The brothers Van Eyck

by Paul G. Konody

OUR ILLUSTRATIONS

The supreme masterpiece of the brothers van Eyck, the work which, in the history of Flemish art, has played the part that was allotted to Masaccio's frescoes at the Carmine, Florence, in the art of Italy, is the gigantic polyptych painted for the chapel of the Vydt family in the Cathedral of St. John (now St. Bavo) in Ghent, and known from the subject of the chief panel as the Adoration of the Lamb. In its original form this altar-piece, which is now divided between St. Bavo Cathedral and the museums of Berlin and Brussels, was composed of twelve interior panels and a predella (which has unfortunately been destroyed). Including the backs of the shutters, which, like the panels themselves, are covered with the most minute and exquisite painting, the painted surface extends to over 1,000 square feet. The centre panel alone, from which the whole altar-piece takes its name, measures 7¼ feet in width by 4½ feet in height.

Horizontally the whole altar-piece is divided into three portions. The central panel of the middle tier is occupied by the Adoration of the Lamb. Like the rest of the picture, it is treated in a decorative spirit, the grouping of the figures, the architecture, and the foliage being almost geometrically arranged and balanced. In a very beautiful and peaceful landscape is set up, on a green mound in the centre, an altar, upon which stands the Lamb of God. Its breast is pierced in the customary manner, the sacred blood flowing into a chalice at its feet. Immediately around the altar fourteen angels, symbolical, probably, of the stations of the Passion of Christ, kneel in adoration. The two in front of the altar offer incense, while emblems of the Passion are held by others. The cross is held on the left, and the pillar of the scourging stands on the right. In the foreground, also in the centre and below the altar, is the Fountain of Life, which divides two groups of worshippers: on the left are the Jewish prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament, whilst the crowd on the right is composed of Popes, Bishops, priests, monks, and laymen. In the background, emerging from the luxuriant forest immediately behind the altar, two processions slowly wend their way. The group on the right is composed of holy women, foremost of whom come St. Agnes with a lamb, St. Catherine, and others. The Procession on the left again includes Popes, Bishops, and monks. These are said to be the confessors. Above all hovers the Holy Ghost in the form of the dove.

The painting of these figures is most exquisite. The draperies are soft and pleasing; the colour is deep and rich; while the faces are remarkable for their character and variety of expression. The jewels and ornaments worn by some of the Popes and Bishops are drawn with loving care, and the enrichments of the vestments betray a patience and skill that create wonder. In the distance, above the trees, are seen cities with many towers and churches, behind which are hills in the remote distance. The foreground of the beautiful, soft, spring-like grass is profusely enriched by the growth of innumerable flowers and shrubs, all of which are painted with consummate skill and truth. The whole picture makes a profound effect by its sumptuous splendour, and by the masterly disposal of light and shade.

The two panels on the left are the Just Judges and Christ's Warriors. In the Judges the whole lower half of the picture is taken up by figures on horses. Behind a cliff in the middle distance is seen a forest and some buildings of elaborate architecture, which may represent tribunals. The bridles and trappings of the horses are richly jewelled, and altogether the best is made of the opportunity of rendering with goldsmith-like precision all manner of gorgeous materials, costly and beautifully emblazoned banners, and armour and trappings of beautiful design. Tradition has it that two of the Judges are portraits of the painters, the one in a black garment with a red rosary, who is turning towards the spectator, being the younger brother Jan. To strengthen the theory that this figure was painted by Jan after Hubert's death, Mr. Weale suggests that the black habit and red rosary denote mourning, probably for his brother Hubert.

As regards the other panel, Mr. Six has advanced an interesting theory with respect to the soldier who wears a blue head-dress. He calls attention to a pentimento in substituting for a crown on this figure the blue head-dress. Mr. Six claims to have identified this figure as Jean Sans Peur, who probably saw the painting, and objected to being represented with a crown while Godfrey de Bouillon wore only a fur cap, and therefore persuaded the painter to alter it to the blue cap or bonnet which was the badge of the Burgundians against the Armagnacs. From this the supposed alteration must have taken place a little after 1410, whereas, according to early art historians, the altar-piece was only begun between 1415 and 1420.

