out his works was left to his scholars, 
 who all became men of mark. The chief was Julio Romano, who 
 painted a large portion of the Vatican. The Loggie was the 
 work of many hands ; the figures, the flowers, the scrolls, and the 
 ornament, were all apportioned to the facile and ready powers of 
 the army of artists the " divine master" had at command. It is 
 recorded that he had a retinue of some fifty who were thus 
 employed; these formed his train in public, so that "he appeared 
 like a prince rather than an artist;" the fascination of his 
 manners led to affection for himself irrespective of his genius. 
 
 But death came to carry the artist away in the midst of his 
 triumph, ere he had entirely reaped the full harvest of his fame, 
 leaving the world greatly the loser. Raffaelle, now a wealthy 
 man, and living like a noble, had purchased for himself a mansion 
 worthy of a nobleman born. His affianced bride, the niece of 
 Cardinal Bibiena, died in 15 18, and was buried in the Pantheon; 
 and in April, 1520, the painter was laid in the same edifice (Fig. 
 129). It was less than twelve years of thought and action that 
 had sufficed him to found immortal renown in Rome, and leave 
 that city the bequest of the most glorious art-treasures in the 
 world. His life had indeed been sacrificed to his eagerness to 
 serve the pope; harassed by a multiplicity of engagements, 
 Raffaelle had hurried from the Farnesina, the palace of the 
 
 L L 
 
2S8 
 
 RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 
 
 wealthy banker Chigi, which he was engaged to decorate, to 
 consult with the pope about his works at the Vatican. He had 
 overheated himself with running this quarter of a mile, and he felt 
 a sudden chill as he stood in the cold unfinished building. He 
 went to his palace (a short distance only), and in the course of a 
 few days died there at the early age of thirty-seven, April 7th, 1520. 
 
 l-iy. 129. — Tlie l^aiiiheoii, Kuine. 
 
 The last homo of Raffaelle is still pointed out in Rome 
 (Fig. 130]. It stands in the district termed the Trastavere, in the 
 small square midway from the Castle of St. Angelo and St. Peter's. 
 It occupies one side of this square, and is an imposing structure. 
 The architects were Bramante and Baldassare Peruzzi. It is now 
 known as the Palazzo dcgli Convertiti, and devoted to the reception 
 of converted heretics. Here his body lay in state in front of his 
 
RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 
 
 259 
 
 unfinished picture of the " Transfiguration,"* his greatest, as it 
 was his last, work. There was a grandeur in such a death — a 
 glory in such a death-chamber, " which time has not yet effaced 
 from the memory of man. It was one of those impromptus of the 
 
 Fig. 130.— Raffaelle's Last Residence, Rome. 
 
 eloquence of things which owed its effects to a cause so much the 
 more active and fruitful, because it was natural and not arranged."! 
 
 " And when all beheld 
 
 Him, where he lay, how changed from yesterday — 
 
 * The picture was afterwards finished by his pupil Julio Romano. It had been ordered 
 by the Cardinal Medici for Narbonne, but was placed over the high altar of the Church of 
 St. Pietro in Martorio, at Rome. It was then removed to the Vatican, from whence it was 
 carried by Napoleon to Paris, but was restored to Rome at his fall. 
 
 t Quatremere de Quincy. 
 
Him in that hour cut off, and at his head 
 
 His last great work ; when, entering in, they looked 
 
 Now on the dead, then on the master-piece ; 
 
 Now on his face, lifeless and colourless. 
 
 Then on those forms divine that lived and breathed. 
 
 And would live on for ages — all were moved ; 
 
 And sighs burst forth, and loudest lamentation." ♦ 
 
 All Rome mourned the death of the great painter. The pope 
 wept bitter tears ; his loss was indeed great, for the spirit that 
 could make his pontificate glorious had departed, and left none to 
 fill the void. " Rome seems no longer Rome since my poor 
 Raffaelle is gone," writes CastigUone to the marchioness his 
 mother. His funeral cortege included in its ranks the greatest men 
 in station, and the most talented in art and literature. These, 
 with his friends and pupils, marched amid the lamentations of the 
 whole city to the Pantheon, and reverently laid the painter beside 
 the altar he had endowed. 
 
 Rome — perhaps the world — possesses no building of more 
 interest than this. The ancients described it with admiration 
 eighteen centuries ago, and it still remains the best preserved 
 monument of modern Rome. 
 
