Part 20 (1/2)
=J. Both's Italian Landscape: Evening.=--Johannes Both has another of his pictures here that shows the influence of Claude Lorraine. In the Italian Landscape: Evening, the left foreground is occupied by tall trees; a chariot is drawn by two oxen along a road leading to an old tower; on the horizon is a town on the sea-sh.o.r.e.
=P. Bout's Italian Seaport.=--Pieter Bout (1658-1702) almost always worked in collaboration with N. Boudwijns, for whose landscapes he supplied figures. Works exclusively his own are very rare. He belonged to the Flemish-Italian school, and has here a busy and lively Italian Seaport in the style of J. B. Weenix. It is signed and dated 1669, which hardly agrees with the date given for his birth unless he was very precocious.
=Other Painters in the Same Group.=--In this group also we might include Gerrit Claes Bleecker (d. 1656), whose work recalls Elzheimer and his followers. His Saul on the Road to Damascus is cla.s.sical rather than Biblical in sentiment, and the landscape is Italian.
=Weenix's Tobias Sleeping under a Vine.=--The same may be said of the charming Tobias Sleeping under a Vine by J. B. Weenix. In this there is a house on the right, against the wall of which is a vine under which Tobias is sleeping. A magpie is flying above his head, and beside him are various objects such as this artist loved to paint,--vegetables, a great copper milk pan, a yoke, harness, and other things, including a basket of grapes and an earthen pitcher. In the background a man is mounting a ladder. The picture is signed and dated 1662, two years before the painter's death.
Hendrick Mommers (1623-97) also has an Italian Landscape. He imitated the style of Karel Dujardin, another painter of this school. Frederick de Moucheron has a Mountainous Landscape. His pictures also were peopled by the indefatigable Van de Velde and Lingelbach.
=Landscape Setting for The Good Samaritan.=--Joris van der Hagen is another who makes use of a Biblical episode as an excuse for a landscape, or for the frame of the subject, as in his Landscape Serving as a Frame for the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In the foreground on the left, near two tall trees, the Good Samaritan has dismounted and is stanching the wounds of the traveller; four dogs are near the a.s.s; not far away the brigands are descending a path at the foot of a mountain.
On the right is the Levite, and farther back is the Pharisee, going away in a different direction. In the background is a river crossed by a three-arched bridge, on the other side of which are high buildings surrounded with trees. Mountains close the view.
=Boaz and Ruth in an Italian Setting.=--Gerbrand van den Eeckhout (1621-74), although a pupil of Rembrandt, painted so-called Biblical scenes in much the same spirit. Thus his Boaz and Ruth has an Italian setting. In the foreground Boaz is talking to his servant; Ruth is standing beside the latter with her ap.r.o.n full of wheat. On the left is a barn surrounded with trees; in front of it three harvesters are eating their meal; on the right beside a plough are a straw hat, a game-bag, and a pitcher. In the background is a field of corn which is being reaped and sheafed. Mountains close the scene.
=Balaam, by the Same Artist.=--Again in Balaam, trees and a river, high mountains and ruins, form the background. The prophet is seated on his a.s.s, and beating him with a stick to make him advance; but on the left an angel in white with golden wings stops him, sword in hand. Balaam is followed by two hors.e.m.e.n in Roman costume, and behind them is a chariot drawn by two horses.
=The Flight into Egypt with an Italian Background.=--Pieter Lastman painted an Italian landscape as a background for the Flight into Egypt.
Here we see the Virgin Mary on an a.s.s with the Infant Jesus in her arms, and by her side walks Joseph, carrying his carpenter's tools. A tree is seen on the left; and a cascade, ruins, and rocks in the background on the right.
=Van der Weyden's The Apostle John.=--Rogier van der Weyden (1390-1464) is an early master who painted in this style. In his The Apostle St.
John, the Apostle is seated in the foreground of a landscape, writing on a sheet of paper which lies on his knees. He wears a red robe, and a large red mantle lined with green falls from his shoulders and covers his knees with ample folds. Behind him, a winged demon empties his inkstand. On the left two gentleman are seen on horseback, and the background shows a mountainous landscape traversed by a river and enlivened by a castle and a fortified town.
=Van der Maes and Van der Werff.=--Evert Crijnsz van der Maes (1577-1646) has a St. Jerome in a landscape, signed and dated 1609.
Another picture of a hermit is by B. Matton, who lived a little later.
Pieter van der Werff has a Repentant Magdalen, who is kneeling in a grotto with hands crossed on her breast, while she reads a parchment scroll covered with Hebraic characters.
=Jan van Byler's Picture of Rachel and her Father.=--Jan van Byler, born in Utrecht in the second half of the seventeenth century, and pupil of his father, is rarely met with in either public or private galleries.
