one of the most eminent in portraiture was Ferdinand Bol (1616-80),
whose earliest signed work is dated 1642. In his earliest period he
devoted himself chiefly to large pictures of Biblical subjects; but,
like many other artists, he very soon found that there was a great deal
more money to be made in portraiture. At that time, when photography was
unknown, it was only natural that everybody who could afford it had his
picture painted. From the burgomaster to the ordinary tailor or
skipper--all wanted to have pictures of themselves and their families
hanging on their own walls; and the purchaser could indulge himself in
this natural vanity at comparatively small cost, for the demand
naturally increased the supply; and there were only too many painters
who were glad enough to serve their patrons. As the artists became
famous their prices naturally increased; and some received higher pay
than others who to-day have a greater reputation. Rembrandt probably
received as much as anybody else for a time; but at the end of his life
there was a greater demand for portraits by others, such as Maes, who
were more pliant to the changing mode. Rembrandt received 500 gulden
each for his famous portraits, whilst others were content with 150, 100,
and even 30 or 40 gulden. Caspar Netscher, for instance, received only
from 50 to 70 gulden for his elegantly finished pictures. The usual
custom was for an artist to paint portraits for a living, meanwhile
working and developing himself along the lines of his special genius.
Thus we find several of the Little Masters practically relinquishing
portraiture as soon as they had made a big reputation in _genre_, or
other fields.
=Bol's Work in Portraiture.=--Bol was a portrait-painter exclusively; he
married first in 1653, and a second time in 1669. Probably both wives
belonged to rich and important families, for Bol was kept busy his whole
life long and became wealthy, dying in 1680 in his beautiful house with
its fine grounds and stables.
With him, as with so many other successful painters, his last pictures
were not his best. In his earlier portraits he represents his sitters in
beautiful chiaroscuro. The painting is broad and spirited; the color
strong and brilliant. He painted so much in Rembrandt's style at first
that many of Bol's pictures have been taken for those of his master; and
later, when Bol's reputation had faded, unscrupulous dealers did not
hesitate to change his signature on the canvases for that of Rembrandt.
A celebrated instance of this practice is the so-called Portrait of
Flinck and his Wife in Munich, which by many connoisseurs was long
admired as Rembrandt's work; but, by Hauser's skill, the false Rembrandt
signature was obliterated and the real one of Bol brought to light.
=Bol's Portrait of De Ruyter's Son.=--The Mauritshuis owns one of the
best portraits by Bol, painted in his later period, that of the handsome
twenty-year-old son of the great Admiral de Ruyter. This son, Engel de
Ruyter, was born in 1649 and died in 1683. Bol painted him in the year
1669, as may be seen by the date on the picture. It is only quite
recently that the pendant, a portrait of the great Admiral de Ruyter,
has come to be regarded as a copy after Bol. The charming little marine
in the picture is undoubtedly by the hand of Willem van de Velde the
younger, and adds greatly to the interest of the painting because it is
of itself a fine picture of that great master. In many of his later
portraits, Bol is somewhat dull in his color and painted them too
rapidly, besides giving to his flesh too strong a red-rose tint; but
that cannot be said of him in this case, where he has done his very
best. In particular, he has handled the rich costume with affectionate
and masterful touch.
[Illustration: F. BOL
Admiral de Ruyter]
=Description of the Sitter.=--The genial countenance, which displays
none of the real martial type of his celebrated father, rises finely out
of the red drapery. The bearing is elegant, though perhaps there is a
little too much pose in it. The portrait is particularly interesting,
because the sitter had a career of great promise which was cut short all
too soon. Nine years after the portrait was painted, the youth had
already risen to the rank of Vice-Admiral and had been created a Spanish
count, having also refused the title of duke; but before he had attained
thirty-four years of age, he died, not a hero's death like his father,
as he had desired, but in his own luxurious dwelling in Amsterdam.
However, he had already while very young fought valiantly beside his
father in the Battle of Solebay.
=A Picture by Salomon Koninck.=--Another pupil of Rembrandt whom we
shall see in the Rijks is G. van den Eeckhout. A picture formerly
attributed to him, the Adoration of the Magi, is now known to be by
Salomon Koninck (1618-88). One of the Magi in a red cloak is kneeling
before the Infant Jesus and another on the right wears a golden mantle.
The color is vigorous and the work shows the knowledge of chiaroscuro
for which Rembrandt's school was so famous.