 "Relic of nobler days, and noblest arts! 
 Despoil'd, yet perfect, with thy circle spreads 
 A holiness appealing to all hearts — 
 To art a model ; and to him who treads 
 Rome for tlie sake of ages, Glory shctls 
 Her light tlirough thy sole aperture ; to those 
 Who worsliip, litre arc allars for their lieads ; 
 
 • Rogers's " Italy." 
 
And they who feel for genius may repose 
 
 Their eyes on honour'd forms, whose busts around them close."* 
 
 Let us enter this noble relic of the past, sacred with the 
 associations of ages. Over the portico is an inscription, recording 
 
 Fig. 131.— Raffaelle's Chapel. 
 
 its erection by Agrippa in his third consulate (B.C. 25) ; the pillars 
 of this " more than faultless" portico are Corinthian columns of 
 oriental granite. The bronze doors arc antique ; so is the open 
 
262 RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 
 
 grating above them. You pass them, and the interior strikes you 
 at once by its simple grandeur. It is a rotunda supporting a 
 dome, the only light being received through the circular opening 
 in its centre. The rain falls freely upon the floor ; and in the 
 pavement may be noted the star-shaped apertures by which it 
 may descend to the drains beneath. No antique building exists for 
 modern uses so unaltered as this.* In the walls are seven large 
 niches, and between them are eight cedicula, or shrines which have 
 been converted into altars. Opposite the entrance, to the left of 
 the centre, the visitor will notice an altar, in front of which hangs 
 a triple light, supported by a silver monogram of the Virgin ; 
 the same monogram is above the altar (Fig. 131). It is that 
 founded by Raffaelle, for the perpetual support of which he gave 
 the house which forms the first of our engravings. The figure of the 
 Virgin and Child, now known as " La Madonna del Sasso," was 
 sculptured by his pupil Lorenzo Lotti. Under this altar the body 
 of Raffaelle was laid, and upon a lower panel of marble to the left 
 of it is the epitaph to the painter written by Cardinal Bembo. On 
 the opposite side is the epitaph to Annibale Caracci ; and in other 
 
 ♦ "Though plundered of all its brass, except the ring which was necessary to prcscive 
 the aperture above — though exposed to repeated fire — thougii sometimes flooded by the river, 
 and always open to the rain— no monument of equal antiquity is so well preser\ed as this 
 rotunda. It passed with little alteration from the pagan into the present worship ; and so 
 convenient were its niches for the Christian altars, that Michael Angelo, ever studious of 
 ancient beauty, introduced their design as a model in tiic Catholic Church." — P'orsyth's 
 Italy. The bronze here alluded to, wliich once covered the intciior of the dome, was stripped 
 off by Pope Urban VIII., and moulded into the great canopy now over the tomb of St. Peter 
 in Rome ; the rest was used for cannon, which were placed on the Castle of St. Angelo. 
 Vcnuti has computed its weiglit at 450,250 lbs. 
 
RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 263 
 
 parts of the building are buried Raffaelle's betrothed wife, and his 
 scholars, Giouanni da Udine and Perino della Vaga. Baldassare 
 Peruzzi, one of the architects of Raffaelle's palace, also lies here ; 
 as well as Taddeo Zuccari, and other eminent painters. Its most 
 modern artistic monument is Thorwaldsen's bust to Cardinal 
 Gonsalvi. Where can the art-pilgrim pay a more soul-inspiriting 
 visit than to this 
 
 " sanctuary and home 
 
 Of art and piety ? " 
 
 Carlo Maratti desired to place a more striking memorial of 
 Raffaelle's resting place than the simple inscription, and 
 accordingly, in the year 1674, a marble bust of the painter, 
 executed by Paolo Nardini, was placed in one of the oval niches 
 on each side of the chapel. The epitaph to Maria Bibiena 
 (Raffaelle's betrothed) was removed to make way for Maratti's 
 new inscription ; and it was currently believed that the skull of 
 Raffaelle was removed ; at least such was the history given of a 
 skull shown as the painter's, religiously preserved by the Academy 
 of St. Luke, and descanted on by phrenologists as indicative of 
 all the qualities which " the divine painter" possessed. But 
 scepticism played its part : doubts of the truth of this story led 
 to doubts of Vasari's statement respecting the exact locality of 
 Raffaelle's tomb. Matters were brought to a final issue by the 
 discovery of a document proving this skull to be that of Don 
 Desiderio de Adjutorio, founder of the society called the Virtuosi, 
 in 1542. Thereupon, this society demanded the head of its founder 
 from the Academy of St. Luke ; but they would neither abandon 
 
