,the ,mentor1 ,no4 #bh1 ,the ,wife in ,art ,,the ,,mentor 8,a wise and ,faithful ,guide and ,friend0 ,vol4 #a ,no4 #bh ,,the ,,wife ,,in ,,art ,,lucrezia ,,fedi--,,andrea ,,del ,,sarto ,,lucrezia ,,buti--,,fra ,,filippo ,,lippi ,,helena ,,fourment--,,rubens ,,saskia ,,van ,,ulenburg--,,rembrandt ,,maria ,,ruthven--,,van ,,dyck ,,elizabeth ,,siddal--,,rossetti ,illustration ,by ,,gustav ,,kobb ,it may be that he who rides alone rides fastest2 and that the man encumbered with wife and family feels his pace slacken and the goal as far away as ever4 ,andrea 7ahn-dree-ah7 del ,sarto1 in the closing lines of ,browning's poem1 utters the same thought4 ,he is addressing his wife1 ,lucrezia ,fedi1 whose extravagant and wayward tastes1 many think1 ruined his career and prevented his ranking with ,leonardo 7lay-o-nar-do71 ,raphael 7rah-fay-ell71 and ,angelo 7ahn-jel-o73 ,in heaven1 perhaps1 new chances1 one more chance-- ,four great walls in the ,new ,jerusalem1 ,meted on each side by the angel's reed1 ,for ,leonard1 ,raphael1 ,angelo1 and me ,to cover--the three first without a wife1 ,while ,i have mine6 ,so--still they overcome ,because there's still ,lucrezia1--as ,i choose4 ,illustration3 ,,lucrezia ,,fedi1 ,,by ,,del ,,sarto ,in the ,royal ,gallery1 ,berlin4 ,and so1 in that supreme painting contest with his three rivals1 he still is distanced1 8because there's still ,lucrezia0 7loo-crate-see-ah74 ,but note that he adds1 8as ,i choose40 ,he had rather fail with her than triumph without her4 ,indeed1 my point in mentioning ,andrea and ,lucrezia is to assert that he rode faster for not riding alone2 that he was not the equal of the three artists he aspired to rival2 and that1 if it is sometimes thought he might have rivaled them1 this is due to the works he painted under the inspiration of his love for ,lucrezia4 ,she kept him in a constant state of impecuniosity and jealousy2 but it was 8as ,i choose40 ,and well it might have been6 ,his art seems to rise to a higher plane from the moment her dark1 imperious beauty--a new note in religious painting--looks out at us from works like the 8,madonna of the ,harpies0 and the youthful ,saint ,john4 ,for from her face he painted the faces not only of women1 but also of boys and youths1 and always it is her beauty that dominates the picture4 ,illustration3 ,,andrea ,,del ,,sarto1 ,,by ,,himself ,in the ,pitti ,gallery1 ,florence4 ,,influence ,,of ,,the ,,wife ,if she1 in character the worst kind of wife a man can have1 so inspired her husband1 how rare and exquisite must have been the influence of ,lucrezia ,buti 7bootee7 over ,fra ,filippo ,lippi 7lippee71 of ,helena ,fourment 7hel-en-ah fur-ment7 over ,rubens 7roo-benz71 of ,maria ,ruthven over ,van ,dyck1 of ,saskia over ,rembrandt1 of ,elizabeth ,siddal over ,rossetti6 ,for these women were devoted to their artist-husbands1 and were in turn adored by them4 ,doubtful1 indeed1 if any of these men would have subscribed to the doctrine that he rides fastest who rides alone4 ,lucrezia ,buti1 who was the wife of ,fra ,filippo ,lippi1 must not be confused with the ,lucrezia ,fedi 7fay-dee7 whom ,andrea married4 ,moreover1 the circumstances under which ,fra ,filippo wooed and won his ,lucrezia were far more romantic4 ,he was a man whose great talent manifested itself early in life1 and1 although he had been put in a monastery because his relatives were too poor to educate him1 his evident genius for art earned him many liberties4 ,in fact1 he was decidedly gay1 and the hero of numerous escapades1 the most famous of which has been immortalized by ,browning1 who found in the two ,italian artists1 ,andrea and ,lippo1 subjects for two of his finest poems4 ,illustration3 ,,detail ,,of ,,the ,,virgin ,,and ,,child ,,by ,,fra ,,filippo ,,lippi ,lucrezia ,buti was the model for the ,virgin4 ,illustration3 ,,fra ,,filippo ,,lippi ,the adventure of which ,browning writes occurred upon the triumphant return to ,florence of ,cosimo de' ,medici 7med-e-chee7 and his patronage of ,fra ,filippo4 ,cosimo1 frequently annoyed by the friar's loose habits1 and despairing of his ever finishing an important picture that he had commissioned him to paint1 caused him to be locked up in a room of the ,medici ,palace4 ,fra ,filippo stood this for a few days4 ,then one night1 wearying of his confinement1 he escaped4 ,the friar's own pleading in ,browning's poem tells the story3 ,i could not paint all night-- ,ouf6 ,i leaned out of window for fresh air4 ,there came a hurry of feet and little feet1 ,a sweep of lute-strings1 laughs1 and whifts of song-- ''' ,round they went4 ,scarce had they turned the corner with a titter1 ,like the skipping of rabbits by moonlight1--three slim shapes1 ,and a face that look'd up4''' ,zooks1 ,sir1 flesh and blood1 ,that's all ,i'm made of6 ,into shreds it went1 ,curtain and counterpane and coverlet1 ,all the bed furniture--a dozen knots1 ,there was a ladder6 ,down ,i let myself ,hands and feet1 scrambling somehow1 and so dropped1 ,and after them4 ,notwithstanding his conduct1 so out of keeping with his cloth1 he was appointed chaplain to the nuns of the convent of ,santa ,margherita 7mahr-gare-ee-tah7 in ,prato 7prah-to7 and commissioned by the abbess to paint a picture of the ,madonna for the altar of the convent church4 ,it chanced that there was in the nunnery a novice to whom convent life was just as ill suited as monastic life would have been to ,fra ,filippo had he been obliged to abide by its tenets4 ,,filippo ,,and ,,lucrezia ,,buti ,the name of the novice was ,lucrezia ,buti1 and1 struck by the grace and beauty of this young woman1 the artist begged that she might be allowed to pose for him for the picture1 and the request was granted4 ,it may indeed have been diplomacy on the part of the abbess2 for it is not unlikely that ,lucrezia1 who had no vocation whatsoever for conventual life1 had proved herself refractory1 and that the convent authorities saw a chance of getting rid of her1 which they could not do by returning her to her family1 because she had been consigned to them against her will by a stepbrother1 anxious to get rid of her care and expense4 ,in any event1 the friar ,lippi fell in love with her and she with him4 ,profiting by the crowd and confusion attendant on the festival of the ,madonna of the ,girdle1 which is celebrated in ,prato on the first of ,may1 ,fra ,filippo carried off ,lucrezia1 appealed to his patron1 ,cosimo de' ,medici1 and through the latter's intercession received from the ,pope1 ,pius ,,ii41 a special brief1 absolving both himself and the novice from their ecclesiastical vows and granting them dispensation to marry4 ,he and ,lucrezia had two children2 their son1 ,filippino ,lippi1 more than rivaling his father's fame as a painter4 ,the ,madonna that ,fra ,filippo painted for the convent may still be seen in ,prato1 and there are other pictures in which ,lucrezia's lovely face is discernible4 ,,the ,,two ,,wives ,,of ,,rubens ,illustration3 ,,peter ,,paul ,,rubens1 ,,by ,,himself ,in ,windsor ,castle1 ,england4 ,illustration3 ,,helena ,,fourment1 ,,by ,,rubens ,rubens was so happy with his first wife1 ,isabella ,brandt1 who died after eighteen years of blissful married life with him1 that he could not endure the loneliness of being a widower1 but four years after ,isabella's death took as his second wife ,helena ,fourment4 ,this marriage proved to be as happy as the first2 although he was already fifty-three and she barely sixteen4 ,their union was blessed with five handsome children2 so that his declining years found him surrounded by youth and beauty1 and with a splendid young wife as comrade4 ,illustration3 ,,helena ,,fourment1 ,,by ,,rubens ,a portrait of the artist's second wife and two of their children1 hanging in the ,louvre1 ,paris4 ,during the eighteen years of his first marriage ,isabella appeared in nearly all his large pictures4 ,she was of a more refined type than ,helena2 so that1 with his second marriage1 when he began to introduce his second wife into his pictures1 his style becomes broader and more vigorous4 ,for ,helena had a strong1 fully developed figure of pronounced contour1 rosy flesh tints1 golden hair1 and lips that seemed always partly open to show the flash of pure white teeth4 ,these were her attractions4 ,she was obviously more beautiful1 more brilliant1 than ,isabella1 although in her youth her development was somewhat too luxuriant1--a picture of healthy1 bursting1 buoyant young womanhood4 ,indeed1 so proud does ,rubens seem of having1 at his age1 won a woman of her pronounced and youthful charms1 that in some of his pictures he expresses them too freely1 as1 for example1 in the ,helena in a fur pelisse in the ,imperial ,gallery1 ,vienna4 ,that ,rubens drew a vast amount of inspiration from his two wives1 ,isabella and ,helena1 is obvious to anyone familiar with his work2 for they appear in picture after picture from his brush4 ,his married life1 first