he pertly innocent pages invented by the
Renaissance.

If we sum up the whole impression produced by this work, we are led to
the conclusion that mystical art, still dwelling on earth, and not
restricted to scenes in Heaven, as Angelico had chosen to limit it in
his "Coronation of the Virgin," has produced in Roger van der Weyden's
triptych the purest effluence of prayer to be found in painting. Never
has the Nativity been so gloriously set forth, nor, it may be said, more
artlessly and simply expressed. The masterpiece of the Christmas
festival is at Berlin, just as the masterpiece of the Deposition is at
Antwerp, in the agonized and magnificent work of Quentin Matsys.

"The early Flemish painters were the greatest that ever lived!" said
Durtal to himself, "and this Roger Van der Weyden, or Roger de la
Pasture as he is sometimes called, crushed between the fame of van Eyck
and of Memling--as Gherard David was later, and Hugo van der Goes,
Justus of Ghent, and Dierck Bouts--was in my opinion superior to them
all.

"And after them what a falling away! Theatrical Crucifixions, the fleshy
coarseness of Rubens which Vandyck tried to mitigate by making it
leaner. We must leap into Holland to find the mystic accent once more,
and it reveals itself in the soul of a Judaizing Protestant, under an
aspect so mysterious and eccentric that at first sight we hesitate,
feeling ourselves, as it were, to make sure that we are not mistaken in
regarding this as religious art.

"Nor need we go to Amsterdam to verify the truth of this impression. It
is enough to go to see the 'Disciples at Emmaus,' in the Louvre."

Durtal, started on this theme, fell into a reverie over Rembrandt's
strange conception of Christian aesthetics. It is evident that in his
mode of depicting Gospel scenes this painter still exhales a breath of
the Old Testament; his church, even if he had meant to paint it as it
was in his day, would still be a synagogue, so strong is the odour of
the Jew in all his work; he is possessed by the imagery, the prophecies,
all the solemn and barbarous side of the East. And this we can
understand when we know that he was the companion of Rabbis, whose
portraits he has left us, and the friend of Manasseh ben Israel, one of
the most learned men of his age. On the other hand, we may admit that
this Protestant Dutchman engrafted on this stock of cabalistic learning
and Mosaic ceremonial an attentive and assiduous study of the Old
Te