File:Great pictures, as seen and described by famous writers (1899) (14804659283).jpg

Identifier: greatpicturesassx00sing (find matches)
Title: Great pictures, as seen and described by famous writers
Year: 1899 (1890s)
Authors: Singleton, Esther, d. 1930, ed. and tr
Subjects: Painting
Publisher: New York : Dodd, Mead and Company
Contributing Library: Boston Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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wobrothers settled at Ghent in 1410. There is every reasonto believe that all these dates are incorrect; that Hubertwas born after 1366, and that the date of his migration toGhent must be placed later in the century. It is crediblethat both the brothers were court painters to Philip ofCharolois, heir apparent to the throne of Burgundy, wholived with his wife Michelle de France at Ghent between1418 and 1421. In the service of the prince, painterswere free from the constraint of their guild, but on thewithdrawal of the court the privilege would cease; andthis explains how the names of the Van Eycks were notrecorded in the register of the corporation of St. Luke till1421, when, on the death of the Countess Michelle, and asa tribute to her memory, they were registered as masterswithout a fee. John van Eyck soon found employment inthe court atmosphere, which seemed congenial to him,whilst Hubert remained at Ghent, received commissionsfrom the municipality (1424), and became acquainted with
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h b O O< OQ< W THE ADORATION OF THE LAMB 155 Jodocus Vydts, for whom he composed the vast altar-pieceknown as the Adoration of the Lamb. It was not fatedthat he should finish the great work which he was theninduced to begin. He probably sketched the subjects thatwere to adorn the panels, and completed some of the moreimportant of them. At his death in 1426 he was buriedin the chapel, the decoration of which had been the lastoccupation of his life. We may sum up the qualitieswhich distinguished him, and the services which he ren-dered to the art of his country, in the following sen-tences : — He carried the realistic tendency, already existing in theFlemish masters, to an extraordinary pitch of excellence,whilst in many essential respects he adhered to the moreideal feeling of the previous period, imparting to this, bythe means of his far richer powers of representation, greaterdistinctness, truth of nature, and variety of expression.Throughout his works he displayed an elevate

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