DUTCH SCHOOL OF PAINTING. This school holds a high and honorable place in the history of art, being marked by many excellences and illustrated by many eminent names. The school took its rise in a divergence from the schools of Germany at the beginning of the 15th century. Its founders were Hubert and Jan van Eyck, who united the majestic simplicity of the ancient Christian type with a close imi tation of external nature and a homely strength characteristic of their country. Hubert van Eyck improved the method of painting in oil to such an extent that lie is almost entitled to the honor of being its inventor. The altar-piece in St. Bavo, at Ghent, is the work of the brothers van Eyck. In its complete form it consisted of a center picture of the Worship of the Lamb, surmounted by pictures of God the Father, the Virgin, and St. John, and flanked by folding shutters relating to the principal sub ject. The parts of this picture—one of the most remarkable productions of modern art—are now separated, the upper and middle portions remaining at Ghent, the others being at Berlin. Two of Hubert van Eyck's most important works are his " Triumph of the Church" in the museum at Madrid, and "St. Jerome" in the gallery at Naples. An admirable specimen of Jan van Eyck's work is a picture of a man and woman in the British national gallery. The influence of these brothers was very extensive. Their pupils were numerous, and of them all, Rogier van der Weyden, who died in 1464, was the most eminent. "The Last Judgment," in the hospital of Beaume, and the "Adora tion of the Kings," at Munich, are his. Memling, one of his pupils, was remarkable for the refinement of feeling and the beauty of form displayed in his pictures. Some beautiful specimens of his work are in St. John's hospital, Bruges. "The Last Judgment" in the church of Our Lady, at Dantzic, is probably the best production of his pencil. His influence extended till nearly the end of the 16th century. Quentin
Matsys was one of the earliest painters of those homely subjects of which so many examples are found in the Dutch school. His masterpiece, a "Deposition from the Cross," is in the Antwerp museum. Among the portrait painters of the Dutch school in the 16th c., several attained eminence in England. At the beginning of the 17th c. appeared the celebrated Rubens, the herald of a great revival of painting. His forms are gross, but full of life and power. His works are numerous, and specimens are to be found in almost every continental gallery. They may be studied to best advantage at Antwerp, Vienna, and Munich. His "Descent from the Cross," and its companion in the cathedral of Antwerp, are among his best productions. Vandyck, the celebrated portrait painter, was a pupil of Rubens. Soma; of his best work was done in England. The greatest of the Dutch painters, however, was Rembrandt, whose mastery of light and shade was wonderful, and whose works are now among the most precious treasures of art. His engravings arc of equal merit witlrhis paintings. The masters in genre, by which is meant the every-day life In art as contrasted with the grandeur of historical or devotional works, have been numerous in the Netherlands. In this department, Teniers, the elder and the younger, are eminent. Gerard Dow, a pupil of Rembrandt, was also celebrated in this line. Ammg the most noted marine painters of the Dutch school were Bonaventura Peters and Liidolph Backhuysen. In the 18th c., there was in Flanders and Holland, as well as elsewhere, a decline in the artistic spirit. which. was followed in the 19th by a revival.