The Burlington magazine

by Unknown

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE

NOTES FROM FRANCE[119]

EXHIBITION OF FRENCH PRIMITIVES

The splendid exhibition at Bruges, of which Mr. W. H. James Weale is writing for the readers of THE BURLINGTON MAGAZINE with that eminent proficiency for which he is so widely known, has had an unexpected effect and has become the decisive cause of the realization of a plan dear to numbers of French art-lovers. I refer to an exhibition of French primitives. ¶ The origin of the talent of the van Eycks has long preoccupied the minds of art-historians. M. P. Durrieu said lately, in the Gazette des Beaux-Arts: ‘The prodigious talent of the van Eycks seems to be revealed suddenly, like a sort of brilliant meteor, which bursts forth and dazzles men’s eyes. It presents a peculiarly attractive problem.’ ¶ The Bruges exhibition has given a fresh impulse to the study of the question. On the other hand, it has brought home to us the injustice of the profound neglect into which we had allowed our old French masters to fall, while the renown of the primitives of Flanders and Italy was increasing year by year. Lastly, certain works attributed to the Flemish artists, some of which even figured in this way in the Bruges exhibition, had called for a more careful examination, which led eventually to French attributions. The question was really pertinent. ¶ I have spoken of ‘profound neglect.’ The expression is not strictly accurate. M. Paul Vitry, of the Louvre, published lately a remarkable pamphlet in which he resuscitated a whole collection of French works on our old fifteenth-century painters. He quoted the studies of Vallet de Viriville, of the Marquis de Laborde, of Messrs. de Grandmaison, Bouchot, Leprieur, Durrieu, Salmon, Benoît, Salomon Reinach, etc. It is nevertheless true that an undeserved ostracism and an unjustifiable ignorance still weigh down upon the French primitives. ¶ Every art-lover will applaud the happy initiative of M. Henri Bouchot, the distinguished keeper of prints at the national library, who has undertaken to restore to our painters of the middle ages and the Renaissance the glorious place which they have the right to occupy in the history of art. Without seeking in the least to detract from the value of the Flemish primitives, it is nevertheless well to recall the close connexion that exists between their work and that of our limners of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, whose reputation at that time was worldwide. Is it not likely that the latter were the masters and leaders of the former? The artistic centre of the world in the fourteenth century was the court of the Valois. We owe the prodigious output of works of art that forms the pride of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries to those Maecenases who are known as Philip VI, John II, Charles V, to the dukes of Berry, Anjou and Burgundy. ¶ M. Bouchot has thought that it would be interesting to show de visu how great was the influence upon the destinies of art of all those master-pieces conceived and executed for princes so French in their taste and language. Would it not be interesting to prove that the van Eycks were the heirs of the Limbourg-Malouels, who worked in France for the duke of Berry, and that such Flemings as Broderlam were inspired by Jacquemart de Hesdin and André Beauneveu, themselves the successors of our old Parisian miniature painter, Pucelle? ¶ Thanks to M. Henri Bouchot, who knows this period of our national art better than any of his contemporaries, the exhibition of French primitives has issued from the conception stage and entered into the domain of active life. It will be held in 1904. The French government has given its best support. The exhibition is organized under the honorary presidency of the minister of public instruction and the honorary vice-presidency of the director of fine arts and the director of higher education, and it will have for its acting president M. Aynard, member of the Institute, and for its vice-presidents M. Georges Berger, president of the Union centrale des Arts décoratifs, and M. Robert de Lasteyrie, member of the Institute, professor at the École des Chartes. The members of the managing committee are M. Léopold Delisle of the Institute, administrator of the national library; M. Kaempfen, director of the national museums; M. Pascal, of the Institute, in- spector-general of civil buildings. The members of the council of organization are, for painting, M. Georges Lafenestre, of the Institute; for miniatures, M. Henri Omont, of the Institute; for tapestries, M. Maurice Fenaille; for enamels, M. E. Saglio, of the Institute. The general secretary is M. Henri Bouchot, keeper of the print-room and a member of the consultative committee of THE BURLINGTON MAGAZINE, assisted by M. P. A. Lemoisne. The treasurer is M. T. Mortreuil, treasurer-general of the national library, assisted by M. P. Lacombe. ¶ There will doubtless be three exhibitions: one at the Louvre, which will include the primitives of that museum and those of Cluny; the second at the national library, consisting of the rich collection of miniatures in the print-room. The third exhibition, the place of which is not yet definitely fixed, will comprise the works lent by the provincial museums and by private collectors. These will be very numerous and very fine, to judge by the many kind offers which M. Henri Bouchot has already received. I can only repeat the words of M. Paul Vitry and hope with him that all those who set store by the glory of French art and of art pure and simple will make a point of supporting ‘the Bouchot plan’ and giving it, at the exhibition of French primitives, ‘the benefit of their knowledge and of their good will.’

G. DE RORTHAYS.

ROUEN.

