1: Court Painter to the Duke of Burgundy
1 ‘had a handsome figure’: Vaughan, 127.
2 ‘almost till dawn’: ibid., 128.
3 ‘decorated the room’: ibid., 138–9.
4 ‘a circular representation of the world’: Belozerskaya, 184.
5 ‘and several other lords’: Vaughan, 180.
6 ‘that the keeper’: Letts (1957), 28.
2: Bruges, Venice of the West
1 ‘the multitude’: Letts (2007), 195.
2 everything which’: ibid., 200.
3 ‘looks as if half’: ibid., 201.
4 ‘the inhabitants are’: ibid., 199.
5 ‘it is the custom’: Letts (1957), 41.
Followers of Fashion
6 heuque: H. L. Monnas, ‘Silks in van Eyck’s Paintings’, Hali (December 1991), 110.
7 Bruges was the hub of the fur trade: R. Delort, Le Commerce des Fourrures en Occident à la Fin du Moyen Age (1978), 280.
8 bracci: M. Scott, Medieval Dress and Fashion (2007), 125.
9 ‘bag-sleeves’: ibid., 131.
10 ‘I saw the jagges’: R. Easting (ed.), The Vision of William of Stranton: St Patrick’s Purgatory (1991), 87.
11 ‘I have no gown’: N. Davies (ed.), Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century, Part I, Early English Text Society, ss 26 (2004), 216.
12 houppelande: M. Scott, Medieval Dress and Fashion (2007), 125.
3: Courtier, Ambassador, Spy: Don Diego de Guevara
1 ‘écuyers tranchants’: Report on recently discovered manuscripts listing the household ordinances of Philip the Fair in 1496, The Compte-rendu des séances de la Commission Royale d’Histoire’, II (1846), 678–718.
2 ‘he gave the greatest sigh’: M. Gachard, Collection des Voyages des Souverains de Pays-Bas (1874–1882), vol. I, 543.
The Beads and the Brush
3 By 1420, the Bruges guild: Rice, 55, Gessler 48.
4 ‘Amber is a juice’: Guicciardini, 36.
4: La Grande Mère de l’Europe: Marguerite of Austria
1 ‘a large picture’: Le Glay, II, 479.
2 ‘this princess had’: Tremayne, 92.
3 ‘a person of about thirty-five’: Hale, 89.
4 ‘fine panel paintings’: ibid., 92–93.
5 ‘the finest painting in Chistendom’: ibid., 96.
6 ‘Lady Marguerite’: A. Dürer ( ed. J. Goris and G. Marlier), Diary of his journey to the Netherlands, 1520–21 (1971), 95.
The Furniture
7 ‘These old rules’: P. Eames, ‘Furniture in England, France and the Netherlands from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Century’, Furniture History, XIII (1977), 271.
5: The Amazon Queen: Marie of Hungary
1 ‘if that you should’: Tremayne, 245.
2 ‘she is a virago’: Piret, 110.
3 ‘Mad queen, remember Folembray!’: J. de Iongh, Mary of Hungary (1959), 259.
4 ‘Let there be also packed’: A. Pinchart, ‘Tableaux et sculptures de Marie de Hongrie’, Revue Universelle des Arts, III (1856), 141.
The Fabrics
5 ‘the bed that was not for sleeping’: P. Eames, ‘Furniture in England, France and the Netherlands from the Twelfth to the Fifteenth Century’, Furniture History (1977), 270.
6 scarlatto: J. H. Munro, ‘The Medieval Scarlet and the Economics of Sartorial Splendour’, Cloth and Clothing in Medieval Europe, ed. N. B. Harte and K. G. Ponting (1983), 66.
6: Art Lover: Philip II
1 ‘it is astonishing’: K. Van Mander, Lives of the Illustrious Netherlandish and German Painters, 4 vols, ed. H. Miedema (1994–97), 53.
2 ‘many portraits, each one’: ibid., 69.
7: Spanish Palaces: From Philip to Napoleon
1 ‘several fierce, obtrusive daubings’: W. Beckford (ed. G. Chapman), The Travel-Diaries of William Beckford of Fonthill, II (1928), 223–4.
