FLENSBURG 



31 98 



FLENSBURG 



generation. A little later comes 

 Hans Memlinc and Hugo van der 

 Ges, followed by Gerard of Haar- 

 lem (Geertgen of S. John), Gerard 

 David, and Quinten Massys. This 

 closes the list of the first-rank 

 Netherlandish religious painters. 



Their contemporaries were Jer- 

 ome Bosch, the earliest satirist, and 

 Patinir, the landscape painter. 



Flemish Art. A Canon with Patron Saints, by Gerard 

 David (c. 1450-1523), a pupil of Hans Memlinc 



National Gallery, London 



Mabuse represents the next phase 

 of Flemish art, when it was invaded 

 by Italian influence ; the rococo 

 period of excessive elaboration, 

 compensated by no serious inter- 

 pretation, is seen in B. van Orley, 

 Mostaert, Jacob Cornelisz, and 

 Cornells Engelbrechtsen. Better 

 masters were Lucas van Leiden 

 and Scoreel. In this period was 

 popularised the satirical genre pic- 

 ture best known in Marinus von 

 Reymerswael, whose Moneylenders 

 and Misers are still famous. P. 

 Aertsen of Amsterdam is a pre- 

 cursor on a large scale of Dutch 

 genre. The great genre and land- 

 scape painter of the school, the last 

 Flemish Primitive master, and one 

 of the greatest, is Pieter Brueghel, 

 the most original painter of his 

 school. The influence of the Flem - 

 ish masters of the 15th century in 

 Germany and to a small extent in 

 Florence was important. In Spain, 

 too, and Portugal, the northern 

 school left a deep impression, and 

 in England, chiefly in East Anglia, 

 Flemish painters for a short while 

 had considerable business. 



In the great Flemish Primitives, 

 before Italian influence<came north, 

 the true Gothic spirit found some 

 expression. If nothing comparable 



with the mystic emotion of the 

 French 13th century sculptors is 

 found in the van Eycks, Roger 

 van der Weyden, Dierick Bouts, 

 and Hugo van der Goes, yet they 

 echoed the intensity of the Gothic 

 conception of the Christian drama. 

 Withal they reflected the desire for 

 richness and elaboration of detail 

 inseparable from the Gothic ideal. 

 No Italian mas- 

 ter rivalled the 

 northern artists 

 in this respect ; 

 nor, even when 

 the technique of 

 the Netherlands 

 was practised in 

 Italy, could any 

 southern painters 

 attain the brilli- 

 ance and delicacy 

 native to the trans- 

 alpine schools. In- 

 deed, the almost 

 enamel-like per- 

 fection and dura- 

 bility of a van 

 Eyck is unique. 



At the same time 

 it should be noted 

 that, apparently 

 derived from mis- 

 sal illumination, 

 the technique and 

 style of the Flem- 

 ish were unsuited 

 to the large issues 

 of wall decoration 

 which engrossed 

 the Italian paint- 

 ers. Only Brue- 

 ghel attained a 

 mural largeness 

 of style. Even in 

 recent times the 

 influence of the 

 Flemish Primi- 

 tives has reassert- 

 ed itself. For in- 

 stance, the Eng- 

 lish school of Pre- 

 Raphaelites owed 

 much of its tech- 

 nique and vision 

 to the masters of 

 whom R o s s e 1 1 i 

 and Holman Hunt 

 became aware in 

 Belgium in 1849. 

 Commercially 

 speaking, the 

 Primitives are gilt- 

 edged securities. 

 Only within a com- 

 paratively short 

 time have these 

 masters met with 

 this desirability in 

 collectors' eyes. 

 See Art ; Dutch 

 Art; Painting. 



C. H. Collins 



Flemish Art. Barbara van Vlander- 

 berghe, by Hans Memlinc (c. 1430-94) 



Alusee Royal, Brussels 



Bibliography. The Flemish School 

 of Painting, A. J. Wauters, Eng. 

 trans. H. Rossell, 1885; Anciens 

 Arts de Flandre, E. Durrand- 

 Greville, 1905; La Peinture en 

 Belgique, H. Fierens-Gevaert, 1909; 

 Art in Flanders, M. Rooses, 1914. 



Flensburg. Seaport of Slesvig, 

 Germany. It lies at the S. ex- 

 tremity of the Flensburg Fiord, 

 about 23 m. N. of Slesvig town. 

 Beautifully situated on the steep 

 shores of the land-locked fiord, it 

 has a good harbour, with ship- 

 yards, foundries, and breweries as 

 the chief industries. Whaling 



Flemish Art. Madonna and Child Enthroned, by Dierick 

 Bouts (c. 1410-75) 



National Gallery, London 



