civil wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had acted as stimulants to this disorder, which reached its height when Belgium was invaded by France, at the close of the last century. Parchment was considered by the blockaded French as an invaluable natural material for cartridges. The archives of the old cities and convents, of the guilds and churches, were pounced upon with avidity, and the greater part expended in the muskets and cannons of numerous armies. Those records which were saved from destruction partly perished from neglect and rot. There was a residue, however, and that might have been examined. The Belgian Government, anxious at last to perform what might be considered a national duty, commissioned Mr. Michiels to write the history of Belgian art, for which he had fitted himself by a knowledge of the masterpieces of his own country, and a comparison with most of the early works of the Schools of Germany. Unfortunately for that gentleman, the Government, whilst entrusting him with so important a commission, neglected or refused to give him the authority for searching the hidden records that still remained in Belgium; and could not, or would not, afford him the means of examining and classifying pictures scattered through the Galleries of Europe. His book, though it contained much that was hitherto unknown, was imperfect in many essential parts; it lacked precise information on points of fact, and failed in the classification of the Schools, from the impediments to his seeing all the pictures of the men whose lives he purposed to write. Then Sir Charles Eastlake, in his valuable work on the rise of oil-painting, called attention more forcibly than ever to Flemish art, and invited research into a subject which had hitherto received so little real light. In the meantime, fresh sources of information were opened by Mr. De Laborde, in whom was vested by the French Government the necessary authority for searching the records of the House of Burgundy, of which the remnants still lumbered the shelves of the offices. His account of the state in which many valuable documents were found is startling, and proves the neglect which had followed the wholesale destruction of the last century. His search was rewarded by the discovery of most interesting passages in the lives of the ducal painters, entries of money paid for the elaboration of certain pictures, lists and names of artists hitherto unknown, but who had figured in no mean way in the early years of which they were the ornament. The Belgian Government at the same time caused searches to be made, which had been denied to Michiels; and private enterprise led to the discovery of more valuable information. The result has been the production of a vast amount of curious details elucidating the history of early Flemish art. To bring together and collate these have been the aim and labour of the authors of this volume; the materials, though less complete than they may yet become, were sufficient for tracing the course of painting in Belgium, not merely from the time of the Van Eycks, but from a much earlier period. It has been our endeavour to combine all these materials together for the first time, and to form a connected narrative. More fortunate, perhaps, than our predecessors, we have been able to visit and compare most of the masterpieces of the artists of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, dispersed throughout the continent of Europe. Belgium, Holland, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, have all been visited for this object; and the result of a personal inspection of all these pictures, as well as of most of those which have found their way to this country, has been a classification of schools under their several heads, such as would have been otherwise unattainable. ERRATA. Page 16, line 14, for "Salutation" read "Visitation." Page 64, line 18, for "Quos" read "Quis; " line 21, after the word Page 65, last line, for 1416 read 1516; for 1424 read 1524. Page 79, line 21, for "three" read "several." Page 83, line 14, for "previous to" read "in the early years subse quent to." Page 117, line 17, for 1451 read 1449. Page 120, line 6, for 1451 read 1452. Page 138, line 2, for "The Saviour on the Cross" read "St. John the Baptist." Page 218, line 7, for "answers the description" read "answers in part only the description." Page 283, line 12, for "Stow" read "Stoke." PAGE THE TRIUMPH OF THE CHURCH-Altar-piece by JOHN VAN EYCK, in the Santa Trinita Museum at Madrid Frontispiece THE ANNUNCIATION - THE VISITATION-THE PRESENTATION-THE THE ETERNAL-ST. ELIZABETH-from the Altar-piece by MELCHIOR ANGEL OF THE ANNUNCIATION-VIRGIN OF THE ANNUNCIATION-from THE MYSTIC LAMB-Interior of the Altar-piece of Ghent, by HUBERT and JOHN VAN EYCK . Wings of the Altar-piece of Ghent 16 16 16 16 333 73 73 75 THE VIRGIN, from the Altar-piece of Ghent, by HUBERT VAN EYCK THE CRUCIFIXION-by ANTONELLO DA MESSINA, in the Antwerp Museum 216 THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI-Altar-piece by STEPHEN LOETHENER, in the Cathedral of Cologne DEATH OF ST. URSULA-from the Shrine by HANS MEMLING, in the Fac-similes of the Signature of Antonello da Messina, in the "Crucifixion" of the Antwerp Museum. No. 1, before; No. 2, after cleaning.-Vide p. 216. |