The Queens Gallery, Buckingham Palace, Dutch Pictures from the Royal Collection by OliverMillarReview by: Erik LarsenArt Journal, Vol. 32, No. 3 (Spring, 1973), p. 364Published by: College Art AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/775824 .

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rior columns (p. 92), especially in corners (P1. llc), ultimately derive as much from the general northeast Italian tradition represented by Francesco di Giorgio (? S. Bernardino, Urbino), Coducci (? Cor- naro Chapel, SS. Apostoli, Venice), or Sansovino (S. Fantin, Venice)-or indeed from his Roman association with Maggi "in the same period" around 1606 (p. 236) as the latter's design of the interest- ingly columniated SS. Trinita dei Pelle- grini-as from Mascarino's S. Salvatore in Lauro (p. 26), or Borromini's presumed intervention (p. 90) at S. Ignazio? This last point, however, appropriately allows us to refer such diffuse questions to Pro- fessor Hibbard's own masterful summary of the Maderno-Borromini interaction and legacy (p. 92), and to conclude that from the incisiveness and wit of an author who can summarize S. Carlino as "over- whelming in its monumental smallness" (p. 91), we may well expect even finer flights in the future.

DOUGLAS LEWIS National Gallery of Art

Oliver Millar The Queens Gallery, Buckingham Pal-

ace, Dutch Pidtures from the Royal Col- lection, 96 pp., 75 ill., University Park, Penn.: The Pennsylvania State Univer- sity Press, 1972. $6.50. An unassuming presentation clothes

this very interesting small book. Printed with care on paper of good quality, fea- turing illustrations that range from most satisfactory to very good, both in black and white, and in color, the volume stands out for level of information and quality of content. We are offered a most adequate survey of the Dutch paintings in the Royal Collections of the English Sov- ereign; and it is a fascinating story in- deed, how the ensemble was brought to- gether, pruned and added to, until it cur- rently constitutes one of the more signifi- cative groups of Dutch paintings assem- bled outside Holland.

Oliver Millar furnishes a well-docu- mented Introduction, that spells out the history of the Collection, from its very be- ginnings under Elizabeth I and James I, until George IV, who was responsible for so many brilliant additions. Mr. Millar is at his best in this kind of presentation; indeed, his qualifications are primarily those of an archivist; and his thoughtful account leaves nothing to be desired, both as to content and the adducing of literary evidence.

The Catalogue (it is not stated who is responsible for the entries), is concise and informative. A note on p. 36 announces a new volume with a Catalogue Raisonne, to be prepared by Mr. Christopher White.

rior columns (p. 92), especially in corners (P1. llc), ultimately derive as much from the general northeast Italian tradition represented by Francesco di Giorgio (? S. Bernardino, Urbino), Coducci (? Cor- naro Chapel, SS. Apostoli, Venice), or Sansovino (S. Fantin, Venice)-or indeed from his Roman association with Maggi "in the same period" around 1606 (p. 236) as the latter's design of the interest- ingly columniated SS. Trinita dei Pelle- grini-as from Mascarino's S. Salvatore in Lauro (p. 26), or Borromini's presumed intervention (p. 90) at S. Ignazio? This last point, however, appropriately allows us to refer such diffuse questions to Pro- fessor Hibbard's own masterful summary of the Maderno-Borromini interaction and legacy (p. 92), and to conclude that from the incisiveness and wit of an author who can summarize S. Carlino as "over- whelming in its monumental smallness" (p. 91), we may well expect even finer flights in the future.

DOUGLAS LEWIS National Gallery of Art

Oliver Millar The Queens Gallery, Buckingham Pal-

ace, Dutch Pidtures from the Royal Col- lection, 96 pp., 75 ill., University Park, Penn.: The Pennsylvania State Univer- sity Press, 1972. $6.50. An unassuming presentation clothes

this very interesting small book. Printed with care on paper of good quality, fea- turing illustrations that range from most satisfactory to very good, both in black and white, and in color, the volume stands out for level of information and quality of content. We are offered a most adequate survey of the Dutch paintings in the Royal Collections of the English Sov- ereign; and it is a fascinating story in- deed, how the ensemble was brought to- gether, pruned and added to, until it cur- rently constitutes one of the more signifi- cative groups of Dutch paintings assem- bled outside Holland.

