THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Since we began our voyagings together among the visionary worlds of
the great painters, five hundred and thirty years ago, at the accession
of King Richard II., we have journeyed far and wide, trudging from
the rock where Cimabue found the boy Giotto drawing his sheep's
likeness. The battleship of Turner has now brought us to the
mid-nineteenth century, a time within the memories of living men, and
still our journey is not ended.
Hitherto we have been guided in our general preference for certain
artists and certain pictures by the concurring opinion of the best
judges of many successive generations. But while we are looking at
modern paintings, we cannot say, as some one did, that in our opinion,
'which is the correct one,' such and such a picture is worthy to rank
with Titian. The taste of one age is not the taste of another. Who
can surely pronounce the consensus of opinion to-day? Who can guess
if it will concur with that of future decades--of future centuries?
We can but hope that learning to see and enjoy the recognized
masterpieces of the past will teach us what to like best among the
masterpieces of the present.
A great love of the Old Masters inspired the work of a group of young
artists, who, about the year 1850, banded themselves together into
a society which they called the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. The title
indicates their aim, which was to draw the inspiration of their art
from the fifteenth-century painters of Italy. The sweetness of feeling
in a picture such as Botticelli's 'Nativity,' the delicacy of
workmanship and beautiful painting of detail in Antonello's 'St.
Jerome' and other pictures of that date, had an irresistible
fascination for them. They fancied and felt that these artists had
attained to the highest of which art was capable, so that the best
could only again be produced by a faithful study of their methods.
The aims of the Brotherhood were not imitation of the artists but of
the methods of the past. They held that every painted object, and every
painted figure should be as true as it could be made to the object
as it actually existed, rather than to the effect produced upon the
eye, seeing it in conjunction with other objects.
These men heralded a widespread medieval revival, but all the study
in the world could not make them paint like born artists of the
fifteenth century. Yet there are those who think that much of the spirit
of beauty, which had dwelt in the soul of Botticelli and his
contemporaries, was born again in Rossetti and Burne-Jones. Their
feeling for beauty of form and purity of colour, and their aloofness
from the modern world, impart to their work an atmosphere that may
remind us of the fifteenth century, though the fifteenth century could
never have produced it.
Rossetti and Burne-Jones, indeed, never formally joined the
Brotherhood, though they were influenced by its ideals and pursued
the same strict fidelity to nature in all the accessories of a picture.
Millais and Holman Hunt, original members of the Brotherhood, painted
men and women of the mid-Victorian epoch with every detail of their
peaked bonnets and plaid shawls, and were comparatively indifferent
to beauty of form and face. But Rossetti and Burne-Jones created a
type of ideal beauty which they employed on their canvases with
persistent repetition. Burne-Jones founded his type upon the angels
of Botticelli, and his drapery is like that of the ring of dancers
in the sky in our picture of the 'Nativity.' You are probably familiar
with some of his pictures and perhaps have felt the spell of his pure
gem-like colouring and pale, haunting faces. It was the people of their
minds' eye who sat beside their easels. Rossetti lived and worked in
the romantic mood of a Giorgione, but instead of expressing the
atmosphere of his fairy city of Venice, he created one as far as
possible removed from his own mid-Victorian surroundings. His
imaginary world was peopled by women with pale faces and luxuriant
auburn hair, pondering upon the mysteries of the universe. Like
Rossetti's 'Blessed Damozel,' they look out from the gold bar of heaven
with eyes from which the wonder is not yet gone.
One of the best Pre-Raphaelite landscapes is the 'Strayed Sheep' of
Holman Hunt. The sheep are wandering over a grass hillside of the
vividest green, shot with spring flowers, and every sheep is painted
with the detail of the central sheep in Hubert van Eyck's 'Adoration
of the Lamb.' The colouring is almost as bright and jewel-like as that
of the fifteenth-century painters, for one of the theories of the
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was that grass should be painted as green
as the single blade--not the colour of the whole field seen immersed
in light and atmosphere, which can make green grass seem gray or even
blue.
In Brett's 'Val d'Aosta,' another Pre-Raphaelite landscape, we look
from a hill upon a great expanse of valley with mountains rising behind.
Every field of corn and every grassy meadow is outlined as clearly
as it would be upon a map. Every stick can be counted in the fences
between the fields and every tree in the hedge-rows. When we look at
the picture we involuntarily wander over the face of the country. There
is no taking in the view at a glance; we must walk through every field
and along every path.
After seeing these Pre-Raphaelite landscapes, let us imagine ourselves
straightway turning to one of the numerous scenes by Whistler of the
Thames at twilight, with its glimmering lights and ghostly shapes of
bridges and hulks of steamers. Nothing is outlined, nothing is clearly
defined, but the mystery of London's river is caught and pictured for
ever. Let us look, too, at his 'Valparaiso,' bathed in a brilliant
South American sunshine, where all is pearly and radiant with southern
light. Even here the impression is not given by the power of the sun
revealing every detail. There are few touches, but like Velasquez,
he has made every touch tell.
