William Henry James Weale (8 March 1832 – 26 April 1917) was a British art historian who lived and worked most of his life in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

and was one of the first to research the

Early Netherlandish painting Early Netherlandish painting, traditionally known as the Flemish Primitives, refers to the work of artists active in the Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands during the 15th- and 16th-century Northern Renaissance period. It flourished especiall ...

(then better known as "Flemish Primitives") extensively. He was also a pioneer in the study of early

bookbinding Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, b ...

, and a staunch promoter of

Gothic Revival architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

Biography

Weale was born in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

, London, in 1832 as the son of James Weale (died 1838) and Susan de Vezian (died 1855). His father was the librarian to John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield and had a large book collection of his own. Weale had two sisters Henrietta and the philanthropist Charlotte Julia Weale. Weale studied at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

between 1843 and 1848. He was the headmaster at a school in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

. In 1854, he married Helena Amelia Walton, and the next year, after the death of his mother, they moved to Bruges. Weale was already interested in early Flemish art, and could pursue that interest much better in Flanders. He produced his first books on the topic in 1861. He was a member of the Belgian Royal Commission for Art and Architecture from 1860, and the Belgian Royal Commission for Monuments from 1861 on. In August 1863, in the wake of the first of the

Malines Congresses The Malines Congresses were a series of Catholic Congresses held in Mechelen (french: Malines), Belgium, with the purpose of bringing together Catholics with leading roles in all walks of life, on the model of the German ''Katholikentage''.M. Defo ...

, he founded the

Guild of Saint Thomas and Saint Luke The Guild of Saint Thomas and Saint Luke (french: Gilde de St-Thomas et St-Luc), founded in 1863 during the first of the Malines Congresses, was a Belgian association for the study and promotion of Medieval art from a Christian perspective. Activ ...

, an association to study and promote Christian art. Weale was a devout converted Roman Catholic and was inspired by

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

and his 1841 work '' The true principles of pointed or Christian architecture''. Besides Weale as secretary, other members of the initial guild included the first president, the Belgian

Charles-Joseph Voisin Charles-Joseph Voisin (1802–1872) was a Belgian Catholic clergyman and art historian. Life Voisin was born in Frasnes-lez-Buissenal on 5 December 1802. He studied at the college of Tournai and the college of Soignies. He was ordained priest in 1 ...

, and as vice-presidents the Dutch

Joseph Albert Alberdingk Thijm Joseph Albert Alberdingk Thijm (8 July 1820 – 17 March 1889) was a Dutch writer. In his triple capacity of art critic, philologist, and poet, Alberdingk Thijm was an important figure of Catholic literature. After finishing his studies in his nat ...

and the German

Franz Johann Joseph Bock Franz Johann Joseph Bock (1823–1899) was a German theologian, archaeologist, and art historian.Conant, p. 770 '' a German theologian and archaeologist, bom at Burtscheid in 1823. He was educated at Bonn, became chaplain at Crefeld in 1850, then ...

. In 1865 Weale founded together with

Guido Gezelle Guido Pieter Theodorus Josephus Gezelle (1 May 1830 – 27 November 1899) was an influential writer and poet and a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium. He is famous for the use of the West Flemish dialect. Life Gezelle was born in Bruges in ...

the magazine '' Rond den Heerd''. The same year he formed the ''Société Archéologique'' in Bruges. Other magazines he founded were ''Le Beffroi'' and ''La Flandre'', and he also published in major art and literary magazines such as ''

Athenaeum Athenaeum may refer to: Books and periodicals * ''Athenaeum'' (German magazine), a journal of German Romanticism, established 1798 * ''Athenaeum'' (British magazine), a weekly London literary magazine 1828–1921 * ''The Athenaeum'' (Acadia U ...

'' and the ''

Gazette des Beaux-Arts The ''Gazette des Beaux-Arts'' was a French art review, founded in 1859 by Édouard Houssaye, with Charles Blanc as its first chief editor. Assia Visson Rubinstein was chief editorial secretary under the direction of George Wildenstein from 1936 ...

