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.

319

currents of wind across the valley, where, mixing with rising
vapours, they obscure the view of still more distant objects.
3 st. 4 in. by 6 ft. 5 in.—C.
Cumberland, in his Anecdotes of Spanish Painters, describes
with admirable force and clearness this extraordinary building and its
adjacent landscape ; he observes, “ that Philip having made a vow,
upon the victory of St. Quintin, to dedicate a church and monastery
to San Lorenzo, he began, in the midst of a solitary and frightful
desert, to displace the rocks, and compel them to take the shape of
an edifice.”—“ As a monastery it is vast and awful, fitly calcu-
lated to entomb the living and the dead ; as a palace, it is justly
emblematic of its founder, who, on the summit of the superincum-
bent mountain, was accustomed to sit and survey his rising fabric
in silent contemplation and delight.” He adds, “ the furious
gusts of wind that occasionally sweep from the impending mountains
surpass description : the Escurial is placed in the eddy of these
furious gusts ; neither man, nor beast, nor carriages, can stand
before them ; and to escape its effects, a subterraneous passage is
cut through the rock under the area of the court, for a communi-
cation with the town.” The long residence of the artist at the
court of Madrid must have afforded him frequent opportunities of
viewing this magnificent scene under the varied influence of raging
storms and tranquil sunshine ; and the excellent picture above
described exhibits it under its most solemn and gloomy aspect.
Now in the collection of the Earl of Egremont.
A picture, representing a similar view to the above, was sold
in the collection of Richard Cosway, Esq., R.A., by Mr. Stanley, in
1821, and bought by Messrs. Woodburn, for 44 gs.
2ft. 1 in. by 3ft. 1 in.—P.
A third, belonging to the Rev. Edward Balme, was exhibited
in the British Gallery in 1819.
A fourth, attributed to Rubens (but in reality is a capital picture
by Mompers), is in the collection of the Earl of Radnor.
7st. by 10ft. (about.)
A fifth occurs in the Dresden Gallery.-—-See p. 82.
This reduplication of the subject may be accounted for from
Mompers (an excellent landscape painter) having taken copies of