of _St. Barbara_, signed and dated: JOHES DE EYCK ME FECIT 1437. The
saint, with an open book on her lap and a palm-branch in her hand, is
seated in front of an elaborately designed Gothic tower in course of
construction. Around the tower are numerous figures of labourers,
masons, horsemen, and others; and the background shows a landscape
with mountains, castles, rivers, fields and trees, and a town on a
hill. Technically, this picture {63} is supremely interesting, as it
shows that at a comparatively late period of his life--a quarter of a
century after the reputed discovery of oil-painting--Jan has not
altogether discarded the practice of tempera-painting. For the whole
composition, the pensive-looking saint and the widespread angular
folds of her garment, the tower and the figures, are carefully drawn
and shaded in brown tempera colour on a preparation of gum or white
of egg. Only the part which required no special design, the sky, is
painted in oil-colour. It may thus be assumed that it was the
practice of the brothers van Eyck to work with oil-colours on a
tempera foundation.
The _St. Barbara_ also confirms Karel van Mander's statement that
Jan's sketches were more complete and more carefully wrought than the
finished paintings of other artists. M. Henri Hymaus suggests that
this _St. Barbara_ is the very painting which van Mander mentions as
being in the possession of his master Lucas de Heere at Ghent, and
"representing a woman behind whom was a landscape; it was but a
preparation, and yet extraordinarily beautiful."
* * * * *
{64}
Our last illustration represents, or is supposed to represent, _The
Enthronement of Thomas à Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury_, and is
in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire, at Chatsworth. In a
late Norman church Thomas à Becket is seen in the foreground under a
scarlet canopy, with the Holy Ghost hovering near, and above is a
splendid crown in which the figure of the risen Christ is introduced;
above the crown is a circle with a Virgin and Child. Three Bishops
are engaged in placing the mitre upon the head of the saint, while a
priest with an open book is kneeling before him. On the right are
the clergy and on the left the laity, with King Henry II. at their
head. On the border is the inscription: _Johes de Eyck, fecit, ano,
M°.CCCCZI, 30° Octobris_. This inscription, if genuine, is the only
evidence of Jan's authorship of the picture which has been entirely
repainted, so that nothing of the original work is to be seen. The
date, 1421, is eleven years earlier than any other dated picture by
Jan van Eyck. It is scarcely necessary to point out the importance
of this fact to the art historian in search of evidence of Jan's
early activity; but whilst the picture remains in its present
condition it cannot throw {65} any light upon the debated points.
Only if the surface paint were removed would it be possible to judge
whether below it is a real early work of Jan van Eyck, and what was
the relative position of the two brothers before Hubert's death.
_The Enthronement of Thomas à Becket_ has an interesting pedigree.
It was given by John, Duke of Bedford, to King Henry V., and was
afterwards in the collection of the second Earl of Arundel, who died
at Padua in 1646, bequeathing it to Henry, the sixth Duke of Norfolk,
by whose son, the seventh Duke, it was sold. It came through the
Duke's steward, Mr. Fox, to a Mr. Sykes, who sold it to the Duke of
Devonshire in 1722.
{66}
LIST OF WORKS,
CATALOGUED ACCORDING TO
LOCALITY
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
VIENNA MUSEUM.--Portrait of _Jan de Leeuw_ (Jan), signed and dated
1436.
Portrait of _Nicolas Albergati_, Cardinal of the Church of the Holy
Cross (Jan), painted, probably, in 1431, when the Cardinal passed
through Flanders on a political mission. This picture is mentioned
in the inventory of the Archduke Leopold William, Governor of the
Netherlands, 1655. A silver-point sketch for the portrait is in the
Dresden Print Cabinet.
BELGIUM.
GHENT, CATHEDRAL OF ST. BAVO.--The _Adoration of the Lamb_ triptych
(Hubert and Jan; see p. 46).
{67}
ANTWERP MUSEUM.--_St. Barbara_ (Jan), 1437 (see p. 62).
_The Virgin and Child by the Fountain_ (Jan), 1439.
BRUGES MUSEUM.--_Virgin and Child, with St. Donatian, St. George, and
the Donor, George van der Paele_ (Jan), 1436 (see p. 60).
