SCHOOLS OF PAINTING Rome. Rome baa always been remarkable for its absence of native talent in any of th< fine arts, and nearly all the members of the so-called Human school came from other cities. This school at first consisted of the per- sonal pupils of Raphael, Fran. Penni, Da Imola, Giu- lio Romano, and Del Vaga. Sassoferrato and Carlo Ma- rat ta were feeble but popular painters in the 17th century. Naples. The early history of th- Neapolitan school is mostly mythical ; it had no indi- *'. 24. -Portrait of a Venetian vidual existence till the 16th century, and then chiefly in the person of Caravaggio. During the 15th cen- tury many works of the Van Eycks and other Flemish jjaintere were imported into Naples; some of these were afterwards claimed by the vanity of native writers as paintings by early Neapolitan artists, for whom ima- ginary names and hia- tories were invented. The Spaniard Ribera, Salvator Rosa, and Giordano were its chief members in the 17th century. >r, by Andrea (National Gallery ) s. : : 2. (i German It was es]>ecially at ebool. Cologne in Westphalia and in the Rhine pro- vinces generally that German jointing was developed at an early time. William of Col- ogne, who died about 1378, painted panels with much delicacy and richness of colour (see fig. 25). A number of large and highly fl " ; "JMMi _ _ altarpieces were painted Fio. 25. at Veronica, by William of in this part of Germany Cologne. (National Gallery.) during the 1 5th century, but the names of very few of the jiainters of that time are known. Artists such as Schongauer, Von Meckenen, Cra- nach, and others were more at home in the engraving of copper and wood than in painting, and to some extent the same might be said of Albert Diirer, an artist of the highest and most varied ta- lents, who especially excelled as a ]x>rtrait painter (see fig. 26). The Hans Holbeins, father and son, es- Fia 26. -Portrait of a Senator, by Albert ... ., i '. Durer. (National Gallery.) pecially the latter, attained the highest rank as portrait painters; nothing can exceed the vivid truthfulness and exquisite work manship of the por- traits by the younger Holbein (see fig. 27), who also painted very beautiful religious pictures. Since his time Germany has produced few note- worthy {>ainters. In the 1 9th century Overbeck was remark able for an attempt to revive the long dead religious hj>irit in painting, and h< attained much pojm larity, which, ho v has now almost wholly died away. 3. Flemish. Hubert and Jan '"'^QV^M van Eyck, who were Fia. 27. Portrait of an Unknown Lady, by E 3 painting at the be- Holbein. (The Hague Gallery.) ginning of the 15th century, were artists of the very highest rank ; with i their unrivalled tech- nical skill, their ex- quisite finish, and the splendour of tin ii colour, they produced works which in some respects even BUT- | passed those of any of the Italian iaint-| ere. Probably no other artists ever lavished time and patient labour quite to the same extent to vrhich Jan van Eyck did upon some of his works, such' as the Arnolfini and fiu. ^. Portrait, by Jan ran Eyck ; other portraits in the National Gallery (see fig. 28), and the Madonna with tho Flo. 29. The Kiitoiiil.ineut of Christ, by Vau der Weyclen the elder. painted in tempera on unprimed linen. (National Gallery.) kneeling Donor in the Louvre. This last is one of the