As the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood kindled their inspiration by the
vision of the fifteenth-century painters of Italy, so Whistler and
many other modern artists have turned to Velasquez for guidance. Till
the last half of the last century his name had been almost forgotten
outside Spain. Now, among the modern 'impressionists' so-called, he
is perhaps more studied than any other painter. When we were looking
at the pictures of this great man, we saw how he and Rembrandt were
among the earliest to learn the value of subordinating detail in the
parts to the better general effect of the whole, so as to present no
more than the eye could grasp in a comprehensive glance. Every tree
and stick in Brett's 'Val d'Aosta' is truthfully painted, but the
picture as a whole does not give the spectator the impression of truth,
for the simple reason that the eye can never see at once what Brett
has tried to make it see. All the wonderfully veracious detail in the
work of the Pre-Raphaelite does not give the impression of life. Men
like Holman Hunt, on the one hand, and on the other hand Whistler,
living and working at the same time, exhibiting their works in the
same galleries, differ even more in their ideals than Velasquez
differed from the fifteenth-century painters of Italy.
Facts such as these make the study of modern art difficult. Before
the nineteenth century, pictures of the same date in the same country
were painted in approximately the same style. But during the last fifty
years many styles have reigned together. At one and the same time
painters have been inspired by the Greek and Roman sculptors, by
Botticelli, Mantegna, Titian, Tintoret, Velasquez, Rembrandt,
Reynolds, and Turner, and the work of each is, notwithstanding,
unmistakably nineteenth century, and could never have been produced
at any other date. Every artist finds a problem of his own to solve,
and attacks it in his own way. When Whistler painted a portrait he
endeavoured to express character in the general aspect of the figure,
rather than in the face. The picture of his mother is a wonderful
expression of the sweetness and peace of old age, given by the severe
lines of her black dress and the simplicity and nobility of her pose.
The great painter Watts, who by the face chiefly sought to express
the man, never painted a full-length figure portrait. His long life,
covering nearly the whole of the century, enabled him to portray many
of the foremost men of the age--statesmen, poets, musicians, and men
of letters. In his portrait gallery their fine spirits still meet one
another face to face. But his portraits, in and through likenesses
of the men, are made to express the essence of that particular art
of which the man was a spokesman. In his portrait of Tennyson, the
bard with his laurel wreath is less Tennyson the man, if one may say
so, than Tennyson the poet. The picture might be called 'poetry,' as
that of Joachim could be called 'music,' for the violinist with his
dreamy beautiful face, playing his heart out, looks the soul of music's
self.
Watts was never a Pre-Raphaelite, clothing anew his dreams of medieval
beauty; nor a seeker after the glories of Greece and Rome, like Leighton
and Alma Tadema; nor a student of the instant's impression, like
Whistler. To penetrate beneath the seen to the unseen was the aim of
his art. He wrestled to express thoughts in paint that seem
inexpressible. When we go to the Tate Gallery in London, to the room
filled with most precious works of Watts, we feel almost overawed by
the loftiness of his ideas, though they may seem to strain the last
resources of the painter's art. One of them is a picture of 'Chaos'
before the creation of the world. Half-formed men and women struggle
from the earth to force themselves into life, as the half-wrought
statues of Michelangelo from the marble that confines them. Near by
is a picture of the 'All-pervading,' the spirit of good that penetrates
the world, symbolized as a woman gazing long into a globe held upon
her knee. Opposite is the 'Dweller in the Innermost,' with deep,
unsearchable eyes. These are pictures that constrain thought rather
than charm the eye. When the thought is less obscure, it is better
suited to pictorial utterance, and Watts sometimes painted pictures
as simple as these are difficult.
There is nothing obscure in our frontispiece picture of 'Red
Ridinghood.' It sets before us a child's version and vision of a child's
fable that is imperishable, and as such makes an immediate appeal to
the eye. She is not acting a part or posing as a princess, but is simply
a cowering little girl, frightened at the wolf and eager to protect
her basket. In her freshness and simplicity, a cottage maiden with
anxious blue eyes, most innocent and childish of children, she need
not shun proximity to Richard II., Edward VI., William of Orange, Don
Balthazar Carlos, and the Duke of Gloucester.
And thus we conclude our procession of royal children with a child
of the people. Beginning with Richard II., a portrait of a king rather
than a child, we end with a picture in which childhood merely, without
the gift of distinction or the glamour of royalty, suffices to charm
a great painter's eye and inspire his thought. With the sweetness and
grace of modern childhood filling our eyes, may we not well close this
children's book?
