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 8) (London: Smith and Son, 1837)

xlviii

THE LIFE OF

predominant passion sor the art alone enabled him to
work while susfering under a severe infirmity.

“ January 1665.
“ I have not been able to reply earlier to your
“ savour—which M. Le Prieur of St. Clementin, your
“ brother, put into my hands some time after his
“ arrival in this city—in consequence of a severe cold,
“ which, added to my usual infirmities, has occasioned
“ me acute suffering, and still continues to do so; I
“ now beg to thank you for your remembrance of
“ me, and in particular sor the kindness you have done
“ me, in concealing from my knowledge the wish ex-
“ pressed by M. Le Prince to have some of my works.
££ It is now too late; no one can be well served. I
££ am become infirm, and paralysis has enfeebled my
“ hand; I have, therefore, for some time past relin-
“ quished the pencil, and my thoughts are directed
££ to another world; my end approaches—my race is
“ run.
“ We have N. who writes on the works of modern
“ painters, with a notice also of their lives. His style
££ is inflated, and the matter wholly destitute of wit,
“ taste, and knowledge; for he treats the art of
££ painting as if it were a thing possessing neither
“ theory nor practice. Many (it is true) who have
“ dared to attempt it, have been punished with the
££ ridicule they justly merited.”
In a letter written shortly after the decease of his
wife, to M. Chantelou, recommending to that gentle-
man’s notice his relations at Andely, he says, “ that it