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xiii
THE NETHERLANDS.
became subject to the spirit of the Italian Renaissance. Under
the Bureundian rule, literature had already been alienated from the
Dare sympathies, and even so it was ee with pictorial art. Lu-
cas van Leyden, and Quinten Massys, of Antwerp ( 1466-1531),
are the t distinguished masters who were not Seba away by
this current. The importance ef the former, however, is chiefly due
oie adm while Massys sometimes displays a
r of sen nee with the hitherto habitual concep-
Quinte
0 ys is generally regarded as the connect-
ing link between the o f the Van Eycks and Rubens.
The infl of the Renaissance reached the Netherlands, a
inthe 16th century. In the domains of Archit
ture the ensuing breach with previous native sty
abrupt than in the domain of painting. The
with its stepped gable, long held its ground;
and although Italian modes of ‘ornamentation attained the ascendancy
in the first half of the 16th century, yet in the second half the na-
genius powerfully re d itself (Rollwork). Among the
st important Renaissance bu gs in the Netherlands are the
Salm Inn at Malines (p. 134) and the old Maison deV Ancien Greffe
at Town Halls of the Hague, Leyden, and
I shers’ Hall at Haarlem (p. 286), and the
Weigh-House at Nymegen (p. 371) belong to the later period. The
Netherlands are peculiarly rich in decorative works in wood, stone,
and brass. a e monuments of Count Engelbert of Nassau and his
ife, in the Groote Kerk at Breda, and that of Archbishop William
j, inthe chur coh of the Ca “pu icins at Enghien (p. 70), are among
s finest productions of ssance art in the north of Hurope.
The chimney-pieces (Br ay carved stalls (Dordrecht), and altars
(Hal) must also not be forgotten. The Musée Plantin at Antwerp
contains an interesting Nee of Renaissance furniture.
The Flemish Painters of t he Renaissance produce a less favour-
able impression. The Italian forms and even colours found no
response in the inmost spirit of the Flemish painters, and the
is often mere frigid prettiness or artificial idealisation. Just as we
pre 1 to the Latin verse of our school days, so we
priz h style more highly than unsue
reached Germ
ture and Scul
seems to have been le
narrow Gothic hous
Amsterdam,
> ther
imitations The 16th century was, it is true, of a
differen g, and hailed this inroad of the Rena
upon their native as a sign of progression! Antwerp es]
was for a long time th al ag art in the Netherlands, whence
Dul ke William of Bavar vell as the Emperor Rudolph I1., the
two most enlightened patrons of art among German princes, supplied
their requirements; while Flemings, too, provided for England’s
needs. It is evident, then, that the Netherlands had no lack of
renown nor yet of highly- sifted spirits, whose achievements, had a
more auspicious fate attended them, would have been considerable.
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