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 7) (London: Smith and Son, 1836)

40

REMBRANDT VAN RlIYN.

New Testament Subjects.
on ladders, two of whom are at the top of the cross, and one of
them holds the left arm of the Saviour; the other, while assisting,
has the hem of the sheet with which the body is lowered under
his arm; the other two persons are also on ladders on either
side, receiving it in their arms; four men are at the foot of the
cross aiding, and one of these has evidently a light, although
that object is not visible to the spectator; a second, standing
with his back to the spectator, appears to be Joseph of
Arimathea; in addition to these is a youth on a ladder with a
candle in his hand, the light of which he screens with his cap.
The mother of our Lord is seen sitting on the ground, clasping
her hands in an agony of grief, and Mary Magdalen and
Silome are at the foot of the cross. A group of persons,
among whom is a female fainting, occupy the left of the pic-
ture, and on the opposite side are seen three women spreading
linen on the ground to receive the body of their Lord. The
deep and solemn gloom in which both earth and sky are
immured, form a powerful contrast to the artificial lights which
illumine the subject. Engraved by Le Bas.
The conquests of 1806 transferred this picture from the
Hesse Cassel Gallery to the collection of the Empress Jose-
phine, at Malmaison, and the entrance of the Allies into Paris,
in 1814, caused it to be sold to the Emperor Alexander.
A Picture corresponding with the preceding is engraved by
Hess.
5_/Z. 4 in. by 3ft. Sin.— C.
Now in the Palace of the Hermitage, at St. Petersburg!!.

95. The Descent from the Cross. The painful ceremony
described in the preceding, is ended, and the body of the
Saviour here lies extended on some drapery in front, while the
afflicted Virgin, wearing a scarlet hood, is bending mournfully