,illustration3 ,cover                   
,,masterpieces    ,,in ,,colour         
,,edited ,,by    ,t4 ,,leman ,,hare     
,,van ,,dyck              ,,plate       
,i4--,,charles ,i4  ,frontispiece       
7,in the ,louvre7    ,certainly the     
finest portrait of ,charles ,i4 in      
existence4  ,it shows ,van  ,dyck in his
 most attractive aspect as a painter of 
the aristocracy4  ,executed before the  
marked decline in his technical powers1 
which  marred1 from an artistic         
standpoint1 the later pictures of his   
,english  period1 it yet possesses the  
dignity and distinction he knew so well 
how to infuse in portraying the nobility
 of our country4  ,it is one of  the    
best examples of the artist's powers as 
a colourist1 and as such  will bear     
comparison with the productions of the  
mighty ,venetians4    ,illustration3    
,plate ,i4              ,van ,dyck      
,,by ,,percy ,m4 ,,turner               
,,illustrated ,,with ,,eight            
,,reproductions ,,in ,,colour           

,illustration3 ,title page graphic      
,,london3 ,t4 ,c4  ,e4 ,c4 ,,jack       
,,new ,,york3 ,,frederick ,a4 ,,stokes  
,,co4            ,,contents      ,i4    
,the ,early ,days    ,,ii4  ,the        
,journey to ,italy    ,,iii4  ,the      
,second ,flemish ,manner    ,,iv4  ,van 
,dyck in ,england    ,v4  ,van ,dyck's  
,position in ,art          ,,list ,,of  
,,illustrations      ,plate    ,i4      
,charles ,i4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4    
,frontispiece         ,in the ,louvre   
,,ii4 ,charles ,louis of ,bavaria and   
his brother        ,robert1 afterwards  
,duke of ,cumberland         ,in the    
,louvre    ,,iii4 ,prince d',arenberg   
,in ,lord ,spencer's ,collection1       
,althorp    ,,iv4 ,portrait of ,van     
,dyck 7or ,the ,artist7         ,in     
,lord ,spencer's ,collection1 ,althorp  
,v4 ,philippe le ,roy1 ,seigneur de     
,ravel         ,in the ,wallace         
,collection    ,,vi4 ,portrait of one of
 ,charles ,i4's children         ,in the
 ,academy of ,fine ,arts1 ,rome         

,,vii4 ,portrait of the ,artist's ,wife 
,in the ,pinakothek1 ,munich    ,,viii4 
,the ,marchese ,cattaneo         ,in the
 ,national ,gallery                     
,illustration3 ,van ,dyck          ,i   
,,the ,,early ,,days    ,no painter has 
remained more consistently in favour    
with both artists  and the public than  
,van ,dyck4  ,his art marks the highest 
achievement of  ,flanders of the        
seventeenth century4  ,in making this   
statement the  claims of ,rubens have   
not been overlooked1 although the latter
 has  been1 and probably will always be1
 considered the head of the ,flemish    
school4    ,it is perhaps not too much  
to say that ,van ,dyck possessed in a   
greater  measure than ,rubens those     
qualities which go to make a great      
artist4  ,we can never overlook the     
seniority of the latter1 and to him will
  always belong the credit of having    
evolved the style which  revolutionised 
the art of a nation1 and there is no    
doubt that the  pupil owed to him much  

of the knowledge he so well utilised in 
after-life4        ,,plate              
,,ii4--,,charles ,,louis ,,of ,,bavaria 
,,and ,,his ,,brother ,,robert1         
,,afterwards  ,,duke ,,of ,,cumberland  
7,in the ,louvre7    ,as an example of  
direct portraiture this picture would be
 hard to beat4  ,it shows ,van ,dyck in 
one of his happiest moods dealing with a
 subject  which peculiarly appealed to  
him4    ,illustration3 ,plate ,,ii4     
,in comparing those two great men it    
would be well1 at first1 to rid         
ourselves of the confusion which often  
arises through the application  of the  
terms artist and painter4  ,in relation 
to painting they are  only too often    
considered synonymous1 but a little     
consideration will  show us that a man  
whose technical abilities are of a high 
order need  not necessarily be a great  
artist4  ,in fact1 one of the most      
truthful  charges urged against the best
 contemporary art is that it            
demonstrates  an astonishing poverty of 

invention1 a lack of message1 if you    
will1  coupled with an extraordinarily  
highly developed technique4  ,to screen 
as much as possible the dilemma in which
 he finds himself1 many a  modern       
painter has recourse to creating those  
outbursts of meaningless  eccentricity  
that are so familiar upon the walls of  
our exhibitions4  ,it is true that some 
few of the men who are living to-day are
 equipped  almost1 if not quite1 as well
 technically as the great majority of   
the  old masters4  ,in a word1 they     
could meet them on nearly equal terms as
  painters1 but they lack invention and 
conception in which to bring  their     
powers into legitimate play1 and        
consequently they cannot rank  with them
 as artists4    ,it was in the          
possession of these very qualities that 
,van ,dyck  surpassed ,rubens4  ,i do   
not suggest that the latter was devoid  
of power  of conception1 for1 if ,i did1
 would not the great ,coup-de-lance at  
,antwerp1 or the ,fall of the ,damned at

 ,munich 7the drawing for the  latter in
 the ,national ,gallery gives an even   
better idea than the  finished picture7 
be there to refute me8  ,van ,dyck1     
however1 though  being quite the match  
of ,rubens in technique1 even in his    
early  days--though still working under 
him--surpassed him in his middle        
period4  ,anybody who has closely       
studied the noble religious pictures  at
 ,courtrai and ,malines--the latter1    
unfortunately1 irreparably injured  by  
damp and neglect--can but be impressed  
with his stupendous power in  this      
direction4  ,granted that he does not   
appeal in the same measure to  our      
emotions from the spiritual side as do  
the early painters of ,italy  and       
,flanders1 he yet brings the brutal     
aspect of the scene before us in  an    
intensely human manner4    ,in most     
subject pictures ,van ,dyck painted     
before his visit to ,italy it  is       
apparent that ,rubens had been his sole 
guide1 and he was impelled  only with a 

desire to emulate his master4  ,but1    
after his return1 the  influence of the 
mighty painters he had studied south of 
the ,alps had  wrought a wondrous change
 in his method1 and although he found   
himself  back again amidst his old      
surroundings he never quite forsook the 
path  he had been treading in the       
interval4  ,rubens1 who had also spent  
some  years in ,italy1 did not submit to
 the influence of the southern masters  
in the same measure1 but remained a     
,fleming to the end4  ,there is  little 
alteration to be observed1 either in his
 historical and sacred  pictures or in  
his portraits1 after he had studied the 
,italians4  ,from  this we may assume   
either that ,rubens was less susceptible
 to  extraneous influences1 or that he  
considered his method quite the equal   
to any that he had seen4  ,van ,dyck1 on
 the other hand1 absorbed1  particularly
 from the ,venetians1 certain qualities 
which he employed  ceaselessly          
throughout the remainder of his life4   

,it was not1 however1  solely this cause
 which raised ,van ,dyck as an artist   
above his master4  ,rather was it to be 
attributed to the superiority of        
temperament4  ,thus1 whilst we can still
 consider ,rubens the head of the       
,flemish  school of the seventeenth     
century1 we should accord to ,van ,dyck 
the  foremost rank as an artist4        
,anthony ,van ,dyck was born at ,antwerp
 on ,march #bbnd1 #aeii4  ,it was said  
formerly that his father1 ,frans ,van   
,dyck1 was a painter on glass1 but      
later research has disclosed the fact   
that he carried on business as a        
merchant4  ,his mother practised the art
 of embroidery with no mean  skill1 and 
her works appear to have been held in   
considerable esteem4  ,the young painter
 had1 however1 the misfortune of losing 
her when he  arrived at the age of      
eight4  ,we know but little of his early
 years1  but he must have shown         
considerable aptitude for drawing1 for  
we find  him already the pupil of       