THE JUST JUDGES, AND CHRIST'S WARRIORS.
BY HUBERT AND JAN VAN EYCK.

Though the limitations of the present little volume make it impossible to reproduce the other panels which originally formed part of the colossal altar-piece, it will not be out of place here to describe them in detail, as they all form part of a wonderfully complete and harmonious scheme. As pendants to the Judges and Warriors, to the right of the central panel were the Holy Hermits and the Holy Pilgrims. Rocks, cliff, and foliage are found in the background of the hermits, but, as suggestive of retirement and remoteness, no architecture is seen. The pilgrims are represented walking up a valley towards the spectator. On the right, in the background, is a hill covered with various trees, and in the distance is seen a river and meadows, with a town and low hills beyond. The pilgrims are led by St. Christopher, whose giant proportions tower above the rest of the procession.

The upper tier of the polyptych consists of seven panels, or rather three panels, the combined width of which corresponds with that of the Adoration panel below, and two shutters on each side. The grand figure in the centre panel, majestically enthroned, has been variously held to represent God the Father and Christ, and the Latin inscription may be equally applied to both. Perhaps it was the painter's idea to personify both in one figure. On His brow is the Crown of Heaven, and at His feet the Crown of Purity and Innocence, which the Lamb has won on earth. The panel to His right shows the Virgin, gazing in devotion at an open book in her hands—a conception of such purity and innocence that it recalls the spirit of Fra Angelico. To his left is the equally nobly conceived figure of St. John, an open book in his lap, with his right hand raised, as it were, in exhortation. The monumental style of these figures, and their deep significance, leave no doubt that these panels are from the brush of the elder brother Hubert.

These panels are flanked by two shutters on each side—a choir of angels and St. Cecilia with some angels within, and Adam and Eve at the extreme ends. The relentless realism of the latter, which borders close on ugliness, marks them as the work of Jan. The figures are undoubtedly painted from life, and were held to be so wonderful that for some time the whole altar-piece was known as the "Adam and Eve painting." Jan may also be held responsible for the angels and St. Cecilia, both of which have many characteristics that tally with well-authenticated works by the master. The predella which originally adorned the altar-piece has unfortunately been destroyed. The reverse of the lower shutters shows the figures of St. John the Evangelist, St. John the Baptist, and portraits of the donor, Jodoc Vydt, and his wife; and of the upper shutters, the Annunciation and figures of prophets and sibyls. Only the Adoration and the three important panels above (God the Father, the Virgin, and St. John) remain at the Cathedral of St. Bavo at Ghent; the Adam and Eve are now at the Brussels Museum, and the other shutters at the Berlin Museum.

There are still extant portions of a copy of this great work which was painted at the command of Philip II. of Spain by Michael Cocxie. The wings of this copy are now added to the original centre portion at Ghent. There is a second copy of the Ghent altar-piece in the museum of Antwerp.

Upon the consecration of the great masterpiece at St. Bavo vast multitudes of people came into the city to see the work, the fame of which soon became known throughout the whole of Western Europe. And for more than four centuries it remained the wonder of Ghent.

Mr. R. Petrucci states that in 1904, during a demolition of a house in the Rue du Gouvernement at Ghent, the old walls were discovered of a Steen believed to have been the property of Jodoc Vydt, the patron of the van Eycks, who commissioned them to execute the Ghent polyptych. In a room upon the third floor, 40 feet up, a square window was discovered exactly answering in orientation and position to the town which appears in the Adoration of the Lamb, and which has been recognised as a view over the Rue Courte du Jour. In the foreground is seen the Steen, on the site of which was afterwards built the little butcher's shop near the present bird-market. Above it rises the tournelle of the weavers' chapel, which was used in turn as a butcher's shop, a pleasure resort, and a place of auction, and is now a garage for motor-cars. Further away, in the background, is the old fortified gate which defended the passage of the bridge of the canal of the coppersmiths. On the left of the scene is a representation of another front of the Steen, which stood on that side at the corner of the Rue Courte du Jour and the Rue de Brabant. The window reveals this scene exactly. "It seems certain," says Mr. Petrucci, "that this was the room in which Hubert and Jan, or, at any rate, Jan, van Eyck painted the famous polyptych of the Mystic Lamb."