''. In 1864 he curated an exhibition on ecclesiastical art in

Mechelen Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

, and in 1867 he organised the first exhibition around the Flemish Primitives in Bruges, for which he also wrote the catalogues. In 1872, Weale catalogued the Flemish pottery at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

(then named the South Kensington Museum) where he became a curator in 1874. In 1879, he returned to England with his family and founded there the Guild of Saint Gregory and Saint Luke. He became the curator of the library of the South Kensington Museum in 1890, where he remained until his retirement in 1897. He started writing artist biographies, with one on

Gerard David Gerard David (c. 1460 – 13 August 1523) was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color. Only a bare outline of his life survives, although some facts are known. He may have been the Meester ...

appearing in 1895, another about

Hans Memling Hans Memling (also spelled Memlinc; c. 1430 – 11 August 1494) was a painter active in Flanders, who worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. He was born in the Middle Rhine region and probably spent his childhood in Mainz. He ...

in 1901, and a final and most ambitious one on the Van Eyck brothers in 1908, with a revised edition in 1912. Meanwhile, in 1902, he organised the ambitious

Exposition des primitifs flamands à Bruges The Exposition des primitifs flamands à Bruges (''Exhibition of Flemish Primitives at Bruges'') was an art exhibition of paintings by the so-called Flemish Primitives (nowadays usually called Early Netherlandish painters) held in the Provincia ...

, the largest exposition of works by Early Netherlandish painters up till then, which was groundbreaking and the source of many publications and research. Weale died on 26 April 1917 in

Clapham Common Clapham Common is a large triangular urban park in Clapham, south London, England. Originally common land for the parishes of Battersea and Clapham, it was converted to parkland under the terms of the Metropolitan Commons Act 1878. It is of gr ...

, London and was buried at the church of St. Mary Magdalene,

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes. For many centu ...

, near Richmond in Surrey. When his sister, Charlotte, a keen Anglican, died in 1918 she left instructions that no Roman Catholics should be allowed in her house after she died.

Works

*1849: ''Flores Ecclesiae: the saints of the Catholic Church arranged according to the calendar: with the flowers dedicated to them'', London, James Burns *1853: ''Sequentiae ineditae'' *1858: ''Des dalles et cuivres tumulaires'', De Busscher *1859: ''A new guide-book to Belgium, Aix-la-Chapelle and Cologne'' *1859: ''Some observations on guide-books'' (Bruges) *1859: ''Ivoires sculptés de Genoels-Elderen, près de Tongres'', Hebbelinck *1861: ''Catalogue du musée de l'Académie de Bruges'', Beyaert-Defoort *1861: ''Notes sur Jan van Eyck'' *1862: ''Bruges et ses environs : description des monuments, objets d'art et antiquités, précédée d'une notice historique'', Beyaert-Defoort (4th edition in 1884) *1865
''Hans Memlinc: A notice on his life and works''

Arundel Society The Arundel Society, often called the Arundel Club, was founded in London in 1849 and named after the Earl of Arundel, the famous collector of the Arundel Marbles and one of the first great English patrons and lovers of the arts. The society was or ...

*1886: ''Catalogus missalium ritus latini'', Bernard Quaritch *1889
''Analecta Liturgica''
*1894-1898: ''Bookbindings and rubbings of bookbindings in the National Art Library'', South Kensington Museum *1895
''Gerard David: Painter and Illuminator''
Seeley *1898: ''Early painting at Bruges'' *1898: ''Jean Le Breton, Prototypographe Français'' *1900: ''The Van Eycks'' *1901
''Hans Memlinc''
*1908
''Hubert and John Van Eyck, Their Life and Work, Volume 1''
J. Lane *1922: ''Early stamped bookbindings in the British Museum'' (completed by Lawrence Taylor after Weale's death)

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weale, William Henry James 1832 births 1917 deaths People from Marylebone British art historians

Biography

Works

Notes

Further reading

External links