2 ‘Greek slaves in Constantinople’: Luxenberg, 8.
3 ‘I know that there are’: ibid., 110.
4 ‘paintings of the most famous’: ibid., 111.
5 ‘the centre of gossip’: D. Hilt, The Troubled Trinity: Godoy and the Spanish Monarchs (1987), 23.
6 ‘so many and so alike’: Luxenberg, 111.
7 ‘the pictures in the sacristy’: Lady Elizabeth Holland (ed. Earl of Ilchester), The Spanish Journal (1910), 78.
8 ‘by favour we were’: ibid., 81.
9 ‘a few excellent pictures’: ibid., 109.
10 ‘The house is small’: ibid., 120–21.
8: The Uninvited King of Spain: Joseph Bonaparte
1 ‘They are nothing’: D. Seward, Napoleon’s Family (1986), 1.
2 ‘with a view to acquiring’: Buchanan, 203.
3 ‘many fine things’: ibid., 209.
4 ‘I wrote to advise you’: Bonaparte; J. Bonaparte, (ed. A. du Casse) Mémoires et Correspondence Politique et Militaire du Roi Joseph (1854–55), ii, 55.
5 ‘This measure’: ibid., 34.
6 ‘three years in a humid location’: Luxenberg, 213.
7 ‘the splendid gallery’: Leith-Hay (1834), 90.
8 ‘taking with him’: Miot de Melito (ed. General Fleischmann, trans. C. Hoey and J. Lillit), Memoirs of Compte Miot de Melito (1881), 588.
9 ‘all the blunders’: Seward, 143.
10 ‘neither a gentlemanlike’: Leith-Hay (1834), 159.
11 ‘persons of rank’: ibid., 179.
12 ‘at night, Vitoria’: ibid., 183.
13 ‘The nature of the ground’: Hay (1901), 114.
14 ‘beyond the city’: A. H. Atteridge, Napoleon’s Brothers (1909), 321 (citing Napier).
15 ‘both the road’: de Melito, 605.
16 ‘The fortunes amassed’: ibid., 608.
17 ‘Such a scene’: Leith-Hay, 203.
18 ‘The moment that’: Caledonian Mercury, 8 July 1813.
19 ‘The baggage of King Joseph’: Kauffmann, 6.
20 ‘soldiers were stripping’: G. Bell, Rough Notes of an Old Soldier, I (1867), 93.
21 ‘attired themselves’: B. H. Liddell Hart (ed.), The Letters of Private Wheeler 1809–28 (1951), 119.
22 ‘It was not generally’: Bell, 93.
23 ‘When I left’: Liddell Hart, 119.
9: Hero of Waterloo: Colonel James Hay
1 ‘the neighbourhood of’: W. Tomkinson, The Diary of a Cavalry Officer in the Peninsular and Waterloo Campaigns 1809–1815 (1894, republished 1999), 273.
2 ‘On moving to support them’: Tomkinson, 301.
3 ‘Colonel Hay fell’: H. T. Siborne, Waterloo Letters: a selection from original and hitherto unpublished letters (1891), 121.
4 ‘At the extreme end’: Hay (1901), 202–4.
5 ‘almost every private house’: ibid., 209.
6 ‘During his long convalescence’: C.-J. Nieuwenhuys, Description de la Galerie des tableaux de S. M. le Roi des Pays-Bas (1843), 6.
7 ‘How many masterpieces’: Luxenberg, 107.
8 ‘the claim of the Allies’: Gould, 133–51.
9 ‘I sent them to England’: Kauffmann, 6.
10 ‘His Majesty’: ibid., 6.
The Mirror
11 ‘Almost nothing is more’: M. Baxandall, Giotto and the Orators (1971), 101–2.
12 ‘The most notable mirrors’: The Times, 21 July 1956.
10: The Dealers and the Prince and the Critics
1 ‘some of the most valuable’: Buchanan, 238.