=Two Pictures by Nicholas Maes.=--Nicholas Maes (1632-93) is represented
in the Mauritshuis by only two pictures,--one of them of questionable
origin, moreover; and therefore the student must go to Amsterdam for
varied examples of his work. The portrait here is that of the Grand
Pensionary, Jakob Cats, an original replica of which hangs in the
Budapesth gallery. Diana and Her Nymphs shows some of the qualities to
be expected of one who worked in Rembrandt's studio for eighteen years;
but it is now sometimes attributed to Vermeer of Delft. The signature,
"N. M. 1650," is said to be false.
=Maes's Work as a Portrait-Painter.=--Maes was a pupil of Rembrandt and
became a very successful portrait-painter by copying the master's style.
He soon became rich by his talents, his wit, his polished manners, and
by flattering his sitters. He charged high prices for his pictures; and
he deserved his great reputation. The chiaroscuro of his paintings is
very vigorous. If the shadows are not heavily massed as with Rembrandt,
they are at least strongly accented; and, as the half-tones are very
summary, the passage from light to dark is very brusque, and by this
means the painter attains a powerful effect and strong relief.
=His Visit to Jordaens at Antwerp.=--Having become rich, and getting
tired of everlastingly painting the rich burghers of Amsterdam and their
wives, Maes thought he would like to go to see the works of the great
artists of Antwerp, who at that time were so much talked about
throughout Europe. Having been initiated into the high freemasonry of
art by Rembrandt, he was cordially received by the Antwerp painters and
soon recognized by them as a brother. Among others, he went to visit
Jordaens and was shown into a room filled with pictures, which he
examined while awaiting the appearance of the latter, who was watching
his visitor through the keyhole. When he entered, Jordaens said: "I see
plainly that you are a great connoisseur, or perhaps an able painter,
for the best pictures in my gallery detained you longer than the
others."
Maes simply replied, "I am a portrait-painter."
"In that case," replied Jordaens, "I sincerely pity you. So you also are
one of those martyrs of painting who so richly deserve our
commiseration!"
In fact, Maes's weariness at having to put up with the whims of human
vanity probably had much to do with his turning to _genre_, by which he
is now best known and for which he is most highly prized.
=Maes's Pictures of Familiar Scenes.=--The average art-lover, however,
cares little for the portraiture of Maes, but prizes him as a painter of
familiar scenes, like Pieter de Hooch. Although less varied and less
supple, but not less robust than the latter, Maes was his equal in the
power of his effects. The triviality of the subject which he often
selects is relieved by the charm of an astonishingly vigorous and
spirited execution. Burger says:
"On passing through a kitchen, perhaps, you see an old woman scraping
carrots, having various kitchen utensils about her. If you have seen
this humble interior in one of Maes's pictures, it will be impossible
for you not to halt and spend some time in looking at it. The painting
of Nicholas Maes is one of those that become encrusted in the memory.
The light gleams in it, the canvas glows, the subject stands out, the
eye runs over it, and if the figures were of natural size one would go
forward to meet them, so strong is the impression, so solid is the
tone, so palpable, and modelled in relief are the forms.
"In his little familiar scenes, Maes is not always insignificant or
vulgar in his choice of subject. Most often, indeed, his composition
is ingenious, witty, and piquant. In the first place, it is set in the
most picturesque corner of the room; the painter likes to take up his
position in a place whence he can see at once the house from top to
bottom,--both the stairs descending to the cellar and those mounting
to the first floor. Then the figures he brings into the scene usually
have some malicious trick to play, some secret conversation to
overhear, some theft to discover, or some infidelity to discover."
=Samuel van Hoogstraaten.=--It is singular how few pictures are known by
Rembrandt's remarkable pupil, Samuel van Hoogstraaten (1625-78), a
versatile painter of landscapes, portraits, marines, architecture,
fruits, flowers, and, more particularly, interiors, in which he followed
Pieter de Hooch. In his Lady in a Vestibule he has demonstrated his
knowledge of perspective, of which he was very proud. The chief feature
of the picture, however, is the beautiful chiaroscuro, for which he has
to thank Rembrandt's teaching. The lady is walking in a portico of very
fine architecture, and reading. With one hand she is holding up her
straw-colored dress. This figure is only two feet high, while the
spaniel that accompanies her is life size!