Oliver Millar furnishes a well-docu- mented Introduction, that spells out the history of the Collection, from its very be- ginnings under Elizabeth I and James I, until George IV, who was responsible for so many brilliant additions. Mr. Millar is at his best in this kind of presentation; indeed, his qualifications are primarily those of an archivist; and his thoughtful account leaves nothing to be desired, both as to content and the adducing of literary evidence.

The Catalogue (it is not stated who is responsible for the entries), is concise and informative. A note on p. 36 announces a new volume with a Catalogue Raisonne, to be prepared by Mr. Christopher White.

rior columns (p. 92), especially in corners (P1. llc), ultimately derive as much from the general northeast Italian tradition represented by Francesco di Giorgio (? S. Bernardino, Urbino), Coducci (? Cor- naro Chapel, SS. Apostoli, Venice), or Sansovino (S. Fantin, Venice)-or indeed from his Roman association with Maggi "in the same period" around 1606 (p. 236) as the latter's design of the interest- ingly columniated SS. Trinita dei Pelle- grini-as from Mascarino's S. Salvatore in Lauro (p. 26), or Borromini's presumed intervention (p. 90) at S. Ignazio? This last point, however, appropriately allows us to refer such diffuse questions to Pro- fessor Hibbard's own masterful summary of the Maderno-Borromini interaction and legacy (p. 92), and to conclude that from the incisiveness and wit of an author who can summarize S. Carlino as "over- whelming in its monumental smallness" (p. 91), we may well expect even finer flights in the future.

DOUGLAS LEWIS National Gallery of Art

Oliver Millar The Queens Gallery, Buckingham Pal-

ace, Dutch Pidtures from the Royal Col- lection, 96 pp., 75 ill., University Park, Penn.: The Pennsylvania State Univer- sity Press, 1972. $6.50. An unassuming presentation clothes

this very interesting small book. Printed with care on paper of good quality, fea- turing illustrations that range from most satisfactory to very good, both in black and white, and in color, the volume stands out for level of information and quality of content. We are offered a most adequate survey of the Dutch paintings in the Royal Collections of the English Sov- ereign; and it is a fascinating story in- deed, how the ensemble was brought to- gether, pruned and added to, until it cur- rently constitutes one of the more signifi- cative groups of Dutch paintings assem- bled outside Holland.

Oliver Millar furnishes a well-docu- mented Introduction, that spells out the history of the Collection, from its very be- ginnings under Elizabeth I and James I, until George IV, who was responsible for so many brilliant additions. Mr. Millar is at his best in this kind of presentation; indeed, his qualifications are primarily those of an archivist; and his thoughtful account leaves nothing to be desired, both as to content and the adducing of literary evidence.

The Catalogue (it is not stated who is responsible for the entries), is concise and informative. A note on p. 36 announces a new volume with a Catalogue Raisonne, to be prepared by Mr. Christopher White.

The only disadvantage, and it is an an- noying one, is that the entries are not grouped alphabetically; and although the plates carry the corresponding identifica- tion number of the catalogue entry, it be- comes difficult to envisage a given artist within the entirety of the works through which he is represented in the Collection. Admittedly we refer to a minor drawback, but it could advantageously be eliminated in subsequent volumes of the series.