To those who know the grand portal of the cathedral of Rouen, resplendent with sculptural wealth, a master-piece of the sixteenth century in all its magnificence, the work of its complete restoration, which is now being pursued, will appear enormous. Thanks to the support of the state, of the city of Rouen and of the diocesan administration, this work will be entirely finished within a few years. ¶ It is already, in fact, well forward. During the last three well-filled years, they have restored, on either side of the central portion, a whole row of little gables and fourteenth-century niches, in which old statues, kept in reserve in the Tour de Beurre and the Cour d’Albane, have been replaced. They have also completely reconstructed and re-erected two large stone pyramids, 16 m. in height, which had not been rebuilt since the terrible hurricane which in 1632, in a few hours, overthrew most of the steeples and spires of the Rouen churches. ¶ These works were followed by the complete restoration of the large central gable, against which the extremity of the roofing of the nave rests, and by the entire repair of the great open gallery, dating to the end of the fifteenth century. At the same time one of the great buttresses flanking the main front was removed. They were erected in our own time, when, after the fire of 1822, the new metal spire was constructed by the architect Alavoine. This buttress, the carving of which had never been executed, and which had remained corroded, has been replaced by a large fourteenth-century buttress. There remains another, which will also be entirely replaced. ¶ These different works completing the restoration of the upper portions of the portal have allowed an important part of the tall scaffolding that concealed it to be removed. There still remains to be restored the whole of the lower portion of the portal, notably the great gable, very much fretted and sunk, which at present supports the clock; the great arch of the rose-window and the rose itself; and, lastly, the covings, embellished with innumerable small statues, sheltered under canopies, that form the chief portal itself. It is to be hoped that they will be able to put back all those delicious little figures of which a large number were broken down by the Protestants: they will probably succeed in doing so, for the credit placed at the disposal of the restoring architect, M. Sauvageot, is about to be increased by a sum of 600,000 fr., bequeathed to the archbishop for the express object of being employed exclusively on this work of restitution in the cathedral, by M. Gosselin, an architect who had long collaborated in the work of the cathedral church. ¶ Several works have been carried out in the archbishop’s palace itself. For instance, they have been engaged on the restoration of a gallery, on the east side overlooking the garden, which was built during the Renaissance by one of the Cardinals d’Amboise, at the same time as a pretty fountain in marble, the memory of which has been preserved by Jacques Le Lieur, who drew it for his ‘Livre des fontaines.’ This gallery, supported by columns, is to be restored to its original form. ¶ During the excavations necessitated by the construction of an important building in the rue Grand Pont the eminent archaeologist M. Léon de Vesly, corresponding member of the ministry of public instruction, brought to light, at a depth of 5 m., numerous fragments of red earthen Samos bowls, handsomely decorated. ¶ I will mention the following among the objects discovered: the bottom of a basin, in red earth, ·120 m. in diameter, with the inscription, SCOTNS: Scotnus (See ‘Corpus inscriptionum latinarum,’ Vol. XII, p. 758. Scotnus, Vase found at Nîmes and in the Saint-Germain museum). ¶ Another bottom of a dish, ·151 m., with the inscription ONESMCANNI : Onesimus Caï Annus. This is a mark of Arezzo read by M. Seymour de Ricci (See the ‘Corpus inscript.,’ Vol. XIII, part 3, p. 95). ¶ The bottom of a lecythus, ·40 m., with, on a rectangular seal, the mark CACASIM. ¶ Fragments of a large amphora. On the rim, near the sinus, from right to left, SEX VALECT: Sextus Valenus fecit, with a cartouche with a rectangular border and circles.¶ Other discoveries included an antefix of a somewhat rare character, seeing that the Saint-Germain museum does not contain a similar one. It is decorated with the figure of a child, full-face, with puffed cheeks, and forms the stem of a palm-leaf. This is evidently the copy of a type of antefix that came from Italy or Greece. Among the remains found in the excavation were also found many bones of cattle, of the Sus scrofa, or wild-sow, and vestiges of stakes, of which an array had already been discovered previously, which might suggest the existence of a lacustrine settlement in the neighbourhood of the Seine. ¶ In the course of the excavations executed on the site of the Haute Vieille Tour, where stood the original palace of the dukes of Normandy, there were found, beside important vestiges of military fortifications, a little bottle, in black earth, of Roman origin; various bones, including numerous horns of the cervus elephas; and two fifteenth-century tokens. One of these is ·026 m. in diameter, and bears on the obverse a caravel, on the reverse a lozenged shield charged with four fleurs-de-lys. It is said to resemble the English noble. The other measures ·032 m. This is a French token, imitated from the coinage of Dauphiné, a dolphin quartered with fleurs-de-lys. A silver half-crown of Louis XV, dated 1741, was also found, as was a token of German make of the eighteenth century, bearing on the obverse a quartered shield and on the reverse the legend CVIQUE SVVM, and the date 1701.

GEORGES DUBOSC.

