the painter has accomplished his purpose; which is more than can be said of two heads by Rubens of St. Peter and St. Paul, in the same sacristy, which are neither a good representation of individual or general nature however, each of these heads is enshrined in a rich tabernacle of silver, locked up, and shown only on high festivals. The great reputation which Rubens has so justly acquired, is here extended to pictures slightly painted, and which perhaps he himself would be ashamed. to acknowledge as his: they appear to have nothing to recommend them, but a tint of colour and lightness of pencil; a merit which indeed Rubens seldom wanted: they are insipid, without grace, dignity, or character of any kind.

Church of Notre Dame.

MICHEL ANGELO.-The Virgin and Christ (Bambino) in marble, said to be of Michel Angelo. It has certainly the air of his school, and is a work of considerable merit; it was a prize taken by a Dutch Corsair going from Civita Vecchia to Genoa.

GHENT.

The Cathedral.

RUBENS. In this great Church is the St. Bavon of Rubens. This picture was formerly the ornament of the high altar of this cathedral, but was displaced to make room for an ordinary piece of sculpture. When Rubens was thus degraded, one may conclude his fame was then not established: he had not been dead long enough to be canonised, as he may be said to be at present. It is now placed in a chapel behind the great altar. The saint is represented in the upper

part of the picture, in armour, kneeling, received by a priest at the door of a church; below is a man who may be supposed to be his steward, giving money to the poor. Two women are standing by, dressed in the fashion of the times when Rubens lived; one of them appears to be pulling off a chain which falls from her neck, as if she intended to follow the example before her. This picture, for composition, colouring, richness of effect, and all those qualities in which Rubens more particularly excelled, claims a rank amongst his greatest and best works. It is engraved by Pilsen.

HUBERT and JOHN VAN EYCK. In a chapel is a work of the brothers Hubert and John Van Eyck, representing the Adoration of the Lamb, a story from the Apocalypse: it contains a great number of figures in a hard manner, but there is great character of truth and nature in the heads; and the landscape is well coloured.

GERARD HONTHORST. In the third Chapel on the right, is a picture of St. Sebastian, by Gerard Honthorst (1663). This picture is mentioned, not for any great excellence that it possesses, but from its being much talked of here: people fancy they see great expression of tenderness in the woman who is drawing the arrows from the Saint's body; but she appeared to me perfectly insipid, and totally without expression of any kind; the head of St. Sebastian is hard and disagreeable; the body indeed is well drawn and not ill coloured, and is the only part of the picture that deserves any commendation.

St. Michael's Church.

VANDYCK. In this church is, or rather was the famous crucifixion of Vandyck; for it is almost de

stroyed by cleaning. It is well-known by the fine print of Bolswert, and it appears by what remains to have been one of his most capital works.

Vandyck has here introduced a most beautiful horse in an attitude of the utmost grace and dignity. This is the same horse on which he drew Charles the Fifth, which is in the gallery at Florence; the head of the Emperor he copied from Titian.

St. John's hand in this picture comes round the Virgin Mary's neck, and falls on the other shoulder. The first impression of Bolswert's plate has this circumstance; but it was afterwards changed, being supposed to be too familiar an attitude.

SEGERS.-Christ scourged, by Segers; the arm finely drawn, and the body well coloured, but too large.

LANG JAN.-St. Hubert, a well-painted and wellcomposed picture, by Lang Jan.

The Recollets.

RUBENS. The high altar; a profane allegorical picture by Rubens. Christ with Jupiter's thunder and lightning in his hand, denouncing vengeance on a wicked world, represented by a globe lying on the ground with the serpent twined round it: this globe St. Francis appears to be covering and defending with his mantle. The Virgin is holding Christ's hand, and showing her breasts; implying, as I suppose, the right she has to intercede and have an interest with him whom she suckled. The Christ, which is ill-drawn, in an attitude affectedly contrasted, is the most ungracious figure that can be imagined: the best part of the picture is the head of St. Francis.

Mary Magdalen expiring, supported by ill-drawn

angels, by Rubens; the saint herself old and disagreeable.

St. Francis receiving the Stimate, likewise by Rubens ; —a figure without dignity, and more like a beggar: though his dress is mean, he ought surely to be represented with the dignity and simplicity of a Saint. Upon the whole, Rubens would appear to no great advantage at Ghent, if it was not for the picture of St. Bavon.

St. Nicholas Church.

N. ROOSE. -The great altar, representing some history of this saint, is painted by N. Roose, a painter of no great merit; but this is far superior to any other of his works, which are plentifully dispersed over Flanders. It is of a mellow colour, and has great force and brilliancy it is illuminated by torch-light, but so well managed, as to have nothing of that diragreeable effect which Honthorst, Segers, Schalcken, and others, gave to their pictures, when they represented nightpieces.

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ROMBOUTS.-St. Joseph advertised by an Angel, by Rombouts. The angel is an upright figure, and treads the air with great grace; his countenance is likewise beautiful, as is also that of the Virgin.

Alost St. Martin.

RUBENS.-St. Rock interceding with

Christ for

The compo

the deceased of the plague, by Rubens. sition is upon the same plan as that of St. Bavon at Ghent. The picture is divided into two parts; the Saint and Christ are represented in the upper part, and the effects of the plague in the lower part of the picture. In this piece the grey is rather too predominant, and the figures have not that union with

their ground which is generally so admirable in the works of Rubens. I suspect it has been in some picture-cleaner's hands, whom I have often known to darken every part of the ground about the figure, in order to make the flesh look brighter and clearer; by which the general effect is destroyed. There is a

print from this picture by P. Pontius.

BRUSSELS.

St. Gudule.

RUBENS.-B. VAN ORLAY.-Christ's charge to Peter with two of the Apostles. The characters heavy without grace or dignity; the handling, on a close examination, appears tame even to the suspicion of its being a copy the colouring is remarkably fresh. The name of Rubens would not stand high in the world, if he had never produced other pictures than such as this. On the same pillar is a Pieta of B. Van Orlay, with six portraits of the family who presented this picture to the church. The old man who appears to be the father, has great nature, but hard, as the whole picture is in a dry Gothic style.

Unshod Carmelites.

RUBENS. The high altar; the Assumption by Rubens. The principal figure, the Virgin, is the worst in the composition, both in regard to the character of the countenance, the drawing of the figure, and even its colour; for she is dressed, not in what is the fixed dress of the Virgin, blue and red, but entirely in a colour between blue and grey, heightened with white; and this, coming on a white Glory, gives a deadness to that