The Collection reflects the tastes of its various patrons, with many of the paint- ings which we would nowadays consider the most important ones, of a relatively tardy date of accession. The Bass Viol Player with a Glass by Hendrik Ter Brug- ghen-a master of decidedly minor rank until his recent revaluation-was already acquired by Charles I. The same monarch commissioned in 1628 Gerrit van Hont- horst's group portrait of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, with his Family -a felicitous circumstance in view of this nobleman's assassination the same year. Adriaen Hanneman's Peter Oliver en- tered the Royal Collection soon after the Restoration under the aegis of Charles II. But the highlights came later. Rem- brandt's Mother was first recorded under the reign of Queen Anne; the Young Man in a Turban perhaps as far back as Charles II; however, Christ and the Mag- dalen at the Tomb was secured by George IV in 1819 only, and the Shipbuilder and his Wife was bought, a little earlier, in 1811. One of the pearls of the Collection was completely misunderstood as to its value, and came to George III in 1762 as a Frans Mieris, through the good offices of Consul Smith, who sold it as part of the ensemble of Giovanni Antonio Pelli- grini's canvases. We refer of course to Vermeer's Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman, now considered as one of the most outstanding examples from the Delft master's later period. The exciting Por- trait of a Man by Frans Hals was bought most probably by George III; and The Letter by Gerard Ter Borch is an acquisi- tion of George IV from the Baring Collec- tion in 1814. Among the curiosities, Frans Post's Village in Brazil stands out. It was again acquired from the Pellegrini collec- tion in 1762, and represents the rare art- ist most satisfactorily.

A number of landscape and secondary artists round out the volume; the Cata- logue records altogether 94 entries, and to judge from the photographs, all are of good to great quality; and thus offer, as already stated, as good an image of Dutch 17th-century painting as one is able to glean anywhere outside the motherland.

ERIK LARSEN

University of Kansas

The only disadvantage, and it is an an- noying one, is that the entries are not grouped alphabetically; and although the plates carry the corresponding identifica- tion number of the catalogue entry, it be- comes difficult to envisage a given artist within the entirety of the works through which he is represented in the Collection. Admittedly we refer to a minor drawback, but it could advantageously be eliminated in subsequent volumes of the series.

The Collection reflects the tastes of its various patrons, with many of the paint- ings which we would nowadays consider the most important ones, of a relatively tardy date of accession. The Bass Viol Player with a Glass by Hendrik Ter Brug- ghen-a master of decidedly minor rank until his recent revaluation-was already acquired by Charles I. The same monarch commissioned in 1628 Gerrit van Hont- horst's group portrait of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, with his Family -a felicitous circumstance in view of this nobleman's assassination the same year. Adriaen Hanneman's Peter Oliver en- tered the Royal Collection soon after the Restoration under the aegis of Charles II. But the highlights came later. Rem- brandt's Mother was first recorded under the reign of Queen Anne; the Young Man in a Turban perhaps as far back as Charles II; however, Christ and the Mag- dalen at the Tomb was secured by George IV in 1819 only, and the Shipbuilder and his Wife was bought, a little earlier, in 1811. One of the pearls of the Collection was completely misunderstood as to its value, and came to George III in 1762 as a Frans Mieris, through the good offices of Consul Smith, who sold it as part of the ensemble of Giovanni Antonio Pelli- grini's canvases. We refer of course to Vermeer's Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman, now considered as one of the most outstanding examples from the Delft master's later period. The exciting Por- trait of a Man by Frans Hals was bought most probably by George III; and The Letter by Gerard Ter Borch is an acquisi- tion of George IV from the Baring Collec- tion in 1814. Among the curiosities, Frans Post's Village in Brazil stands out. It was again acquired from the Pellegrini collec- tion in 1762, and represents the rare art- ist most satisfactorily.

A number of landscape and secondary artists round out the volume; the Cata- logue records altogether 94 entries, and to judge from the photographs, all are of good to great quality; and thus offer, as already stated, as good an image of Dutch 17th-century painting as one is able to glean anywhere outside the motherland.

ERIK LARSEN

University of Kansas

The only disadvantage, and it is an an- noying one, is that the entries are not grouped alphabetically; and although the plates carry the corresponding identifica- tion number of the catalogue entry, it be- comes difficult to envisage a given artist within the entirety of the works through which he is represented in the Collection. Admittedly we refer to a minor drawback, but it could advantageously be eliminated in subsequent volumes of the series.

