825. A POULTERER'S SHOP. Gerard Dou (Dutch: 1613-1675). See under X. 192, p. 252. Notice the bas-relief below the counter: cf. 841 above. 878. "THE PRETTY MILKMAID." Philips Wouwerman (Dutch: 1619-1668). Wouwerman-whose pictures may nearly always be told by a white horse, which is almost his sign-manual-is selected by Mr. Ruskin as the central instance of the "hybrid school of landscape." To understand this term we must recall his division of all landscape, in its relation to human beings, into the following heads: (1) heroic, representing an imaginary world_ inhabited by noble men and spiritual powers-Titian ; (2) classical, representing an imaginary world inhabited by perfectly civilised men and inferior spiritual powers-Poussin; (3) pastoral, representing peasant life in its daily work-Cuyp; (4) contemplative, directed to observation of the powers of nature and record of historical associations connected with landscape, contrasted with existing states of human life-Turner. The hybrid school of which Berchem and Wouwerman are the chief representatives is that which endeavours to unite the irreconcilable sentiment of two or more of the above-mentioned classes. Thus here we have Wouwerman's conception of the heroic in the officers and in the rocky landscape; of the pastoral in the pretty milkmaid, to whom an officer is speaking, and who gives her name to the picture. So again the painter's desire to assemble all kinds of pleasurable elements may be seen in the crowded composition of an adjoining picture (879, p. 293). Wouwerman is further selected by Mr. Ruskin as the chief type of vulgarity in art-meaning by vulgarity, insensibility. He introduces into his pictures-see, for instance, 879 --every element that he thinks pleasurable, yet has not imagination enough to enter heartily into any of them. His pleasure is "without a gleam of higher things," and in his war-pieces there is "no heroism, awe or mercy, hope or faith." With regard, finally, to the execution, it is "careful and conscientious," the tone of his pictures generally dark and gray, the figures being thrown out in spots of light1 (Modern Painters, vol. v. pt. ix. ch. viii.) The picture is known after the milkmaid whom the officer is chucking under the chin, whilst the trumpeter takes a sarcastic pleasure, we may suppose, in sounding all the louder the call to arms." 855. A WATERFALL.. Ruysdael (Dutch: 1625-1682). See under X. 628, p. 236. 1 "There is no good painting," Mr. Ruskin says of a Wouwerman at Turin, properly so called, anywhere, but of clever, dotty, sparkling, telling execution, as much as the canvas will hold" (ibid. § 8). 847. A VILLAGE SCENE. Isaac van Ostade (Dutch: 1621-1657). See under X. 1137, p. 231. 879. THE INTERIOR OF A STABLE. Wouwerman (Dutch: 1619-1668). The profusion of pleasurable incident in this picture has already been noticed (see under 878, p. 292) in connection with Wouwerman's bent of mind; but notice also how the crowded composition spoils the effect of a picture as a picture. Clearly also it will spoil the stable-keeper's business. He eyes the coin which one of his customers is giving him with all the discontent of a London cabman, and has no eye to spare for the smart lady with her cavalier who are just entering the stable. This is a good instance of what has been called "Wouwerman's nonsense-pictures, a mere assemblage of things to be imitated, items without a meaning " (W. B. Scott: Halfhour Lectures on Art, p. 299). 831. THE RUINS OF BREDERODE CASTLE. Hobbema (Dutch: 1638-1708). See under X. 685, p. 235. "Unfortunately, Hobbema has allowed some one, apparently Wyntrank, to put a few ducks into the foreground. They are not wanted, and the manipulation required to fit them in has caused the lower part of the picture to darken disagreeably" (Armstrong: Notes on the National Gallery, p. 38). 848. A SKATING SCENE. Isaac van Ostade (Dutch: 1621-1657). See under X.963, p. 250. 820. LANDSCAPE WITH RUIN. Berchem (Dutch: 1620-1683). See under X. 240, p. 212. 881. GATHERING FAGGOTS. Wouwerman (Dutch: 1619-1668). See under 878, p. 292. 862. THE SURPRISE. Teniers (Flemish: 1610-1694). See under X. 154, p. 212. Hardly an instance in which "vice itself loses half its evil by losing all its grossness." It is a very vulgar intrigue. The husband courts without passion; the maid-servant stoops to folly" without grace; the wife surprises the lovers without dignity. 