Painting in northern Europe.
Dürer, 1471–1528.
It was natural that artists from the northern countries should be attracted by the renown of the Italian masters and, after learning all that Italy could teach them, should return home to practice their art in their own particular fashion. About a century after Giotto's time two Flemish brothers, Van Eyck by name, showed that they were not only able to paint quite as excellent pictures as the Italians of their day, but they also discovered a new way of mixing their colors superior to that employed in Italy. Later, when painting had reached its height in Italy, Albrecht Dürer and Hans Holbein the Younger[242] in Germany vied with even Raphael and Michael Angelo in the mastery of their art. Dürer is especially celebrated for his wonderful woodcuts and copperplate engravings, in which field he has perhaps never been excelled.[243]
Rubens, 1577–1640, and Rembrandt, 1607–1669.
Van Dyck, 1599–1641, and his portraits.
Velasquez.
When, in the seventeenth century, painting had declined south of the Alps, Dutch and Flemish masters,—above all, Rubens and Rembrandt,—developed a new and admirable school of painting. To Van Dyck, another Flemish master, we owe many noble portraits of historically important persons.[244] Spain gave to the world in the seventeenth century a painter whom some would rank higher than even the greatest artists of Italy, namely, Velasquez (1599–1660). His genius, like that of Van Dyck, is especially conspicuous in his marvellous portraits.
