A "symphony in black and white"; cool in effect, almost to the point of austerity and chilliness. The faces are full of expression. The master turns in expectation to the pupil, as much as to say "Come, don't you know?" The pupil is ready with his answer, and seems to appeal for encouragement: "That is right, is it not?" There is a severe absence of details; everything in the picture is made to contribute to the colour scheme. "The play of cool light on the faces and hands, on the man's black dress, and the gray tablecloth with its patches of blue shadow; the design of the man's large hat against the dark background, the almost pathetic charm of the fair-haired boy's expression, the regular black and white of the tiled floor,—all seem chosen for their pictorial value alone and skilfully composed into this grave, almost austere harmony. The largeness of design and rejection of all superfluous detail in this picture connect it with Vermeer's more daring compositions" (M. H. Witt, in the Nineteenth Century, October 1900). Only one life-size group by the master is certainly authenticated—the signed "Courtesans" at Dresden. The attribution of our picture to the master is uncertain.
1700. PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN.
Unknown (Dutch School: 17th Century).
A strong face, finely painted. The iron-gray of the man's hair combines harmoniously with the lawn collar and cuffs; a harmony in black and gray.
1701. LANDSCAPE WITH WATERMILL.
Allart van Everdingen (Dutch: 1612-1675).
This painter, an elder contemporary and precursor of Ruysdael, was born at Alkmaar. He studied successively under Roelandt Savery at Utrecht and Pieter Molyn at Haarlem. In a voyage which he made to the Baltic he was shipwrecked on the coast of Norway, and he remained for some time in that country. On returning to his native land he reproduced the scenes among which he had dwelt—torrents edged around by huge firs springing out from sombre masses of rock, and throwing their spray into large stretches of transparent water. A large number of studies from nature remain from his hand, and these he composed into pictures. His works had some vogue in Holland, where they provided a counter-attraction to the views of the softer and more smiling country which the "Italianisers" were offering to the public. If Ruysdael did not himself go to Norway, it must have been Everdingen's Norwegian scenes that inspired him. Everdingen's "colouring is simple and pure, his touch broad and facile, and it is evident that every object in his pictures was studied from nature." He was also an accomplished etcher. He died at Amsterdam.
1776. THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS.
Signorelli (Cortona: 1441-1523). See 1128.