THE NATIONAL GALLERY : DUTCH, FLEMISH AND SPANISH SCHOOLS

WE come now to the Dutch pictures, which are distributed without any chronology for the great Dutchmen were practically contemporaries, without predecessors and without followers in the rooms, IX, X and XII.

PORTRAIT OF TWO GENTLEMEN,

AFTER SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS' PICTURE IN THE NATIONAL GALLERY

The Tuscans, Umbrians, Ferrarese, Parmese, Lombardians, Sienese these found in the Scriptures their principal sources of inspiration; these painted the Holy Child, the Virgin Mary and the blessed company of saints, with a persistence which I for one cannot too much admire and rejoice in. Looking to Rome and Romish patrons for their livelihood, they had little choice, more particularly in the earlier days when simplicity was in their very blood; nor would they have wished a wider field. We may say, at any rate of the Tuscans and Umbrians and Sienese, that their colours were mixed and their panels made smooth for the glory of Our Lady. But in the Dutch rooms we are among painters whose art was the servant of the State rather than the Church. Farewell to mild Madonnas and ,hubby Christs: farewell to Holy Families and the company of the aureoled. Art has descended to earth: become a citizen, almost a housewife. Heaven is unimportant: what is important is Holland and the Dutch. Let there be Dutch pictures! A religious subject may creep in now and then, but (unless Rembrandt holds the brush or the burin) it will not be a religious picture. Worldliness has set in thoroughly. We have travelled very far from Fra Angelico and Francesca's "Nativity."

I hope I shall not be misunderstood about Dutch art, for which I have the greatest admiration. All I mean is that there is no preparation for a loving appreciation of it so unsuitable as the contemplation of the old Italian masters. No emotional student of the Umbrians and the Venetians, no one whose eyes have just been filled with their colour and glory, is in a fit state to understand the dexterity and homeliness of Gerard Dou and Terburg, De Hooch and Jan Steen, the austere distinction of Van Dyck, the magic of Vermeer, or even the stupendous power of Rembrandt. A different attitude is expected by Italian masters and the northern masters : the Italians ask for wonder, delight ; the Dutch for curiosity, almost inquisitiveness. It is the difference between rapture and interest. Always, however, excepting Rembrandt : he stands alone, towering.

Perhaps one should not combine the north and the south in one visit at all, but confine each visit to a single group.

Weak as the National Gallery is, here and there, no one can deny the thoroughness and superlative excellence of its Netherland rooms. The English have always appreciated Dutch art. To have nineteen Rembrandts is alone no small matter; but there are also five Hals', and five De Hoochs, and nine Jan Steens, and three Terburgs, and fifteen Cuyps, and six Van der Hoydens, and two Vermeers, and twenty-one Jacob Ruisdaels, and nine Hobbemas, including the best of all. I doubt too if Van Dyck ever surpassed the distinction and power of our "Cornelius van der Geest."

The best pictures of the Dutch school are in Rooms X and XII. But there is much that is interesting in Room IX, which we now enter. One of the first pictures is a typical Van Huysum flower piece with a yellow hollyhock in the midst. Then an equally typical Nicolas Maes, with a subject very popular with Dutch figure painters, "The Idle Servant." Near it is a charming Van Goyen, one of the many placid river scenes with shipping which we are to see as we pass through these rooms, all painted with such serene beauty that there is hardly any choice. Less typical is "The Forge," No. 2591, a modern-looking work attributed to Metsu but little like him. A rich misty Cuyp, No. 2546, hangs near and also a study of trees by a rare master, Vroom, No. 3475, with a distant view which Rousseau might have painted. No. 3047 is our first De Hooch, but better are in store in Room XII. We find another example of the placid school, by Jan van de Cappelle, in No. 2588, and then a fine example of a roystering group such as Codde, Duyster, Coques and Dirk Hals are famous for : No. 2575 which used to be called a Palamedes but is now given to Velsa. The light in it is very striking. Another "placidian," the exquisite Willem van de Velde, now confronts us with No. 980, but there are even better examples of his genius on the next wall. The large picture attributed to De Hooch, No. 2552, ought to be, I think, in the basement. Beyond it is an interesting portrait by Raguinea; a good still-life by one of the several men who, in the generous Dutch way, practised this form of painting with equal distinction, Jan Jansz van de Velde (among the others are Heda and Claesz) ; and then a golden landscape by Jan Both. We come now to the first Hobbema, very like a Jacob Ruisdael. Another hangs near it, No. 2571; but better still are in Room XII.

TRAFALGAR SQUARE

Two fine Hondecoeters are here, another beautiful Cuyp and Saenredam's light and lustrous church interior, No. 2531. Our first Jan Steen is here, but far better are to come. Here, however, is a masterpiece beyond improvement in Gerard Don's "Poulterer's Shop" which is inexhaustible in its detail and charm. Its pendant, by his derivative Willem van Mieris, is only a shade less marvellous in minuteness, but far less charming. Gerard Dou's gift for painting large portraits exceedingly small may also be studied here in No. 1415. A pretty De Hooch should be noted No. 794.