Smith, John: A catalogue raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French painters: in which is included a short biographical notice of the artists, with a copious description of their principal pictures : a statement of the prices at which such pictures have been sold at public sales on the continent and in England; a reference the the galleries and private collections in which a large portion are at present; and the names of the artists by whom they have been engraved; to which is added, a brief notice of the scholars & imitators of the great masters of the above schools (Part 2) (London: Smith and Son, 1830)

RUBENS.

161

having been engraved; and the descriptions, in some instances, are
taken from those prints. It should also be kept in mind, that the
attachment of Rubens to this lady (she being his second wife, and
only sixteen when he married her), together with her extraordinary
beauty, must have been great inducements to the artist to repeat her
portrait so frequently, and also to introduce it in most of his com-
positions. Facius has engraved a print of Helena Forman, from a
picture then in the possession of the Duke of Norfolk.
560. A Portrait of the Duke of Mantua’s brother, repre-
sented clad in armour. — Vide Catalogue of Charles I.,
No. XL, p. 127.
2 ft. 1 in. by I st. 10—P.
561. An Allegorical Subject, allusive to Peace and War.
In the centre of the composition, which consists of fourteen
figures, is a beautiful female naked, pressing milk from her
breast into the mouth of an infant; on her right, and nearer
the front, is a satyr bending on his knee, and casting from
a cornucopia a quantity of fruit (with the twigs of which a
leopard is playing) towards three children who are approaching,
under the guidance of two cupids ; one of whom holds a torch,
and is placing a chaplet on the head of the eldest child ; behind
the satyr are two nymphs, one bearing vessels of gold and
silver, and the other playing a tamborine. In the rear of this
group, which represents Harmony, Peace, and Plenty, is seen
Minerva protecting them from the intrusion of War, personified
by an armed man, accompanied by two harpies. A landscape
forms the back-ground. This capital production is more dis-
tinguished for the splendour of its colour and the display of
masterly execution, than for the excellence of its composition
or the propriety of the allegory.
Qft. 5 in. by 9 ft. 8 in.—C.
The history of this picture states, that Rubens presented it to
Charles I., about the year 1630; and in the catalogue of that
monarch’s pictures, made in 1649, it is inserted under the title of
Peace and Plenty (No. I., p. 3) ; and again under that of Peace
and War (No. XIII., p, 86), and is there valued at 100Z. It subse-
VOL. II. M