with ,isabella and then with ,helena1 was a constant stimulus to his best work4 ,,rembrandt ,,and ,,saskia ,illustration3 ,,saskia1 ,,by ,,rembrandt ,rembrandt1 too1 was married twice1 and although his first wife was refined and aristocratic and his second far from it1 having been a servant in his household1 he was intensely happy with both and painted them many times4 ,saskia van ,ulenburg1 although not strictly speaking a beauty from the casual point of view1 lent herself admirably1 nevertheless1 to pictorial treatment1 especially that pictorial treatment of lights and deep shadows of which her husband was the greatest master that ever lived4 ,indeed1 the pictures in which she appears are almost too numerous to mention4 ,there is the delightful portrait of her in the gallery at ,cassel1 said to have been painted in her own home in #afcc1 the year before she and ,rembrandt were married4 ,her face in profile1 the features delicately delineated1 is shown against a background of deep1 rich colors4 ,with the lightest touch her wavy chestnut hair lies upon her cheek and forehead4 ,a spray of rosemary in her hand rests across her heart4 ,this1 the emblem of a ,dutch maiden's betrothal1 tells its own story4 ,illustration3 ,,rembrandt1 ,,by ,,himself ,in the ,royal ,gallery1 ,berlin4 ,probably1 however1 the most famous portrait ever painted of an artist and his wife is that by ,rembrandt in the ,dresden ,gallery1 of ,saskia seated on his knees while he clasps her waist with his left hand and raises in his right a half-filled glass4 ,the joy on their faces gives witness to the pride and pleasure they found in each other4 ,saskia was a wealthy woman1 and while she lived want never entered ,rembrandt's house4 ,but1 alas6 she was delicate1 and died in #afdb1 less than a year after giving birth to the son who was christened ,titus4 ,rembrandt had spent much money in filling his house with objects of art1--prints1 rich stuffs for costumes1 and other things--and not long after ,saskia's death he found himself impoverished4 ,some idea of the richness of his collections is obtained from the adornments with which ,saskia appears in the picture known as the 8,jewish ,bride10 and in the genre portrait1 8,minerve10 in which she is shown as a learned lady in the richest of costumes1 seated at a beautiful table and reading from an ancient tome4 ,rembrandt ranks with the greatest masters in art4 8,he rides fastest who rides alone40 ,is it possible that ,rembrandt could have ridden faster or reached a farther goal without ,saskia and ,hendrikje8 ,illustration3 ,,rembrandt ,,and ,,saskia1 ,,by ,,rembrandt ,in the ,royal ,gallery1 ,dresden4 ,,van ,,dyck',s ,,portrait ,,of ,,maria ,,ruthven ,illustration3 ,,van ,,dyck1 ,,by ,,himself ,this portrait1 which hangs in the ,hermitage1 ,st4 ,petersburg1 shows the artist as a young man4 ,illustration3 ,,van ,,dyck1 ,,by ,,himself ,van ,dyck1 the favorite pupil of ,rubens1--so much so that when some romping pupils in ,rubens' absence brushed against a partly finished picture and marred it he was asked to retouch it in order that the master might not notice the defect1--also was a favorite in the world of women1 and much influenced by them4 ,even in youth a love adventure is said to have sent him from ,rubens' atelier to ,italy4 ,in ,england1 where no one is more closely identified than he with the period of ,charles ,i41 8die schnen ladies10 as a ,german writer on ,van ,dyck expresses it1 fairly fought for the honor of being painted by him4 ,if his works lack the vital vigor and joyous abandon of the typical ,flemish masters1 it must be remembered that his ,italian sojourn1 passed largely in court circles1 greatly refined his style1 and that he1 the painter of aristocrats1 is also an aristocrat among painters4 ,his output for his short life 7#aeii-afda7 was great1 and of the #a1ejj works catalogued as his #cjj are portraits of women4 ,walpole speaks of their beautiful hands4 ,but ,van ,dyck had special models for the hands1 for those of both the men and the women4 ,the elegance and refinement of his work is1 however1 undoubted1 and1 though he lacks the power of a ,rembrandt and the tremendous verve of a ,rubens1 much of his work 7within the limitations imposed by elegance7 is executed in the 8large0 manner4 ,it is said that his ability to accomplish so much was due to the fact that he never allowed a sitter to weary him1 obviating this by dismissing them at the end of an hour4 ,at the time