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IN THE NETHERLANDS.
the drawing of a picture, were content to overlay their pictures with
colour for the sake of mere beauty of effect. They thought, they
felt in colour, and composed in colour. The delicate gradation of
colour, the disposal of light and shade in the mass, and chiaroscuro,
are their natural means of expression. It is a matter of common
observation that colour beautifies many an object which without it
would be utterly insignificant, and to such objects the Dutch artists
knew how to impart an ideal charm by the modulation of colour-
tone. Household furniture, for example, was highly valued by
the Dutchmen. In its carefully-ordered splendour and subdued
brightness were reflected the delights of peaceful domestic life.
Applied to art-purposes it transcended meaner objects only in so
far as it was richer in colours than they: and thus it was with
scenes from every-day life, which were in like manner idealized
by this mysterious witchery of colouring. It is impossible to convey
in mere words any adequate idea of theeffect of colour thus wielded.
The eye alone can comprehend it, and has its opportunity in the
study of the various galleries of Holland.
The ‘Regent’ and ‘Doelen’ pictures are among the most conspicuous
creations of the Dutch school of painters. It was the custom for
the presidents (Regents) of the various corporations and charitable
institutions to place in the guild-halls and shooting galleries
(Doelen) portraits in groups of members of the various guilds,
especially of the shooting societies. Among the earliest pictures
of this kind are the Commemoration Banquet of Bowmen, painted
by Cornelis Teunissen (Anthonissen), in Amsterdam (1533), another
from the same hand dated 1557, and one by Dirck Jacobszt painted
in 1529 (the last two in the Ryks Museum); but it was later than
this that the ‘Regent Pieces’ acquired their complete artistic signi-
ficance. The Haarlem Museum possesses a ‘Corporation Picture’
by Cornelis Cornelisz, dating from 1583, and four similar pieces
by Frans Pieterss de Grebber, the later of which are specially distin-
guished by the freshness of their colouring. In the hospital of
Delft is a ‘Regent Piece’ by that prolific portrait-painter Michael
van Mierevelt (born in Delft, 1567; died 1641). It is a so-called
anatomical lecture, in the painting of which Mierevelt’s son, Peter,
took part. Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp, founder of the painters’ guild in
Dordrecht, does not appear to have attempted the execution of the
‘Regent’ pictures proper; the greater is the number thereof to be
ascribed to Thomas de Keyser (ca. 1596-1667; Amsterdam) and Jan
van Ravesteyn (ca. 1572-1657). Thomas de Keyser was the son of
an architect of Amsterdam, Hendrik de Keyser, and began to paint
in 1619. His masterpieces are preserved in the Ryks Museum in
Amsterdam and the gallery of The Hague. In the Municipal Museum
+ The termination ‘szen’ or ‘szoon’, abbreviated ‘sz’, which occurs 80
frequently in Flemish names, signifies son; thus G@errifsz = son of Ger-
hard, Harmensz = son of Harmen or Herman. |