837. THE HAY HARVEST. Jan Lingelbach (Dutch: 1622-1687). Though a German by birth, Lingelbach is included amongst the Dutch painters; for he lived chiefly in Amsterdam, and was largely employed in inserting the figures in the landscapes of Wynants and others. 854. A FOREST SCENE. Ruysdael (Dutch: 1625-1682). See under X. 628, p. 236. 823. ON THE MEUSE. Cuyp (Dutch: 1605-1691). See under X. 53, p. 218. Notice the reflections. Cuyp "is a man of large natural gift, and sees broadly, nay, even seriously; finds out-a wonderful thing for men to find out in those days—that there are reflections in the water, and that boats require often to be painted upside down" (Modern Painters, vol. v. pt. ix. ch. vi. § 12). 843. BLOWING BUBBLES. Gaspard Netscher (Dutch: 1639-1684). Netscher, one of the chief painters of Dutch "high life," had a somewhat eventful career. He was born at Heidelberg, which was then being besieged. His mother, after seeing her two elder children die of hunger before her eyes, escaped with Gaspard through the investing lines to Arnheim. The boy was intended for a doctor, but took to painting and studied under Terburg. In 1659 he started on a tour to Italy, but at Bordeaux he fell in love with a girl from Liège, whom he married. He settled at Bordeaux, but his pictures, such as this, which are now so much valued, then brought him but slight remuneration. He returned to Holland, and was there rapidly acquiring fame, when he died at the age of forty-five. 863. THE RICH MAN IN HELL. Teniers (Flemish: 1610-1694). See under X. 154, p. 212. The sequel to the story of Dives and Lazarus. "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried. And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments (Luke xvi. 22, 23). 951. THE GAME OF BOWLS. David Teniers, the elder (Flemish: 1582-1649). This artist is less memorable for his own works, which are mediocre, than as the founder of a family of painters (see Wauters: The Flemish School, p. 299), and the father of the celebrated David Teniers (the younger). He was a member of the Antwerp Guild of Painters, but spent ten years at Rome. 1003. 957. DEAD PARTRIDGES AND OTHER BIRDS. GOATHERDS. Jan Fyt (Flemish: 1609–1661). Jan Both (Dutch: 1610-1662). See under X. 956, p. 217. 997. SCOURING THE KETTLE. Godfried Schalcken (Dutch: 1643-1706). 964 A RIVER SCENE. See under X. 199, p. 252. Jan van der Cappelle (Dutch: painted about 1650-1680). See under 865, p. 285. 962. DORT (THE "SMALL DORT”). 961. DORT (THE "LARGE DORT"). Cuyp (Dutch: 1605-1691). See under X. 53, p. 218. 205. ITINERANT MUSICIANS. J. W. E. Dietrich (German: 1712-1774). 1006. HURDY-GURDY. Berchem (Dutch: 1620-1683). See under X. 240, p. 212. Berchem, as we have seen, was an 66 Italianiser," and here introduces us to one of the exports of that country— Far from England, in the sunny CALVERLEY: Fly Leaves. 965. RIVER SCENE WITH STATE BARGE. Jan van der Cappelle (Dutch: painted about 1650-1680). See under 865, p. 285. 949. LANDSCAPE WITH GIPSIES. David Teniers, the elder (Flemish: 1582-1649). 984, LANDSCAPE WITH CATTLE. Adrian Vandevelde (Dutch: 1639-1672). 977. A SEA PIECE. Willem Vandevelde (Dutch: 1633–1707). 1010. RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE. Dirk van Delen (Dutch: about 1607-1670). A picture by a very rare master—interesting to students of the history of architectural taste. In 992, p. 297, we are shown the struggle between the old Gothic style and the new Renaissance architecture; here we see the full victory of the latter. Dirk van Delen lived at Arnemuyden in Zeeland, of which town he was burgomaster, and it is curious to see how completely the Italian style had taken possession of him. He will not be defrauded, even by considerations of distance, of any of his details, and every statue and ornament is shown us as minutely as if it were on the level of the eye. The classical style has pervaded too the fountain: note the gilt bronze group of Hercules and the Hydra. 953. THE TOPER. David Teniers (Flemish: 1610-1694). 968. THE PAINTER'S WIFE. Gerard Dou (Dutch: 1613-1675). See under X. 192, p. 252. 999. BY CANDLE LIGHT. Godfried Schalcken (Dutch: 1643-1706). See under X. 199, p. 252. 798. CARDINAL RICHELIEU. Philippe de Champaigne (French: 1602-1674). This picture was painted for the Roman sculptor Mocchi to make a bust from, hence the two profiles as well as the full |