Van Dyck

Van Dyck, by Estelle M. Hurll

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Title: Van Dyck A Collection Of Fifteen Pictures And A Portrait Of The Painter With Introduction And Interpretation
Author: Estelle M. Hurll
Release Date: October 18, 2006 [EBook #19570]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF VAN DYCK Prado Gallery, Madrid]
Masterpieces of Art
VAN DYCK
A COLLECTION OF FIFTEEN PICTURES
AND A PORTRAIT OF THE PAINTER
WITH INTRODUCTION AND
INTERPRETATION

BY
ESTELLE M. HURLL

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge
1902

COPYRIGHT, 1902, BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO.
* * * * *

PREFACE
The fame of Van Dyck's portraits has so far over-shadowed that of his other works that his sacred pictures are for the most part unfamiliar to the general public. The illustrations for this little book are equally divided between portraits and subject-pieces, and it is hoped that the selection may give the reader some adequate notion of the scope of the painter's art.
ESTELLE M. HURLL.
NEW BEDFORD, MASS.,
March, 1902.
* * * * *

CONTENTS AND LIST OF PICTURES
Portrait of Van Dyck (DETAIL) (Frontispiece)
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Cl��ment & Co.
INTRODUCTION
I. ON VAN DYCK'S CHARACTER AS AN ARTIST
II. ON BOOKS OF REFERENCE
III. HISTORICAL DIRECTORY OF THE PICTURES OF THIS COLLECTION
IV. OUTLINE TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN VAN DYCK'S LIFE
V. LIST OF CONTEMPORARY PAINTERS
VI. NOTABLE ENGLISH PERSONS OF THE REIGN OF CHARLES I.
I. PORTRAIT OF ANNA WAKE
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Cl��ment & Co.
II. THE REST IN EGYPT
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Cl��ment & Co.
III. THE SO-CALLED PORTRAIT OF RICHARDOT AND HIS SON
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Cl��ment & Co.
IV. THE VISION OF ST. ANTHONY
Picture from Photograph by Fratelli Alinari
V. MADAME ANDREAS COLYNS DE NOLE AND HER DAUGHTER
Picture from Photograph by Franz Hanfstaengl
VI. D?DALUS AND ICARUS
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Cl��ment & Co.
VII. PORTRAIT OF CHARLES I.
By Sir Peter Lely after Van Dyck. Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Cl��ment & Co.
VIII. THE MADONNA OF ST. ROSALIA
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Cl��ment & Co.
IX. CHARLES, PRINCE OF WALES (DETAIL)
Picture from Photograph by D. Anderson
X. ST. MARTIN DIVIDING HIS CLOAK WITH A BEGGAR
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Cl��ment & Co.
XI. THE CRUCIFIXION
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Cl��ment & Co.
XII. JAMES STUART, DUKE OF LENNOX AND RICHMOND
Picture from Photograph of the original Painting
XIII. CHRIST AND THE PARALYTIC
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Cl��ment & Co.
XIV. PHILIP, LORD WHARTON
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Cl��ment & Co.
XV. THE LAMENTATION OVER CHRIST
Picture from Carbon Print by Braun, Cl��ment & Co.
XVI. PORTRAIT OF VAN DYCK
PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY OF PROPER NAMES AND FOREIGN WORDS
* * * * *

INTRODUCTION
I. ON VAN DYCK'S CHARACTER AS AN ARTIST.
The student of Van Dyck's art naturally classifies the painter's works into four groups, corresponding chronologically to the four successive periods of his life. There was first the short period of his youth in Antwerp, when Rubens was the dominating influence upon his work. The portrait of Van der Geest, in the National Gallery, belongs to this time.
Then followed the four years' residence in Italy, when he fell under the spell of Titian. This was the period of the series of splendid portraits of noble Italian families which are to this day the pride of Genoa. Here too belong those lovely Madonna pictures which brought back for a time the golden age of Venetian art.
Upon his return to Antwerp, the six succeeding years gave him the opportunity to work out his own individuality. Some noble altar-pieces were produced in these years. Pleasant reminiscences of Titian still appear in such work, as in the often-used motif of baby angels; but in the subjects of the Crucifixion and the Piet��, he stands quite apart. These works are distinctly his own, and show genuine dramatic power.
During this Flemish period Van Dyck was appointed court painter by the Archduchess Isabella Clara Eugenia, Spanish Regent of the Netherlands. In this capacity he painted a notable series of portraits, including some of his most interesting works, which represent many of the most distinguished personages of the time.
The last nine years of Van Dyck's life were passed in England, where the family of Charles I. and the brilliant group of persons forming his court were the subjects of his final series of portraits. There were no altar-pieces in this period. At the beginning of his English work Van Dyck produced certain portraits unsurpassed during his whole life. The well-known Charles I., with an equerry, in the Louvre, is perhaps the best of these.