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 3) (London: Smith and Son, 1831)

VAN DYCK.

75

National Gallery.
These pictures are also ascribed to Van Dyck, and, if correctly
so, must have been copied from inferior portraits.
250. Portrait of a Roman Emperor.
This picture is stated to have been painted by order of Charles,
to complete a set of the twelve Emperors; the eleven being by the
hand of Titian.

NATIONAL GALLERY.
251. A Portrait, styled Gevartius*. It represents a gentle-
man, about sixty years of age, seen in nearly a front view ; the
hair is thin and gray, as are also the beard and mustacheos. A
full white ruff adorns the neck, and a black mantle envelopes
the body.
2 ft. 7 in. by 2 ft. 2 in.—P.
Engraved by Sievier, T. Woolnoth, and George Doo.
This universally-admired picture is remarkable for the beauty,
freshness, and variety of its tints, and the rich impasto with which
it is painted, or rather modelled. The capacious forehead exhibits
in perfection the smooth polish of nature which that part presents,
and expresses at the same time the delicate undulations of the os
frontis; the soft and lucid peculiarity of the eyes are given with
equal fidelity, and convey the studious intelligence of the individual.
Tradition states that the artist was so sensible of the excellence of
this production, that he frequently carried it with him as an example
of his talents. But, with all due deference to its numerous ad-
mirers, there are many pictures by this artist’s hand which are much
more agreeable to the eye of the connoisseur, having less of the
manoeuvre os the palette about them.
* This is evidently an error, as Gevartius was not more than thirty or thirty-
five years of age at the time the picture was painted, and from the similitude of
the countenance to the portrait of Vander Gheest it is probably the portrait of
that person.—See descriptions of both these gentlemen in this Catalogue.