FROM BELGIUM[120]

GHENT

The staircase which at present gives access to the crypt in the cathedral of St. Bavo at Ghent is to disappear in consequence of the installation of the Heilig Graf in the place at which it starts. In view of the artistic and archaeological importance of this vast crypt, it will now be approached, as, for that matter, the greater number of crypts were approached, by two staircases. With this object, the two primitive staircases will simply be reinstated in their original positions. The restoration of these primitive entrances is desirable from another point of view: it will allow of the immediate rebuilding of the lower portions of the columns, which were rashly cut away, in the eighteenth century, for the installation of large marble slabs. All the columns in the choir have undergone the same dangerous mutilation; their bases have been slashed into, to a great depth, right and left. So long ago as 1900, the royal commission on monuments declared that it was necessary to take thought of this position of affairs, which was capable, at a given moment, of compromising the very existence of the building. ¶ In the crypt, two large funeral monuments have been discovered. They are in marble, and belong to the Renaissance period; they were originally in one of the chapels in the circumference of the choir, whence they were removed to make room for some works of restoration. These funeral monuments will be placed against the walls of the south-east entrance of the church. ¶ Lastly, the commission has requested the governor of the province to instruct the committee of correspondents to draw up an inventory of the objects of art housed in the cathedral crypt and to state, as far as possible, the origin of these works, several of which appear to present a real artistic importance.

NIEUPORT

The work of restoration of the fine church of Nieuport is being actively carried out. In consequence of certain demolitions effected since an earlier inspection, it has been ascertained that the cross-vaulting of the transept was originally in wood, as were all the other vaults of the building. A portion of the wooden ribs is still in position, as is also the case with the remains of the shingle roofing. All doubt being now resolved, this vault will be reinstated in wood. In the wall of the south transept, a primitive window has been laid bare. It was built up at the time of a general alteration of the edifice and replaced by a larger bay. The window will be restored to its first state. The removal of the covering of the south transept has shown that the ridge of that portion of the monument is higher by about 50 cm. than that of the adjacent roofings. As no alteration has taken place in this part, the actual height of the roofing and of the south gable will be maintained. Pains have been taken to restore the primitive buttresses of the south nave, beside the choir, of which the old sites have been found.

R. PETRUCCI.

FROM BERLIN[121]

Within the last few months the picture gallery of Berlin has had the opportunity of making some very fortunate purchases which supplement the collection of pictures of the northern schools in a way that is particularly desirable. The acquisition of the large picture by Hugo van der Goes was an event for the Berlin gallery, one of those purchases which may suffice to reconcile an acquisitive curator with the chances of a restless profession for another year or two. ¶ Of the pictures of older German masters the gallery had the opportunity of buying two striking works. The Rest on the Flight of the year 1504, always acknowledged as Lucas Cranach’s best picture, passed from the hands of Frau Fiedler of Munich, the widow of its last owner, into the possession of the Berlin gallery. The picture, enamel-like in painting and in excellent preservation, was formerly in the Schiarra gallery in Rome. Further, they succeeded in acquiring one of the few authentic panels of Martin Schongauer, a painting of moderate dimensions, very near akin to the Münich, and still more to the Vienna Madonna pictures. Of particular charm is the sunny bright landscape in the background. ¶ The gallery hitherto lacked a great religious painting by Rubens; this default is now very happily atoned by the acquisition of the Conversion of Paul. The picture, that dates from about the time of the great religious pictures of Antwerp, reveals stress of emotion and very penetrating harsh illumination. Of the recently acquired Italian pictures only one deserves comment here; but this is a master work—the Resurrection of Christ, by Giovanni Bellini, of the earlier period of the master.

I. S.

FROM VIENNA[121]

To-day Vienna has its modern gallery. The old possessions of the municipal art gallery and of the academy of the graphic arts furnished the foundations for this new institution, and the works acquired of late years in behalf of the state and of the province of Lower Austria supplement this nucleus in such a way as to give us to-day a fairly comprehensive review of the evolution of art in Austria since the year 1848. Some 200 well-chosen paintings adorn the old and venerable apartments of the Lower Belvedere—in the palace, that is to say, which Prince Eugene of Savoy commissioned Lucas von Hildebrand (1668–1745) to build for him. ¶ Some few masters, such as Rudolf von Alt, Hans Makart, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, who have carried their names and the fame of their art far beyond the boundaries of their native land, are represented by a considerable number of their works. Other ornaments of the Vienna school, such as Moriz Schwind, Joseph Danhauser, Joseph Führich, E. Jacob Schindler, are unfortunately by no means represented in proportion to the claims of their art or fame. Whether in these cases mistakes in selection—for the storehouse still contains great treasures—or actual dearth of the works of the one or the other was the cause we are not in a position to decide. In any case the authorities of the new museum of the town of Vienna, whither on its completion the modern gallery is to migrate, have their work cut out here to make good all the mistakes that have been committed in their time, and to restore the monuments of eminent men which have slipped somewhat into the background of the temple of fame to their proper places. The right wing of the palace is devoted to foreign artists. Germany is represented by Klinger, Böcklin, Stuck, Uhde, Achenbach; Italy by Segantini; France by Monet, Rolt and Dagnan-Bouveret; England and the Netherlands by Alma Tadema; and Spain by Zuloaga.

J. M.