=Effects of Rembrandt's Teaching on his Pupils.=--Thirty of Rembrandt's
pupils made great names for themselves by copying that great master in
one or other of his manners. Some made a system of what with him was
merely a mood or caprice. Not being able to follow him in the expression
of the human soul, they made a specialty, some of portraiture, some of
costume, some of chiaroscuro, some of _genre_, and some of landscape.
=Philip Koninck's Landscapes.=--Philip Koninck (1619-88) is almost the
only pupil of Rembrandt who painted landscapes almost exclusively, and
he listened to the teachings of his master with great docility. His
principle was to regard nature from a little distance, so as to grasp
the masses, rather than to enter into details. The Mauritshuis possesses
a beautiful and characteristic specimen of his genius. In composition
and treatment, it reminds us of Rembrandt's Landscape of the Three
Trees.[2] Blanc says:
"Among the Dutch landscape painters perhaps there is not one, unless
it is Van der Hagen, who would have dared to paint this monotonous
plain, all the lines of which are horizontal, all the clumps and rows
of trees of the same height, and in which the only objects in the
foreground are a cottage half hidden among trees, and, a little
farther on, a low sandy hill which does not rise beyond the level of
the middle distance. The vast stretch of country is traversed by so
many courses of water that it almost looks as if it were threatened
with an inundation. The meadows are on a level with the sea; the
distant villages look like flotillas at anchor, and the houses seem to
be floating on the canals. The painter has placed his point of view so
high that neither the sails of the windmills, nor the points of the
belfries, nor the tops of the highest trees stand out against the sky.
The picture is cut in half by the almost straight line of a horizon
which gradually recedes until lost to view, and the towns we perceive
in the distance, the rows of trees, the hamlets, and rivers all run
parallel with this horizon. That is to say, that Philip Koninck (and
this picture resembles all the others of his we know) is conceived
entirely at variance with the ideas that are generally held regarding
the picturesque."
Gilpin says:
"'The greatest enemies of the picturesque are the symmetry of the
forms, the resemblance and parallelism of the lines, the polish of the
surfaces, and the uniformity of the colors.'
"Very well! Here is a landscape by Koninck that fulfils all the
conditions of the non-picturesque; and which, nevertheless, produces a
certain impression of grandeur and sadness, solely by means of the
canvas being furrowed into infinite depths, the gradations of the
perspective being extremely well observed, and the uniformity of the
ground being happily contrasted with a sky full of movement, a fine
disorder of clouds which the breeze slowly drives before it as a
shepherd does his flock."
=Dutch Painters who imitated Italians.=--Rembrandt, although he arose at
a time when the influence of Italian art was supreme, never went to
Rome; nevertheless, he owed a great deal to the studies of those artists
who had been there. The Hague Gallery contains several pictures of this
period; and these are sufficient to give us a very good idea of the
qualities of Dutch art just before Rembrandt, in 1629, set up for
himself in Amsterdam at the age of twenty-one.
=Hendrik Goltzius.=--An influential founder of a large school of
painters who modelled themselves on the great Italians was Hendrik
Goltzius (1558-1616). He started for Rome in 1590, and indulged to the
full his intense admiration for Michelangelo, which led him to surpass
that master in the extravagance of his designs. The works by his own
hand he most valued were his eccentric imitations of the designs of
Michelangelo. His portraits show exquisite finish, and are fine studies
of character. The beauty and freedom of his execution make amends for
his extravagance. In the Mauritshuis are three pictures painted shortly
before he died--Mercury, Hercules, and Minerva.
=His Academy at Haarlem.=--On his return from Italy Mander, who was a
great friend of Goltzius, induced him to open an academy at Haarlem, in
combination with Mander and Cornelisz, and with the assistance of his
old pupils, Matham, Muller, Sanraedam, and De Gheyn, as professors. As
might be expected, Italian taste predominated in this academy, not
solely on account of the personal preference of the founders, but
because the Italian style had been popularized in the Low Countries by
Lambert Lombard, and his pupils, Hubert Golz, Lambert Zutman, Dominic
Lampson, William Key, and Frans Floris (1518-70). Of these the most
famous was Floris, who also studied in Italy, and himself founded a
large school. The Hague possesses in Venus and Adonis a charming example
of his style.
