LITMIR.BIZ

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sailing down the Rhine. All the faces here, and especially the timid old Pope stepping into the boat, deserve careful examination. In the background, the return over the Alps.

      *2nd panel: the Maidens and the Pope arrive at Cologne, where they are instantly set upon by the armed Huns. Conon is slain by the thrust of a sword, and falls back dying in the arms of St. Ursula. Many of the maidens are also slaughtered.

      *3rd panel: continuous with the last, but representing a subsequent moment: the Martyrdom of St. Ursula. The King of the Huns, in full armour, at the door of his tent, bends his bow to shoot the blessed martyr, who has refused his advances. Around are grouped his knights in admirably painted armour. (Note the reflections.) All the scenes have the character of a mediæval romance. For their open-air tone and make-believe martyrdom, see Conway.

      At the ends of the shrine are two other pictures, (1) *St. Ursula with her arrow, as the protectress of young girls, sheltering a number of them under her cloak (not, as is commonly said, the 11,000 Virgins). Similar protecting figures of the saint are common elsewhere (Cluny, Bologna, etc.). At the opposite end, (2) the Madonna and Child with an apple, and at her feet two Augustinian nuns of this Hospital, kneeling, to represent the devotion of the order.

      The roof of the shrine is also decorated with pictures. (1) St. Ursula receiving the crown of martyrdom from God the Father, with the Son and the Holy Ghost; at the sides, two angels playing the mandoline and the regal or portable organ; (2) St. Ursula in Paradise, bearing her arrow, and surrounded by her maidens, who shared her martyrdom, together with the Pope and other ecclesiastics in the background. (This picture is largely borrowed from the famous one by Stephan Lochner on the High Altar of Cologne Cathedral, known as the Dombild. If you are going on to Cologne, buy a photograph of this now, to compare with Meister Stephan later. His altar-piece is engraved in Conway. If you have it with you, compare them.) At the sides are two angels playing the zither and the violin. (The angels are possibly by a pupil.)

      I have given a brief description only of these pictures, but every one of them ought to be carefully examined, and the character of the figures and of the landscape or architectural background noted. You will see nothing lovelier in all Flanders.

      Near the window by the entrance is a **Triptych, also by Memling, commissioned by Brother Jan Floreins of this Hospital. The central panel represents the Adoration of the Magi, which takes place, as usual, under a ruined temple fitted up as a manger. The Eldest of the Three Kings (according to precedent) is kneeling and has presented his gift; Joseph, recognisable (in all three panels) by his red-and-black robe, stands erect behind him, with the presented gift in his hands. The Middle-aged King, arrayed in cloth of gold, with a white tippet, kneels with his gift to the L. of the picture. The Young King, a black man, as always, is entering with his gift to the right. The three thus typify the Three Ages of Man, and also the three known continents, Europe, Asia, Africa. On the L. side of this central panel are figured the donor, Jan Floreins, and his brother Jacob. (Members of the same family are grouped in the well-known “Duchâtel Madonna,” also by Memling, in the Louvre.) To the right is a figure looking in at a window and wearing the yellow cap still used by convalescents of the Hospital, (arbitrarily said to be a portrait of Memling.) The left panel represents the Nativity, with our Lady, St. Joseph, and two adoring angels. The right panel shows the Presentation in the Temple, with Simeon and Anna, and St. Joseph (in red and black) in the background. (The whole thus typifies the Epiphany of Christ; left, to the Blessed Virgin; centre, to the Gentiles; right, to the Jews.) The outer panels, in pursuance of the same idea, have figures, right, of St. John Baptist with the lamb (he pointed out Christ to the Jews), with the Baptism of Christ in the background; and left, St. Veronica, who preserved for us the features of our Lord, displaying his divine face on her napkin. The architectural frame shows the First Sin and the Expulsion from Paradise. Note everywhere the strong character in the men’s faces, and the exquisite landscape or architectural backgrounds. Dated 1479. This is Memling’s finest altar-piece: its glow of colour is glorious.

