EARLY PAINTERS

OF THE

GERMAN, FLEMISH, AND DUTCH SCHOOLS.

ALTDORFER, ALBERT, a scholar of Albert Durer, flourished during the first quarter of the sixteenth century. He is said to have been the most original, and the most important, of Albert Durer's pupils. There were several pictures by him in the gallery at Schleissheim, which are probably removed now to Munich. A battle piece, the victory of Alexander the Great over Darius, is a marvellous production for the time, both in composition and execution. The warriors are armed in the fashion of the middle ages, cased in burnished steel and plaited mail, and wearing rich surcoats of gold and embroidery; the chaufrons on the heads of the horses, the glittering helmets, stirrups, lances, and other weapons of the riders, form a scene of indescribable splendour. All the details are represented with the most accurate minuteness. The figures are numerous, but character and expression are preserved, not only in the principal warriors, but in the general host, the smallest being most elaborately finished. But it is not only a battle that is represented; in the distance is the ocean with a fleet of vessels; on the one side is the moon declining, and on the other the sun rising, in allusion to the fortunes of the vanquished and the victor. The landscape part surpasses in truth and grandeur the works of all his contemporary countrymen; in the centre is a rocky mountain with hanging woods, and a castle with a path leading to it, and at the foot a ruin, which is painted with so true a feeling as shows that the artist was qualified for the most masterly productions. Another picture in the same collection represents the Virgin and Child; the Virgin is a graceful figure with a lovely expression of countenance; the Child stands

on her lap and holds a rosary in his hand; around them is a great choir of angels melting by degrees into a mist of glory. The whole group hovers in the clouds over a rich mountain landscape. A third picture represents the story of Susanna, and has the date 1526.-The garden with a bath and a mass of varied architecture make up a fanciful composition. Other pictures by Altdorfer are at Nuremberg, Ratisbon, and Vienna; all of them remarkable for beauty in the figures, and cheerfulness in the landscapes.

This artist has been confounded with Henri Aldegrever, who is by some writers called Albert; they were both engravers, and there is great similarity in their monograms. They were contemporaries, but Aldegrever was the younger by nearly twenty years, and lived about forty years after the supposed time of Altdorfer's death.

AMBERGER, CHRISTOPHER, was born at Nuremberg about 1485, and was a scholar of Hans Holbein, the elder; he painted in the style of his master. The only historical pictures by him that have been deemed worthy of notice are twelve subjects from the scriptural account of Joseph and his brethren; these were much commended during his life, It was in portraiture, however, that he was most successful. He painted the portrait of Charles V., and was honoured by him with a gold chain and medal; he was employed by other eminent personages in the same way, some of which have been brought to England, having his name and the date; two are in the possession of the Duke of Buccleuch. It is said that he copied many of the portraits by the younger Hans Holbein, and that so accurately that they pass for originals. His own pictures, however, have not the force of colouring, nor vigour of execution, of that master. He died in 1550.

BEHAM, BARTHOLOMEW, born at Nuremberg about 1496, though an excellent engraver, is not much commended for his paintings, which are said to be wild, mannered, grotesque imitations of Albert Durer. This, however, is qualified with regard to some of his heads in a picture now in the Pinacothek at Munich, of a woman restored to life by the Holy Cross. Sandrart mentions several of his pictures that, in his time, were in the gallery of the Elector of Bavaria, and in the Collection of the Prince of Newbourg. He was one

of the most successful imitators of the fine style of Marc Antonio in his engravings, and in his drawing was masterly and correct, and there is fine expression in his heads. As he frequently omitted to mark his prints, he may have been equally negligent with regard to his paintings; an artist so skilful, and accustomed to the works of Raphael and Giulio Romano, would not confine his pencil to grotesque imitations of Albert Durer.

BEHAM, HANS SEBALD, brother of Bartholomew Beham, was born in 1498. He is ranked with the little Masters, as an engraver; but he was also a painter as an illuminating Miniaturist and in oil. Of the first there are six by him in a book of prayers existing at Aschaffenburg, described by Waagen, in which the compositions are simple and full of meaning. In the Louvre there is a picture by him of four subjects from the life of David. Recently there was a portrait in London with his initials, dated 1518, Ætatis suæ 20. BLES, HENRI DE, generally called Herri de Bles, or Henrijk met de Bles; and by the Italians nicknamed Civetta, because he used the figure of an owl for his mark. He painted landscapes in which he introduced historical subjects, and occasionally drolleries. Of the latter there was a picture at Amsterdam, representing a pedlar asleep under a tree, and a colony of monkeys busily employed in unpacking his goods, and hanging the articles on the branches. His subjects from Scripture generally consist of numerous small figures, neatly drawn, and not ineffective in colouring. There was a picture attributed to this artist in Mr. Baring Wall's collection; it was exhibited a few years ago at the British Institution, and is believed to be now in the possession of Sir Thomas Baring. Henri de Bles and Joachim Patenier are among the earliest Flemish painters who combined landscape and history; connoisseurs are much divided in their opinions respecting several pictures attributed to the former. He was born at Bovines in 1480, and died in 1550.

