The Sixteenth Century Netherlandish Paintings: With French Paintings before 1600
National Gallery Catalogues
Lorne Campbell
London, 2014
Summary
The National Gallery possesses an important collection of paintings by sixteenth-century Netherlandish artists including Joachim Beuckelaer, Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Jean Gossart and Quinten Massys. They are grouped here with a small number of French paintings, some by artists who came from the Low Countries (Corneille de Lyon, probably Jean Hey and perhaps the Master of Saint Giles).
Lorne Campbell’s catalogue is a model of scholarship; he has examined all the pictures with Gallery conservators and scientists, carefully described them and rigorously researched their histories, subjects and styles. New discoveries about artists’ techniques and practices have led to many reattributions, and the rescue from anonymity of over twenty paintings. The identities of several patrons are established or suggested, while an introductory essay explains how contemporaries regarded these paintings. Generously illustrated, with many details and technical photographs, and beautifully produced, this comprehensive catalogue will be essential reading for scholars, while also introducing general readers to a vital part of the Gallery’s collection.
Online extracts from this catalogue
- Joachim Beuckelaer, 'The Four Elements'
- Hieronymus Bosch, 'Christ Mocked (The Crowning with Thorns)'
- Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 'The Adoration of the Kings'
- Jan Gossaert (Jean Gossart), 'An Elderly Couple'
- Jan Gossaert (Jean Gossart), 'The Adoration of the Kings'
- Marten van Heemskerck, 'Two Shutters from a Triptych'
- Catharina van Hemessen, 'Portrait of a Woman'
- Jean Hey (Master of Moulins), 'The Meeting at the Golden Gate; Charlemagne'
- Lucas van Leyden, 'A Man aged 38'
- Quinten Massys, 'An Old Woman ('The Ugly Duchess')'
- Master of Saint Giles, 'Two Panels from an Altarpiece'
- Jan Provoost, 'The Virgin and Child in a Landscape'
About the text
These catalogue entries are a mixture of new ‘born digital’ entries, and entries from previously published catalogues. A third of the previously published entries were chosen from among the Gallery's most important paintings, and two thirds from paintings that are interesting, but often overlooked.
When converting the previously-published files we have tried to stay as close to the original texts and arrangements as possible, whilst also creating online entries that are self-contained. This means that sections like bibliographies and appendices appear in the individual entry webpage. Bibliographies have been collated from various sources (this is why, for example, individual references may be formatted differently). The way we tag items to add them to lists of references may mean that the hyperlinking of references appears inconsistent – we’ll be working on improving this.
Editorially, we have corrected any known errors. We have also acquired and cleared new images, so credit lines have been updated. Images, which often fell in the middle of running text, have been moved to the next paragraph break. The main image for each entry has been moved to the top. Captions which applied to more than one image have been divided so that each image has its own caption.
Texts remain as they were published. In a few cases an ‘update’ section summarises recent research.
