Excerpt from The German and Flemish Masters: In the National Gallery The important and interesting collections of German and Flemish pictures in the National Gallery have scarcely received the special study which has been accorded so often to the rival schools of Italy. They have never, perhaps, been treated as a whole, nor in that intimate relation to one another which their early history demands. The literature connected with German and Flemish art is indeed extensive and increasing. Since the remarkable Exhibition held at Bruges in 1902 the early Flemish painters in particular have been subjected to the most careful and critical examination, and much that was before cloudy and vague has been defined, while many new problems have arisen. No attempt has been made in this volume to enter upon the more controversial aspects of the subject. The vexed question of attributions is after all of secondary importance to the intrinsic beauty of the pictures. The writer's object has been to trace the development of these schools through the examples in our Gallery, and to sum up in regard to them the results of the most recent criticism, acknowledging here the debt due to the indefatigable researches of writers both in this country and abroad. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.