Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/549

 In Belgium. 519 des murs, and Lc nouvel An en Flandre — for which works he received a medal of honour. In the London Exhibition of 1862, appeared, among others of his works, parts of the series of pictures executed for the town hall of Antwerp, illustrating the Freedom of Belgium — a work which is well known in England, as the greater part has been exhibited in the French Gallery, Pall Mall. The manners and customs and life of his own city in the Middle Ages live again on his canvas, treated with a hard distinctness that recalls mediaeval paintings. Learning, power, and skill, are so combined by him with genius, that his quaint original work took a high place during his life, and seems destined to exercise a lasting influence. Gustavus Wappers (1803 — 1874) was influenced, first by the works of Rubens and Van Dyck, and subsequently by the Romantic School of Paris. His picture of The Self-devotion of the Burgomaster of Leyden, exhibited in 1830, made for him a reputation which his subsequent works amply justified. Eugene Joseph Verboeckhoven (1799 — 1881), the animal painter, is as popular in Belgium as Sir Edwin Landseer is in England. His works, executed with great truth to nature, frequently represent sheep : examples have been exhibited in England from time to time.