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 5) (London: Smith and Son, 1834)

2 NICHOLAS BERGHEM.
handling, as well as the artificial tone of colouring,
and factitious manner of drawing, which characterise
his early productions, but which his subsequent studies
from nature successfully corrected.
It is not positively ascertained whether Berghem
ever visited Italy; but if an opinion may be formed
from the Views he represented, and the Buildings
therein introduced, there can be little doubt but that
he had made such a journey ; for not only has he
embodied in such scenes the genial warmth and at-
mospheric effect peculiar to the climate, but he has
also pourtrayed, with the same success, the costume
and manners of the inhabitants, all of which differ so
widely from those of his own country.
Berghem married the daughter of Jan Wils, a land-
scape painter of considerable merit* : it does not appear
that this union added greatly to his happiness. His
wife proved to be a woman whose ruling passion was
avarice; for the gratification of this vice, she com-
pelled her good-natured husband to work unremittingly
at the easel. Whenever her domestic occupations
obliged her to leave the room in which he worked,
she would still be on the watch ; and if he ceased
singing, or became quiet for a few minutes, she (be-
lieving him to be asleep), would knock the wainscot,
or ceiling, of the adjoining room, until he answered
her. Happily for the artist, his whole delight being
in his profession, the temper and coercive measures of
* Houbraken names this painter among the masters of Berghem ;
and it must be owned there is sufficient affinity to render it probable.
-—Vide an account of the Scholars and Imitators of Berghem.