Bos, or BOSCHE, JEROME, who is mentioned among the painters of incantations and devilries, also painted landscapes with historical subjects, in which he still showed his predilection for infernal actors. Sometimes he treated them with less licentiousness, as in his picture of the Flight to Egypt, where the holy family are seen in a rocky landscape ap

proaching a house of entertainment, and a party are amusing themselves with dancing bears. In his representation of Christ's descent to Hades to deliver the souls of the patriarchs, he introduces devils performing the part of executioners on the traitor Judas. Many subjects of a similar kind were painted by him in Spain, being suited to the gloomy and superstitious notions of the religious people of that country. It is said that one of these infernal scenes was placed in the cell in which Philip II. died, and received the last looks of the tyrant. Jerome Bos was born in 1470, and it is supposed died in the first quarter of the sixteenth century.

Bos, LOUIS JANSSEN, sometimes called Hans Bos, painted flowers exquisitely; they are rare, and require the aid of a magnifying glass to perceive the immense labour and truth of the execution. He was born in 1450, and died in 1507.

BRUYN, BARTHOLOMEW DE, flourished from the first quarter to the middle of the sixteenth century. He ranks among the painters of Cologne, though it is probable he was of a Flemish family then residing at Antwerp. He is spoken of as an excellent master, and his works are said to be numerous. One, of the date 1536, forming the double wings of a reliquary painted on both sides, represents figures of saints, the size of life, events from the legend of the empress Helena, and the martyrdom of the Theban legion, on the exterior; on the interior are several scenes from the passion of Christ. There is a picture at Althorp, formerly considered as the work of Albert Durer, which Waagen ascribes to Bartholomew de Bruyn, at the same time comparing it to the death of the Virgin by Schoreel.

It

BURGKMAIR, HANS, was born at Augsbourg in 1472. has been supposed that he was a scholar of Albert Durer, but that is now disproved; there is no doubt, however, that they were intimately acquainted. There are pictures by him in the galleries at Munich and Schleissheim, and many at Nuremberg, in which may be observed a great difference in style and execution from that of Albert Durer. In some of his works there is a resemblance to Jan van Eyck, in others to Wohlgemuth. The picture by him in the Pinacothek, at Munich, represents St. John in the Island of Patmos, writing the Revelations, and looking upwards at a

vision of the Virgin. He is surrounded by animals of various kinds, and the whole has the appearance of a fanciful woodland scene. One in the chapel of St. Maurice, at Nuremberg, is spoken of both by Waagen and Kügler, in terms of high commendation. The subject is the Virgin seated under a tree giving a bunch of grapes to the child: the figures are graceful and well grouped, and Waagen says that the whole feeling of the picture, especially the movement of the Virgin's left hand, is not unworthy of Raphael. He adds, "the tender brownish hue of the flesh, the warm and juicy colouring of the drapery, and the fine execution of the landscape, reminded him strongly of the wings of the Ghent altar-piece by the brothers Van Eyck."

His numerous designs, as seen in the wood-cuts bearing his name, or monogram, show the fertility of his imagination, and his skill in composition; and it is by these only that he is known in England by those who have not visited Germany, and he has scarcely been noticed hitherto but as an engraver. He died in 1559.

CHRISTOPHSEN, PETER, flourished from an early part to the middle of the fifteenth century. There are no particulars of his life recorded; but his works were known to Vasari, who calls him Pietro Crista. On a picture, formerly in the collection of Mr. Aders, at London, was inscribed Petrus XPR me fecit, 1417. It represented the Virgin and Infant, attended by St. Jerome and St. Francis. In the gallery of the Berlin Museum is a portrait of a young girl, distinguished by simple and beautiful execution; it is signed with his name. Another picture, with the date 1449, is in possession of a gentleman at Cologne; the subject is St. Eligius, who was a goldsmith, selling a ring to an affianced couple. From these examples it is conjectured that Christophsen belongs to the school of Van Eyck. It would also seem that he was conscious of his ability as a painter, and not willing that others should appropriate his works: it is to be regretted that several others of that early time did not follow his example; it would have saved much labour to critics, and guess-work by pretended connoisseurs.

CLAESSENS, ANTONY, flourished towards the end of the fifteenth century. He resided at Bruges, and was an imitator of the Van Eyck school, though it is said that he re