2 ‘Sir Thomas Lawrence’: Farington, 5110, 21 November 1817.
3 ‘from Sir Thomas Lawrence’: O. Millar, ‘Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Group: an addition to its history’, Burlington Magazine, vol. XCV (1953), 97–98.
4 ‘Sir T. Lawrence … told me he was with’: Farington, 4871, 12 July 1816.
5 ‘Sir T. Lawrence told me that the Prince Regent’: ibid., 4946, 20 December 1816.
6 ‘No. 168, Portrait of a man’: Millar, 97.
7 ‘The Prince proposed’: Farington, 4971, 12 July 1816.
8 ‘Colonel James Hay’: D. Robertson, Sir Charles Eastlake and the Victorian Art World (1978), 294; Davies, 127–8.
9 ‘He said they had departed’: Farington, 4920, 10 November 1816.
10 ‘During the thirteen years’: Davies, 27.
11 ‘It has never been our luck’: Athenaeum, 3 July 1841.
12 ‘the antique painters’: Abbott, 212.
13 ‘the hugger-mugger’: ibid., 110.
14 ‘We do not … approve’: Morning Chronicle, 6 June 1840.
15 ‘there is not’: Abbott, 164.
16 ‘formal perpendicularity’: ibid., 187.
17 ‘as sweet and pure’: Athenaeum, 3 July 1841.
18 ‘are both of a much later date’: Observer, 8 August 1841.
19 ‘there is one other picture’: Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, CCCXI, 349–51.
20 ‘Mr Seguier, the picture restorer’: autobiographical notes transcribed by Wardop’s daughter. NG archive, AP file.
11: Star of the National Gallery
1 ‘for a museum or gallery here’: Gould, 121.
2 ‘When the sovereign’: Buchanan, i, 26.
3 ‘In the present times’: C. Whitehead, The Public Art Museum in Nineteenth-Century Britain: the Development of the National Gallery (2005), 5.
4 ‘Buy Mr Angerstein’s collection’: H. Cole, Felix Summerly’s Handbook for the National Gallery (1843), vii.
5 ‘the catalogue Seguier drew up’: Abbott, 165–7.
6 ‘under the present circumstances’: Correspondence in the National Gallery archive, NG5/501/1. Letter from Trevelyan to Trustees, 2 May 1842.
7 ‘resolved that a letter’: NG 5/50/1842; NG 5/51/1842; Trustees’ Minutes, 6 February 1843.
8 ‘It has a smooth’: Athenaeum, 25 March 1843.
9 ‘This is the most estimable’: Art Union, May 1843.
10 ‘A picture has been added’: Illustrated London News, 15 April 1843.
11 ‘a perfect specimen’: Felix Summerly’s Handbook for the National Gallery, 48
12 ‘one of the earliest painters’: ibid., 63.
13 ‘Of the other objectionable’: NG 1947, 4, Select Committee Report.
12: Pre-Raphaelite Idol and Connoisseurs’ Quest
1 ‘paltry building’: E. Moggs, New Picture of London and Visitors’ Guide, 1843.
2 ‘that preposterous portico’: The Times, 7 January 1847.
3 ‘placed unfortunately’: Athenaeum Français 24 (16 June 1855), 507–9; trans. Art-Journal, 1 September 1855, 251.
4 ‘I’ve always longed’: M. Lago (ed.), Burne-Jones Talking (1982), 132.
5 ‘I went into the National Gallery’: ibid., 136.
6 ‘a woman sitting up’: ibid., 123.
7 ‘The question’: C. Eastlake, Materials for a History of Oil Painting (1847), 185.
8 ‘This valuable picture’: C. Waagen (trans. Lady Eastlake), Treasures of Art in Great Britain, I (1854), 348.
9 ‘I, for my part’: Crowe (1895), 56.
10 ‘I confided’: ibid., 65.
11 ‘unkempt locks’: ibid., 87.
12 ‘imperial gold cloth’: L. de Laborde, Les Ducs de Bourgogne: études sur les lettres, les arts, et l’industrie pendant le XV siècle, 2 vols (1849), 196, 208, 210.