INDEX
'Adoration of the Lamb,' 56-59
Adoration of the Magi, treatment of, 33
'Age of Innocence,' 171
_Alice in Wonderland_, 2
'All-pervading,' the, 196
Animals, painting of, 142
Antonello of Messina, 67-69
Art, definition of, 4
Atmosphere, 10
treatment of by Dutch School, 139, 140
by Holbein, 139
by Velasquez, 156
Beauneveu, Andre, of Valenciennes, 43
Bellini, Giovanni, 98, 102
Black Death, influence of, 41
Botticelli, 70-77, 145
influence of, on Burne-Jones, 191
Brett's 'Val d'Aosta,' 192 _et seq._
Burne-Jones, 190 _et seq._
Byzantium, influence of, 19
Turkish conquest of, 20
'Chaos,' 196
Charles I. employs Rubens, 143
employs Van Dyck, 147
painted by Velasquez, 157
Charles II., 131
Charles V., King of France, 40
Charles V., Emperor, 153
Chillon, Castle of, 11
Churches, medieval grandeur of, 14
Cimabue, Vasari's account of, 24
picture in National Gallery, 25
picture in Santa Maria Novella, 25
training of Giotto, 27
Civilization, definition of, 9
Claude Lorraine, 181-183
Constable, 180
Correggio, 91
Crome, Old, 178
Cuyp, 138-142, 180
'Dido building Carthage,' 182
Don Balthazar Carlos, 154 _et seq._, 160 _et seq._
Douglas, Lady Alfred, 75
Dragons, fear of, 12
Duke of Gloucester, 170-171
Durer, 106-107
compared with Holbein, 113
Dutch expansion in the seventeenth century, 117
'Dweller in the Innermost,' 196
Edward the Confessor, story of, 32
Edward Prince of Wales, 111-115
Eighteenth century, artificiality of, 168
Erasmus, 109-110
portrait of, 114
Etching, process of, 127
Fighting _Temeraire_, 176 _et seq._
Francis of Assisi, life of, 17, 21
Franciscans, foundation of the order of, 22
'Fresco' painting, 39
Gainsborough, 173 _et seq._
Garden of Eden, 95
Giorgione, 94-98, 140
Giotto, 27, 28, 35, 50
'Golden Age,' 95-98, 142
Goldsmith, 174
Greeks, influence of, 10, 65
Henrietta Maria, 149
Henry VIII., 109 _et seq._
employs Holbein, 110
portrait of, 114
Hobbema, 141, 178
Hogarth, 166 _et seq._
Holbein, 102-115, 139, 151
'Erasmus' in collection of Charles I., 147
Holman Hunt, 190, 191
Horne, Herbert P., 74
Hubert van Eyck, 46 _et seq._, 140
Hulin, Dr., 49
Il Penseroso, 83
Impressionism, beginning of, 162
Infanta Marguerita, 161 _et seq._
James II., 149
Jerusalem Chamber, 18
view of, taken in 1486, 49
Joachim, portrait of, 195
John, Duke of Berry, 40, 42, 53
John, King of France, 40
John van Eyck, 60
compared with Durer, 107
Josse Vyt, 58
Julius II., Pope, 88
'Knight's Dream,' 78, 82-86
L'Allegro, 83
Landscape painting, beginning of, 50
Lely, Sir Peter, 131
Leonardo da Vinci, 80-81, 89-90, 110
compared with Durer, 107
'Les Meninas,' 162
Liber Studiorum, 183
Louis, Duke of Anjou, 40
Luini, Bernardino, 90-91
'Madonna of the Rocks,' 90
'Man in Armour,' 126-127
Mantegna, 69, 70, 102
'Triumphs of Caesar,' 148
Maria Theresa, 163
Marie de Medicis, 143
Mary Stuart, 149-150
Medieval detail, 37
coronation, solemnity of, 34
guilds, 44
Michelangelo, 80
influence on Reynolds, 169, 172
influence on Tintoret, 99
Millais, 190
Milton, 83
More, Sir Thomas, 109, 110
Mosque of Omar, 49
Newbolt, Henry, 187
'Night Watch,' Rembrandt's, 123-124
'Norham Castle,' 183
'Norwich School,' 178
'Pallas Athene,' 127
Perspective, 66
absence of, 55
Hubert's improvement in, 55
mastery of, in Renaissance, 67
Perugino, 79
Peter de Hoogh, 133-136
Philip IV., 154, 155
Philip the Bold, 40, 41
Philip the Good, 52
Photographs and pictures, the difference between them, 4
Portraiture, in the fifteenth century, growth of, 60
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, 189 _et seq._
'Rain, Steam, and Speed,' 184
Raphael, 78-89, 140
cartoons, in collection of Charles I., 147
comparison with Giorgione, 94, 97
influence on Velasquez, 159
'Red Ridinghood,' 197
Reformation, effect of on art, 108
Rembrandt, 118-132, 135
