Buchanan, William: Memoirs of painting: with a chronological history of the importation of pictures by the great masters into England since the French Revolution (Band 1) (London: Ackermann, 1824)

198

ORLEANS COLLECTION.

closely, seem to have been placed together by
the effect of chance, but which all appear at a
short distance to harmonize. His pictures which
have been painted with the most apparent facility
are those which have been most admired ; of which
may be cited the little picture of the adoration of
the Magi, lately in Mr. Angerstein’s collection,
and lately purchased by the Government, which
far surpasses that in his more laboured manner,
also in the same collection, called La femme adul-
tere. One of the most capital pictures in his
broad and rich manner, and on which also he has
bestowed great pains to render it a chef-d’oeuvre, is
that known by the name of the Centurion, which
was formerly in the possession of Sir Thomas
Baring, and is now in the collection of his present
Majesty.
The amateurs of Rembrandt are often apt to
carry their admiration of his works too far. As
a colourist he has produced effects which are
wonderful in themselves; but when we regard
the general colouring of his compositions more
critically, and with reference to the works of Ru-
bens, one of the great contemporaries of that period,
they suffer in a manner which can hardly be cre-
dited. In the gallery of Munich, where many of
the most celebrated compositions of Rembrandt
are brought into contact with the works of Ru-