Of the school that flourished in Brussels before Italianism appeared
in the person of Barend van Orley (_c._ 1495-1542), the only name that
has come down to posterity is that of Rogier van der Weyden’s follower,
Colin de Coter, thanks to the clear inscription
_Colin de Coter pinxit me in Brabancia Bruxelle_
on the hem of the dress of the kneeling Magdalen in _The Holy Women_
(No. 1952B), which, with _The Trinity_ (No. 1952A) and another lost
panel, probably originally formed a triptych. The signed wing was
presented to the Gallery in 1903; whilst the _Trinity_ centre-piece was
bought two years later from the Abbé Toussaint at St. Omer for £120.
Like Mabuse, Barend van Orley, after showing in his early work clear
traces of his descent from the Flemish primitives, drank deeply at the
fountain of Italian art. He was profoundly impressed by Raphael, from
whom he endeavoured, with a certain degree of success, to learn the
noble flow of drapery and the harmonious disposition of the design. On
the other hand, he sacrificed the lustrous richness of Early Flemish
colour and became addicted to dull grey shadows and pinkish lights.
His _Holy Family_ (No. 2067A) does not rank with his finest works,
_The Last Judgment_ at Antwerp and the _Holy Family_ at Liverpool. The
architectural setting, with a statue of Neptune in a square in the
background, indicates the advent of the Renaissance. The picture was
bought at the Otlet sale in Brussels, in 1902, for £540. With Barend
van Orley closes the chapter of the Early Flemish school. Indeed, he
was rather the first of the new era than the last of the primitives.
[Illustration:
PLATE XX.—JAN MABUSE
(1470?-1533?)