,hendrik van ,balen in #afji4  ,the     
latter painter  had received instruction
 in his art from ,adam van ,oort1 the   
master of  ,rubens1 but he utilised the 
instruction he had received in a very   
different way from that of his          
fellow-pupil4  ,he studied in ,italy for
  some time1 and upon his return to     
,antwerp became one of the most  popular
 painters in the city4  ,several works  
still remaining there  testify that his 
sojourn in the ,south had not entirely  
effaced his  ,flemish training4  ,he    
excelled particularly in cabinet        
pictures1 with  subjects inspired by the
 classics1 in which the landscapes were 
sometimes painted by ,jan ,brueghel4    
,these are wrought with wonderful       
finish1 and were much admired by his    
contemporaries for the purity of  their 
colouring4  ,at the same time1 whilst   
being a good craftsman and  filling an  
honourable position in the history of   
the school1 it cannot  be claimed that  
he possessed genius in an extraordinary 

degree4    ,it is probable1 however1    
that a more suitable master for the     
young ,van  ,dyck could not have been   
found4  ,in the studio of so staid and  
sober a  painter he would not be brought
 into contact with any of those         
pyrotechnics which have wrought such    
havoc with the art of young  artists    
when encountered at the onset of their  
careers4  ,on the other  hand1 ,van     
,balen is likely to have insisted upon  
great care being  exercised in drawing  
and in the finishing of minutest detail4
  ,such  rigid training is excellent1   
for whilst it does not hinder further   
developments upon other lines in the    
least degree1 it insures that all       
future progress shall be built upon a   
solid foundation4    ,at this time1     
however1 ,rubens1 having returned from  
his wanderings in  ,italy and ,spain1   
had settled in ,antwerp4  ,his new      
position as ,court  painter to the      
,archduke ,albert and the ,archduchess  
,isabella brought him  into great       

prominence and insured him constant     
occupation4  ,even at  this early period
 his art was approaching maturity1 and  
if he had not  yet developed the        
dazzling brilliancy and facility of his 
later time1  he was still far ahead of  
any painter modern ,flanders had        
produced4  ,we  have only to contemplate
 the works of his contemporaries1 and   
those who  immediately preceded him1 to 
imagine what a profound sensation this  
young man created in ,antwerp4  ,it     
seldom fell to the lot of an artist  who
 was but just over thirty to have been  
in the service of such an  illustrious  
personage as the ,duke of ,mantua4  ,the
 latter1 moreover1 so  highly esteemed  
his talent that he wished him to return 
to his service  even after he had       
returned to ,antwerp4  ,further1 the    
,duke had such  confidence in ,rubens'  
diplomatic ability that he sent him upon
  important business to ,philip ,,iii4  
in ,madrid4  ,the experience he had     
gained both in ,italy and in ,spain1    

where he had seen and copied many of    
the greatest works of the ,italian      
,renaissance1 served to develop a       
genius which in itself was of the first 
order1 and the fruits were  immediately 
visible upon his arrival in ,antwerp4   
,we can well picture  to ourselves the  
effect of the masculine vigour1 nay1    
more1 the bravado  of his brush-work    
upon the staid and homely ,flemish      
artists4  ,their  minuteness of finish1 
delicacy1 cool transparencies and       
silveriness of  colouring seem indeed   
petit when pitted against the           
irrepressible  dash and golden palette  
of ,rubens4  ,in spite of this he       
appears not to  have created any        
enemies4  ,on the contrary1 his         
fellow-artists seem to  have recognised 
his superiority1 and many were          
influenced by his  method4  ,to estimate
 to the full the revolution he wrought  
we must  compare the masters whom we    
found installed in favour in ,flanders  
with  the school he so soon created4    

,the older painters being affected in so
  visible a degree1 we can quite imagine
 how easily one so young and            
impressionable as ,van ,dyck would      
submit to the new influence4  ,here was 
a master whose art1 glowing with the    
full-blooded vigour of ,italy1 yet      
retained the healthy freshness of his   
native country4  ,restrained and  held  
in leash as he would be in the studio of
 ,van ,balen1 we can  sympathise with   
his yearning to migrate to that of      
,rubens4  ,he speedily  joined that     
ever-swelling body of artists who       
gathered themselves round  the great    
master4  ,for some years he worked side 
by side with ,snyders  and ,seghers4    
,the progress he made during this time  
was considerable2  indeed1 it is        
frequently difficult to decide whether  
certain pictures  produced in these     
years are the work of the master or the 
pupil1 so  thoroughly had he acquired   
,rubens' technique4        ,,plate      
,,iii4--,,prince ,d',,arenberg    7,in  

,lord ,spencer's ,collection1 ,althorp7 
,a portrait characteristic of one of the
 most popular phases of ,van  ,dyck's   
art4  ,it exhibits in a remarkable      
measure his sense of  appropriateness as
 far as the setting of a portrait is    
concerned4  ,the  background has been   
chosen largely with a view to           
accentuating the  salient points of the 
picture1 and whilst being1 in           
consequence1  strictly subservient to   
the portrait is yet treated in a bold   
and  vigorous manner4    ,illustration3 
,plate ,,iii4        ,in connection with
 this a story1 the details of which have
 frequently  been challenged1 is told4  
,it is said that ,rubens1 leaving his   
studio  one day to take a walk1 had left
 a picture in the process of painting   
upon his easel4  ,the students were     
anxious to inspect it and observe  the  
method he was employing4  ,finally1 they
 induced his servant to  admit them4    
,being a numerous crowd1 some amount of 
struggling took  place to get near the  

canvas4  ,the result was that one of    
them1 it is  said ,van ,diepenbeck1 fell
 against the canvas and injured the     
picture4  ,dismay spread throughout the 
room4  ,when they had recovered their   
presence of mind1 some one proposed that
 the damage should be repaired  before  
,rubens returned4  ,by common consent   
,van ,dyck was chosen1 and he  set to   
work with a will4  ,upon ,rubens        
entering his studio next morning1       
surrounded by his pupils1 he selected   
the repaired part and said that  that   
was by no means the worst piece he had  
painted the day before4  ,upon a closer 
examination the damage revealed itself1 
but so cleverly  had ,van ,dyck         
performed his task that ,rubens decided 
to leave it as it  was4    ,from such   
tales as this has arisen the tradition  
that ,rubens became so  jealous of his  
pupil that he endeavoured to persuade   
him to abandon  historical painting and 
devote the whole of his time to         
portraiture4  ,such statements are not  

only in opposition to all that we know  
of  ,rubens' character1 but there is the
 further evidence that when he  finally 
parted from ,van ,dyck they were on the 
very best of terms4  ,indeed1 ,rubens   
went so far as to make him a present of 
one of his  finest horses for the       
purpose of his journey in ,italy1 whilst
 ,van ,dyck  left with his master a     
portrait of ,rubens' wife as a souvenir4
    ,he further retained the services of
 ,van ,dyck as his assistant1 which he  
would not have done had any jealousy    
existed between them4  ,it was  probably
 the pressure of commissions1 which     
flowed in upon him in  innumerable      
quantities1 that induced him to take    
this step4  ,it was  quite impossible   
for the master himself to accomplish all
 the work he  undertook4  ,outside      
,italy he was the first master to employ
 his school  as a sort of manufactory on
 a large scale4  ,so well did he train  
his  assistants that he had only to make
 the sketch himself1 and to  superintend

 its painting1 for a large work to be   
turned out in an  incredibly short time4
  ,as ,van ,dyck was his most capable   
assistant1 he  would certainly employ   
him upon the important parts1 and as it 
has  already been pointed out that it is
 difficult to differentiate between  the
 works of the two men at this time1 it  
would be still more difficult  to decide
 definitely what hand ,van ,dyck had in 
the large number of  religious and      
historical pictures that were being sent
 out under  ,rubens' name at this time4 
,during this period1 however1 ,van ,dyck
 had acquired a reputation of his  own4 
,he had been elected a master of the    
,antwerp ,corporation of  painters in   
#afah1 that is1 whilst still in his     
twentieth year4          ,,ii    ,,the  
,,journey ,,to ,,italy    ,it was the   
habit of most ,northern artists at that 
time to make a  journey in ,italy4  ,the
 renown of the works created during the 
preceding  two centuries by the ,italian
 ,renaissance had spread all over       

