THE BERLIN GALLERY

BERLIN

THE Berlin Gallery is housed in the Emperor Frederick Museum (established in 1829) and resembles in its completeness and arrangement the National Gallery of London. It is rich in works of early Italian and Flemish masters; contains several gems of the early German school, and beautiful works of the best period of Italian art in the Sixteenth Century. Among individual artists, John Van Eyck, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Frans Hals, Jacob Van Ruysdael, Botticelli, Signorelli and Caravaggio are particularly well represented. The nucleus of the Berlin Gallery is the collection of Mr. Solly, an Englishman, purchased in 1821, to which were added selections from the royal galleries of Berlin and Potsdam, the Giustiniani Collection (chiefly Italian masters of the Seventeenth Century) and the Suermondt Collection (chiefly Dutch works.)

If for no other reason, art-lovers would visit the Berlin Gallery in order to study the six panels of Van Eyck's Adoration of the Lamb, trickily obtained by a dealer from the Canons of St. Bavon, Ghent.

Four of these depict pilgrims led by saints wending their way to the Mystic Lamb. The landscapes through which the processions wind. are exquisitely treated and all the varied costumes of Emperors, Kings and Anchorites with their

banners are highly finished. In one of the pictures Hubert Van Eyck appears, a mild, benevolent old man in blue velvet trimmed with fur, riding a splendidly caparisoned white horse; and farther back is John, dressed in black with his shrewd, sharp countenance looking at the spectator. The other two panels belonged to the upper portion of the altar-piece. Heavenly music is the theme of each.

"On one panel stand eight angels singing before a music-desk. They are represented as choristers in splendid vestments and crowns. The brilliancy of the stuffs and precious stones is given with the hand of a master, the music-desk is richly ornamented with Gothic carved work and figures, and the countenances are full of expression and life. On the opposite wing, St. Cecilia sits at an organ, the keys of which she touches with an expression of deep meditation: other angels stand behind the organ with different stringed instruments. The expression of these heads shows far more feeling, and is more gentle; the execution of the stuffs and accessories is equally masterly."-(C. and C.)

John Van Eyck's Man with the Pinks is one of the most famous portraits in the world.

"It represents an elderly individual of by no means prepossessing appearance. His face is deeply wrinkled, his eyes have a puffy line of flesh beneath them, his mouth droops at the corners and is of a hard, somewhat coarse type, while his ears are specially hideous, being large and prominent: altogether he has a very unpleasant cast of countenance. But John Van Eyck has been faithful to his love of veracity-not a feature is softened down-he has portrayed the man as he was in the most lifelike manner conceivable. He wears a dark grey coat with fur collar and cuffs, which is sufficiently low in the neck to allow the brocaded tunic beneath to appear, and a large broadbrimmed beaver hat. Around his neck is a silver chain from which hangs a tau cross with the bell of Saint An

thony attached thereto. In his right hand, on the third finger of which he carries a fine ring, he holds three wild pinks." (F. C. W.)

Another remarkable portrait is that of Giovanni Arnolfini, painted about two years before the more celebrated one in which he appears with his wife (see page 21.) Van Eyck has not flattered him; his ugly features, his long nose and blue eyes, half opened under their thin lids, give him the cunning look of a crafty merchant.

"The skin, clear and transparent, even in the deepest shadows, stands out boldly from beneath the glowing red of the turban, which with the deep olive green of the wall that forms the background makes a wonderful harmony." -(H. von T.)

The Virgin and Child, attributed to Van Eyck, is said to be the original of the Antwerp picture, given to Memling (see page 112). A Crucifixion with minutely treated landscape background is also attributed to Van Eyck.

Roger van der Weyden's Nativity was painted to order. Philip the Good appears as Augustus.

"In the centre is the Nativity with the kneeling donor and angels of great beauty, some of whom kneel close to the Infant, while others hover over the roof of the stable. On the one side is the Annunciation to the Ruler of the West-the Emperor Augustus-by means of the Tiburtine Sibyl; on the other, the Annunciation to the Rulers of the East-the Three Kings who are keeping watch on a mountain where the Child appears to them in a star. The arrangement of this portion is peculiarly grand and the heads highly characteristic. This is one of the most remarkable and best preserved examples of Roger van der Weyden."-(C.)

Among the gems of early Flemish works is Hugo Van der Goes's Nativity. Two Prophets are

drawing back a green curtain so that we may see the Virgin, Joseph and the host of angels adoring the Christ Child in the manger. On the left are the shepherds; and on the right, a view of the landscape where the shepherds are hearing the joyful news.

The Crucifixion, by the Maître de Flemalle, is noteworthy for its landscape and sky on a gold background.

Elijah in the Desert, wakened by the angel, and the Feast of the Passover were two wings of Thierry Bouts's Last Supper in St. Peter's, Louvain.

"The landscapes contribute greatly to diminish the first unfavourable impressions, and there is much agreeable brilliance in the full juicy tones."-(C. and C.)

The Madonna and Child, by Quentin Massys, belongs to his middle period.

"It is characterized by a pure childlike sentiment, a warm though bright tone and excellent draughtsmanship." -(O. E.)

Lucas van Leyden's Madonna and Child is seated before a curtain. Angels are playing instruments and one is handing a pink to the Christ Child.

Early portraits of special excellence are Etienne Chevalier, by Fouquet, and Johannes von Ryht, by an unknown Fleming.

Dürer's Madonna with the Finch (1506) once hung in Holyrood Palace. It is a decorative work. The fair-haired Virgin is holding the Child, who has a finch on his arm and offers a spray of lilies-of-the-valley to little St. John. Two cherubs hover over her head with a floral garland.

Hieronymus Holzschuher is the most vital of all Dürer's portraits.

"The clear and brilliant eyes shadowed by brows that indicate a very strong will have a very unusual vivacity; they allow us to perceive a very keen intelligence, and a grave, loyal and sincere soul. The very well-formed head is covered with abundant hair of silvery grey, which falls in curls upon the collar of the garment while a few wisps partly hide the strongly developed forehead. The long beard, which is also almost white, brings out the rosy tones of the skin. The face stands out from a very luminous background of light green.

"The execution of the portrait which occupies our attention, denotes the most minute care. We cannot too much admire the accuracy and precision of the contours, the delicacy of the modelling and the general harmony of the colours. If the face and figure as a whole present a striking veracity, the slightest details are prodigies of patience and skill. What minute and perfect work there is in the soft hair, in the light and tangled beard, and also in the fur!"—(G. G.)

It is interesting to compare this with Holbein's Georg Gisze, a young, wealthy and elegant merchant seated in his office.

"In attentively examining our personage we are struck with his reflective and searching glance. We seem to have a glimpse in him of an undefined melancholy. This is a state of mind which is also indicated to us by a motto traced above his name on one of the walls of his office: Nulla sine mærore voluptas.

"He has long fair hair confined beneath a black cap; his smooth-shaven face is rather thin. He wears a rich costume, a pourpoint of cerise silk with puffed sleeves, and, over this pourpoint, a cloak of black wool lined with fur. The table on which he is leaning is covered with a Persian rug, and, besides the various objects scattered upon it, you notice a bunch of carnations in an artistically wrought Venetian glass.

"The master has fully displayed with supreme power, and with all the resources of his art, the colours of the