'Anatomy,' 122, 157
compared with Peter de Hoogh, 134
compared with Van Dyck, 151
compared with Velasquez, 156
landscapes of, 139
Syndics, 130
Revelations, 57, 74
Revival of learning, 65
Reynolds, 169-175
Richard II., portrait of, 29 _et seq._
diptych, 47, 50, 139, 197
diptych in collection of Charles I., 147
Roger van der Weyden, 61
Rome, influence on Turner, 181
Rossetti, 190 _et seq._
Royal Academy, 174
Rubens, 138, 143-145
friendship with Velasquez, 157
on Charles I., 147
Ruysdael, 141
Santi, Giovanni, 79
St. Catherine, Raphael's, 85
burial of, 90
St. Catherine of Siena, 17
St. Edmund, 33
St. Francis of Assisi, 17, 21
preaching to the birds, 4, 23, 50
St. George slaying the dragon, 100-102
St. Jerome's cell, 6, 63-69
lion of, 142
St. Matthew, 46
Saskia, 121, 122 _et seq._
Savonarola, 73-76
Sistine Madonna, 85
Spain, greatness of, in sixteenth century, 153
Stained-glass windows, influence of in the fourteenth century, 36
Steen, Jan, 137, 167
'Strayed Sheep,' 191
'Surrender of Breda,' 159
Tenniel, 2
Tennyson, portrait of, 195
Terborch, 137
'Three Maries,' 46-59
compared with Botticelli's 'Nativity,' 77
compared with Raphael's 'Knight's Dream,' 85
treatment of atmosphere in, 140
Timoteo Viti, 82
Tintoret, 99-102
influence on Velasquez, 159
Titian, 98, 99, 140, 159
Turner, 176-187
sunsets of, 9
'Ulysses deriding Polyphemus,' 184
Umbrian landscape, beauty of, 79
'Valparaiso,' 193
Van Dyck, 145-152
compared with Reynolds, 170 _et seq._
comparison with Velasquez, 161
Van Eyck's influence in Germany, 105
Vasari, 23, 25
Velasquez, 153-164
compared with Reynolds, 169
influence of, 193
Venice, influence on Turner, 180, 185
influence of on Venetian artists, 93 _et seq._
Veronese, 102
Watts, 195-197
Whistler, 192 _et seq._, 193
William the Silent, 116, 146
William II. of Orange, 146-152
William III., 146
Wood-cutting, process of, 127
Wool industry, importance of, 41
THE END
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HOW TO ENJOY PICTURES
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1. The Age of Innocence _Reynolds_
2. William II., Prince of Orange-Nassau _Van Dyck_
3. Lady Hamilton as a Bacchante _Romney_
4. The Laughing Cavalier _Franz Hals_
5. Study of Grief _Greuze_
6. Portrait of Mrs. Siddons _Gainsborough_
7. Nelly O'Brien _Reynolds_
8. Portrait of the Doge Leonardo Loredano _Bellini_
9. Portrait of an old Lady _Rembrandt_
10. The Virgin and Child _Botticelli_
11. The Hay Wain _Constable_
12. Madame Le Brun and Her Daughter _Le Brun_
13. The Broken Pitcher _Greuze_
14. The Parson's Daughter _Romney_
15. The Milkmaid _Greuze_
16. Portrait of Miss Bowles _Reynolds_
17. La Gioconda _Leonardo da Vinci_
18. Ulysses deriding Polyphemus _Turner_
19. Chapeau de Paille _Rubens_
20. Portrait of Mrs. Siddons _Sir T. Lawrence_
21. Head of a Girl _Greuze_
22. The San Sisto Madonna _Raphael_
23. The Dead Bird _Greuze_
24. Princess Margarita Marla _Velasquez_
25. The Tribute Money _Titian_
26. Sir Walter Scott _Raeburn_
27. Robert Burns _Nasmyth_
28. The Swing _Fragonard_
29. Inside of a Stable _George Morland_
30. Head of a Girl _Rembrandt_
31. Embarking for Cythera _Watteau_
32. Anne of Cleves _Holbein_
33. The Avenue, Middleharnis, Holland _Hobbema_
34. Interior of a Dutch House _Peter de Hoogh_
35. Charles I. _Van Dyck_
36. St. John the Baptist _Leonardo da Vinci_
37. A Young Man _Raphael_
38. A Party in a Park _Watteau_
39. His Majesty King George V. _H. de T. Glazebrook_
40. The Surrender of Breda _Velasquez_
41. Prince Balthasar Carlos _Velasquez_
42. The Maids of Honour _Velasquez_
43. The Tapestry Weavers _Velasquez_
44. The Topers _Velasquez_
45. The Immaculate Conception _Murillo_
46. The Blue Boy _Gainsborough_
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