,europe1  and no young artist considered
 his education complete without having  
spent a few years in studying them4     
,moreover1 they found that patrons      
patronised them better if they had been 
through this ,italian training4  ,these 
ideas were rather dictated by the       
prevailing fashion than by any  solid   
good to be derived by the artist who    
underwent it4  ,we have  innumerable    
examples of ,dutchmen and ,flemings     
whose natural genius  became perverted  
upon ,italian soil4  ,nicholas ,berchem 
and ,karl ,dujardin  were striking      
examples of the sad results which       
frequently accrued from  thus           
transplanting themselves into a country 
with which their  temperament had       
nothing in common4  ,it is probable that
 had ,karl  ,dujardin remained in       
,holland1 the world would have been     
enriched by a  landscape painter of the 
first order1 for he had gifts far above 
even  the average painter of his time4  
,but immediately on reaching ,italy he  

succumbed to the influences surrounding 
him1 and endeavoured to get rid  as far 
as possible of his early training1 and  
to see things and render  them in the   
,italian way4  ,the result was1 that    
whilst he never threw  off the ,dutch   
character of his scenes and figures1 he 
enveloped them  with a conventional     
atmosphere as monotonous as it is       
untrue4    ,we have already seen the    
results the ,italian journey had upon   
,rubens4  ,there was no inducement for  
,van ,dyck1 comparing1 as he would be   
able  to1 his master's pictures painted 
before his journey to ,italy and those  
which he executed afterwards1 to        
undertake the same trouble4  ,it is     
rather to be thought that he was decided
 to see the artistic ,mecca for         
himself1 by the glowing accounts of its 
treasures that he heard from  time to   
time from ,rubens' own lips4  ,for the  
latter1 small as had been  the influence
 of the great ,italian masters upon his 
work1 was  nevertheless of a disposition

 peculiarly adapted for keenly          
appreciating merit whenever it was      
brought under his notice4  ,we can      
quite imagine that during those early   
days in ,antwerp his pupils whilst  at  
work would hear innumerable accounts of 
the beauties of this or that  picture1  
and the more enthusiastic of them would 
consequently only be  the more eager to 
judge of its beauties for themselves4   
,during the  execution of the large     
canvasses that were turned out in such  
quantities from the studio1 ,rubens     
doubtlessly prefaced alterations he     
made by referring to many a master's    
method1 and recounted how the           
masterpieces upon which his comments    
were framed had been brought to         
completion4    ,during the latter       
portion of the time ,van ,dyck stopped  
with ,rubens he  was only acting as his 
assistant1 and consequently would be    
free to  leave when he liked4  ,he would
 probably be quite aware that his       
technique was the equal of his master's1

 and would realise that he had  received
 all the tuition he possibly could in   
his present situation4  ,ambitious as he
 was1 there is no doubt that he yearned 
for an  opportunity to learn for himself
 the message the great masters had to   
impart to him4  ,whilst we can quite    
imagine that ,rubens would be sorry  to 
part with so capable an assistant1 there
 was not any evidence that  he did not  
do everything in his power to assist him
 to carry out his  project4    ,in      
#afbc--when he was but twenty-four years
 of age--,van ,dyck left  ,antwerp on   
his journey southward4  ,he appears not 
to have got any  further than a village 
near ,brussels1 where he succumbed to   
the  attractions of a certain young lady
 named ,annah van ,ophem4  ,at her      
instigation he painted two pictures for 
the parish church there4  ,in  one1     
representing ,st4 ,martin sharing his   
cloak with a beggar1 he took  himself as
 a model for the saint4  ,the parish    
authorities being1 it is  said1 of a    

mercenary turn of mind1 had it valued1  
and1 hearing that it  was worth #djjj   
florins1 sold it to a ,m4 ,hot4  ,the   
people of the  village1 however1 hearing
 of the sale1 determined to prevent the 
removal of the picture at all costs1 and
 when the purchaser arrived he  found   
not only the peasants1 but their wives  
and children1 armed1 and  was obliged to
 escape ignominiously through the       
priest's garden and  return to ,brussels
 without his prize4  ,whilst still      
residing at the  village1 ,van ,dyck    
painted the portrait of ,annah van      
,ophem1 surrounded  with the dogs       
belonging to the ,infanta ,isabella1 of 
which either she or  her father had     
charge1 and a picture of the ,holy      
,family1 in which she  figured as the   
principal personage4        ,,plate     
,,iv4--,,portrait ,,of ,,van ,,dyck     
7,,or ,,the ,,artist7    7,in ,lord     
,spencer's ,collection1 ,althorp7       
,one of the most striking portraits of  
the artist4  ,painted at a fairly  late 

date in his career1 it shows the painter
 prosperous and rich and  by no means   
ill pleased with his lot in the world4  
,full of life and  gaiety1 his joyous   
face gives us a good idea of the        
gratification he  found in life almost  
to the end4  ,indeed1 a deal of the     
fascination of  his art arises from his 
approaching his subjects in this happy  
frame of  mind4    ,illustration3 ,plate
 ,,iv4        ,rubens1 hearing of the   
prolonged sojourn of his pupil at       
,saveltheim1  arrived one day upon the  
scene1 and finally induced ,van ,dyck to
 tear  himself from his mistress and    
continue his journey to ,italy4    ,the 
great object of his visit was to study  
the ,venetian masters1 and  accordingly 
he repaired forthwith to the ,city of   
the ,lagoons4  ,we can  picture him     
standing for the first time before those
 wonderful  portraits of ,titian and    
,tintoretto1 ,palma-,vecchio and        
,moroni1 about  which he had heard so   
much in his student days in ,antwerp4   

,that he was  not disappointed is       
evidenced by the fact that almost       
immediately a  change is observable in  
his method4  ,he cast aside as speedily 
as  possible the silveriness and        
coolness which had characterised his    
palette when working in ,antwerp1 and   
endeavoured to assimilate in as  great a
 degree as possible the golden          
luminosity and subtle handling of  the  
mighty ,venetians4  ,it is probable that
 ,titian held the first place  in his   
estimation1 for it is rather upon his   
method that all his  subsequent         
developments in technique are based4    
,but perhaps full  justice has not been 
done to the influence ,moroni had in    
moulding his  youthful genius4  ,one has
 only to compare1 for example1 the      
full-length  portrait of an ,italian    
nobleman1 ,no4 #acaf in the ,national   
,gallery1 with  that marvellous         
representation of ,philip le ,roy in the
 ,wallace  ,collection1 reproduced in   
this volume1 to see the connection      

between  the two painters4  ,there is   
the same air of distinction in each     
portrait1 and in silveriness of         
colouring and elegance of pose there is 
much in common4  ,these are not isolated
 examples in the life-work of  the two  
masters1 but are rather representative  
of a whole series of  portraits in which
 their genius runs on nearly parallel   
lines4    ,we cannot wonder that ,van   
,dyck was not much impressed by such of 
the  ,umbrian painters as he came in    
contact with4  ,there was still left in 
these men the remains of that mysticism 
which was born of the intimate  contact 
with religion in relation to life that  
had originally brought  it into being4  
,the religious art of the               
,netherlands--,i am speaking now  of    
that which arose after the middle of the
 sixteenth century--was  built upon a   
purely human and materialistic basis4   
,if a scriptural  scene was represented 
it was brought before us as a subject   
from  everyday life2 a martyrdom with   