Portrait of Jan Van Eyck's Wife (Jan), 1439.
BRUSSELS MUSEUM.--_Adam and Eve_: shutters from the _Adoration_
triptych at St. Bavo, Ghent (Jan; see p. 52).
LOUVAIN, M. G. HELLEPUTTE.--Triptych of the _Virgin and Child, with
the Donor, Nicolas de Maelbeke, in Adoration_, unfinished (Jan),
1340. The shutters contain representations of Gideon standing before
an angel, the burning bush, Aaron with a blossoming rod, and other
subjects from the Old Testament.
BRITISH ISLES.
CHATSWORTH, DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE.--_The Enthronement of Thomas à
Becket_ (Jan (?); see p. 64).
{68}
INCE HALL, MR. WELD BLUNDELL.--_Virgin and Child_ (Jan): a panel of
very small dimensions and miniature-like execution, painted in 1432,
and inscribed _Als ikh kan_ (As well as I can).
LONDON, NATIONAL GALLERY.--_Jan Arnolfini and Jeanne de Chenany, his
Wife_ (Jan), 1434 (see p. 54).
Portrait of _Timothy_, "Leal Souvenir" (Jan), 1432 (see p. 58).
Portrait of a _Man with a Chaperon or Turban_ (Jan), 1433. Inscribed
on the frame: _Johes de Eyck me fecit anno_ MCCCC 33 21 _Octobris_,
and _Als ikh kan_. Formerly in the Arundel Collection.
RICHMOND, SIR FREDERICK COOK.--_The Three Marys at the Sepulchre_
(variously attributed to Hubert and Jan).
DENMARK.
COPENHAGEN, ROYAL GALLERY. _Robert Poortier, protected by St.
Antony_ (Hubert).
{69}
FRANCE.
PARIS, LOUVRE.--_Chancellor Rolin kneeling before the Virgin and
Child_, with a river landscape seen through a loggia of three arches
(generally ascribed to Hubert, but more probably by Jan).
BARON G. DE ROTHSCHILD.--_Virgin and Child, with St. Anne, St.
Barbara, and a Carthusian Monk_, who has been identified as Herman
Steenken, of Suutdorp, Vicar of a Carthusian Nunnery near Bruges
(Hubert and Jan).
GERMANY.
BERLIN, NATIONAL GALLERY.--Six shutters from the _Adoration_
altar-piece of St. Bavo, Ghent (Hubert and Jan; see p. 48).
A replica of the _Virgin and Child, with a Carthusian Monk_, in the
collection of Baron G. de Rothschild, Paris.
_Head of Christ_ (Jan), 1439.
Portrait of a _Knight of the Golden Fleece_, probably Baudouin de
Lannoy (Jan).
The Man with the Pinks (Jan; see p. 59).
{70}
DRESDEN GALLERY.--Triptych, _The Virgin and Child Enthroned_. On the
wings are the figures of St. Catherine and the donor, and on the back
of the shutters the Annunciation (Jan).
FRANKFORT, STAEDEL INSTITUTE.--_The Virgin and Child Enthroned_ (Jan).
LEIPZIG MUSEUM.--_Portrait of a Man_ (Jan?).
ITALY.
TURIN GALLERY.--Copy of _St. Francis receiving the Stigmata_. The
original is in the collection of Mr. J. G. Johnston, Philadelphia.
RUSSIA.
ST. PETERSBURG, HERMITAGE.--_Calvary and the Last Judgment_. Wings
of a triptych, the centre portion of which is lost (Hubert?).
_The Annunciation_ (Jan), formerly in the collection of King William
II. of Holland. Bought for the Hermitage Collection for 13,000
francs.
{71}
SPAIN.
MADRID GALLERY.--Copy of a lost painting by Hubert and Jan van Eyck,
representing _The Triumph of the Church over the Synagogue_, also
known as _The Fountain of Life_.
UNITED STATES.
PHILADELPHIA, J. G. JOHNSTON.--_St. Francis receiving the Stigmata_
(Hubert and Jan). A copy of this picture is at the Turin Gallery.
BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.