Here, however, we find Laban Reproaching Rachel for having Carried off his Household G.o.ds. In the foreground, Rachel is seated holding by one hand a little boy, while with the other she makes a gesture, as if to ward off the reproaches of Laban, who is standing before her. On the right is a young man carrying a basket. A brown and white dog lies in the foreground; and in the distance are seen two men and a camel near a tent attached to the trunk of a tree.
=H. Goltzius.=--H. Goltzius is represented by an interesting picture, Juno Receiving the Eyes of Argus Killed by Mercury. Mercury is seated on a red cloak; in his right hand he holds one of the eyes of Argus, which Juno, descending on a cloud, is about to receive in her robe. Before him are the severed head and corpse of Argus and a naked sword. A rocky landscape extends to the right, and on the left, in the clouds, the chariot of Juno, drawn by peac.o.c.ks.
=Moreelse's Vertumnus and Pomona.=--An interesting mythological picture by Moreelse is called Vertumnus and Pomona. The latter is seated under the trees to the left with her face turned toward the spectator. She wears a yellow silk dress with a blue tunic; her right hand holds a pruning-hook and her left a bunch of white grapes. A little behind her Vertumnus is seen in the guise of an old woman, leaning on a stick and extending the left hand.
=De Vos's Allegory, Crowned by Riches.=--Cornelius de Vos (1585-1651), pupil of David Remens, has an Allegory, Crowned by Riches. On the right, under a red tent fringed with gold, a young woman in a green dress and mantle embroidered with gold, a crown of gold in her right hand and a sceptre in her left, stands majestically. Before her kneels a farmer to be crowned, and he extends his hand to the fruits and vegetables in the foreground. On a table to the right, covered with a crimson cloth, are various objects of gold and silver. Farther back under the tent are two women, a negro, and Love. In the middle distance is Time with his scythe. To the left in the background, a landscape, where people are tilling the soil.
=An Allegory by De Wit.=--Jacob de Wit also has an Allegory. Minerva, in a landscape, is seated with her right hand on her harp; in front of her, four naked children are sporting, and one is playing a harp.
=A Cla.s.sical Scene by Van der Ulft.=--Jacob van der Ulft has a picture, painted in 1674, representing The Betrothed of Allucius Led as Prisoner Before Scipio. Ruins of temples and city walls and gates are seen to right and left. In the foreground are Scipio, the betrothed of Allucius, and other prisoners. Farther back are Roman soldiers with chariots, elephants, camels, and spoils of war. In the background a town is seen at the base of the mountains.
=Achilles Recognized by Ulysses, by Van Limborch.=--Achilles Recognized by Ulysses, by H. van Limborch, shows Achilles kneeling on the ground in the dress of a woman with a blue chalmys, having a sword in his right and the scabbard in his left hand; he is recognized by Ulysses who, with another person, is standing behind him. On the ground lie a helmet, a s.h.i.+eld, several precious objects, and some jewels which are being examined and handled by the wives of Lycomedes, King of Scyros. In the background on the left is the peristyle of a palace; and on the right are several persons near a statue and a boat.
=De Vriendt's The Death of Lucrezia.=--The Death of Lucrezia, by Frans Floris de Vriendt, is painted in a similar vein. Lucrezia is on her knees, in a despairing pose, and about to stab herself. In the background several buildings are seen.
=Painters of Purely Dutch Scenery.=--Turning now to painters of purely Dutch scenery and outdoor life, the Boijmans contains many pictures by the followers of Rembrandt, Potter, Ruisdael, and Wouwermans. Some of these display the open country, and others the life by the wayside, in the streets, and in the vicinity of towns. There are many charming pictures of the outdoor life of the gentry, the tradesmen, and the farmers. We have scenes of hunting, hawking, fis.h.i.+ng, promenades, and cavalcades, with beautiful landscape surroundings, and several pictures of the farm, pure and simple.
=Three Pictures by Jacob Ruisdael.=--Jacob Ruisdael has one picture, The Corn Field, which represents a hilly landscape. In the foreground brushwood, heath, and moss; on the right two oaks and, on an incline, a wheat-field partly cut, and mowers who are resting. On the horizon, to the left, is the sea with a few sails upon it.
Another picture is called A Sandy Road, and on this, which leads through brushwood and oak-trees, trudge two persons. On the right is a pool partly hidden in shadow.
The third picture by Ruisdael represents The Old Fish-Market at Amsterdam. On the right is the tower of the old church; in the foreground are the fish-venders sitting at their stalls and many promenaders; and in the background is the ca.n.a.l, on which boats are lying and sails spread out to dry. The figures were painted by Gerard van Battem.