The Spell of Flanders: An Outline of the History, Legends and Art of Belgium's Famous Northern ProvincesVose, Edward Neville
History
The Spell of Flanders: An Outline of the History, Legends and Art of Belgium's Famous Northern Provinces
Vose, Edward Neville
Flanders -- Description and travel
Wauters representing the madness of Van der
Goes. The painter is shown seated and staring eagerly at some phantasm
before him--perhaps a vision of the fair Abigail--while a group of
little choir boys are striving, under the leadership of a monk, to
exorcise the evil demon that possesses their famous brother by means
of sacred songs and chants. It is said that this method of cure was
indeed attempted while he was at Rouge-Cloitre, but without success.
The best work of both of these artists is, unfortunately, far from
Flanders--being found in Italy, where Flemish painters were in their
day very highly regarded. "The Last Supper," which was the greatest
masterpiece of Justus, was painted as an altarpiece for the
brotherhood of Corpus Christi at Urbino and still hangs in the church
of Sant' Agatha in that Italian town. "The Adoration of the
Shepherds," which was the greatest work of Van der Goes, is in the
Uffizi Gallery at Florence. At Bruges there are two paintings
attributed to this master, "The Death of the Virgin," in the museum,
and the panel representing the donors in "The Martyrdom of St.
Hippolytus" in the church of St. Sauveur. The greater part of the
paintings by Van der Goes in Belgium were destroyed by the iconoclasts
in the sixteenth century, including several of which his
contemporaries and other early writers spoke in the highest terms.
Frequent mention is made of his skill as a portrait painter, and Prof.
A. J. Wauters, after a careful study of his known works throughout
Europe, ascribes to him the famous portrait of Charles the Bold in the
museum at Brussels. The early writers state that private houses at
Bruges and Ghent, as well as churches, were filled with his works. Let
us hope that some of these--hidden away during the religious wars or
at the time of the iconoclasts--may yet be discovered and identified.
Ghent, during the fifteenth century, was the artistic centre of
Flanders, and the names, but not the works, of many of its painters
have come down to us. One of the most celebrated of these in
contemporary annals was Gerard Van der Meire, to whom tradition has
assigned the triptych of "The Crucifixion" in the cathedral of St.
Bavon. This artist rose to high rank in the Guild of St. Luke, to
which he was admitted in 1452, and a considerable number of paintings
in various European galleries are attributed to him. An Italian writer
ascribes to him one hundred and twenty-five of the exquisite
miniatures in the famous Grimani Breviary, now in the library of St.
Mark's at Venice. If this were true, Van der Meire was indeed a great
artist, but this book was illustrated after his death.
[Illustration: "THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS."--HUGO VAN DER GOES.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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