Part 7 (1/2)

Seven times, while he hung upon the cross, did the suffering Saviour speak aloud. ”Father, forgive them,” was his first exclamation, ”for they know not what they do.” His next words were to the thief on one side, who begged to be remembered when Jesus should come into His own: ”This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise,” was the reply. Then his thoughts turned lovingly to his mother, who stood with John by the cross. ”Woman, behold thy son,” he said to her, indicating John. Then turning to John, he added, ”Behold thy mother.” A moment of agony followed, when he cried, ”My G.o.d, my G.o.d, why hast thou forsaken me?”

After this, he said, ”I thirst,” and a soldier held to his lips a sponge wet with vinegar. As the end drew near came the words, ”It is finished,” and at last, ”Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CRUCIFIXION _Antwerp Museum_]

In Van Dyck's picture we see nothing of the surroundings of the Crucifixion--the Roman soldiers, the curious crowd, the sorrowing friends, or the crucified thieves. Only the solitary figure of Jesus, nailed to the cross, is lifted against the strange dark sky. For three hours, as we read, there was darkness over all the land, followed immediately, after the death of Jesus, by a great earthquake. This is the moment when the storm-clouds are gathering over the face of the sun, causing its light to gleam luridly through the thick covering.

The cross is rudely built of two beams in the form which is called a Latin cross. A fluttering scroll at the top of the upright beam carries the accusation ”The King of the Jews.”

The garments of Jesus had been stripped from his body and divided among four soldiers. He now hangs naked upon the cross save a small strip of cloth knotted about his loins, the loose ends hanging at one side. The body is somewhat slender and delicately modelled, but firm and supple as of one in the fulness of manhood. The hair falls in dishevelled locks about the face, and a mysterious light s.h.i.+nes above the head.

As we look at the picture, each one must decide for himself what moment in the great drama is ill.u.s.trated. From the expression of suffering on the countenance we judge that the end is approaching.

From the lifted face and open mouth we see that the sufferer communes with his Father.

The Crucifixion is the saddest subject a painter could choose, yet notwithstanding this, it has been one of the most important subjects in Christian art. Van Dyck painted it many times, and expressed, as we see here, a deep sense of the tragic nature of the scene. Yet he always avoided those harrowing details which make some of the pictures of the older masters too painful to contemplate. For this reason his crucified Christ has been chosen as the model for the Crucifixion scene in the Pa.s.sion Play at Ober-Ammergau.

We may see how wide was the range of our artist's gifts, which extended from such joyous pictures as the Rest in Egypt to a theme so solemn as the Crucifixion.

XII

JAMES STUART, DUKE OF LENNOX AND AFTERWARDS OF RICHMOND

James Stuart, Duke of Lennox, was one of the most prominent personages at the English court. His uncle was a cousin and trusted friend of King James I., and the relations between the nephew and Charles I.

were even closer. Immediately upon taking a degree at Cambridge, the young n.o.bleman entered the royal service as Gentleman of the King's Bedchamber. He was just thirteen years of age, and a born courtier.

”His courtesie was his nature, not his craft,” quaintly says one historian. While still in his minority, he visited France, Italy, and Spain. When Van Dyck came to England, he became at once one of the painter's most frequent sitters.

Our ill.u.s.tration is one of the first of the series of portraits of the Duke of Lennox, and shows him at the age of twenty. The young man stands with his hand on the head of a favorite greyhound, and turns his pleasant face to ours with a smile. He wears the habit of the Order of the Garter. This ”most n.o.ble and ill.u.s.trious Order” was inst.i.tuted by King Edward III. under the patronage of St. George. It consisted of the sovereign and twenty-five ”companions” banded together, like the knights of Arthur's Round Table, for the advancement of ideal manliness. The ceremony of invest.i.ture was very solemn, each part of the costume being placed in turn on the elect knight, when he knelt to take the vows. We note in the picture the same details which we saw in the portrait of Charles I., the mantle with the great silver star, and the gold medal, or ”George,” on the blue ribbon. One part of the costume not to be seen in the other picture is the garter, worn on the left leg ”between the knee and the calf,” as the old directions read.

The garter was, indeed, originally the most important emblem of the entire garb. It symbolized to the wearers that ”as by their Order, they were join'd in a firm League of Amity and Concord, so by their Garter, as by a fast Tye of Affection, they were obliged to love one another.” The garter was blue, fastened with a gold buckle, and on it was inscribed the motto, ”Honi soit qui mal y pense” [Evil to him who evil thinks]. A miniature representation of the garter encircles the cross in the centre of the star, and also forms a border of the ”George” medallion.

From the broad lace collar to the high-heeled shoes with their huge rosettes, the young man of the picture represents the height of the prevailing fas.h.i.+on. His hair is carefully curled in the manner of the Cavaliers. He is in fact the impersonation of the court life of the period. It is pleasant to fancy the graceful youth moving through the stately figures of the court dances.

[Ill.u.s.tration: JAMES STUART, DUKE OF LENNOX AND RICHMOND _Metropolitan Art Museum, New York_]

It was five years after this portrait was painted that the Duke of Lennox married Mary, the daughter of the first Duke of Buckingham.

Then followed the troubles in Scotland caused by the king's persistent attempt to force the liturgy of the Church of England upon the people.

Lennox now showed himself a stanch adherent of the Crown, and upheld the royal cause in the face of the bitter opposition of the Scotch.

His enemies thought him very haughty and severe in his manner, but his probity and sincerity seem not to have been questioned.

In 1641, he was created Duke of Richmond, and in the same year was appointed to the high office of Lord Steward of the Household.

Throughout the civil war he served his royal master with untiring faithfulness, devoting a large part of his fortune to the cause of the Crown. When Charles was held a prisoner in Hampton Court, it was this friend who cheered the period of his confinement. When at last, after the execution of the king, the royal remains were buried at Windsor, the Duke of Richmond was one of the four n.o.blemen who sorrowfully bore the pall to the grave. He died in the prime of manhood, in 1655.

A more loyal follower no king could have, yet, notwithstanding his zeal, the Duke of Lennox and Richmond failed to exert any great influence upon history, because he lacked the necessary judgment and decision of character. His portrait certainly does not indicate any special intellectual promise in the young man. Yet the face is so refined, the expression so winning, that none can help feeling the singular charm of the personality. Van Dyck understood well how to impart an air of distinction to a figure, and when, as in this case, he had a favorable subject, he was especially successful.