The subsequent history of the painting is interesting. Philip II, who carried many Flemish masterpieces away to Spain, admired this one, but contented himself with a copy by Michel Coxcie, for which he paid four thousand ducats—which was quite likely more than the Van Eyck brothers received for the original. About 1578 the Calvinists of Ghent wished to present the painting to Queen Elizabeth in return for her support of their sect. For a time it was placed in the Hotel de Ville at Ghent, but was finally restored to the cathedral. After several other escapes from destruction or shipment abroad the work was finally dismembered out of deference to the views of Joseph II of Austria, during the period of Austrian rule in Flanders. He objected to the nude figures of Adam and Eve as unsuited to a church, and these were accordingly removed. The entire work was carried away during the French Revolution, but was returned some years later. The wings, however, were not restored to their original position, and were finally sold to a London dealer for four thousand pounds sterling. He, in turn, sold them to the King of Prussia, and they are now in the Museum of Berlin. The wings now at St. Bavon are the copies made by Coxcie. The original panels of Adam and Eve were stored for many years in the cellars of St. Bavon, and then were exchanged with the Belgian Government for the Coxcie wings just mentioned. They are now in the Brussels Museum. The Adam and Eve at St. Bavon are not even copies of the originals.
“SINGING ANGELS” FROM “THE ADORATION OF THE LAMB.”—JEAN VAN EYCK.
Jean Van Eyck enjoyed the confidence and affection of Philip the Good until his death, and was often sent on diplomatic missions of great importance. On one occasion he was sent to Portugal with an embassy appointed to propose a marriage between his ducal patron and the Princess Isabel. Jean was also commissioned to paint the portrait of the fair Isabel so that his master could judge for himself whether her charms were as great as he had fancied them to be. This portrait was duly painted and in the inventory of the possessions of Margaret of Austria there was a painting by Jean Van Eyck called La belle Portugalaise, which was, no doubt, the very one painted for Duke Philip. It must have been pleasing, for he married the lady. As late as 1516 La belle Portugalaise was still in existence at Malines. It represented a lady in a red habit with sable trimmings, attended by St. Nicholas. It has since disappeared—one of the many thousands that were lost or destroyed during the wars of the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, but both historically and artistically one of the most interesting of them all. There are a considerable number of authenticated paintings by Jean Van Eyck still in existence. Several of these are in the original frames with the artist’s famous motto, “Als ik kan” (As I can), more or less legible. It is by no means unlikely that in time to come one or more of those now lost will be discovered, thus adding to the priceless heritage that the world owes to his immortal brush.
“George Van der Paele, Canon of St. Donatian worshipping the Madonna” Jean Van Eyck
Two of the most celebrated of Jean Van Eyck’s paintings can be seen at Bruges. One of these is in the Museum and shows George Van der Paele, Canon of St. Donatian, worshipping the Madonna. Of the portrait of the worthy donor Max Rooses, the Director of the Plantin-Moretus Museum at Antwerp, says: “The Canon’s face is so astoundingly true to life that it is perhaps the most marvellous piece of painting that ever aspired to reproduce a human physiognomy. This firm, fat painting renders at once the cracks of the epidermis and the softness of the flesh. Beside this head with its lovingly wrought furrows and wrinkles gleam the dazzling white of the surplice with its greenish shimmer, the intense red of Mary’s mantle, St. Donatian’s flowing cape, and the metallic reflections of St. George’s breastplate.” Equally fine as an example of faithful portrait painting is the picture of the artist’s wife which also hangs in this interesting little gallery of old masters.
Four years after Jean Van Eyck’s death, which occurred in 1440, another Flemish painter of note acquired citizen’s rights at Bruges. This was Petrus Christus. The most celebrated of his paintings depicts the Legend of Ste. Godeberte. The story was that this young lady’s parents had planned a rich marriage for her, whereas she preferred to enter a convent. The prospective bride and her groom visited a jeweller’s to select the wedding ring and there encountered St. Eloi, or Elisius, who was both a goldsmith and a bishop. The Saint, knowing the wishes of the maiden, placed the ring upon her finger himself, thereby dedicating her to the service of the Lord. This picture was painted for the Goldsmiths’ Guild of Antwerp, passed into the collection of Baron Oppenheim, of Cologne, and is now in a private gallery.
Besides the “Adoration of the Lamb,” the Cathedral of St. Bavon possesses enough other notable works of art to equip a small museum. One of these is the wooden pulpit, carved by P. H. Verbruggen, and representing the glorification of St. Bavon. Another is the famous tomb of Bishop Triest carved by Jerome Duquesnoy in 1654. This represents the Bishop reclining on a couch, and has been termed “the most beautiful piece of statuary in the country.” Still a third masterpiece is “St. Bavon withdrawing from the World,” by Rubens. There are a score of other paintings and pieces of sculpture of interest and importance, but all are so over-shadowed by the famous polyptych that the average tourist scarcely notices them unless he goes back to this remarkable church several times. In front of the Château of Girard, and close to the cathedral, stands the impressive monument to the two Van Eycks erected by the city in 1913. It is by the sculptor Georges Verbanck and represents the brothers receiving the homage of the nations.