2

executed no less than 125 of these miniatures;1 and some writers assume that he is identical with Gerard Van der Meire. We doubt whether Van der Meire, the pupil of Hubert Van Eyck, could paint in conjunction with, or in continuation of, Memling. But there were other Gerards natives of Ghent besides him. Horenbaut of that name, whose style is much in the formal and finished one of the early miniaturists, is more likely to be the painter alluded to; and in this we are the more confirmed by finding, on examination of the miniatures themselves, that those which are not by Memling are of a more modern hand than his. Horenbaut is well known to have lived as late as the year 1533, and is therefore more likely to have been the painter than Gerard Van der Meire. Lievin de Witte, who laboured in the pages of the Breviary, is also undoubtedly an artist of the sixteenth century; and we therefore have no hesitation in rejecting these miniatures as works of Van der Meire.

1 Anonimo di Morelli, ut sup., p. 78.

2 Horenbaut painted long at Ghent; amongst others for Lievin Hughenois, abbot of St. Bavon, a great patron of artists.

CHAPTER VI.

HUGO VAN DER GOES.

OLIVIER DE LA MARCHE, in his Memoirs, gives a detailed account of the wedding of Margaret of York and Charles of Burgundy in 1468; saying not only that the ingenuity of mechanics was exhausted in inventing mysteries for the pleasure and amusement of the assembled guests, but that the streets and houses of Bruges, as well as the Palace of the Prince, were adorned with pictures, stretched on frames, painted by the skilful artists of the Belgian cities. Gay festivities, eating, drinking, jousts, and spouting, are the staple of the story told by De la Marche; and he enthusiastically admires everything except that for which we feel a special interest, omitting to name the pictures that gave a transient splendour to the scene. The story of the wedding, and the progress of the new princess from Damme to Bruges, scarcely need repeating here; but a single point regarding it deserves attention. Amongst the rich and noted persons who accompanied Charles were the burgesses and merchants of the city, the various guilds of trade, and merchants of the foreign companies, the wealthiest of whom was Thomaso Portinari, agent of the Medici at Bruges, who rode in the procession at the head of the company of Florentines,

1 Memoires de la Marche, 8vo. Ghent, 1566, p. 524.

attired in the dress of counsellor of the Duke in virtue of his place. "The agents of the Medici," says Comines, "have always had such credit under cover of their name, that it would be marvellous could we believe all that I have heard and seen respecting them. One whose name is Thomas Portunary, I have known to stand as pledge between King Edward and Duke Charles of Burgundy for 50,000 pieces (escus) on one occasion, and 80,000 on another."1 Folco Portinari, father of the Beatrice whose youthful beauty won the heart of Dante, was the founder of Santa Maria Nuova, in Florence, in 1285. He was buried there in 1289, and left to his family the patronage of that foundation.2 Thomaso Portinari, the direct descendant of this Folco, is known in fine art history as the patron of Hugo Van der Goes. The wealthy families of Bruges, and the Flemings generally-unable, as we have seen, to adorn their mansions or the chapels which they founded with frescoes, on account of the dampness of the air, and, perhaps, as in the case of Venice, the vicinity of the sea-preferred distemper canvases, which took the place of fresco. Of this kind chiefly were the early productions of Hugo Van der Goes. Vaernewyk describes the churches and the palaces of Bruges as being full of Hugo's pictures in this style ;3 and we are told that he produced many for great occasions, such as the installation of Duke Charles, at Ghent, in 1467,4 and the wedding of Margaret of York.5

On

1 Mémoires de Comines. 2 Reumont, Kunstblatt, No. 40, 1841.

3 Vaernewyk, ut sup., p. 133.

4 Messager des Sciences et des Arts, ut sup., 1826, p. 128.

5 Appendix to Reiffenberg's edition of Barante's Hist. de Bourgogne. Comptes de Fastré Hollet.

this last occasion he was employed for nearly eleven days, at a salary of fourteen sous per diem, taking a part in the production of what the stewards of the Dukes are pleased to call "les entremetz,”—a word intended, at that period, to denote certain ingenious exhibitions by which the attention of the guests was cleverly engrossed during the removal of the courses.

Although Sanderus says that Hugo was of Bruges,' we have documentary evidence, of incontestable authority, to prove that he was born at Ghent.2 A person of his name, called Mathias Van der Goes, a member of the Antwerp guild of painters, is supposed to have been a relative of Hugo, whom Vasari calls d'Anversa.3 Van Mander says that Hugo studied under John Van Eyck ;* but he formed his manner as much from that of Hubert as from that of John; and the truth may be that he studied under both those brothers. He had the vigour and perfect finish that marked their style, without their noble sentiment, beauty of expression, or knowledge of the human form. Rising to eminence after the death of his master, he shared with Van der Weyden the patronage of the rich Burgundian court, noblesse, and citizens.

He painted for Thomaso Portinari the altar-piece of Santa Maria Nuova, which Vasari mentions as a proof of his ability; and was besides permanently employed by the corporation of Ghent on those numerous occasions when they displayed their wealth and taste in public ceremonies, as at the Jubilee of 1473, and at the various

1 Sanderus, Flandria Illustrata, vol. i. p. 13. 2 Vide infra, p. 132.

3 Vasari, vol. i. p. 163.

4 Van Mander, p. 203.

5 Vasari, vol. i. p. 163.

festivities which occurred between that and 1480. It is supposed that he retired early to a convent, in which he spent the latter days of his life.'

Hugo loved the daughter of Jacob Weytens, a gentleman of birth in Charles's time, as Marchantius tells us, depicting her as Abigail, and himself under the garb of David riding on a horse. A bevy of fair damsels accompanied the lady, which Van Mander and De Heere describe as graceful and pretty. Hugo's treatment by the fair Abigail is not recorded by historians, but his retirement and holy vows suffice to tell the tale. He took the cowl in Rooden Clooster, a convent of Augustine monks, near Brussels. There is every reason to believe that he was called to Paris by Louis XI., after his novitiate, to paint the Crucifixion of the chapel of the parliament-house. The only proof connecting Van der Goes with this Crucifixion is the style and finish of the picture; but the scene itself being laid in Paris, and the Louvre being represented in the distance, Hugo, if he painted it, must have come to Paris. Amongst the persons on the foreground are Charlemagne and St. Louis, whose statues were also placed, by order of the king, in the chapel of the parliament.2

1 Messager des Sciences et des Arts, 1826. Kunstblatt, 1826, p. 243.

2 " A Robert Cailletel pour employer es ouvrages de maçonnerie, menuiserie, tabernacle, verrières, peintures et autres choses ordonnées estre fait le plus honnêtement et richement que faire se peult en la chapelle estant au bout de la grant salle à Paris ou messieurs le parlement oyent la messe, en laquelle le roy a voulu estre mis et posez les images de Nostre Dame, de Mons. St. Charlemagne et Saint Loys, 11301. 11 s."-Compte de Pierre Lailly, 1479. De Laborde,

La Renaiss. des Arts, ut sup. p. 54.