that nor the illusion that they possessed the veritable skull of 
 the great artist. Arguments ran high, and it was at length 
 determined to settle the question by an examination of the spot, 
 which took place on the 13th of September, 1833, in the presence 
 of the Academies of St. Luke and of Archaeology, the commission 
 of the fine arts (including Overbeck and others), the members of 
 the Virtuosi, the governor of Rome (Monsignor Grimaldi), and the 
 Cardinal Zurla, the representative of the pope. 
 
 The result will be best given in the words of an eye-witness. 
 Signer Nibby (one of the commission of antiquities and fine arts), 
 who thus described the whole to M. Quatremere de Quincy, the 
 biographer of Raffaelle : — '* The operations were conducted on 
 such a principle of exact method as to be almost chargeable 
 with over-nicety. After various ineffectual attempts in other 
 directions, we at length began to dig under the altar of the Virgin 
 itself, and, taking as a guide the indications furnished by Vasari, 
 we at length came to some masonry of the length of a man's body. 
 The labourers raised the stone with the utmost care, and having 
 dug within for about a foot and a half came to a void space. You 
 can hardly conceive the enthusiasm of us all, when by a final 
 effort the workmen exhibited to our view the remains of a coffin 
 with an entire skeleton in it, lying thus as originally placed, and 
 thinly covered with damp dust. We saw at once quite clearly that 
 the tomb had never been opened, and it thus became manifest 
 that the skull possessed by the Academy of St. Luke was not that 
 of Raffaelle. Our first care was by gentle degrees to remove from 
 the body the dust which covered it, and which we religiously 
 
RAFFAELLE IN ROME. 
 
 265 
 
 collected, with the purpose ot placing in it a new sarcophagus. 
 Amongst it we found, in tolerable preservation, pieces of th(; 
 coffin, which was made of deal, fragments of a painting which 
 had ornamented the lid, several bits of Tiber clay formations from 
 the water of the river, which had penetrated into the coffin by 
 infiltration,* an iron sfclldfa, a sort of spur with which Raffaellc 
 had been decorated by Leo X., several fihiihr, and a number of 
 
 Fig. 132. — The Grave of Rafiaelle. 
 
 metal aiielHy portions of his dress." These small rings had 
 fastened the shroud ; several were retained by the sculptor Fabris, 
 who also took casts of the head and hand, and Camuccini took 
 
 * This will be understood when we remember that the Tiber has inundated this lower 
 part of Rome several times. On the external wall of the adjoining Church of Santa Maria 
 sopra Minerva, are the marks of the height to which the waters rose, and which is five feet 
 above the pavement level. 
 
 M M 
 
266 RAFFAELLE IX ROME. 
 
 views of the tomb and its precious contents. From one of these 
 our cut is copied. 
 
 On the following day the body was further examined by 
 professional men ; the skeleton was found to measure five feet 
 seven inches ; the narrowness of the coffin indicated a slender and 
 delicate frame. This accords with the contemporary accounts, 
 which say he *' was of a refined and delicate constitution ; his 
 frame was all spirit ; his physical strength so limited that it 
 was a wonder he existed so long as he did." The investigation 
 completed, the body was exhibited to the public from the 20th to 
 the 24th, and then was again placed in a new coffin of lead, and 
 that in a marble sarcophagus presented by the pope, and taken 
 from the antiquities in the Museum of the Vatican. A solemn 
 mass was then announced for the evening of the i8th of October. 
 The Pantheon was illuminated, as for a funeral ; ** the sarcophagus, 
 with its contents, was placed in exactly the same spot whence the 
 remains had been taken. The presidents of the various academies 
 were present, with the Cavalier Fabris at their head. Each bore 
 a brick, which he inserted in ,the brickwork with which the 
 sepulchre was walled in." And so the painter awaits " the 
 resurrection of the just," and the fellowship of saints and angels, 
 of which his inspired pencil has given us the highest realisation 
 on earth. -.rss^-— -t^~ 
 
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