=The Italian Style followed by Cornelisz.=--Cornelis Cornelisz
(1562-1638) had never been to Italy, but his education and environment
had given him Italian tendencies. We learn that even after he had
attained proficiency he never dispensed with the model; nevertheless, he
was neither a slavish imitator of nature, nor altogether a painter of
style. He has two large pictures in The Hague Gallery that were painted
about the time he joined Goltzius in the Haarlem academy. These are the
Massacre of the Innocents (1591) and the Marriage of Peleus and Thetis
(1593). The dominating idea of the artist in the Massacre of the
Innocents, which covers a canvas 8-3/4 by 8-1/4 feet, is the wish to
appear a great master of drawing by curves and modeling that exaggerate
the relief of the muscles. There are more than two hundred figures which
are almost all entirely nude. The executioners, and the infants in
particular, show an attempt at noble form which rises above nothing more
than affectation. There is an obvious striving after the genius of
Michelangelo which, in the Dutch master, is merely pretentious imitation
of what would be facile and superb in the great Florentine. There is not
a single attitude nor a movement that is not _contrasted_; for instance,
if the left arm is behind, the right leg is in front. In fact, the study
of nature is completely subordinated to academic conventions. The color
is far more natural than the drawing. The artist has been extremely
successful in rendering the flesh tints of life as well as of death, and
he has varied the _nuances_ in accordance with sex and age, giving very
faithfully the tenderness and freshness of the flesh tints of infancy,
and the softness of the female form, the stronger tones of the
executioners in action, and even the cadaverous hue of the bloodless
corpses. As for the expressions of the faces, they are vulgar though
energetic.
=His Love of painting the Nude.=--The love of Cornelisz for compositions
thronged with nude figures in the most varied attitudes wherein he could
exhibit all the resources of his learning and study of the works of
Michelangelo is again shown in the large canvas, measuring 8 by 14 feet,
entitled Banquet of the Gods of Olympus, or Marriage of Peleus and
Thetis.
=Gilles Coignet.=--Cornelisz had received his tastes and instruction
principally from Gilles Coignet (1540-99), who set out for Italy with
another painter named Stello in 1555 and worked principally at Terni,
between Loretto and Rome, for five years. He painted historical and
mythological subjects of easel size, but was more successful in
landscapes, and more particularly in candle-light subjects and
moonlight. He took up his abode in Amsterdam in 1586. His influence on
the Haarlem school was pronounced.
=Elsheimer's Excellence in Chiaroscuro.=--The Mauritshuis possesses two
Italian Landscapes by Adam Elsheimer (Elshaimer or Elzheimer)
(1574-1620), a German painter, whom the Italians call Adam Tedesco, who
possessed great influence over his contemporaries, particularly the
elder Teniers and Rembrandt, who followed out the same characteristics
of chiaroscuro. Elsheimer delighted in the effects of moonlight and
evening dusk; also in torchlight, conflagrations, and every other kind
of artificial light,--all of which he represented with greater
excellence than had ever been done before him. Visiting Italy, he became
charmed with the country and settled in Rome, where his little pictures,
usually painted on copper with microscopic and beautifully finished
figures, had great success. Elsheimer was visited by all the artists of
his country, including Poelemburg, who saw him in 1617. He was almost as
great in chiaroscuro as Rembrandt; and his immense reputation did not
diminish until after the eighteenth century.
=Cornelis van Poelemburg.=--A picture of Women Bathing, by Cornelis van
Poelemburg (1586-1667), is a fine example of his style. He studied first
under Bloemaert, but during a protracted visit to Italy he fell under
the influence of Elsheimer; and on his return to his own country he
became quite the rage as a painter of classic landscape. In Rome he had
been fascinated by Raphael's pictures, and studied him with affectionate
admiration. Poelemburg possessed a happy and tranquil nature.
=His Attractive Landscapes.=--"The little pictures that his
imagination painted breathe a quiet happiness, and are imprinted with
a suave poesy. They nearly always represent a countryside adorned with
ancient ruins and frequented by demi-nude nymphs. His landscapes,
enveloped in vapor which, while decreasing the dryness of the
outlines and crudity of the tones, would soften the aspect of the most
rugged spots, serve as a background for the whiteness of the goddesses
who dance with fauns or repose in the shade of some abandoned
monument. Sometimes, as though the vale that they dwell in were
reserved for the gods, Poelemburg's nymphs do not fear to remove their
light vesture and bathe in some open pool where only the painter may
see them. But, most frequently, it is in the neighborhood of a grotto,
at the foot of rocks perpetually washed by a spring of fresh water,
that one likes to surprise them, nude, trembling, their bodies
rendered whiter by the transparent veil of the atmosphere, playing
with the water they are disturbing, swimming after one another and
half-hidden by the current of their chaste fountains."
