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 shines above
the head.
As we look at the picture, each one must decide for himself what
moment in the great drama is illustrated. 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 Passion 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 nobleman 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 illustration 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 noble and illustrious Order" was
instituted 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 investiture 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 fashion. 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.
[Illustration: 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 noblemen 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.
To lovers of dogs the greyhound is no unimportant part of our picture.
The painter has expressed with much insight the character of this
beautiful and high-bred creature. The muzzle is pressed affectionately
to the master's side, and the eyes are fixed upon the beloved face
with an expression of intense devotion. There is a tradition that this
animal once saved the duke's life by rousing him from sleep at the
approach of an assassin.
In the making up of the composition, the dog's figure describes a
diagonal line on the left, which balances a similar diagonal on the
other side made by the duke's placing his arm akimbo. Thus the general
diagram of a pyramid is suggested as the basis of the grouping.
AUTHORITIES.--Robert Vaughn: _The History of England under the House
of Stuarts_; L. von Ranke: _The History of England in the Seventeenth
Century_; Warwick's _Memoirs_; Doyle's _Official Baronage of
England_.
XIII
CHRIST AND THE PARALYTIC
It was a part of our Lord's ministry among men to restore to health
the body as well as the soul. He was often moved with compassion by
the disease and suffering which he saw as he went about Galilee or
passed through the streets of Jerusalem. St. John, the evangelist
(chapter v.), relates an incident which took place at a pool called
Bethesda near a sheep market in Jerusalem.
There were here five porches in which lay "a great multitude of
impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the
water." It seems that at certain intervals the waters of the pool were
troubled, as if moved by some unseen agency. It was believed that the
first person stepping in thereafter would be healed of any disease he
might have.
"And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight
years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long
time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The
impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is
troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another
steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed,
and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed,
and walked."[20]
[Footnote 20: There was another case of Christ's healing a paralytic,
but as on that occasion the sick man's bed was let down through the
roof into a house, the incident does not fit the picture so well as
that of Bethesda.]
This is the incident illustrated by our picture. Jesus has already
brought the paralytic to his feet, and now sends him on his way. Two
other men complete the group, but take no part in the conversation.
One is a disciple, perhaps John, who accompanies the Master, the other
is a spectator peering curiously over the paralytic's shoulder.
The restored paralytic carries under one arm a rug, which has been
clumsily rolled into a bundle. This is the sort of "bed" used among
the poor of Eastern countries. He is but half clad in a garment which
slips from his shoulders, showing his emaciated form. The face is
sharpened by suffering; he is altogether a strange and repulsive
figure. Like the beggar who lay in St. Martin's path he represents a
degraded class of humanity.
He leans now towards his unknown friend in a pitiable effort to
express his gratitude. The eyes have a look of dumb devotion like
those of a faithful dog. He lays one hand humbly upon his breast.
Jesus turns to the poor creature with an expression of infinite
compassion. He reads the man's heart with his searching glance. Thanks
he does not need; his first care is to send the man forth to begin
life anew.
[Illustration: CHRIST AND THE PARALYTIC
_Buckingham Palace_]
The head of the Saviour is painted after the ideal portrait which has
been handed down from generation to generation since the early days of
Christianity. The oval face with classical features, the full beard,
the long hair parted in the middle, such are the familiar features
which we have all come to associate with the person of Jesus. Yet
notwithstanding this general similarity in the many pictures of
Christ, every great artist has brought out something different in the
face.
It was Titian's peculiar glory to show the intellectual side of our
Lord's character as no other Italian had done. Van Dyck, with
characteristic admiration for the great Venetian, followed his
example. If we compare our illustration with Titian's Christ of the
Tribute Money[21] we shall see how closely the former imitates the
latter. Yet, as no man of imagination can copy exactly another's work,
Van Dyck's ideal of Christ is less ascetic than Titian's and somewhat
more benign. In both pictures the pure countenance of the Saviour is
sharply contrasted with the coarse face beside him.
[Footnote 21: See Chapter VIII. of the volume on _Titian_ in the
Riverside Art Series.]
We are interested to read on in St. John's narrative the sequel of the
story illustrated in our picture. It happened to be the Sabbath day,
and, as the restored paralytic passed through the city, the Jews said
unto him: "It is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed."
"He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take
up thy bed, and walk. Then asked they him, What man is that which said
unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And he that was healed wist not
who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in
that place.
"Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple and said unto him, Behold,
thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made
him whole."
XIV
PHILIP, LORD WHARTON
Philip, Lord Wharton, was an English nobleman of nearly the same age
as the Duke of Lennox, and the two were painted by Van Dyck at about
the same time. In both young men are apparent the same signs of gentle
birth and breeding, a dignity of bearing, and a repose of manner
characteristic of their class. That they were quite different in
essential character, however, we shall presently see.
