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Our last illustration represents, or is supposed to represent, The Enthronement of Thomas à Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury, and is in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire, at Chatsworth. In a late Norman church Thomas à Becket is seen in the foreground under a scarlet canopy, with the Holy Ghost hovering near, and above is a splendid crown in which the figure of the risen Christ is introduced; above the crown is a circle with a Virgin and Child. Three Bishops are engaged in placing the mitre upon the head of the saint, while a priest with an open book is kneeling before him. On the right are the clergy and on the left the laity, with King Henry II. at their head. On the border is the inscription: Johes de Eyck, fecit, ano, M°.CCCCZI, 30° Octobris. This inscription, if genuine, is the only evidence of Jan's authorship of the picture which has been entirely repainted, so that nothing of the original work is to be seen. The date, 1421, is eleven years earlier than any other dated picture by Jan van Eyck. It is scarcely necessary to point out the importance of this fact to the art historian in search of evidence of Jan's early activity; but whilst the picture remains in its present condition it cannot throw any light upon the debated points. Only if the surface paint were removed would it be possible to judge whether below it is a real early work of Jan van Eyck, and what was the relative position of the two brothers before Hubert's death.
The Enthronement of Thomas à Becket has an interesting pedigree. It was given by John, Duke of Bedford, to King Henry V., and was afterwards in the collection of the second Earl of Arundel, who died at Padua in 1646, bequeathing it to Henry, the sixth Duke of Norfolk, by whose son, the seventh Duke, it was sold. It came through the Duke's steward, Mr. Fox, to a Mr. Sykes, who sold it to the Duke of Devonshire in 1722.
LIST OF WORKS,
CATALOGUED ACCORDING TO
LOCALITY
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
VIENNA MUSEUM.—Portrait of Jan de Leeuw (Jan), signed and dated 1436.
Portrait of Nicolas Albergati, Cardinal of the Church of the Holy Cross (Jan), painted, probably, in 1431, when the Cardinal passed through Flanders on a political mission. This picture is mentioned in the inventory of the Archduke Leopold William, Governor of the Netherlands, 1655. A silver-point sketch for the portrait is in the Dresden Print Cabinet.