pale of the mother church. He represented also on the altar-piece the sybils who foretold the coming of our Saviour, the Annunciation and the Evangelists, Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel, in prominent positions, impressing on the mind of the spectator the enormity of mortal sin, destined to be purified by the sacrifice of the Lamb.

The three great figures of the Father, Mary, and St. John, those of Adam and Eve, all in perfect preservation, are undoubted works of Hubert, exhibiting the qualities and faults which characterise his manner.1 Two groups of choristers, one on each side, cannot be said with the same certainty to be by Hubert. St. John the Baptist was never painted with more austere expression or of more splendid form. The Virgin never was more pensively depicted. Her long light hair flowing on her shoulders, her graceful hands, holding the book, have all the truth of nature with elegance superadded. The figure of the Eternal is grand and solemn, although the painter, literally construing Scripture, overloaded the vestments with precious stones. The colour is of that strong and vigorous stamp which Hubert alone possessed. The tones are rich and brown, and free from all appearance of tedious workmanship. The ground is gold, and covered with inscriptions. In Adam is expressed the painter's sound knowledge of anatomy, and his study of the principles of perspective applied to the human form; and though the figure, on the whole, is not of noble shape, the head has dignity and the body fair proportions. Eve

1 The figure of Adam has two or three spots of a lighter tone than the rest of the panel. We are told that these were caused by an attempted cleaning.

is not so happily depicted. The firm intelligence of outline and beauty of hand and wrist, which mark the painter, are to be found in her as in the Virgin; but the head is over large, the body slightly protrudes, and the legs are too spare. The varied movements of the lips and eyes among the Choristers are singularly natural; but the intonation of the parts is less powerful than was usual in Hubert,- -a result which may be attributed to restoration. A few outlines slightly weakened may have been altered by the same means.

The manner of John Van Eyck is seen most plainly in the central panel, where the Lamb is bleeding on the altar. Karl Van Mander affirms that he painted it; we believe he also executed the remainder of the outer as well as inner scenes of the altar-piece, with the exception, perhaps, of the Evangelists in chiaro-'scuro, which seem to be the work of pupils. How talented John Van Eyck showed himself in design and execution may be seen in the centre and wings of this altar-piece, where he almost ascended to a level with his brother. Still even here, although less conspicuously than in other pictures, his knowledge of anatomy was less than that of Hubert. In his figures he exhibited a tendency to feebler outlines, thinner limbs, smaller and less graceful hands, and harder or more angular draperies.

These, it must be borne in

Not only are these choristers out of harmony with the parts painted by Hubert, but with those portions also which are the work of John; such as the central composition and the panels of the knights and pilgrims on the lower portion of the wings. By restoration is here meant the process of cleaning and consequent weakening of the surface and parts of the outline.

mind, are comparisons in which John Van Eyck appears to a disadvantage only by the side of Hubert. It is almost needless to say, that in all these points he far surpassed his pupils and followers. At the same time, he was less a colourist than his brother, and rarely produced the true harmonies for which Hubert is remarkable. He lacked vigour and warmth in his shadows, and was unable to conceal at all times the traces of manipulation. But, notwithstanding all, the picture of the Agnus Dei, though not exempt from retouching, is a vivid and powerful one. It is almost impossible to do complete justice to its excellence; and it requires no mean powers of description to give a faint idea of its beauties,—to tell the fervid piety that animates the saints, and hermits, and crusaders; the simpler sentiments expressed upon the faces of the splendid band which St. Agnes and St. Barbara are leading; the nature of the landscapes and their varied features, the harmony and finish of the meadows and sparkling fountains, the numberless flowers, that give a summer aspect to the scene; and the genius which could make a vast and splendid whole out of so many divers parts.

Comparisons between the life-size portaits of Jodocus Vydts and Isabella Burluut and the life-size figures described as Hubert's, are hardly fair. But no one can deny the able treatment of these likenesses, the power of chiaro-'scuro-greater here, perhaps, than ever-and the breadth with which the vestments have been handled by John Van Eyck. In making this division of the work of the two brothers on the altar-piece of the Agnus Dei, our only real guide has been the characteristic features of the tyle of each. Some of the lower scenes which form a