all its brutality1 a crucifixion with   
all its physical horror1 and a madonna  
and child simply as a peasant  girl with
 a child1 set in homely surroundings4   
,our artist1 endowed  with the same     
temperament as the men who had created  
such works1 and  who moreover was       
perhaps the best exponent of this school
 of painting1  with the possible        
exception of ,rubens himself1 could not 
be expected to  be touched with the     
subtleties of ,botticelli or ,filippino 
,lippi4  ,further1 it is not unlikely   
that he found he could learn little from
  the technique of ,raphael or ,andrea  
del ,sarto4  ,but with the ,venetians   
it was quite otherwise4  ,from the early
 days of ,giovanni ,bellini they  seem  
to have treated religious subjects in   
just as materialistic a  manner1 if less
 grossly and repugnantly1 than the      
,flemings themselves4  ,one has but to  
contemplate the life-work of ,titian to 
see how little  religious feeling1 in   
the ,florentine or mystical sense of the

 term1  there was in his art4  ,even the
 two most impressive religious pictures 
he ever painted1 the ,entombment1 in the
 ,louvre1 and the ,christ  crowned with 
,thorns1 at ,munich1 would certainly not
 have pleased the  patrons of           
,ghirlandajo or ,pollaiuolo4  ,but      
,titian and his  contemporaries         
constitute the zenith attained by       
,italian materialistic  art1 at any rate
 in point of technique4        ,,plate  
,v4--,,philippe ,,le ,,roy1 ,,seigneur  
,,de ,,ravel    7,in the ,wallace       
,collection7    ,the masterpiece of ,van
 ,dyck's second ,flemish manner4  ,in it
 we see the  culmination of the         
influences he had brought away with him 
from ,italy  sobered by a renewed       
contact with the productions of his     
illustrious  master4  ,the dignity of   
pose1 probably derived from ,moroni and 
,titian1  united with the fact that his 
immense technical powers are brought    
into  play in an unsurpassed degree1    
certainly proclaim it as one of the     

greatest portraits in the world4  ,van  
,dyck executed an etching of  ,philippe 
le ,roy1 probably based upon this       
portrait which ranks very  high amongst 
his productions in this way4            
,illustration3 ,plate ,v4        ,it is 
more than probable that ,van ,dyck found
 certain points in his  master's method 
crude compared with that of the         
,venetians1 and  although1 as we shall  
see later1 he endeavoured after his     
return to  ,flanders to retrace his     
steps in a measure1 the influences he   
brought  away with him from ,italy      
remained during his whole life4    ,he  
went from ,venice to ,genoa1 and there  
his style created such an  impression   
that he found many of the nobility eager
 to have their  portraits painted by    
him4  ,formerly1 his ,italian manner1 as
 it is  called1 was to be best studied  
in that city1 but as years have rolled  
on many of the finest examples have     
become scattered over ,europe and       
,america4  ,the two fine portraits      

recently added to the ,national ,gallery
  date from this period1 and although1  
owing to their condition1 they do  not  
set forth his talents at their best1    
will give a good idea of the  changes   
his method had undergone since he left  
,antwerp4  ,two of the  noblest         
portraits of the ,genoese period were   
formerly in the collection  of ,sir     
,robert ,peel1 but1 after being sold at 
auction in ,london some few  years ago1 
finally found a permanent home in the   
,berlin ,gallery4    ,from ,genoa he    
went to ,rome1 and1 his reputation      
having preceded him1 he  was soon loaded
 with commissions for both historical   
subjects and  portraits4  ,it is said1  
however1 that his residence here was    
rendered  unpleasant by a number of     
artists persecuting him by reason of his
 not  wishing to fall in with their     
methods of life4  ,be this as it may1 he
  returned to ,genoa1 and after some    
time departed for ,palermo2 but the     
plague breaking out1 some time after his

 arrival1 he determined to  return to   
,flanders4  ,van ,dyck had reason to    
congratulate himself1 not  only upon the
 amount of benefit which he had received
 from his sojourn  in ,italy1 but also  
on account of the flattering manner in  
which he had  been received everywhere4 
,his complete success in these two      
respects  was calculated to infuse      
confidence in him for the future4  ,he  
was now  fully equipped in every way1   
and his good luck in the matter of      
patronage1 so lavishly bestowed upon him
 in ,italy1 was destined to  pursue him 
in his future career1 until finally the 
immense amount of  work he undertook in 
consequence had an adverse influence    
upon his  later productions4            
,,iii    ,,the ,,second ,,flemish       
,,manner    ,the reputation of ,van     
,dyck1 great as it was prior to leaving 
,antwerp1  had materially grown during  
his absence in ,italy4  ,from time to   
time  reports reached his               
fellow-townsmen of the brilliant success

 he was  achieving there1 the high      
personages with whom he was mingling1   
and the  flattering praise accorded to  
his productions4  ,we may be sure that  
returning travellers would relate the   
astonishing progress he was  making1 and
 consequently his friends would await   
with eager  anticipation the proofs of  
all they had heard4  ,there could be no 
doubt  that ,rubens would be amongst    
those who would be most interested in   
his  progress1 and he would be curious  
to see the influence the ,italians had  
exercised upon his technique4    ,his   
talents were soon put to the essay in   
the form of a commission for  a large   
picture representing ,st4 ,augustine in 
ecstasy1 surrounded by  angels and      
saints1 for the ,church of the          
,augustines in ,antwerp4  ,as a  result 
of this first effort1 both his patrons  
and the public were  delighted1 and     
commissions for works of a similar      
character flowed in  upon him from every
 side4    ,rubens had fairly early in   

his career instituted an ingenious      
method  for making his works widely     
known4  ,he employed1 under his own     
direction1 a number of engravers whose  
names have become household  words4     
,technically considered1 they were as   
well equipped as any who  have ever     
lived4  ,the names of ,paul ,pontius1   
,lucas ,vorsterman1 the two  ,bolswerts1
 ,peter de ,jode are held in reverence  
by every admirer of  engraving4  ,their 
remarkable fidelity in transcribing the 
works of  ,rubens render it frequently  
unnecessary to see the originals        
themselves  in order thoroughly to study
 them4  ,i am perhaps not going too far 
when  ,i say that they understood the   
art of translating colour effects into  
black and white in a manner unknown     
previous to their time and never        
surpassed afterwards4  ,the tone values 
of the paintings themselves are         
preserved4  ,there is no doubt that this
 excellence was due to the  guidance of 
,rubens4  ,he superintended each plate  

in process of  preparation and rectified
 with his own hand any errors that might
 have  crept in4  ,in this way ,rubens  
rendered an immense service to art4     
,quantities of these prints went out to 
foreign countries and were  prized by   
both artists and collectors1 serving to 
stimulate the former  to renewed efforts
 and to improve the taste of the latter4
  ,at the same  time1 he is to be       
credited with having brought the        
engraving art to a  pitch which has     
never been surpassed4    ,when ,rubens  
saw of what his pupil was now capable1  
he immediately  turned the attention of 
his engravers to his works1 and until   
,van ,dyck  practically ceased          
historical painting1 we have as many    
plates worked  after his designs as from
 those of his master4  ,it was soon     
after his  return to ,antwerp that he   
received the commission to paint the    
celebrated picture at ,malines          
representing the ,crucifixion4  ,of this
  remarkable canvas we can but form an  

inadequate idea to-day4  ,the  exceeding
 negligence with which it has been kept1
 coupled with the  continual covering up
 of the picture1 thus depriving it of   
light1 which  every oil-painting        
requires for its preservation1 has      
contributed to  render it a wreck of its
 former self4  ,the subject1 to which we
 are so  accustomed that we are but     
little moved when we encounter it in the
  great galleries1 is here presented to 
us in a most terrible and  essentially  
human aspect4  ,the extraordinary       
expression of physical  pain infused    
into the heads of the two thieves1 one  
on each side of  ,christ1 together with 
the energy of their efforts to detach   
themselves  from their awful position1  
will cause a shudder to creep over even 
the  most phlegmatic person4  ,this is  
foiled by the superb treatment of the   
head of the ,saviour4  ,in the latter is
 an extraordinary mixture of  pain1     
mental and physical1 combined with a    
sublime look of resignation4  ,sir      