appointed for the sitting the artist appeared in his studio4 ,at the end of the hour he rose1 made his obeisance1 and appointed the hour for the next sitting4 ,a servant cleaned the brushes and reloaded the palette1 while the artist received and entertained the next sitter4 ,he had many love affairs in ,england1 and especially one with ,margaret ,lemon1 who threatened1 when his love began to cool1 to cut off his hand4 ,the world is the richer by a beautiful portrait for this love affair1 and fortunately1 instead of cutting off his hand or even attempting to1 ,margaret went to ,holland with friends4 ,van ,dyck's gay life1 however1 seriously alarmed the king1 who1 being genuinely attached to him and also admiring his art1 feared for his health4 ,accordingly1 his ,majesty chose for him a wife1 a beautiful young woman1 ,maria ,ruthven1 daughter of ,lord ,ruthven4 ,van ,dyck painted her several times1 and one of his best known portraits is that of her with her violoncello1 which is in the old ,pinakothek 7pin-a-ko-thek71 ,munich4 ,his married life seems to have been happy1 though brief4 ,he died within two years of his nuptials1 leaving us the portraits of ,maria as souvenirs of his happiness4 ,illustration3 ,,maria ,,ruthven1 ,,by ,,van ,,dyck ,,rossetti',s 8,,blessed ,,damozel0 ,illustration3 ,,rossetti1 ,,by ,,himself ,painted in #ahee4 ,dante ,gabriel ,rossetti1 who was poet as well as painter1 buried the manuscript of his poems1 although they had been announced for publication1 in the coffin of his wife1 who died in ,february1 #ahfb4 ,not until ,october1 #ahfi1 was the manuscript resurrected and the publication of his poems made possible4 ,it is doubtful if poet or painter has ever paid a greater tribute than ,rossetti thus paid to ,elizabeth ,siddal4 ,illustration3 ,,rosa ,,triplex1 ,,by ,,rossetti ,rossetti was introduced to ,elizabeth by a brother artist1 who had discovered her in a milliner's shop in ,london4 ,she consented to pose for ,rossetti4 ,his brother1 in some charming reminiscences of her1 writes that to fall in love with ,elizabeth ,siddal was a very easy performance1 and that ,dante ,gabriel did it at an early date4 ,the name ,elizabeth1 however1 was never on ,dante's lips2 but rather ,lizzie or ,liz1 and fully as often ,guggums1 ,guggum1 or ,gug4 ,mrs4 ,hueffer1 the younger daughter of ,ford ,madox-,brown1 says that when she was a small child she saw ,rossetti at his easel in her father's house uttering momentarily1 in the absence of the beloved one1 8,guggum1 ,guggum60 ,after awhile 8,guggum0 became a settled institution in ,rossetti's studio1 and other people1 his brother included1 understood they were not wanted there4 ,dante was constantly drawing from ,guggum1 and she designing under his tuition4 ,he was unconventional1 and she1 if not so originally1 became so in the course of her companionship with him4 ,in her appearance1 as in her character1 she was a remarkable young woman4 ,,the ,,beauty ,,of ,,elizabeth ,,siddal ,illustration3 ,,elizabeth ,,siddal1 ,,by ,,rossetti ,the artist's brother writes of her that she was truly a beautiful girl1--tall1 with a stately throat and fine carriage1 pink and white complexion1 and massive1 straight1 coppery golden hair4 ,her heavy-lidded eyes were large and greenish blue4 ,but1 as this narrator says1 it is not necessary to speak much about her appearance1 8as the designs of ,dante ,rossetti speak for it better than ,i could do40 ,her whole manner1 in spite of her great beauty1 was reserved1 self-controlling1 and 8alien from approach40 ,rossetti's brother says that her talk was1 in his experience1 scanty2 slight and scattered1 with some amusing turns1 and little to seize hold upon2 little clue to her real self1 or anything determinate4 ,but1 alas6 the beautiful ,elizabeth was a sufferer from consumption1 accompanied by neuralgia4 ,for the neuralgia frequent doses of laudanum had been prescribed4 ,her condition was such toward the end that sometimes she was obliged to take one hundred drops at a time4 ,on ,february #aj1 #ahff1 she dined at a hotel in ,london with her husband and ,swinburne4 ,she and ,rossetti returned to their home about eight o'clock4 ,she was about to go to bed at nine1 when ,dante ,gabriel went out again4 ,when he came back at half-past eleven the room was in darkness4 ,he called to his wife2 but received no reply4 ,he found her in bed1 unconscious4 ,on the table was a vial4 ,it had contained laudanum--it was empty4 ,he paid her the