13 ‘Arnoulphin lived’: Crowe and Cavalcaselle (1857), 65.
14 ‘it has been supposed’: ibid., 66.
15 La Légitimation: L. de Laborde, La Renaissance des Arts à la Cour de France, vol II (1855), 601–3.
16 ‘Harder outlines’: Crowe and Cavalcaselle (1857), 85–86.
17 ‘We gradually brought together’: Crowe (1895), 100–104.
18 ‘Mr John Murray had refused’: ibid., 132.
19 ‘After all, my real interest’: ibid., 182.
20 ‘most important pictures’: Crowe and Cavalcaselle (1872), 99–100.
21 ‘a rather troublesome’: Brockwell (1952), 91.
22 ‘the researches of Mr Weale’: Brockwell (1952), 68.
23 ‘The colouring of this’: Weale (1908), 70.
24 ‘A century ago’: Weale and Brockwell, xiv, preface.
25 ‘the National Gallery guide-books’: Pall Mall Gazette, 15 February 1890.
26 ‘one of the most’: E. J. Poynter (ed.), The National Gallery (1899), 158.
27 ‘honour here recorded’: Manchester Guardian, 11 January 1900.
28 ‘one picture’: The Times, 19 December 1898.
Techniques
29 ‘The nose dark’: Cited in A. L. Dierick, ‘Jan van Eyck’s handwriting’, in Foister et al. (2000), 79.
13: Wars and Disputes
1 ‘ambitious, and we will not’: The Times, 26 February 1901.
2 ‘The vanished pictures’: Observer, 7 March 1915.
3 ‘one of the most’: Observer, 16 January 1921.
4 ‘notable people’: Manchester Guardian, 1 April 1924.
5 ‘This I regard’: L. Dimier, letter in Burlington Magazine, vol. LXV (1934), 135.
6 ‘M. Dimier’s letter’: Burlington Magazine, vol. LXV (1934), 296.
7 ‘the highly coloured’: Brockwell (1952), 10.
8 ‘It is a nice exercise’: Observer, 1 February 1953.
9 ‘It is salutary’: Manchester Guardian, 23 January 1953.
10 ‘very Welsh’: N. J. McCamley, Saving Britain’s Art Treasures (2003), 89.
11 ‘We have found’: Correspondence in the National Gallery archive, NG 16/591–7, Clark to Davies, 4 March 1943.
12 ‘The speed of their return’: Manchester Guardian, 18 May 1945.
13 ‘One had almost to queue’: Observer, 20 May 1945.
14 ‘surely the completest’: Manchester Guardian, 26 May 1945.
15 ‘Which works of art’: Observer, 26 December 1999.
16 ‘ever since the Sainsbury Wing’: Evening Standard, 17 August 2001.
Hidden Puzzles?
17 ‘we need not assume’: J. Elkins, ‘On the Arnolfini Portrait and the Lucca Madonna: Did Jan van Eyck have a Perspectival System?’, Art Bulletin, 73 (1991), 56.
18 ‘no painter is accounted’: M. Baxandall, Giotto and the Orators (1971), 101–2.
14: Interpretations and Transformations: The Arnolfinis Today
1 ‘make phantoms’: Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun (trans. Charles Dahlberg), The Romance of the Rose (1983), 18044–18287.
2 ‘The Arnolfini and his wife’: C. Phillips, Fortnightly Review, October 1902.
3 Habitat advertisement: I am most grateful to the History of Advertising Trust, Norwich, for finding this example.
4 Dave Brown cartoon: Independent, 28 October 2006.
5 Martin Rowson cartoon: Guardian, 13 April 1996.
6 Peter Brookes cartoon: The Times, 12 September 1983.
7 Times BBC cartoon: The Times, 17August 2005.
8 ‘WILL HUGH BE MINE’: Mirror, 6 December 2001.
9 ‘A Brush with Fame’: Mail on Sunday, 30 April 2006.
10 ‘We are the Arnolfinis’: P. Durcan, Give Me Your Hand, 1994.