,joshua ,reynolds regarded it as one of 
the masterpieces of the  world1 and     
there will be not a few who will concur 
in his judgment4    ,van ,dyck was not1 
however1 content simply to exercise his 
powers in  this way4  ,an innumerable   
series of portraits date from this time1
  notably the well-known series         
representing the most prominent         
contemporary artists of ,flanders4      
,these productions are well known  from 
the engravings executed after them2 the 
originals are now  distributed          
throughout the world4    ,it is said    
that ,van ,dyck's position in the       
,netherlands1 in spite of the  quantity 
of patronage bestowed upon him1 was     
anything but pleasant4  ,the jealousy of
 his rivals was particularly irksome to 
a man of his  disposition4  ,in the     
intrigues with which he was surrounded  
,rubens had  no part2 on the contrary1  
he always sustained the cause of his    
brilliant pupil with the utmost         
enthusiasm and fidelity1 and it is      

probable1 in view of this fact and the  
renown which ,van ,dyck himself  had    
attained1 that he would have worn down  
the opposition and caused  the calumnies
 with which he was beset to fall upon   
the heads of their  originators4  ,but  
the taste for travel which he had       
developed in ,italy  probably impelled  
him to seek relief outside his own      
country4  ,accordingly we find him      
employed at the ,hague--certainly not a 
great  distance from the seat of his    
recent troubles1 but sufficiently far to
  remove him from their reach4  ,here he
 painted the portrait of the  ,prince of
 ,orange and innumerable personages of  
his ,court1 in addition  to receiving   
ample encouragement from the foreign    
ambassadors4    ,it was not1 however1 to
 be expected that so small a city with  
its  limited scope would long suffice   
for a man of his ambitions4  ,his eyes  
were set upon ,england4        ,,plate  
,,vi4--,,portrait ,,of ,,one ,,of       
,,charles ,i4',s ,,children    7,in the 

,academy of ,fine ,arts1 ,rome7         
,possibly the best known and one of the 
most deservedly popular of the  master's
 child portraits4  ,it will bear        
comparison for charm and  delicacy of   
handling with any of the productions of 
our great ,english  masters4  ,in fact1 
it was largely after a study of ,van    
,dyck's wonderful  pictures of children 
that ,gainsborough formed his last and  
greatest  manner4    ,illustration3     
,plate ,,vi4        ,the encouragement  
which ,charles ,i4 extended to the fine 
arts1 and his  liberality in patronising
 them1 induced him to think that a      
suitable  field for the exercise of his 
talents was open to him in our country4 
,accordingly about #afcb he arrived in  
,london4  ,england was not1 however1    
quite strange to him1 for about eleven  
years previously--that is1  before his  
departure to ,italy--he had already been
 here upon a visit4  ,upon this         
occasion1 however1 he does not appear to
 have succeeded in  attracting the      

attentions of the king1 and consequently
 he did not meet  with the success he   
had counted upon4  ,remaining but a few 
months1 he  decided to return to        
,antwerp1 fully resolved to make it a   
permanent  place of abode4              
,meanwhile1 however1 ,rubens had been   
sent by the ,infanta ,isabella on a     
diplomatic visit to ,charles1 who       
received him in the most gracious       
manner and created him a knight4  ,the  
flattering attentions bestowed  upon    
,rubens during his stay1 coupled with   
his estimation of the king's  character 
and taste1 created a most favourable    
impression upon him1 and  when he       
returned to ,antwerp he probably        
dispelled in a measure ,van  ,dyck's    
antipathy to our country4  ,meanwhile   
,charles had seen the  latter's portrait
 of ,nicholas ,lanire1 his chapel       
master1 and was so  impressed with its  
qualities that he sent an invitation to 
,van ,dyck to  return4    ,an           
opportunity so favourable to advancement

 was not lightly to be  passed over1 and
 ,van ,dyck decided once more to try his
 fortune here4    ,this decision        
constituted a turning-point in the life 
and style of the  artist1 and we shall  
see him in ,england passing the most    
prosperous  years of his life4          
,,iv    ,,van ,,dyck ,,in ,,england     
,there never was a time in the history  
of the ,english ,court when such        
opportunities for advancement were      
presented to an artist possessing  the  
genius of ,van ,dyck as during the reign
 of ,charles ,i4  ,he was one of  the   
few monarchs of ,england who recognised 
the civilising influence of  art on the 
nation and encouraged it in a manner    
quite beyond his means4  ,it mattered   
not of what period1 school1 or          
nationality a work happened  to be1 so  
long as it possessed a high degree of   
merit1 it appealed  strongly to the     
king4  ,we have only to consider the    
superb collection  he brought together1 
only to be ruthlessly dispersed by the  

,commonwealth1 to gauge the refinement  
of his taste4  ,many of the  priceless  
possessions of foreign galleries formed 
part of his  collection1 and if ,england
 had only been in a position to retain  
her  hold upon them we should no doubt  
to-day be in possession of the finest   
assemblage of ,italian art in the world4
  ,i need only enumerate the  sumptuous 
portrait of ,alfonso of ,ferrara and    
,laura d',dianti and the  ,entombment1  
by ,titian1 in the ,louvre2 the portrait
 of ,erasmus1 by  ,holbein1 in the      
,louvre1 and the marvellous portrait of 
a young woman1  for so many years       
wrongly ascribed to the same master1 at 
the ,hague2  the portrait of ,albrecht  
,drer by himself in the ,prado1 and the 
two  masterpieces by ,geertgen van ,st4 
,jans in the ,imperial ,gallery at      
,vienna1 to demonstrate the quality of  
his many possessions4  ,in ,england  we 
still have retained a few of his        
treasures4  ,conspicuous among them  are
 those masterpieces of ,andrea          

,mantegna1 the ,triumph of ,julius      
,csar1 at ,hampton ,court1 the ,albrecht
 ,drer1 and the ,lorenzo ,lotto1 in  the
 same gallery1 together with the        
,mercury1 ,cupid and ,venus1 by         
,correggio1 in the ,national ,gallery4  
,needless to say that a collector1 who  
had sufficient taste to bring  together 
such a notable assemblage1 would demand 
a very high degree of  talent indeed in 
a painter who was working for the       
,court4  ,charles had1  moreover1 been  
brought into contact with the brilliant 
achievements of  ,rubens1 and would in  
consequence expect a great deal from a  
pupil whose  merits he had heard so     
extolled4    ,the portrait of ,nicholas 
,lanire appealed to him immediately4    
,he saw  in ,van ,dyck a man whose      
performances1 even at this early age1   
far  surpassed those of any painter then
 working in ,england4  ,charles1 who    
immensely admired the portraits of      
,rubens1 saw in those of his pupil an   
,italian quality lacking in the former1 

and this would additionally  attract    
him4    ,van ,dyck's reception was most 
flattering4  ,he was given a lodging at 
,blackfriars amongst the other painters1
 and was set to work immediately  for   
the king4  ,charles was quite as much   
taken with the courtly  qualities and   
conversation of his newly-found painter 
as by his talent1  and greatly enjoyed  
his company4  ,he was accustomed to go  
to  ,blackfriars by water1 and to chat  
with ,van ,dyck whilst having his       
portrait painted4  ,from this time date 
the innumerable portraits of  ,charles  
and his ,queen1 ,henrietta ,maria1 with 
which we are so familiar4    ,the       
fashion thus set by the king was        
speedily taken up by his ,court1  and   
the nobility of ,england competed with  
one another for the privilege  of having
 their portraits painted by the         
brilliant ,fleming4    ,soon after his  
arrival ,van ,dyck received the honour  
of knighthood1 and1  in addition to     
being appointed painter to his ,majesty1

 had an annuity  of #bjj per annum      
settled upon him4    ,the quantity of   
commissions which now flowed in upon him
 was  prodigious1 and he was sorely     
taxed to keep pace with them4  ,he was  
enabled in consequence to raise his     
prices considerably without in the      
least diminishing the patronage bestowed
 upon him4  ,he commenced to  entertain 
on a lavish scale1 and his table was    
frequented by the  highest in the land4 
,it is said that after occupying the    
morning in  painting portraits he would 
invite his sitters to dinner1 and then1 
from the study he had made of their     
countenances during the meal1 would     
work upon the portraits again in the    
afternoon4    ,although ,van ,dyck had  
been accustomed to good society and     
living1 the  overwhelming good fortune  
which was now his lot appears to have   
developed bad habits in him4  ,he soon  
acquired luxurious habits1 which        
finally undermined his health4          
,passionately fond of music1 he         