tribute of burying his poems with her4 ,he had already paid her the great tribute of painting her1 and that often4 ,those large1 greenish blue eyes of hers were his guiding stars4 ,let him who will say that he rides fastest who rides alone4 ,there are six great artists--and many more--to say him nay4 ,illustration3 ,,beata ,,beatrix1 ,,by ,,rossetti ,a portrait of ,elizabeth ,siddal4 ,,supplementary ,,reading ,illustration ,fra ,filippo ,lippi ,edward ,c4 ,strutt ,rembrandt and ,his ,work 7#h vols47 ,wilhelm ,bode ,rembrandt ,r4 ,muther ,the ,rossettis ,elisabeth ,luther ,cary ,l',oeuvre de ,p4 ,p4 ,rubens ,maximilian ,rooses ,rubens 7,masterpieces in ,color ,series7 ,s4 ,l4 ,bensusan ,andrea del ,sarto ,h4 ,guinness ,sir ,anthony ,van ,dyck ,lionel ,cust ,illustration ,,questions ,,answered ,subscribers desiring further information concerning this subject can obtain it by writing to ,the ,mentor ,association #cha ,fourth ,avenue1 ,new ,york ,city ,illustration3 ,,lucrezia ,,fedi1 ,,by ,,andrea ,,del ,,sarto ,,the ,,wife ,,in ,,art ,andrea del ,sarto and ,lucrezia ,fedi ,,one 8,the ,faultless ,painter10 though his paintings seem faultless1 led a life that was by no means free from mistakes4 ,all went well with him up to the age of twenty4 ,he was born near ,florence in #adhf1 and when but a seven-year-old goldsmith's apprentice began to show such skill that he was soon afterward sent to ,piero de ,cosimo1 one of the best artists in ,florence4 ,he was only twenty years old when he painted the seven frescos in the ,annunziata from the life of ,saint ,philip4 ,andrea was the son of ,angelo the tailor4 ,his name1 ,andrea del ,sarto1 means 8the tailor's ,andrew10 and was not his real name at all1 which was ,andrea d',angelo di ,francesco4 ,sometimes he called himself ,andrea del ,sarto1 sometimes ,andrea d',angelo1 and again ,andrea d',angelo del ,sarto4 ,andrea made his first great mistake by marrying the widow of a hatmaker4 ,lucrezia ,fedi's cold face was indeed the glory of his pictures1 where she is nearly always to be seen in the robes of virgin1 saint1 or angel4 ,as his model she was all that could be desired2 yet when he married her the 8faultless painter0 lost many of his best friends and pupils1 and worst of all the ideals of art4 ,blinded by her beauty1 he could not see the failings that were plain to everyone else4 ,all his life ,andrea worked hard to support her and her sisters in their extravagances4 ,yet he went on painting faultlessly4 ,his fame spread so far that ,king ,francis ,i invited him to ,france1 and gave him important commissions there4 ,but ,lucrezia persuaded him to return to ,italy4 ,he was granted a month in which to return and bring his wife to ,france4 ,francis also intrusted him with money to buy ,italian works of art for the royal palace4 ,a month passed4 ,andrea did not return2 but purchased a plot of ground in ,florence with the king's money1 and on it built a house for ,lucrezia4 ,king ,francis never received his paintings1 and the 8faultless painter0 had thrown away a chance of achieving supreme greatness4 ,in #aeca ,andrea del ,sarto died of the plague4 ,as he lay on his deathbed ,lucrezia fled from the house for fear of infection4 ,yet he left her all his property1 and1 so far as known1 never ceased to believe in her4 ,lucrezia lived forty years after the death of her husband4 ,a former pupil of ,andrea's was at work one day copying frescos1 when a withered old woman came into the hall4 ,she asked him who had painted the fresco4 ,he replied1 8,andrea del ,sarto40 8,i was the original of that angel10 she said4 8,i was ,lucrezia ,fedi1 the wife of ,andrea del ,sarto40 ,even to the last she was proud of the husband whom she had deserted on his deathbed1 and whose genius she alone had dwarfed4 ,,prepared ,,by ,,the ,,editorial ,,staff ,,of ,,the ,,mentor ,,association ,,illustration ,,for ,,the ,,mentor1 ,,vol4 #a1 ,,no4 #bh1 ,,serial ,,no4 #bh ,illustration3 ,,the ,,virgin ,,adoring ,,the ,,child4 ,,by ,,fra ,,filippo ,,lippi ,,painted ,,from ,,lucrezia ,,buti ,,the ,,wife ,,in ,,art ,fra ,lippo ,lippi and ,lucrezia ,buti ,,two ,the painter of divine beauties1 ,filippo ,lippi1 or as he is often called1 ,fra ,lippo ,lippi1 was not himself a handsome man4 ,he had rather a full face1 large features1 and thick lips4 ,laziness and love were always interfering with his work4 ,as a result of extravagance he was usually in debt1 and not always careful to get out honestly4 ,yet the