The series is closely related also to the Life of the Virgin set in the Royal Collection at Madrid, and also the Presentation in the Temple of the Martin le Roy Collection. The cartoons are clearly the work of Maître Philippe, and the weaving was evidently done in Flanders, probably in Brussels, about 1510. Marquet de Vasselot suggests that the cartoons of the Martin le Roy piece and of the Madrid series were done after a second master under the influence of Gerard David.[16] Destrée, following Wauters, suggests Jean de Bruxelles, known author of the cartoon for the Communion of Herkenbald, another Maître Philippe piece, to which he sees a resemblance,[17] and Thièry repeats the claim, but on far-fetched evidence.[18]
Certainly the types are very close to those of Gerard David. Some of the figures on David's Tree of Mary in the Lyons Museum[19] are repeated almost exactly, and some of the female figures are very like the Saint in the Marriage of Catherine in the San Luca Academy at Rome.[20] But other types, such as Zacharias in the meeting of Christ and John, are more reminiscent of Hugo Van der Goes, being, for instance, almost identical with Joseph of Arimathea in the Descent from the Cross in the National Museum, Naples,[21] even to such details as the drawing and placing of the ear. The glimpses of landscapes, too, are clearly derived from Hugo in their composition and details, and even the floreations are close to those in some of Hugo's work, notably the Original Sin in the Imperial Gallery of Vienna,[22] where one finds the same upspringing sheaf of iris. The work would seem to be that of a lesser eclectic, such as the author of the Life of Mary in the Bishops' Palace at Evora.
Lent by Demotte.
In all the pieces there are intense sincerity and real grandeur of design. The Last Judgment, in the musical swinging together of the draperies, the perfect control of the great composition, and in the fine development of the dominance of Christ without sacrifice of the minor episodes, as well as in the power of expression of the thrilling solemnity of the moment, deserves to rank with the greatest interpretations of the subject.
20 BRUSSELS, BEGINNING OF XVI CENTURY
Wool and Silk.
H. 12 ft. 3 in.
W. 13 ft. 2 in.
Formerly in the Morgan Collection.
Lent by P. W. French & Company.
SCENES FROM A ROMANCE: A queen surrounded by her court awaits the preparation of a document. There is a general interchange of documents among the courtiers at the right. In the background, upper left, a knight indites a letter, and on the opposite side two knights wait on horseback. The scenes illustrate some contemporary romance and are closely related to the Court of Love tapestries that were so often woven at this time.
The cartoon, like those of the Court of Love scenes, is the work of the studio of Maître Philippe. Jean Van Room probably collaborated, as his signature appears on a very similar tapestry of David and Bathsheba in the Royal Spanish Collection.[23] As in that tapestry, the elegantly dressed persons are quite typical of the prosperous burghers of the time and might well be used as fashion plates. The composition is skillful in the balancing of the groups and the massing of the drapes to form a support for the dominant figure of the queen.
21 BRUSSELS, EARLY XVI CENTURY
H. 13 ft. 9 in.
W. 22 ft. 1 in.
Barberini Collection; Ffoulke Collection.
Illustrated: Ffoulke Collection, opp. p. 43. Exhibited: Exposition d'Art ancien bruxellois, Brussels, 1905, No. XXI. Illustrated: Destrée, Catalogue of same, pl. XXIV.
Lent by Mrs. Wm. C. Van Antwerp.