liberally encouraged all the professors 
of that art1 and gratuitously  painted  
the portraits of its most celebrated    
exponents4    ,the demands upon his     
purse at this time must have been       
enormous1 and in  order to increase his 
output1 and consequently his income1 he 
had  recourse to the means he had seen  
,rubens so successfully employ in       
,antwerp4  ,he brought together a school
 of painters1 who worked under  his     
directions4  ,the portraits dating from 
this period consequently not  only show 
the marked deterioration in his         
technique1 but also1 beyond  the heads  
and hands and a few other essential     
details1 contained but  little of his   
own work4  ,his assistants were so      
thoroughly trained that  they were      
enabled to paint the draperies and their
 accessories in a  style which welded   
perfectly with his own brushwork4       
,these facts have to be carefully       
remembered whenever we are              
contemplating a work of the ,english    

period of ,van ,dyck1 for were we to    
form our judgment solely upon the       
portraits he had painted prior to  going
 to ,england we should reject many of   
the former as not being from  his hand4 
,there is further the added difficulty  
that his assistants  executed pictures  
in his manner on their own account1 and 
it is only by  the lack of that spark of
 genius he was enabled to infuse in     
those  parts of a portrait he executed  
with his own hand that we are enabled   
to differentiate between them4  ,many of
 the portraits of the king and  queen   
which were sent as presents all over    
,europe were but the  productions of his
 studio4        ,,plate                 
,,vii4--,,portrait ,,of ,,the           
,,artist',s ,,wife    7,in the          
,pinakothek1 ,munich7    ,a remarkably  
good example of ,van ,dyck's power of   
depicting female  character4  ,whenever 
he is faced with a sitter in whom he is 
interested  he suited his technique to  
the points he wished to emphasise4  ,it 

is  the possession of this versatility  
which enables him to infuse so much     
seductive charm into his women portraits
 and such trenchant vigour into  those  
of men4    ,illustration3 ,plate ,,vii4 
,it is only in such superb presentations
 of ,charles as that in the  ,louvre1 at
 ,windsor1 and in the ,national ,gallery
 that we are enabled to  judge of his   
capabilities at this period4  ,he now   
almost entirely  deserted historical    
painting4  ,there was no demand for it  
in ,england1  and his attention was     
exclusively devoted to portraiture4     
,moreover1 if  we may judge from the    
ever-increasing facility with which he  
was wont  to paint1 it may be fairly    
said that his attention during these    
years  was being diverted from painting 
to pleasure4  ,he never lost interest   
in his art1 but he was impelled to adopt
 a more facile manner by the  pressure  
of his engagements and his              
ever-increasing expenses4    ,he kept a 
country house at ,eltham in ,kent1 where

 he spent the summer--a  form of        
extravagance more defensible than many  
in which he was  accustomed to indulge4 
,meanwhile1 he had contracted a marriage
 with ,mary ,ruthven1  granddaughter of 
,lord ,ruthven1 ,earl of ,cowrie1 by    
whom he had one  daughter4  ,his wife1  
however1 brought him no dowrie1 but was 
considered  one of the greatest beauties
 of her time4  ,soon after his marriage 
he  left ,england with his wife for the 
purpose of showing her his native       
country4  ,they travelled for some time1
 visiting his family and  friends4      
,then the idea occurred to him that he  
would proceed to ,paris1  with a view of
 sharing1 if possible1 in the           
contemplated decoration of  the ,louvre1
 and thus win laurels equal to those    
,rubens had gained by  his works in the 
,luxembourg4  ,he arrived1 however1 too 
late3 ,nicholas  ,poussin had been      
brought specially from ,rome for the    
purpose1 and the  work was in hand4     
,disappointed in this1 and still        

desiring to execute  some great work by 
which he might secure a lasting renown1 
he returned  to ,england and proposed to
 the king1 through the medium of his old
 and  trusty friend ,sir ,kenelm ,digby1
 to embellish the wall of the           
,banqueting  ,house at ,whitehall with  
the history of the ,order of the        
,garter4  ,the  ceiling of this         
sumptuous chamber had already been      
painted by ,rubens1  and ,van ,dyck no  
doubt considered that his work would    
blend admirably  with that of his       
master4  ,the sum he asked for1 #hjjj1  
although  considerable1 would no doubt  
not have stood in the way of the        
execution  of the project had it        
occurred at an earlier date in the reign
 of the  unfortunate ,charles4  ,the    
kingdom1 however1 was already in a      
turbulent  condition4  ,funds were      
scarce1 and such as existed might have  
to be  employed at any moment in raising
 an army to defend the king's cause4    
,charles was now occupied in a          

life-and-death struggle with his people1
  and had no time to devote to artistic 
pursuits4  ,van ,dyck consequently      
waited in vain for an answer1 and it is 
to be supposed that meanwhile           
commissions did not come to him as      
easily as formerly4  ,young as he  still
 was1 the effects of his past luxurious 
life were beginning to  tell upon him1  
and1 coupled with the disappointment    
occasioned by the  rejection of his     
proposal1 contributed to bring on gout4 
,he began to  have financial worries    
too1 but these can hardly have been     
sufficiently  great to have troubled him
 much1 for he left at his death property
 to  the value of #bj1jjj4  ,he         
therefore turned his attention1 probably
 in  emulation1 or by the advice1 of his
 friend ,sir ,kenelm ,digby1 to the     
pursuit of the philosopher's stone1 and1
 needless to say1 the results  of his   
experiments and the money he expended   
upon them only aggravated  the state of 
his health4  ,he rapidly sickened1 and  

died in ,london on  ,december #ith1     
#afda1 when forty-two years of age4  ,he
 was accorded a  magnificent funeral in 
,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral1 and was buried 
in a tomb  beside that of ,john of      
,gaunt4          ,v    ,,van ,,dyck',s  
,,position ,,in ,,art    ,during the    
past twenty years the public has become 
so educated in  matters artistic that it
 wishes at once to definitely assign a  
certain  position to an artist with     
whose works it is familiar4  ,we live in
 an  age of comparison1 and as          
opportunities for its exercise1 owing to
 the  cheapening of travel1 are so      
manifestly improved of recent years1 a  
more just estimation exists in the mind 
of the public regarding an  artist's    
worth than formerly4  ,van ,dyck1 as ,i 
said at the beginning of  the opening   
chapter1 has never fallen from the high 
position he  occupied in his own day4   
,he has always appealed to the student  
and the  artist of every nationality1   
and if we survey portrait painting since

  his day1 we shall see that he has     
exercised more influence than any  other
 artist who has ever lived4  ,it may be 
said that ,titian1 for a  couple of     
centuries after his death1 was the idol 
almost exclusively  worshipped1 and that
 during the last fifty years ,velazquez 
and  ,rembrandt have been the ideals    
painters have dangled before the public 
and themselves4  ,but both of these     
mighty masters have had their ups  and  
downs4  ,the genius of ,rembrandt was   
certainly not appreciated until  the end
 of the eighteenth century1 and even    
then his stupendous powers  were not    
recognised as they have been in our own 
day4    ,the worship of ,velazquez is   
quite a modern institution1 and it is   
not  at all unlikely1 in the opinion of 
well-informed critics1 that if his      
influence1 which has now reached a      
decadent stage1 is not curtailed it     
will create as much havoc amongst modern
 portrait painters as the  example of   
,constable has had upon certain phases  