people of his time were kind-hearted enough to overlook boyish faults in an artist who brought so much renown to their country4 ,filippo was born into a ,florentine butcher's family about #adjb1 and his father died soon afterward4 ,he seems to have had little care from his mother1 who may1 however1 have died during his infancy4 ,an aunt took care of him2 but1 finding the boy too great a burden for her slender means1 turned him over to be educated by the ,carmelite friars4 ,the abbot was lenient2 for he had the wisdom to see that a boy who drew pictures all over the walls and on his books when he should have been studying would probably become an artist4 ,artists were highly thought of in those days1 when the church taught by means of pictures4 ,filippo1 therefore1 never learned to write good ,latin4 ,he studied the frescos of the chapel instead4 ,later1 when he had finished his studies and gained a name for himself among painters1 the abbot granted him permission to leave the monastery in order to give his genius full scope4 ,monks who had learned to paint were often allowed this privilege4 ,so ,fra ,filippo became a great painter4 ,when he went to ,prato and saw ,lucrezia ,buti he was already nearly fifty years old1 while she was hardly more than twenty4 ,she also was an orphan4 ,her father1 who had been a silk merchant in ,florence1 left his daughters in the care of ,antonio ,buti3 evidently a harsh guardian1 for he put ,lucrezia and ,spinetta1 both beautiful girls1 into the convent of ,santa ,margherita against their will1 in order to save himself some expense4 ,filippo saw her1 used her as a model1 and later married her by permission of the ,pope4 ,the virgins and saints of his paintings had a new spiritual radiance after he saw ,lucrezia's face4 ,he used her for all manner of subjects1 from the ,virgin to the 8,dancing ,daughter of ,herodias10 changing her features to suit as many different characters4 ,,prepared ,,by ,,the ,,editorial ,,staff ,,of ,,the ,,mentor ,,association ,,illustration ,,for ,,the ,,mentor1 ,,vol4 #a1 ,,no4 #bh1 ,,serial ,,no4 #bh ,illustration3 ,,helena ,,fourment4 ,,by ,,rubens ,,the ,,wife ,,in ,,art ,peter ,paul ,rubens and ,helena ,fourment ,,three ,the extraordinary beauty of ,helena ,fourment won for her the love of a world famous painter when she was only sixteen years old4 ,peter ,paul ,rubens married this girl1 and immortalized her charms on many a precious canvas4 ,it was a most fortunate match4 ,helena was not only beautiful2 she had also every attraction of nature and education1 and belonged to a wealthy family4 ,rubens was a widower1 and one of the most celebrated painters in ,europe4 ,more than that1 he was a distinguished and successful statesman4 ,fortunate throughout his life1 brilliant1 handsome1 and of good family1 ,rubens was never in doubt of his future4 ,his talent for painting showed itself in boyhood4 ,at the age of twenty-three he went to ,italy1 where he soon attracted the notice of the ,duke of ,mantua4 ,partly as art expert1 partly as diplomat1 he went in the ,duke's service to all the important cities of ,italy4 ,he spent eight years in that country1 sometimes painting for his patron1 but more often travelling on political missions4 ,recalled to ,antwerp by the serious illness of his mother in #afjh1 ,rubens arrived too late to see her again alive1 and1 no doubt feeling the strength of home ties1 resigned from the service of the ,duke immediately4 ,high positions and great honors awaited him in his native city4 ,his fame grew year by year4 ,isabella ,brandt became his wife in #afjh4 ,she is described as a rather heavy ,flemish woman1 and her face and figure appear frequently in ,rubens' work of that period4 ,after her death and before his second marriage he was called upon to arrange terms of peace between ,england and ,spain4 ,it was the most important event of his life4 ,in ,spain he met ,velasquez and earned the friendship of ,king ,philip4 ,he was honored in ,england by ,charles ,i1 who presented him with a string of valuable diamonds in appreciation of his services4 ,the painter also strengthened a friendship already established with the ,duke of ,buckingham4 ,after the successes abroad ,rubens retired to a home in the country1 devoting himself more than ever to the work of painting4 ,an alchemist went to him one day1 claiming to have discovered the philosopher's stone1 which turned everything it touched into gold4 8,but10 objected ,rubens1 8,i