Above it, 523, German School, attributed to Wolgemut, Christ and the Apostles: gold background. Very flavourless: shows the tendencies from which the Van Eycks revolted.
517. Roger van der Weyden: head of a Woman Weeping. Perhaps a portion of a large composition, or a study for one. More likely, a copy by a pupil. Much damaged.
Now, return along the same wall, beyond the great Van Eyck in the centre.
335. =Bernard van Orley= (transitional). Triptych (sawn in two), with the Patience of Job inside, and Lazarus and Dives outside. In the _centre panel_, the house falling upon the sons of Job. In the background, Job and his comforters: his house in flames, etc. _Left panel_, the flocks and herds of Job driven off by the Sabeans, with Satan before the Almighty at the summit. _Right panel_, Job in his last state more blessed than formerly: his comforters ask him to intercede for them. Beyond this again, the outer shutters (the panels having been sawn through): _extreme left_, Lazarus at the Rich Man’s gate; above, his new-born soul borne aloft to Heaven. Below, cooks, servants, etc. _Extreme right_, the Rich Man dying, attended by his physician (compare the Dropsical Woman by Gerard Dou in the Louvre). Below, Dives in Torments (in a very Flemish Hell) calling to Lazarus. Above, Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom. This is a good characteristic example of the =transitional period= between the early and later Flemish art, greatly influenced by the Italian Renaissance. Van Orley travelled in Italy, and imitated Raphael in composition and drawing.
Beyond it, attributed to Roger van der Weyden, 553 (3 panels arbitrarily placed together). In the _centre panel_, two subjects. Left, the Nativity, elements all conventional: ruined temple, shed, ox and ass (extremely wooden), and St. Joseph in background. (He frequently bears a candle in this scene in order to indicate that the time is night.) Right, the Adoration of the Three Kings, old, middle-aged, young, the last a Moor. St. Joseph examines, as often, the Old King’s gift. Note his costume; it recurs in Flemish art. _Left panel_, Joseph of Arimathea with the Crown of Thorns, Nicodemus with the three nails, St. John, and the three Maries at the sepulchre. _Right panel_, Entombment, with the same figures: the Crown of Thorns and nails in the foreground. Great importance is always attached to these relics, preserved in the Sainte Chapelle, and at Monza, near Milan.