=Dutch Artists who migrated to Rome.=--Bartholomeus Breenborch
(1599-1659) was another member of that band of artists who at the
beginning of the seventeenth century deserted the banks of the Meuse for
those of the Tiber, and exchanged the land that was to produce Rembrandt
for the country of Raphael's birth. A few Dutch artists successfully
resisted the lures of the Eternal City; but the majority of painters of
that period followed the example of Elsheimer, Poelemburg, Karel
Dujardin, Herman Swanevelt, Andreas and Jan Both, and others, and formed
a little Dutch colony among the Seven Hills.
=Breenborch compared with Poelemburg.=--Breenborch devoted himself to
history and landscape alternately. His historical subjects were chiefly
Biblical and mythological. He was fond of painting classical landscapes
with ruins; and the only artist who could excel him in painting charming
little figures in a landscape was Van de Velde. The chief characteristic
of Poelemburg, with whom Breenborch is so often compared, is grace. The
only picture of this artist in The Hague Gallery, Mercury appearing to
the Nymph Herse, resembles Poelemburg both in subject and treatment.
=Van der Ulft's Architectural Paintings.=--Van der Ulft (1627-90),
another artist of this school, was originally a painter on glass.
Later, he turned to historical compositions of small dimensions; but his
real talent lay in the representation of architectural monuments, and
scenes inside city walls. It is strange that he never visited Italy, but
formed himself by the study of the works of returning Roman art pilgrims
and of engravings. His perspective is exact; his ancient ruins,
triumphal arches, and statues are correctly placed in his pictures, and
his architectural backgrounds, abounding in strong and golden grays,
form an excellent frame for the little figures that animate his spirited
paintings. He delighted to paint Roman processions. The Hague picture
shows an army on the march in a landscape adorned with architectural
remains.
=Nicolas Moeyaert's Best Points.=--A follower of Elsheimer, who later
became a disciple of Rembrandt, was Nicolas Moeyaert (1630-?), who
settled in Amsterdam in 1624 and joined the Painters' Guild in 1630. In
some of his pictures he imitated Rembrandt very closely. He excelled in
portraits, animals, landscapes, and historical and Biblical scenes. The
Hague Gallery contains three: Mercury appearing to the Nymph Herse;
Triumph of Silenus, and a Biblical scene, also called the Visit of
Antiochus to the Augur.
=Description of one of his Pictures.=--Antiochus, about to engage in a
war, is consulting the augur. In the centre stands the king dressed in a
long blue robe, with a white girdle and a purple cloak lined with fur;
also a furred bonnet. He is talking to an old man, the augur, who has a
long white beard. He is wrapped in a yellow cloak, is barefooted, and he
is writing in a book. By him are some animals, including a dog and some
rabbits, and on the right of Antiochus are two goats and a sheep. On a
rock on the left is a group of ten persons; and in the centre of the
picture between the two high rocks stand a tower and a temple. For
pupils Moeyaert had Berchem, Van der Does, Salomon Koninck, and J. B.
Weenix.
[Illustration: MOEYAERT
The Visit of Antiochus to the Augur]
=Pieters and Lastman.=--Gerrit Pieters, the best pupil of C. Cornelisz,
also went to Rome. He painted assemblies, _genre_, and small portraits;
his success prevented him from devoting himself to historical painting,
which he preferred. A pupil of his was Pieter Lastman (1583-1633), who
also made a long sojourn in Italy under Elsheimer's influence. He groped
about in different styles for a long time, devoting himself principally
to Biblical subjects. He learned a good deal about light effects from
Elsheimer; on his return he imparted what he knew to Rembrandt, who
studied with him for a short time. Later, when his brilliant pupil grew
famous, Lastman humbly followed his lead. Jan Lievens (1607-74), was
another of his pupils. A picture by him, painted in 1622, when Rembrandt
was still only fourteen years old, and therefore could not have
influenced him, is in the Mauritshuis. It is called The Resurrection of
Lazarus.
An artist who accompanied Lastman to Italy in 1605 was named Jan Pinas
(f. 1608-21). He painted portraits, landscapes, and historical subjects.