have discovered it myself40 8,the philosopher's stone80 exclaimed his visitor4 8,yes1 and you shall see it10 answered the painter4 ,leading the astonished guest into his studio1 ,rubens showed his palette4 ,helena ,fourment was still young when ,rubens died4 ,she did not remain long in widowhood2 but married the ,count of ,bergeyck1 with whom1 so far as is known1 she lived in peace and happiness4 ,,prepared ,,by ,,the ,,editorial ,,staff ,,of ,,the ,,mentor ,,association ,,illustration ,,for ,,the ,,mentor1 ,,vol4 #a1 ,,no4 #bh1 ,,serial ,,no4 #bh ,illustration3 ,,saskia ,,van ,,ulenburg4 ,,by ,,rembrandt ,,the ,,wife ,,in ,,art ,rembrandt and ,saskia ,van ,ulenburg ,,four ,rembrandt ,van ,rijn and ,saskia ,van ,ulenburg were married in #afcd4 ,saskia1 the daughter of a rather wealthy burgomaster who had died some years before1 had been living with one after another of her sisters2 for they1 were all married except herself4 ,once when she was in ,amsterdam a relative1 who was posing for a portrait1 took her to ,rembrandt's studio1 where she met the sullen ,hollander and saw him at his work4 ,he must have been an odd figure in those days1 awkward and shy1 doing everything in his own queer way4 ,saskia returned again and again1 making a deep impression on the artist4 ,she posed for him several times4 ,once she was a queen1 another time she was a flower girl4 ,rembrandt centered his whole thought and energy upon her1 and as he had just passed the first breathing spell of success they were soon able to marry4 ,saskia thought only of her husband's happiness4 ,he in turn was so deeply in love with her that he spent most of his leisure hours painting her portrait and much of his money buying jewels and gold ornaments and rich dresses of every description to adorn her4 ,up to the time of his marriage ,rembrandt had been stubborn and morose1 not caring for society nor for ordinary pleasures4 ,he was born on the outskirts of ,leyden in #afjg4 ,his father1 a miller1 was hardly able to give the boy that education which is usually needed to become skilful in art4 ,however1 ,rembrandt did study under ,van ,swanenburch1 who taught him to draw1 paint1 and make etchings4 ,he set up a studio in the mill1 where he painted portrait after portrait of his mother1 his sister1 and himself4 ,the artist liked better than anything to paint a well known face over and over again1 by new lights and with new expressions4 ,after his first success1 8,lesson in ,anatomy10 ,rembrandt moved his studio to an old warehouse in ,amsterdam4 ,his work became popular4 ,the people of ,holland fairly begged for sittings1 and soon he was foremost among painters4 ,yet he paid little attention to anyone but ,saskia2 and his stubbornness offended patrons and made enemies of those who should have been his friends4 ,for nine years ,rembrandt lived in happiness4 ,then came misfortune4 ,extravagance carried him into debt4 ,his children died1 and soon after his beloved ,saskia followed them4 ,his enemies barred his pictures from exhibitions4 ,at last all his property was sold to satisfy creditors4 ,his paintings went out of fashion4 ,their owners even used the frames again by covering up ,rembrandt's canvases1 of incalculable value1 with the work of some other artist whose pictures were in vogue at the time4 ,a law in ,holland now forbids the removal of a 8,rembrandt0 from that country4 ,his countrymen feel that no honor is too high to bestow on the memory of that unfortunate artist who in #affi died unrecognized and was buried by charity4 ,,prepared ,,by ,,the ,,editorial ,,staff ,,of ,,the ,,mentor ,,association ,,illustration ,,for ,,the ,,mentor1 ,,vol4 #a1 ,,no4 #bh1 ,,serial ,,no4 #bh ,illustration3 ,,maria ,,ruthven4 ,,by ,,van ,,dyck ,,the ,,wife ,,in ,,art ,anthony ,van ,dyck and ,maria ,ruthven ,,five ,anthony ,van ,dyck's marriage might be called one of convenience4 ,he married ,maria ,ruthven because ,king ,charles ,i1 of ,england1 wishing him to settle down1 decided on a wife for him4 ,the courtly painter was a spendthrift4 ,he loved company and entertainment1 was handsome1 refined1 well dressed1 and1 all things considered1 a thorough gentleman4 ,he attracted to his society the greatest of ,english nobility4 ,gossip had him in love with so many of the court ladies that the king1 fearing his portrait painter would get into serious difficulties1 determined once for all to save him by a marriage with a ,scottish beauty in the queen's retinue4 ,van ,dyck