mb_. It was not fated
that he should finish the great work which he was then induced to begin.
He probably sketched the subjects that were to adorn the panels, and
completed some of the more important of them. At his death in 1426 he
was buried in the chapel, the decoration of which had been the last
occupation of his life. We may sum up the qualities which distinguished
him, and the services which he rendered to the art of his country, in
the following sentences:--

[Illustration: THE ADORATION OF THE LAMB.
_Van Eyck_.]

He carried the realistic tendency, already existing in the Flemish
masters, to an extraordinary pitch of excellence, whilst in many
essential respects he adhered to the more ideal feeling of the previous
period, imparting to this, by the means of his far richer powers of
representation, greater distinctness, truth of nature, and variety of
expression. Throughout his works he displayed an elevated and highly
energetic conception of the stern import of his labours in the service
of the Church. The prevailing arrangement of his subject is symmetrical,
holding fast the early architectonic rules which had hitherto presided
over ecclesiastic art. The later mode of arrangement, in which a freer
and more dramatic and picturesque feeling was introduced, is only seen
in Hubert van Eyck's works in subjection to these rules. Thus his heads
exhibit the aim at beauty and dignity belonging to the earlier period,
only combined with more truth of nature. His draperies unite its pure
taste and softness of folds with greater breadth; the realistic
principle being apparent in that greater attention to detail which a
delicate indication of the material necessitates. Nude figures are
studied from nature with the utmost fidelity; undraped portions are also
given with much truth, especially the hands; only the feet remain
feeble. That, however, which is almost the principal quality of his art,
is the hitherto unprecedented power, depth, transparency, and harmony of
his _colouring_. To attain this he availed himself of a mode of painting
in oil which he and his brother had perfected. Oil painting, it is true,
had long been in use, but only in a very undeveloped form, and for
inferior purposes. According to the most recent and thorough
investigations, the improvement introduced by the Van Eycks, and which
they doubtless only very gradually worked out, were the following.
First, they removed the chief impediment which