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The portrait group by Jan van Eyck known as Jan Arnolfini and Jeanne dc Chenany, his Wife, must be counted among the greatest treasures of the London National Gallery, as it is, perhaps, the most perfect as well as the most characteristic example of the master's art. Arnolfini, who was Jan's brother-in-law, a man of solemn and depressing countenance, with heavy, drooping lids and long, wide-nostrilled nose, is seen standing in his bed-chamber. His right hand is raised as if enjoining silence, his left extended to his wife, whose open countenance denotes docility and calm. Arnolfini wears a tunic of a dark green stuff, over which is a cloak of dark red, which reaches well below the knees, and is lined and edged with fur. It is divided at the sides from the bottom to the shoulder. He wears a large and curiously shaped hat, which in a manner resembles a "beefeater's" head-gear. His wife is habited in a long and ample robe of green, rather bright in colour, and lined and trimmed with white fur. She has raised the folds of the robe in front, thus revealing an undergarment of dark blue, trimmed also with fur. Round her strikingly high waist is a narrow belt of leather, decorated with gilding and polished. On her head is a large kerchief with a worked border, which is caught up at the sides in the prevailing fashion. Round her neck she wears a double row of pearls. The drawing of the drapery, which falls straight to the floor, is bold and severe, realistic, and devoid of any attempt at affectation.

In the foreground is a small dog, and to the left, on the floor, a pair of pattens. In the centre of the room, slightly behind and above the heads of the figures, hangs a brass chandelier of pierced work. Of its six arms only one holds a candle, and this is burning, the single flame being probably a symbol of conjugal affection or unity, as there is no other reason for its presence in a chamber well lit by two large windows on the left—one behind the figures and one in advance, which is not shown, but the light from which falls straight upon the faces. On the wall behind the two figures a circular convex mirror reflects a portion of the room, with two additional figures. Beside it hangs an amber rosary. The flesh painting is admirably soft, delicate, and transparent; the light and shade powerful, yet so well arranged that only the closest examination will reveal what an important factor it is in the success of the picture. The whole thing is touching in the simple straightforwardness of statement, and all the details are wrought with inimitable but unobtrusive minute precision. In the management of tone-values and of indoors atmosphere Jan proves himself in this picture far ahead of his time.

The signature of this Arnolfini picture is written in ornamental Gothic characters immediately above the mirror, and takes the extraordinary form "Johannes de Eyck fuit hic" (Jan van Eyck was here), with the date 1434. Owing to this ambiguous wording, which may be, and has been, interpreted as "this was Jan van Eyck," the picture was formerly held to represent the artist himself and his wife, a theory which still has its defenders. A full pedigree of the picture is given in the National Gallery catalogue. It belonged in 1516 to Margaret of Austria, to whom it was given by Don Diego de Guevara, whose arms were painted on the shutters which were originally attached to it. Afterwards it passed into the hands of a barber-surgeon at Bruges, who presented it to the then Regent of the Netherlands, Mary, the sister of Charles V., and Queen Dowager of Hungary. This Princess valued the picture so highly that she granted the barber-surgeon in return a pension, or office, worth 100 florins per annum. The picture is included in the list of valuables which she carried with her to Spain in 1556, from which date it disappeared until 1815, when it was discovered by Major-General Hay in the apartments to which he was taken, in Brussels, to recover from wounds received at Waterloo. He subsequently purchased the picture, and disposed of it to the British Government in 1842, since which date it has been at the National Gallery. Henri Bouchot was of opinion that the picture is not the one of Arnolfini the traces of which are lost in 1556, but a portrait of van Eyck and his wife, painted as a pendant to the lost Arnolfini group. To support his view he pointed out the resemblance of the woman in this picture with the portrait of Jan's wife at the Bruges Museum.

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PORTRAIT OF TIMOTHY.
BY JAN VAN EYCK.

The portrait at the National Gallery which, from the name inscribed in Greek characters on the stone parapet that extends across the bottom of the panel, is known as the bust of Timothy, bears the date October 10, 1432, and is therefore the earliest of Jan's signed and dated pictures—always excepting the much-overpainted Chatsworth panel of 1421. It is not in quite so good a state of preservation as the other portrait of a man by Jan, in the same Gallery, which is dated 1433, but the face itself is in fairly good condition. The features are broad and massive, and inclined to heaviness; the eyes are somewhat deep-set, while the cheek-bones are prominent. His right hand holds a small roll of parchment with some writing upon it. On the parapet, beneath the Greek word "Tymotheos," is the inscription LEAL SOVVENIR, and the signature "FactÅ« año. Dm̄. 1432. 10. die Octobris. a Joh. de Eyck."

