CHAPTER II.
ENGLISH ART IN THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES.
THE period of the Renaissance found all eyes directed to Italy, and presently England welcomed a number of foreign artists who became the teachers, more or less worthy, of our countrymen. Henry VII. was fonder of money than of art, yet he invited several of these strangers to England; but there are no grounds for supposing, though it is frequently stated, that Mabuse was among the number. Among the foreign artists of this period who visited England, were GERRARD LUCAS HOREBOUT, or HORNEBOLT, of Ghent (1475—1558), who was employed by Henry VIII., and probably by his predecessor; and SUSANNAH HOREBOUT, daughter of Gerrard Lucas, a miniature painter, is said to have married an English sculptor named Whorstley. Dürer, in his journal, says of her, "it is a great wonder a woman should do so well." Henry VIII. was as lavish as his father had been careful of money; naturally fond of display, and jealous of the magnificence of Francis I. and Charles V., the King became a liberal patron of artists. He is said to have invited Raphael, Primaticcio, and Titian to visit England, but if so, the invitations were declined. Among lesser names, however, we find that of ANTONIO TOTO, who came here in 1531, and was appointed Serjeant-Painter to the King. None of his works is now recognised. GIROLAMO DA TREVISO is supposed to have designed the historic painting of the Field of the Cloth of Gold, formerly at Windsor, and now in the possession of the Society of Antiquaries at Burlington House.
LUCAS CORNELISZ of Leyden (1493—1552), son of Cornelis Engelbrechtsen, came to England and entered the service of the King. It is said that he taught Holbein in some branches of art, and, as he survived the great painter of Augsburg for nine years, it is possible that some of the works attributed to Holbein after 1543 were painted by him.
Henry VIII. seems to have had two other Serjeant-Painters besides Antonio Toto, and previous to the coming of Holbein. These were ANDREW WRIGHT and JOHN BROWN, whose names proclaim them to be natives. These artists or craftsmen had positions of trust and honour, wore a special dress, and received a weekly wage. Jan van Eyck had a similar post as varlet de chambre to Philippe le Bon. It was the age of pageants, and one great duty of the King's artists was to adorn these singular spectacles. Among the archives of the Church of St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol, is the following curious notice of a religious pageant held at a somewhat earlier date:—
"Memorandum: That Master Cumings hath delivered, the 4th day of July, in the year of Our Lord 1470, to Mr. Nicholas Bettes, Vicar of Radcliffe, Moses Couteryn, Philip Bartholomew, and John Brown, procurators of Radcliffe, beforesaid, a new sepulchre, well gilt, and cover thereto; an image of God rising out of the same sepulchre, with all the ordinance that longeth thereto: that is to say—Item, a lath, made of timber, and iron work thereto. Item, thereto longeth Heaven, made of timber and stained cloth. Item, Hell, made of timber and iron work, with devils in number thirteen. Item, Four knights, armed, keeping the sepulchre, with their weapons in their hands, that is to say, two axes, and two spears. Item, Three pair of angels' wings; four angels, made of timber, and well painted. Item, the Father, the crown, and visage; the ball, with a cross upon it, well gilt with fine gold. Item, the Holy Ghost coming out of heaven into the sepulchre. Item, Longeth to the angels four chevelers."
