--_Cowley's "Elegy on Sir Anthony Van Dyck"_

[Illustration: ANTHONY VAN DYCK]


The most common name in Holland is Van Dyck. Its simple inference is that
the man lives on the dyke, or near it. In the good old days when
villagers never wandered far from home, the appellation was sufficient,
and even now, at this late day, it is not especially inconsistent.

In Holland you are quite safe in addressing any man you meet as Van Dyck.

The ancient Brotherhood of Saint Luke, of Antwerp, was always an
exclusive affair, but during the years between Fifteen Hundred
Ninety-seven and Sixteen Hundred Twenty-three there were twenty-seven
artists by the name of Van Dyck upon its membership register. Out of
these two dozen and three names, but one interests us.

Anthony Van Dyck was the son of a rich merchant. He was born in the year
Fifteen Hundred Ninety-nine--just twenty-two years after the birth of
Rubens. Before Anthony was ten years old the name and fame of Rubens
illumined all Antwerp, and made it a place of pilgrimage for the faithful
lovers of art of Northern Europe.

The success of Rubens fired the ambition of young Van Dyck. His parents
fostered his desires, and after he had served an apprenticeship with the
artist Van Balen, a place was secured for him in the Rubens studio. For a
full year the ambitious Rubens took small notice of the Van Dyck lad, and
possibly would not have selected him then as a favorite pupil but for an