of landscape painting4    ,it can never 
be laid to the charge of ,van ,dyck that
 any period of his  art has exercised a 
permanently baneful influence4  ,true1  
immediately  after the ,restoration1 a  
school arose1 headed by ,sir ,peter     
,lely and ,sir  ,godfrey ,kneller1 who  
claimed to have followed the traditions 
of ,van  ,dyck4  ,it requires1 however1 
but little comparison between even his  
later and slighter works and those of   
,lely1 who was incomparably the         
greatest of the portrait painters       
working in ,england in the interval     
between ,van ,dyck and ,hogarth1 to see 
how far below ,van ,dyck's standard     
portrait painting had fallen1 and how   
little of his method there was  left in 
it4    ,van ,dyck has exercised more    
influence in ,england than abroad4      
,many of  our greatest                  
eighteenth-century portrait painters    
have largely formed  themselves upon his
 example4  ,gainsborough was the most   
conspicuous  instance of this4  ,from   

his earliest days he worshipped the     
great  ,fleming1 and that the spell     
never left him may be gauged from his   
dying  words3 ,we are all going to      
,heaven1 and ,van ,dyck is of the       
company4  ,even prior to his departure  
for ,bath1 his portraits possessed many 
of  the qualities of ,van ,dyck1 but    
after arriving in the western city1 then
  the centre of a rich and fashionable  
world1 he had manifold  opportunities of
 studying his favourite master4  ,his   
brushwork became  at once more refined1 
his colouring more transparent1 and his 
method in  every way more facile4       
,before leaving ,bath he had produced   
portraits  which are worthy to be placed
 alongside those of ,van ,dyck1 and     
after a  few years' residence in ,london
 had created those marvels of the brush 
which contend for supremacy with the    
finest works of the ,fleming4  ,for     
example1 what portrait of the latter    
master could be cited to surpass  the   
portrait of ,mrs4 ,graham in the        

,gallery at ,edinburgh1 the superb      
group at ,dulwich1 or the ,blue ,boy1 in
 the possession of the ,duke of         
,westminster8    ,reynolds appears to   
have worked more in emulation of ,titian
 than ,van  ,dyck4  ,he painted in a    
solider and apparently slower manner1   
and if the  slickness--if ,i may be     
allowed an ,americanism--of the ,flemish
 master  appealed to him1 it yet had no 
visible effect upon his own technique4  
,the minor masters of our school        
demonstrate materially how much they    
owed to ,van ,dyck4  ,allan ,ramsay and 
,cotes bear adequate witness of this4   
,full justice1 however1 has not been    
done to the good wrought for  ,english  
art by his immediate followers and      
pupils4  ,it is only of late  years that
 the portraits of old ,stone are        
beginning to be sorted out  from those  
of the later period of ,van ,dyck4      
,stone was occupied in  copying or      
making replicas of the portraits of ,van
 ,dyck1 and so well  did he succeed in  

his task that1 even to this day1        
numerous works by  him are to be found  
in the country houses of ,england       
passing under the  name of the great    
master4        ,,plate ,,viii4--,,the   
,,marchese ,,cattaneo    7,in the       
,national ,gallery7    ,in spite of its 
somewhat bad condition this portrait is 
an excellent  specimen of ,van ,dyck's  
,genoese period4  ,it was achieved about
 the same  time as the two magnificent  
pictures in the ,scottish ,national     
,gallery1  the ,lomellini family and the
 portrait of an unknown ,italian        
nobleman4  ,its recent entry into the   
,national ,gallery filled a gap in our  
representation of the great ,fleming4   
,illustration3 ,plate ,,viii4           
,then we have ,william ,dobson1 whose   
works are worthy of yet more study  than
 has hitherto been accorded them4  ,he  
did not long survive ,van  ,dyck1 dying 
in #afdf at the early age of thirty-six4
  ,he was probably  the most gifted of  
all his pupils1 and had he lived at any 

other period  would probably have been  
held in great estimation4  ,there is an 
excellent example of his brush in the   
,national ,gallery1 the portrait of     
,endymion ,porter1 groom of the         
bedchamber of ,charles ,i4  ,in many of 
the  other examples strewn about the    
country he shows yet a greater approach 
to ,van ,dyck4  ,still1 the ,trafalgar  
,square picture is a worthy example  of 
his powers at his best4  ,his masculine 
handling and sense of colour  place him1
 from a purely artistic point of view1  
far above such men as  ,lely and        
,kneller1 who followed him4    ,another 
painter who wrought excellent work under
 the ,commonwealth was  ,robert ,walker4
  ,he was much patronised by ,oliver    
,cromwell and his  party4  ,he appears  
to have been one of the few portrait    
painters who  flourished at this time4  
,he acquired in a remarkable manner the 
liquid  and transparent style affected  
by ,van ,dyck during his last years in  
,england1 and coupling with this        

remarkable powers of fidelity1 his      
portraits possess great attractions for 
the artist as well as the  student of   
history4    ,as ,i have already said1   
the influence of ,van ,dyck upon the    
painters who  flourished throughout the 
three succeeding reigns was a decadent  
one4  ,sir ,peter ,lely1 who came to    
,england1 at the age of twenty-three1   
with  the ,prince of ,orange1 the       
son-in-law of ,charles ,i41 was the best
 of all  these men4  ,he was born in    
,westphalia1 of ,dutch parentage1 and   
was  educated in the school of ,pieter  
,fransz de ,grebber at ,haarlem4  ,but  
his  entire method was built upon ,van  
,dyck4  ,he seems not to have had a bad 
time under the ,commonwealth1 for he was
 employed to paint ,cromwell's          
portrait4  ,it is said that he had      
instructions upon this occasion to      
paint him1 warts1 pimples1 and all4  ,it
 was not1 however1 till  ,charles ,,ii4 
had ascended the throne that he reached 
the zenith of his  fame4  ,then came the

 long series of ladies of the ,court    
with which we  are so familiar4  ,they  
are all set in the same artificial      
setting1 a  landscape half conventional1
 half natural in feeling1 a languid and 
somewhat haughty air about the heads1   
together with draperies destined  to    
accentuate the artificial appearance of 
the whole portrait4  ,one can  see at a 
glance that it was from ,van ,dyck he   
had learned the placing  and handling of
 the heads1 hands1 and backgrounds1 but 
what a  monotonous procession it is4    
,in order to appreciate the             
superficialities of ,lely a number of   
his portraits must be seen  together4   
,we then see how monotonous he was1 how 
few of those  qualities he possessed    
which go to make up a great artist4     
,that he had  a considerable amount of  
technique at his command can be seen in 
such  portraits as the ,duchess of      
,cleveland in the ,national ,portrait   
,gallery1 but in others again he fell so
 far below this level of  excellence1   

that one is sometimes tempted to reject 
many perfectly  glorious pictures as not
 being from his hand4    ,the art of    
,lely had attained great popularity     
amongst the aristocracy  whose lives    
called into being the decadent art of   
this period4  ,all who  sought the      
public favour tried to catch his manner1
 and hence arose  quite a number of     
imitators4  ,occasionally ,lely was     
surpassed by some  of his scholars4     
,for example1 ,john ,greenhill absorbed 
more of the real  qualities of ,van     
,dyck than his master4  ,the remarkable 
portrait in the  ,gallery of ,dulwich   
,college shows unmistakable signs of    
genius of a high  order1 and had he not 
fallen into irregular habits and died at
 the age  of thirty-two he might have   
achieved great things4    ,sir ,godfrey 
,kneller1 who followed ,lely1 was       
infinitely inferior to him  as an       
artist4  ,he claimed1 too1 to continue  
the ,van ,dyck tradition1 but  by this  
time the art of portrait painting had   

sunk into such a  deplorable condition1 
owing to the depravity of public taste  
and to the  slavish imitation of the    
brilliant ,fleming1 that there are few  
of his  pictures that appeal in the     
least to the artistic sense4  ,it was   
not  until the great period of ,english 
painting1 beginning with ,hogarth1 of   
which ,i have already spoken1 that the  
downward career of painting in  this    
country was finally checked4    ,so far 
our attention has been devoted to       
discovering the visible effect  of ,van 
,dyck's art upon his contemporaries and 
followers4  ,the fact that  on the whole
 his influence was decadent in this     
direction must not  allow us to detract 
from his own qualities4  ,we must rather
 search for  the reasons which caused   
his art to retain such a hold upon      
generations  of ,english painters4  ,it 
must not be forgotten that ,van ,dyck's 
profession in ,england was essentially  
that of a portrait painter1 and  he was 
employed by the aristocracy exclusively4

