534. Triptych of the Flemish School (Hugo van der Goes?); Centre panel, Assumption of Our Lady. Round the empty tomb are gathered the apostles; conspicuous among them, St. Peter with a censer, and St. James. Above, Our Lady taken up in a glory by Christ and the Holy Ghost, represented as like Him. In the background, her Funeral, St. Peter, as Pope, accompanying. Note the papal dress of St. Peter; St. James holds the cross as Bishop of Jerusalem. Left wing, the chief donor, accompanied by his guardian angel and two of the apostles, one of whom holds St. Peter’s tiara, as if part of the main picture. In the background, St. Thomas receiving the Holy Girdle from an Angel, a common treatment in Flemish art, though Italians make him receive it from Our Lady in person. (See my Guide to Florence.) Right wing, donor’s son and wife, with guardian angel. This triptych closely resembles No. 535 (which see later), except that that picture is in one panel, instead of three. I think 535 must have been painted first, and this taken from it, but made into a triptych; which would account for the unusual flowing over of the main subject into the wings.
419. Martin Schongauer (of Colmar, a German largely influenced by Roger van der Weyden), *Ecce Homo, painted like a miniature.
349. Patinier: another Repose on the Flight into Egypt. Observe persistence of the main elements. Notice in particular, as compared with the similar picture (350) close by, the staff, basket, etc., in the R. foreground.
546. School of Memling, perhaps by the master: a Bishop preaching: M. Fétis thinks, exhorting the Crusade in which Pope Nicholas V. wished to interest the princes of Europe after the fall of Constantinople.
621. School of Dürer: Fine and thoughtful portrait of a man, perhaps Erasmus.
Above it, 577, Flemish triptych (school of Van der Weyden) of the Adoration of the Magi, the elements in which will by this time be familiar to you. Right and left, Adoration of the Shepherds and Circumcision. The exceptional frequency of the subject of the Adoration of the Magi in the Low Countries and the Rhine district is to be accounted for by the fact that the relics of the Three Kings are preserved in Cologne Cathedral, and are there the chief object of local cult.
At the corner,
84 and 255, two good portraits by the German de Bruyn (early 16th cent.). Transitional: show Italian influence.
Between them, 619, unknown German, Wedding Feast at Cana. That you may have no doubt as to the reality of the miracle, a servant is pouring water into the jars in the foreground. He is much the best portion of the picture. Behind are Christ, St. John, and Our Lady. Next to them, the bride and bridegroom. (Compare the Gerard David in the Louvre.)
Above it, 624, a very quaint St. George and St. Catherine, early German School, with gold background. St. George is stiffly clad in armour, and painfully conscious of his spindle legs, with a transfixed dragon and broken lance at his feet. St. Catherine looks extremely peevish, with a Byzantine down-drawn mouth: she holds the sword of her martyrdom, and has a fragment of her wheel showing behind her. Her face is highly characteristic of the severity and austerity of early German art. Companion piece (624) at opposite corner.