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The portrait known as The Man with the Pinks at the Berlin Museum, is one of the most characteristic of Jan's portraits. It shows an elderly man in a dark grey coat with fur cuffs and collar and a broad-brimmed beaver hat. At the neck the brocade collar of a tunic shows above the fur collar of the coat. The ornament of this brocade seems to consist of the alternating letters Y and C, which occur in one or two other portraits of the period, and may eventually afford some clue as to the identity of the sitter. Round the neck is a twisted wire chain, from which hangs a headless cross and the bell of St. Anthony. Both hands are raised as high as the breast, the fingers and thumb of the left holding three pinks. A handsome ring with two stones is on the third finger. The face, wrinkled and lined, is full of expression and life; the lips are parted, as though about to give utterance to speech. Though the drawing is almost hard in its exact delineation, it is far from rigid. It is altogether an admirable example of Jan's lifelike realism, that loves to dwell on every little ugly detail—ill-shapen ears, puffy "tear-bags," warts and wrinkles—and yet infuses the whole thing with the beauty of life and character.

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THE VAN DER PAELE ALTAR-PIECE.
BY JAN VAN EYCK.

The Virgin and Child, with St. Donatian, St. George, and the Donor, George van der Paele, Canon of the ancient Cathedral of St. Donatian at Bruges, bears the date 1436, and is the most important of Jan van Eyck's religious compositions. The scene is in the circular apse of a Romanesque church, lighted by the soft rays that filter through the leaded windows. The Virgin, draped in a red cloak, is seen in the centre under a green canopy, holding the Christ-Child in her lap. She has the same heavy, matronly features as the Virgin of The Annunciation in St. Petersburg and of the Chancellor Rolin picture in Paris, and is no more idealised than the by no means attractive infant Saviour, who is playing with a parrot. It is all very human and wonderfully true, and for that very reason lacking in spiritual significance. On the left stands St. Donatian in a gorgeous and marvellously painted brocade robe, whilst on the right St. George, in armour, presents the kneeling Canon van der Paele to the Virgin. The patron saint, again, is obviously painted from a model of low rank in life—perhaps a peasant or a stableman; whilst the rugged irregular features of the donor are set down with an honest and painstaking straightforwardness that seems to delight in doing full justice to all the sitter's ugliness. As objective portraiture pure and simple, this head of van der Paele has probably never been surpassed in the whole history of art. The supreme mastery of Jan van Eyck manifests itself in the creation of a work of unforgettable beauty and sumptuous splendour from such unpromising material. The ugliness of the types chosen is forgotten when one's eyes revel in the rich scheme of colour, the extraordinary beauty of the painting of all the stuffs and accessories, the perfect modelling of the features, and, above all, the (for the time) amazing knowledge of the effect of light. With all the richness of pigment there is not a single note in this whole large panel that is not absolutely "in tone"; nothing is forced, nothing arbitrary, as though the fifteenth-century master had already adopted the principle of the nineteenth-century impressionists—"the first subject of a picture is light."

The van der Paele altar-piece was in the sacristy of the church of St. Donatian when the old basilica was destroyed by the revolutionary troops. It was taken to Paris, together with much other artistic booty, but was returned to Bruges in 1814, and is now in the Museum of the Academy of that city. The drapery round the loins of the infant Saviour is a later addition which does not appear in the excellent early copy at the Antwerp Museum, from which our illustration is a reproduction. The original at Bruges bears the inscription in small Gothic letters: Hoc opus fecit fieri magister Georgius de Pala, huius ecclesie canonicus, per Johannem de Eyck pictorem. Et fundavit hic duas capellanias de gremio chori domini M. ccc°. xxxiiij°., completing anno 1436°.

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At the Museum of Antwerp is the exquisite unfinished little painting 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 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."

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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 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.

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]).

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]).

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).

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]).

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.

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.