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106 Section 3. BERLIN. Emp. Fred. Museum:
link between the early-Flemish school and the Renaissance, is one
of that master's best efforts. — The contemporary Old French
School is represented by an admirable devotional portrait by Jean
Fouquet and the Bertinus Altar by Simon Marmion.
The gem of the Early German School is Holbein's portrait of
the merchant Gisze, which formed part of the Solly collection, and
is justly regarded as one of the very finest works by this master.
Two other admirable portraits by Holbein belonged to the Suer-
mondt Cabinet, a third, superior to both, belonged to the late Sir
John Millais. The gallery has recently been enriched by seven ge¬
nuine specimens of Albrechi' Dtirer: a portrait of Elector Frederick
the Wise (of his early period), the admirable portrait of Muffel (1526),
the celebrated Holzschuher portrait, considered the finest he ever
painted (1526; bought in 1884 for 17,500L), the Madonna with the
siskin, two portraits of ladies (both painted in Venice), and lastly a
Mater Dolorosa. The collection also contains masterpieces of two
of his best pupils, Hans von Kulmbach and Albrecht Altdorfer:
a large Adoration of the Magi by the former, the Rest on the Flight
into Egypt by the latter. The examples of Lucas Cranach the
Elder are numerous. Georg Pence, Christoph Amberger, and
Bartholomaeus Bruyn are represented by characteristic examples.
The Netherlandish Art of the 16-17th Centuries, the period
of the development of the two great national schools of the Flemings
and the Dutch, and the gradual development of the arts of painting
in miniature, landscape and genre painting, and painting from still
life, may be studied here to great advantage in numerous works by
the leading masters. Of the works of Peter Paul Rubens, the ver¬
satile chief of the Flemish School, the gallery possesses a small
collection only compared with those of Munich, St. Petersburg,
Paris, Vienna, and Madrid, but on the other hand its specimens
were nearly all executed without the co-operation of pupils. The
Raising of Lazarus is one of his best altar-pieces, the Rescue of
Andromeda, the Bacchanal, and Diana at the Chase are charming
examples of his mythological style, the St. Cecilia and the larger
Andromeda are delightful in their bloom of colour. The Portrait of
his first wife delights by its unusual colour harmony. The unfinished
Capture of Tunis affords an instructive insight into the technical
method pursued by the great master. The St. Sebastian and the
Neptune and Amphitrite are characteristic specimens of his early
period. The talents of Van Dyck are exhibited in a Mocking of
Christ, bearing the stamp of Rubens' influence, and perfect in its
colouring and treatment, two admirable portraits of the Genoese
period, and finally a Pieta from the period of his return from Italy.
The collection also contains good examples of Snyders and Fyt.
The best works by Teniers the Younger are the Backgammon
Players, the Temptation of St. Anthony, and a Rural Feast. A large