The Collection reflects the tastes of its various patrons, with many of the paint- ings which we would nowadays consider the most important ones, of a relatively tardy date of accession. The Bass Viol Player with a Glass by Hendrik Ter Brug- ghen-a master of decidedly minor rank until his recent revaluation-was already acquired by Charles I. The same monarch commissioned in 1628 Gerrit van Hont- horst's group portrait of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, with his Family -a felicitous circumstance in view of this nobleman's assassination the same year. Adriaen Hanneman's Peter Oliver en- tered the Royal Collection soon after the Restoration under the aegis of Charles II. But the highlights came later. Rem- brandt's Mother was first recorded under the reign of Queen Anne; the Young Man in a Turban perhaps as far back as Charles II; however, Christ and the Mag- dalen at the Tomb was secured by George IV in 1819 only, and the Shipbuilder and his Wife was bought, a little earlier, in 1811. One of the pearls of the Collection was completely misunderstood as to its value, and came to George III in 1762 as a Frans Mieris, through the good offices of Consul Smith, who sold it as part of the ensemble of Giovanni Antonio Pelli- grini's canvases. We refer of course to Vermeer's Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman, now considered as one of the most outstanding examples from the Delft master's later period. The exciting Por- trait of a Man by Frans Hals was bought most probably by George III; and The Letter by Gerard Ter Borch is an acquisi- tion of George IV from the Baring Collec- tion in 1814. Among the curiosities, Frans Post's Village in Brazil stands out. It was again acquired from the Pellegrini collec- tion in 1762, and represents the rare art- ist most satisfactorily.

A number of landscape and secondary artists round out the volume; the Cata- logue records altogether 94 entries, and to judge from the photographs, all are of good to great quality; and thus offer, as already stated, as good an image of Dutch 17th-century painting as one is able to glean anywhere outside the motherland.

ERIK LARSEN

University of Kansas

Ruth Mellinkoff The Horned Moses in Medieval Ai^t and

Thought, 210 pp., 130 ill., Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1970. $16.50. Ruth Mellinkoff's literary and icono-

graphical exegesis of The Horned Moses in Medieval Art and Thought is intro- duced to the reader by an Italian Renais- sance example-Michelangelo's acclaimed Moses at San Pietro in Vincoli. Although she attributes the decline of the horns to the influence of the Counter-Reformation, little attention is directed toward a con- tinuation of the investigation in Cinque- cento Italy. Other than E. Becker's Das Quellwunder des Moses in der altchristli- chen Kunst (1909), a comprehensive study of Moses in art has been dismissed in modern scholarship. However, Dr. Mel- linkoff stimulates the reader's interest in the iconographic implications of Moses as an important personage in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, as well as in the issues of the horned motif. I have already written of the excellence and utility of this very scholarly book (ART JOURNAL, Winter, 1972). What I would like to em- phasize in this review is the need for fur- ther investigation of the iconographic richness of Moses, introduced by Dr. Mel- linkoff, and to that end suggest that it would seem that his significance as a fig- ure in its temporal context had greater meaning in the Italian Renaissance than at any other period in the history of art.

In Medieval Italian Art the superior stature of Moses was primarily esteemed in its religious context. As a Christian prophet his profound and mysterious wis- dom was perhaps best exemplified in the fourth quarter of the Duecento by Gio- vanni Pisano's statue in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo at Siena. Reflect- ing the close association between biblical and pagan wisdom in the Middle Ages and continuing into the Renaissance, Moses was ranked in situ with Aristotle and Plato on the first register of the facade of the Cathedral of Siena. In the Trecento the likeness of Moses in Andrea da Fi- renze's of the Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas in the Spanish Chapel at S. Ma- ria Novella continued the medieval tradi- tion of Moses. Flanked on the left of St. Thomas, Moses was interpreted by Church theologians as a figure of honor, station, and power, and he was so de- scribed and elucidated as Dr. Mellinkoff has shown in the religious vernacular lit- erature of the Middle Ages, a literature generally reflecting Church concepts. The same form and content is evidenced in the Quattrocento by the placement of Moses in Fra Angelico's Last Judgment. His Christian virtue and biblical nature