Lord Wharton was the fourth baron of his family and the second of the
name Philip. He succeeded to his title as he was entering his teens,
and at the age of nineteen he had become one of the most attractive
figures at the court of Charles I. In this year he married Elizabeth,
the daughter of Sir Rowland Wandesford. It was in honor of this
occasion that the portrait of our illustration was painted.
Of a lover so handsome and graceful, the promised bride may well have
been proud. His dress is rich and picturesque: the jacket is of violet
velvet, the mantle of yellow satin, and the costume is set off by
delicate laces at the throat and wrists. These were days when the men
vied with women in fondness for finery.
Lord Wharton was at this time on terms of friendly intimacy with the
king and queen. It was a flattering mark of royal favor when the king
presented the young courtier with two full-length portraits of himself
and of Queen Henrietta, painted by Van Dyck. Perhaps the artistic
tastes they had in common formed the bond of friendship between them.
Lord Wharton, it appears, admired Van Dyck's portrait work almost as
much as King Charles. On his second marriage, five years later, he
employed the artist to paint a number of family portraits. He prized
these so highly that he built a gallery specially for them in his new
house at Winchendon.
The time soon came when more strenuous questions occupied him. The
contest between the king and the Parliament brought every Englishman
to a parting of the ways. Lord Wharton was a Puritan, and took a
decided stand on the side of Parliament. His personal relations with
the king were outweighed by his sense of patriotic duty.
At the breaking out of the war he entered the Parliamentary army,
serving successively as colonel of a regiment of foot, and as a
captain of a troop of horse. He took part in the battle of Edgehill,
and was brought into considerable prominence at this time. In a famous
speech made soon afterwards, he charged the king's nephew, Prince
Rupert, with gross "inhumanity and barbarousness" during the course of
the battle. Evidently where his mind was made up, Lord Wharton was a
strong partisan.
[Illustration: PHILIP, LORD WHARTON
_Hermitage Gallery, St. Petersburg_]
Of this we should suspect nothing from our portrait. It is hard to
imagine that this beardless young courtier, so suave and amiable in
appearance, will ten years later be fighting sternly against his king.
Here his thoughts seem to be wholly romantic: his eyes have the dreamy
expression of an expectant lover. His is surely a knightly soul
unstained by worldliness. The face is of that perfect oval admired by
artists as the highest standard of beauty. Taste and refinement are
the most striking qualities one reads in it; the mouth is the most
individual feature, small and modelled in delicate curves. Yet with
all its sweetness, those firmly closed lips suggest tenacity of
opinion and strength of will.
As the event proved, Lord Wharton was a man of uncompromising
political opinions. He was at one time committed to the Tower on a
charge of contempt of the House. In his long and active life he saw
England pass through many changes. He was an old man when the last of
the Stuart kings (James II.) fled from England, leaving a vacant
throne. Macaulay tells us of the Whig nobleman's speech in the meeting
of the Lords which resulted in the invitation to William and Mary of
Orange to take the government. He knew how to be fair as well as
severe, and a still later speech is recorded when he opposed the
Abjuration Bill.[22] He died at the age of eighty-five in 1698.
[Footnote 22: This bill provided that no person should sit in either
house of Parliament or hold any office without making declaration that
he would stand by William and Mary against James and his adherents.]
There are other portraits by Van Dyck more vigorous than this, but
none perhaps more charming. As we have seen in the portrait of the
Duke of Lennox, the painter was nowhere more successful than in
portraying the young courtier. We recognize the pose, with one arm
akimbo, as a favorite device of Van Dyck. While in some cases it seems
artificial, here it appears to be an attitude which the young man
assumed of his own accord.
On his left arm he carries a tall shepherd's staff; it may be that he
has sometime played a pastoral part in some masque. His costume,
however, does not accord with such a part, and it is more likely that
the staff is held merely to give some use to the left hand. We note in
another illustration that the man called Richardot holds a book, with
his hand in a similar position.
The texture painting of Lord Wharton's costume is skilfully rendered,
and a rich satin hanging behind him throws a part of the figure into
relief. On the other side is a glimpse of landscape lighting the
composition pleasantly with a distant view.
Authorities.--Macaulay: _History of England_; Doyle's _Official
Baronage of England_.
XV
THE LAMENTATION OVER CHRIST
A great company of people had followed Jesus to his crucifixion,
including not only his enemies, but his friends. The beloved disciple
John was accompanied by Mary. "And many women were beholding afar off,
which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him; among which
was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the
mother of Zebedee's children.
"When the even was come there came a rich man of Arimathea named
Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple. He went to Pilate and
begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be
delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a
clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb which he had hewn
out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the
sepulchre and departed."[23]
[Footnote 23: St. Matthew, chapter XXVII., verses 55-60.]
During all this time two at least of the original company of women had
lingered near while the body of Jesus was taken from the cross and
made ready for burial. They were the mother Mary and Mary Magdalene.
Even after Joseph's task was done and he had gone his way, they
remained "sitting over against the sepulchre."
It is not unnatural to suppose that they may have had some share in
the preparation of the body. Nicodemus, as we learn elsewhere, had
brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, which it was the custom of the
Jews to use in burial.[24] Both men must have been glad of the presence
and help of the faithful women.