offered no objection4 ,the lady1 ,maria ,ruthven1 was young and very beautiful4 ,although she brought no dowry except that given by royal generosity1 she was considered a very good match for the artist1 who came of burgher stock4 ,maria's family was related to the ,stuarts2 but had been for a long time in disgrace4 ,van ,dyck's only claim to distinction was his art4 ,his father1 a well-to-do merchant in ,antwerp1 where ,van ,dyck was born in #aeii1 gave ,anthony every opportunity to follow up the art of painting4 ,the boy was for several years a pupil of ,rubens1 whom he made a little jealous by his success in portrait painting4 ,some of his pictures were better than ,rubens'4 ,a few years in ,italy gave ,van ,dyck a still higher position among artists4 ,some said he was the best portrait painter in ,europe4 ,yet in spite of his skill ,van ,dyck was disliked by most painters4 ,they lounged around the taverns in ragged clothes1 put on boorish manners1 and made fun of any kind of refinement4 ,to this behavior he was entirely opposed4 ,they called him the 8,cavalier ,painter0 because he saw only the noble side of life1 and ignored what was low or common4 ,one could hardly have been found who was better fitted by nature to live and paint among the light-hearted courtiers of ,charles ,i4 ,he welcomed an offer from ,england1 and left ,antwerp to make his home thereafter on foreign soil4 ,when he married ,maria ,ruthven1 ,van ,dyck was forty years old4 ,he painted some portraits of her2 but not many1 for his death was near at hand4 ,a journey to ,paris1 in the hope of receiving important commissions there1 failed in its object1 and brought on a severe attack of the disease from which he had been suffering for years4 ,the painter returned to ,england4 ,king ,charles offered his physician three hundred pounds if he could save ,van ,dyck's life2 but to no purpose4 ,he died the second year after his marriage1 one of the greatest portrait painters that ever lived4 ,to his wife he left a considerable fortune1 which he had managed to save in spite of an extravagant life4 ,maria afterward married ,sir ,richard ,pryse1 a ,welsh baronet4 ,,prepared ,,by ,,the ,,editorial ,,staff ,,of ,,the ,,mentor ,,association ,,illustration ,,for ,,the ,,mentor1 ,,vol4 #a1 ,,no4 #bh1 ,,serial ,,no4 #bh ,illustration3 ,,the ,,blessed ,,damosel4 ,,by ,,rossetti ,,painted ,,from ,,elizabeth ,,siddal ,,the ,,wife ,,in ,,art ,rossetti and ,elizabeth ,siddal ,,six ,one day when ,rossetti was painting in his studio1 ,deverell1 a fellow artist1 rushed in and exclaimed that he had found the ideal woman4 ,she was working in a milliner's shop1 he said2 but she was a wonderful girl of stately dignity1 with blue-green eyes and coppery tinted hair4 ,this girl was ,elizabeth ,siddal1 and from that time on she was the model for ,rossetti's mystical dreams in color4 ,she later became his wife4 ,dante ,gabriel ,rossetti was born in ,england in #ahbh1 the son of an ,italian refugee4 ,his parents lived simply1 almost in poverty1 but with refinement suited to the fostering of art and poetry in their children4 ,the mother believed that one good picture on a plain wall was more beautiful than many worthless decorations4 ,rossetti used this simplicity in his paintings4 ,he and a number of other artists formed the ,preraphaelite ,brotherhood4 ,this was an organization that took a love of simplicity as its motto1 and believed in using simplicity in everything4 ,besides being an artist of great genius1 ,rossetti was a poet4 ,he and his sister ,christina were the leaders in the ,preraphaelite movement in poetry4 ,before he was nineteen he wrote 8,the ,blessed ,damozel10 a poem that expressed his ideal in womanhood4 ,elizabeth ,siddal proved to be his ideal woman4 ,ruskin spoke of her as a 8noble1 glorious creature40 ,later the artist painted a picture to go with the poem1 and his model was ,elizabeth ,siddal4 ,when ,rossetti first asked her to pose for him the ideal beauty thought that he wanted her for fashion plates4 ,she little thought that she was to be made the object of a great artist's lifework4 ,her death plunged ,rossetti into lifelong misery1 almost insanity4 ,up to the moment of his own death in #ahhb he never ceased to grieve for her4 8,her eyes were deeper than the depth ,of waters stilled at even40 ,,prepared ,,by ,,the ,,editorial ,,staff ,,of ,,the ,,mentor ,,association ,,illustration ,,for ,,the ,,mentor1 ,,vol4 #a1 ,,no4 #bh1 ,,serial ,,no4 #bh