The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1900-01-19
MISS SHOWS ART TALKS
The Series of Papers. Interrupted by
the Holidays. Resumed With
Careful Study
The Early Flemings.

Teuton and Frank and Spaniard for
further progress. Many efforts had
been made to revive the practice of
the traDscendent Italian masters, and
such rare painters as Carlo Dolci,
Salvador Rosa and Guido Reini
created many beautiful pieces, but
fresh forces were at work in the his
tory of Europe and the old order had
to give place.
Flegmatic temperament and cold
grey skies, the struggle with sterner
conditions and the lack of classic cul-
ture made the springs of art in Ger.
many a very different matter from
the native artistic impulse Of the
ardent southerners. Before the in
PRODUCTION of Christianity the fine
arts had made no record in the life
of these northern savages, but when
they began to build churches the
sense of beauty began to awaken, and
rich wood carvings and beautiful
missals were enshrined in their won
derful Gothic cathedrals. They had
no use for sculpture unless 1t was
tinted. Their architecture gave no
spaces for frescoes, and their first
painting naturally took the fotm of
altar pieces, the smOOth indented
panels giving opportunity for pic
tured scenes fiom the sacred world.
They were greatly influenced by
the austerity and the magnificence
of the Byzantine methods, but, like
the Italians, their native vigor and
the general development emancipated
them from this compelling element.
The legends of their heroes and the
beautiful stories of their poetic fruit
age were used in connection with reli-
gious motives, as art began to serve
city halls and council chambers as
well as the church.
In the thirteenth century the
schools of Bohemia and Cologne came
into considerable prominence but the
greatest forces in northern art were
fostered in Flanders, and to the
three great Flemings of the fifteenth
century we owe the great dividing
step that introduces modern painting.
The city of Bruges, like the city OF
Florence was especially adapted to the
elimination of great artistic factors,
and In this favored school the famous
Van Eycks made the discovery in
regard to the mixture of oil paints
which gave the movable picture to
the world. Before that period the
work of the masters had been painted
in fresco or tempera upon ceilings
and walls and various kinds of fixed
or cum bersome panels, but with the
new medium and the canvas which
it necessitsted, we had treasure
which could pass from land to land
and reveal Its beauties TO countless
number of people.
Hubert, the elder brother. showed
his greatest skill in the elaboration of
the Lamb" a splendid altar Lpiece of
marvellous conception. The younger
Jan completed the work, and it "com-
Dimes all the characteristics of early
Flemish art, devotion, religious sym
bolism of realistic type, power of
color and mastery of execution" Jan
Eyck enjoyed the patronage of
Philippe le Bon, Duke of Burgundy,
throughout his whole artistic lite. He
was sent by him with the embassy to
Portugal which sought the hand of
Isabella and painted portrait of the
Princess which greatly pleased the
future king His travels through
Portugal and Spain gave him added
light and warmth in his strong free
'coloring, and his minute finish in
every detail always expressed his
motto, Ais ich Kan.
Jan Eyck died in 1440. Minor men
filled out the story of his school and
then we come to Roger Wander Wey-
den and Hans Memlipg. Wander
Weyden was the rival, rather than
the pupil of Jan Van Eyck. He be-
longed to the valley of the Scheldt,
practised the art of tinting statues,
and became the town painter of Brus-
sells. He visited Italy, but retained
his strong individuality, and while
responding to the realistic tendencies
of his time and country he always
preferred religious subjects Of the
dark and somber kind. Martyrdom
and agony appealed more strongly to
him than happiness and triumph
and his Last Judgment" is especial
ly marked by terrific power. His
pictures are characterized by the
architectural back grounds that all
the Flemish painters greatly affected,
and the crowding of figures and de-
tails which reached perhaps, it's most
remarkable uApOe i'm the wolk of Van