[Footnote 24: St. John, chapter XIX., verse 39.]
Poets and painters have dwelt much on these sad moments, supplying
from the imagination the details omitted in the narrative. The women
must at times have been unable to restrain their tears; natural grief
must have its way. Then might the men have left them awhile alone with
their dead, as they busied themselves with their task.
It is some such idea as this which inspired the painting of our
illustration. The mother Mary supports the head of her son upon her
bosom; Mary Magdalene stoops to kiss the lifeless hand; St. John
approaches at one side with a mantle.
The body of Christ, wrapped in a cloth, has been laid upon a rock in a
cavern. The agony of his cruel death is past, and the face is calm as
of one who sleeps. The figure is, as we have seen it on the cross,
robust and well knit. Only the nail prints in hands and feet show the
manner of his dying. On the ground beside him is a basin with a
sponge, surrounded by tokens of the crucifixion, the crown of thorns,
the nails, and the superscription.
[Illustration: THE LAMENTATION OVER CHRIST
_Antwerp Museum_]
We see in the Madonna the same stately and beautiful woman who carried
her babe on the journey to Egypt. Her veil is now drawn well over her
head, entirely concealing her hair. She has borne the cares of life
with courage, and the years have touched her face but lightly. Even in
the hour of anguish she lifts her eyes to heaven with resignation, yet
one hand is extended with a gesture which seems to implore mercy.
Mary Magdalene is a much younger woman. She has peculiar reason for
her devotion to Jesus, for he saved her from a strange fate.[25] Her
impulsive and loving nature is now overwhelmed with grief. Her rich
costume is in disorder, and her hair falls in loose locks over her
shoulders. Her lovely face is very sad. Half kneeling, she presses her
lips to the wound in the left hand. Her attitude and manner are full
of humility, as if she felt herself unworthy to approach too near.
[Footnote 25: St. Luke, chapter VIII., verse 2.]
St. John regards the group with gentle sympathy. He is spoken of as
"the disciple whom Jesus loved," so intimate was the relation between
them. To his care Jesus intrusted the Mother Mary, and he now remains
near as one of the few most deeply bereaved. He is very young, with a
sensitive face and delicately cut features.
The subject of the picture is one which Van Dyck treated in several
compositions. The Flemish title is "Nood Godes," the suffering of God.
The Italians call it the Pieta, which means, compassion. One of the
most celebrated works of art devoted to the theme is the marble group
in Rome by Michelangelo.[26] Van Dyck must have seen this work on his
visit to the Eternal City, and was no doubt inspired in some measure
by its grandeur. We notice that in his picture the Mother extends her
left hand in a gesture similar to that of the marble figure.
[Footnote 26: See Chapter VI. in the volume on _Michelangelo_ in the
Riverside Art Series.]
XVI
PORTRAIT OF VAN DYCK
The painter Van Dyck was the son of a rich merchant of Antwerp, and
lacked no opportunities for the training of his artistic gifts. He was
fortunate also in meeting ready appreciation wherever he went. In
Italy, in Flanders, and finally in England, his paintings were highly
valued. His life was passed amid luxurious surroundings, in the
society of noblemen and princes. His was a brilliant and successful
career.
Our portrait frontispiece was painted during his residence in England,
when he was about forty years of age. He is described as short in
stature, with a slender figure. His hands were long, with the straight
sensitive fingers of the artist. He had a fresh delicate face, with
well-cut features, and light chestnut-colored hair, which he wore
long, like the English Cavaliers. The upturned mustache and small
pointed beard were also fashionable among the English nobility, as we
infer from the portrait of Charles I.
The face has the characteristic qualities of the artistic nature, the
high forehead, the dreamy eyes, and the pensive expression. The head
is lifted a little, in an imaginative pose. We should know this man at
once for a poet or a painter.
It must be confessed that we do not find much strength of character in
the face. Van Dyck indeed lacked the nobler qualities of manliness,
and was decidedly worldly in his tastes. He lived in princely
magnificence in his house at Blackfriars, spending money lavishly. A
biographer tells how "he always went magnificently Drest, had a
numerous and gallant Equipage, and kept so noble a Table in his
Apartment that few Princes were more visited or better serv'd."
To maintain this expensive establishment the painter was obliged to
devote his mornings to hard work in his studio. The nights were spent
in banquets and revelry. Naturally his health gave way under the
strain of this double life. While he still cherished ambitious
projects for greater works of art, he sickened and died in London at
the age of forty-two.
Two years before this he had married an English lady, Mary Ruthven,
and they had one child, a daughter.
Our frontispiece is a detail of a double portrait representing, in
half-length figures, the painter and a patron, John Digby, Earl of
Bristol.
* * * * *
PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY OF PROPER NAMES AND FOREIGN WORDS
The Diacritical Marks given are those found in the latest edition of
Webster's International Dictionary.
EXPLANATION OF DIACRITICAL MARKS.