Second Period of the Renaissance - Court of Mary of Hungary - Charles V a Fleming - Influence of Burgundian Court in Spain - Gilded Leather - Wealth of the Nobles in the Netherlands - Margaret of Valois at Namur - Antwerp in the Sixteenth Century - Christopher Plantin - Cornelius and James Floris - Jerome Cock - Hans and Paul de Vries - Jacques van Noye - Famous Designers - Characteristics of the Second Period of the Renaissance - Bedsteads, Tables and Chairs, Armoires, Cabinets and Chests - Porcelain, Glass and Glass Cupboards - Windows and Glass-painters - Guicciardini on the Artists of the Low Countries - Paul de Vries - Crispin de Passe the Elder - the Collaerts - Wood-carving - Music and Musical Instruments.

THE first half of the sixteenth century in western Europe was completely filled with the ambitions, intrigues and wars of three powerful sovereigns - Charles V, Francis I and Henry VIII. Each of these was a chivalrous and luxurious monarch, devoted to the arts, science and literature. At their courts, the Renaissance received every encouragement; and at their death, half-way through the century, the Renaissance is generally regarded as entering on its second period. Henry and Francis both died in 1547, and Charles in 1558.

On the death of Margaret of Austria in 1530, Charles had intrusted the government of his Burgundian inheritance to his sister, Mary of Hungary. She was as liberal a patron of the arts as her aunt Margaret had been. She kept a splendid court, and was entirely in sympathy with the new school. The artists who were struggling against foreign influence could not look to Mary for support. The stream of Flemish pilgrims to Rome was constantly broadening; and the Romanists under her Regency gained disciples daily in Brussels, Mechlin, Liege and Antwerp.

At this period, the Low Countries bowed to no foreign authority in the art domain except the Italian. It must be borne in mind that Charles was a prince of the House of Burgundy, who had been brought up by his aunt, the daughter of the heiress of Burgundy, and the Emperor of Austria. He was a Fleming by birth and training. He was born at Ghent in 1500, and spent the first sixteen years of his life in the Netherlands. His pride in his natal town is well known. It is recorded in his famous pun - that he could put the whole of Paris in his Gant (glove). Spanish influence, therefore, did not affect the studios and workshops of the Flemish hives of industry till late in the century; for when Charles went to Spain, his train was full of Flemings, who influenced Spanish art; but we find no return influx of Spaniards to modify Flemish art. The splendid traditions of the Court of Burgundy still dominated in the Low Countries; and its unbending formality survives in Spain to-day. When Philip II joined his father Charles V in Brussels in 1548, his natural inclination led him readily to adopt the multitudinous equipage and minute and pompous etiquette of his Burgundian ancestors; all this he retained and transmitted to his descendants.

Till the end of the century, the Flemish Renaissance was a domestic development of purely Italian inspiration. The principal things that the Netherlands obtained from the Iberian peninsula were ornamental leather and Oriental wares, through Lisbon.

The Renaissance gave a great impetus to gilded leathers, the manufacture of which was still flourishing at Cordova and increasing in the Netherlands. It would seem that workmen emigrated from Spain to other countries. Tomaso Gazoni in his Piazza universale (1560) writes regarding gilded leather: "Some people think that the origin of this noble work is due to Spain, because from that country come the best masters of modern times who have obtained the greatest renown in this kind of work." A native of Cordova, Ambrosio Morales, writing in 1575, says: "This manufacture brings much wealth to the town, and also gives a fine appearance to its principal streets. In truth, when these stamped, painted and gilded leathers are spread out on large tables to dry in the sun they make a beautiful sight, for the streets are adorned with the greatest splendour and variety."

The inventories of the period show us how important was the use of leather. Margaret of Austria has at Mechlin in 1527 several pieces of "tapisserie de marro-quin," as we have noted.

The gilded leather was often called or bazane and regarded as a mark of opulence. For instance, Pierre Binard, a tapestry-worker and author of a collection of Noels, dedicated to Marguerite, wife of Henri IV, says in one of his verses:

Au moins est-elle bien coeffee

De fins rezeaux? Et sa couche est-elle estoffee

De beaux rideaux? Son ciel n'est-il pas de brodeure

Tout campane? N'a-t-il pas aussi pour bordeure

L'or bazane?

The nobles vied with royalty in luxury, and the beautiful tapestries, furniture, gold and silver work, enamels, etc., found ready sale. Such magnificent homes as the Counts of Egmont excited the anger of the populace; and those of many successful artists and rich merchants were hardly inferior.

The clergy did not suffer either. Granvella, for example, made Bishop of Arras, and chief adviser to Philip II in all the affairs of the Netherlands, had a magnificent establishment. His furniture, tapestry and other personalty amounted to no less than £50,000.

Contemporary travellers are constantly speaking of the startling splendours they encountered in the Low Countries. When Marguerite of Valois, Queen of Navarre, who was certainly used to splendour, went to Spa in 1577, with the excuse to drink the waters, but really to intrigue in Hainault so as to advance the interests of her brother, the Duke d'Alencon, in the Netherlands, she was received at Namur by Don Juan of Austria. When this gallant escort, who rode by her litter, escorted the Queen to her lodgings, she was "astonished at the magnificence of the apartments." 1 A superb hall gorgeously furnished led into a series of chambers. The bedroom and bed prepared for the Queen were hung with superb tapestries, which, appropriately enough, represented the Battle of Lepanto.

1 Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois. 100