Ruth Mellinkoff The Horned Moses in Medieval Ai^t and

Thought, 210 pp., 130 ill., Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1970. $16.50. Ruth Mellinkoff's literary and icono-

graphical exegesis of The Horned Moses in Medieval Art and Thought is intro- duced to the reader by an Italian Renais- sance example-Michelangelo's acclaimed Moses at San Pietro in Vincoli. Although she attributes the decline of the horns to the influence of the Counter-Reformation, little attention is directed toward a con- tinuation of the investigation in Cinque- cento Italy. Other than E. Becker's Das Quellwunder des Moses in der altchristli- chen Kunst (1909), a comprehensive study of Moses in art has been dismissed in modern scholarship. However, Dr. Mel- linkoff stimulates the reader's interest in the iconographic implications of Moses as an important personage in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, as well as in the issues of the horned motif. I have already written of the excellence and utility of this very scholarly book (ART JOURNAL, Winter, 1972). What I would like to em- phasize in this review is the need for fur- ther investigation of the iconographic richness of Moses, introduced by Dr. Mel- linkoff, and to that end suggest that it would seem that his significance as a fig- ure in its temporal context had greater meaning in the Italian Renaissance than at any other period in the history of art.

In Medieval Italian Art the superior stature of Moses was primarily esteemed in its religious context. As a Christian prophet his profound and mysterious wis- dom was perhaps best exemplified in the fourth quarter of the Duecento by Gio- vanni Pisano's statue in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo at Siena. Reflect- ing the close association between biblical and pagan wisdom in the Middle Ages and continuing into the Renaissance, Moses was ranked in situ with Aristotle and Plato on the first register of the facade of the Cathedral of Siena. In the Trecento the likeness of Moses in Andrea da Fi- renze's of the Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas in the Spanish Chapel at S. Ma- ria Novella continued the medieval tradi- tion of Moses. Flanked on the left of St. Thomas, Moses was interpreted by Church theologians as a figure of honor, station, and power, and he was so de- scribed and elucidated as Dr. Mellinkoff has shown in the religious vernacular lit- erature of the Middle Ages, a literature generally reflecting Church concepts. The same form and content is evidenced in the Quattrocento by the placement of Moses in Fra Angelico's Last Judgment. His Christian virtue and biblical nature

Ruth Mellinkoff The Horned Moses in Medieval Ai^t and

Thought, 210 pp., 130 ill., Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1970. $16.50. Ruth Mellinkoff's literary and icono-

graphical exegesis of The Horned Moses in Medieval Art and Thought is intro- duced to the reader by an Italian Renais- sance example-Michelangelo's acclaimed Moses at San Pietro in Vincoli. Although she attributes the decline of the horns to the influence of the Counter-Reformation, little attention is directed toward a con- tinuation of the investigation in Cinque- cento Italy. Other than E. Becker's Das Quellwunder des Moses in der altchristli- chen Kunst (1909), a comprehensive study of Moses in art has been dismissed in modern scholarship. However, Dr. Mel- linkoff stimulates the reader's interest in the iconographic implications of Moses as an important personage in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, as well as in the issues of the horned motif. I have already written of the excellence and utility of this very scholarly book (ART JOURNAL, Winter, 1972). What I would like to em- phasize in this review is the need for fur- ther investigation of the iconographic richness of Moses, introduced by Dr. Mel- linkoff, and to that end suggest that it would seem that his significance as a fig- ure in its temporal context had greater meaning in the Italian Renaissance than at any other period in the history of art.

In Medieval Italian Art the superior stature of Moses was primarily esteemed in its religious context. As a Christian prophet his profound and mysterious wis- dom was perhaps best exemplified in the fourth quarter of the Duecento by Gio- vanni Pisano's statue in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo at Siena. Reflect- ing the close association between biblical and pagan wisdom in the Middle Ages and continuing into the Renaissance, Moses was ranked in situ with Aristotle and Plato on the first register of the facade of the Cathedral of Siena. In the Trecento the likeness of Moses in Andrea da Fi- renze's of the Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas in the Spanish Chapel at S. Ma- ria Novella continued the medieval tradi- tion of Moses. Flanked on the left of St. Thomas, Moses was interpreted by Church theologians as a figure of honor, station, and power, and he was so de- scribed and elucidated as Dr. Mellinkoff has shown in the religious vernacular lit- erature of the Middle Ages, a literature generally reflecting Church concepts. The same form and content is evidenced in the Quattrocento by the placement of Moses in Fra Angelico's Last Judgment. His Christian virtue and biblical nature

364 364 364

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