      By the centre window, a *triptych, doubtfully attributed to Memling, represents, in the centre, the Deposition from the Cross, with the Holy Blood conspicuous, as might be expected in a Bruges work. In the foreground are St. John, the Madonna, and St. Mary Magdalene; in the background, the preparations for the Deposition in the Tomb. On the wings: left, Brother Adrian Reins, the donor, with his patron saint, Adrian, bearing his symbol, the anvil, on which his limbs were struck off, and with his lion at his feet; right, St. Barbara with her tower, perhaps as patroness of armourers. On the exterior wings, left, St. Wilgefortis with her tau-shaped cross; right, St. Mary of Egypt, with the three loaves which sustained her in the desert.

      On the same stand is the beautiful *diptych by Memling, representing Martin van Nieuwenhoven adoring the Madonna. The left panel represents Our Lady and the Child, with an apple, poised on a beautifully painted cushion. A convex mirror in the background reflects the backs of the figures (as in the Van Eyck of the National Gallery). Through the open window is seen a charming distant prospect. The right panel has the fine portrait of the donor, in a velvet dress painted with extreme realism. Note the admirable prayer-book and joined hands. At his back, a stained glass window shows his patron, St. Martin, dividing his cloak for the beggar. Below, a lovely glimpse of landscape. This is probably Memling’s most successful portrait. Dated 1487: brought here from the Hospice of St. Julian, of which Martin was Master.

      In all Flemish art, observe now the wooden face of the Madonna– ultimately derived, I believe, from imitation of painted wooden figures, and then hardened into a type. As a rule, the Madonna is the least interesting part of all Flemish painting; and after her, the women, especially the young ones. The men’s faces are best, and better when old: character, not beauty, is what the painter cares for. This is most noticeable in Van Eyck, but is true in part even of Memling.

      At the end of the room is the magnificent *triptych painted by Memling for the High Altar of the Church of this Hospital. This is the largest of his works, and it is dedicated to the honour of the two saints (John the Evangelist and John the Baptist) who are patrons of the Hospital. The central panel represents Our Lady, seated in an exquisite cloister, on a throne backed with cloth of gold. To the right and left are two exquisite angels, one of whom plays a regal, while the other, in a delicious pale blue robe, holds a book for Our Lady. Two smaller angels, poised in air, support her crown. To the left, St. Catherine of Alexandria kneels as princess, with the broken wheel and the sword of her martyrdom at her feet. The Child Christ places a ring on her finger; whence the whole composition is often absurdly called “The Marriage of St. Catherine.” It should be styled “The Altar-piece of the St. Johns.” To the right is St. Barbara, calmly reading, with her tower behind her. When these two saints are thus combined, they represent the meditative and the active life (as St. Barbara was the patroness of arms:) or, more definitely, the clergy and the knighthood. Hence their appropriateness to an institution, half monastic, half secular. In the background stand the two patron saints; St. John Baptist with the lamb (Memling’s personal patron), to the left, and St. John the Evangelist with the cup and serpent, to the right. (For these symbols, see Mrs. Jameson.) Behind the Baptist are scenes from his life and preaching. He is led to prison, and his body is burned by order of Julian the Apostate. Behind the Evangelist, he is seen in the cauldron of boiling oil. The small figure in black to the right is the chief donor, Brother Jan Floreins, who is seen further back in his secular capacity as public gauger of wine, near a great crane, which affords a fine picture of mercantile life in old Bruges. The left wing represents the life of St. John the Baptist. In the distance is seen the Baptism of Christ. In a room to the left, the daughter of Herodias dances before Herod. The foreground is occupied by the episode of the Decollation, treated in a courtly manner, very redolent of the Burgundian splendour. Figures and attitudes are charming: only, the martyrdom sinks into insignificance beside the princess’s collar. Other minor episodes may be discovered by inspection. (The episodes on either wing overflow into the main pictures.) The right wing shows St. John the Evangelist in Patmos, writing the Apocalypse, various scenes from which are realistically and too solidly represented above him, without poetical insight. Memling here

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