  ,he1 indeed1 may be  called the       
aristocratic painter par excellence1 and
 in this respect  does not yield to     
either ,titian or ,velazquez4  ,it was1 
however1 when he  strayed from his      
normal course that he revealed his      
deficiencies2 the  few extant portraits 
of the lower classes demonstrate amply  
how  unsuited he was to portraying any  
below the upper ranks of life4  ,to     
every plebeian sitter he imparted an air
 of gentility and distinction  quite out
 of keeping4  ,until the advent of      
,wilson and ,gainsborough1  portraiture 
was the sole art1 at any rate1 as far as
 painting is  concerned1 that flourished
 in ,england4  ,its patrons were all of 
the  upper classes1 and the ,van ,dyck  
manner1 which by this time had become a 
tradition1 was recognised by both       
artists and sitters as the best  suited 
to their purpose4  ,it was only in the  
eighteenth century that  the general    
financial and educational uplifting of  
the middle classes  called into being   

that naturalist school which finally    
drove all others  from the field4    ,it
 is probable1 however1 that the painters
 who worked so slavishly in  ,van       
,dyck's ,english manner had never become
 acquainted with his finest             
achievements in portraiture4  ,with few 
exceptions these were executed  before  
he settled permanently in ,england4     
,it is practically certain that         
,gainsborough1 for example1 had never   
seen such portraits as the ,philippe le 
,roy and his wife1 now among the        
greatest treasures of ,hertford ,house1 
which date from the years between       
#afbh-cb4  ,it was then that ,van ,dyck 
had reached his maximum  development1   
and it is by the portraits he made in   
the ten years round  about this date    
that he will probably be judged by      
posterity4  ,the  facile ease and       
silvery liquidity of his latter manner  
may have an  irresistible charm for     
those who have not studied the master   
very  deeply1 but for the artist and the

 student the works he had achieved1     
before success had crowned his efforts  
in the same measure that it did  shortly
 after his arrival here1 will ever      
remain the standard by which  to judge  
him4    ,at this time he displayed great
 assiduity to learn anything he could   
either from his predecessors or from his
 contemporaries4  ,in this  connection  
it may not be out of place to relate a  
story1 the truth of  which has          
frequently been challenged4    ,having  
come across some portraits by ,franz    
,hals1 and being very anxious  to see   
the master at work1 he made a journey to
 ,haarlem4  ,upon  inquiring at the     
,dutchman's studio1 he found that ,hals 
was at his usual  tavern4  ,he          
accordingly sent word to him that a     
stranger was waiting to  have his       
portrait painted1 and that he had but   
two hours to give him  before leaving   
the town4  ,hals arrived immediately1   
and1 in view of the  shortness of time  
at his disposal1 set to work with a     

will4  ,van ,dyck1  who1 needless to    
say1 had not been recognised1 remarked1 
as ,hals was  putting on the finishing  
touches1 that painting seemed a very    
easy  process1 and asked to be allowed  
to try his hand4  ,accordingly they     
changed places1 and ,hals soon perceived
 that the stranger was no novice  in the
 handling of the brush4  ,as the work   
proceeded his curiosity  became more and
 more whetted1 and finally1 unable to   
restrain his  curiosity any longer1 he  
went over to see how the work was       
progressing4  ,one can imagine his      
surprise when he saw a masterly portrait
 in process  of completion1 and1        
recognising the handling1 immediately   
cried out3  ,why1 you are none other    
than ,van ,dyck1 for he alone could have
  achieved what you have done4    ,as an
 historical painter he takes a very high
 rank amongst  seventeenth-century      
masters2 he was far ahead in vigour of  
treatment  and in strength of brushwork 
of any of his contemporaries in ,italy4 

,the school of ,bologna1 whilst         
possessing a refinement he never        
attained1 is effeminate in comparison   
with him4  ,their very eclecticism      
prevented them giving free rein to their
 fancy1 and consequently the  great     
majority of their works possess a       
restraint of feeling1 coupled  with a   
perfection of execution1 which neither  
,rubens nor ,van ,dyck  surpassed4      
,van ,dyck certainly stands out as the  
greatest scholar of ,rubens in  every   
way4  ,his fellow-pupils whom he left   
behind in ,flanders could not  compare  
with him4  ,the works of the cleverest  
of them1 ,caspar de  ,grayer1 appear    
formal1 indeed1 when compared with any  
of the stupendous  religious            
compositions still preserved in the     
great churches of his  native country4  
,their chief merit is1 as ,i have before
 said1 in the  exceedingly human        
presentment of the subject4  ,the sense 
of physical  pain and of human brutality
 has never been better treated1 and1 if 

at  times he carries this quality to a  
painful degree1 no charge could be      
levelled against him on the score of    
feebleness or of lack of  thoroughness  
in making his meaning quite clear4      
,as compared with similar works by      
,rubens they possess an interest for  us
 which the latter cannot always command1
 by reason of their being  conceived and
 finished by the master himself1 whereas
 those of ,rubens1  more often than not1
 were only worked upon by the master    
after pupils  had carried out the       
greater part of the work4    ,van       
,dyck's religious and historical        
pictures belong to the period of  his   
career when his execution was at its    
zenith1 and consequently they  possess  
an extraordinary degree of interest to  
the artist4    ,it is1 however1 to his  
early years that one must turn to form a
 just  estimation of his abilities1 and 
in his finest works he takes his place  
beside ,titian and ,velazquez1          
,rembrandt and ,holbein1 amongst the    

greatest masters of portrait painting   
who have ever lived4            ,the    
plates are printed by ,,bemrose  ,,sons1
 ,,ltd41 ,london  ,derby    ,the text at
 the ,,ballantyne ,,press1 ,edinburgh   
,,in ,,the ,,same ,,series              
,,artist4                    ,,author4  
,,velazquez4                 ,s4 ,l4    
,,bensusan4    ,,reynolds4              
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4    ,,turner4        
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4    ,,romney4        
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4    ,,greuze4        
,,alys ,,eyre ,,macklin4                
,,botticelli4                ,,henry ,b4
 ,,binns4    ,,rossetti4                
,,lucien ,,pissarro4    ,,bellini4      
,,george ,,hay4    ,,fra ,,angelico4    
,,james ,,mason4    ,,rembrandt4        
,,josef ,,israels4    ,,leighton4       
,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4    ,,raphael4       
,,paul ,g4 ,,konody4    ,,holman ,,hunt4
               ,,mary ,e4 ,,coleridge4  
,,titian4                    ,s4 ,l4    
,,bensusan4    ,,millais4               
,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4    ,,carlo ,,dolci4 

,,george ,,hay4    ,,gainsborough4      
,,max ,,rothschild4    ,,tintoretto4    
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4    ,,luini4         
,,james ,,mason4    ,,franz ,,hals4     
,,edgcumbe ,,staley4    ,,van ,,dyck4   
,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4        ,in        
,preparation      ,,whistler4           
,t4 ,,martin ,,wood4    ,,leonardo ,,da 
,,vinci4         ,m4 ,w4 ,,brockwell4   
,,rubens4                    ,s4 ,l4    
,,bensusan4    ,,burne-,,jones4         
,a4 ,,lys ,,baldry4    ,j4 ,f4 ,,millet4
              ,,percy ,m4 ,,turner4     
,,chardin4                   ,,paul ,g4 
,,konody4    ,,fragonard4               
,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4    ,,holbein4  
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4    ,,boucher4       
,c4 ,,haldane ,,macfall4    ,,vig,e ,,le
 ,,brun4             ,c4 ,,haldane      
,,macfall4    ,,watteau4                
,c4 ,,lewis ,,hind4    ,,murillo4       
,s4 ,l4 ,,bensusan4      ,,and ,,others4