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)

280

CLAUDE LORRAINE.

Landscapes.
159- Mercury and Battus. The scene here delineated
represents a beautiful pastoral country, with a cluster of
young trees of various kinds growing amidst bushes on a
rocky eminence near the centre; beyond these and on the
right, are the ruins of a temple on the verge of a grove. In
the opposite side the eye looks over a ssat country in which are
perceived various buildings on the bank of a large river. On
the same side and close to the front is the shepherd of Admetus,
sitting in the shade of a chesnut tree, his attention is directed
to Mercury, who, with a caduceus on his shoulder, appears to
be accosting him, pointing at the same time to a herd of oxen,
three of which are going towards a pond in which four others
are drinking. Painted in 1663, for an amateur at Antwerp.
Engraved by Peake, in 1766.—See also Nos. 128, 131, and
170.
2 st. 5 in. by 3ft. 7 in.—C.
Now in the collection of the Duke of Devonshire.

160. Tobias and the Angel. The view represents a fertile
and well-watered country, under the appearance of a fine
morning at sun-rise. A river passes in an oblique direction
along the left of the fore-ground, and is crossed in the second
distance by a bridge, composed of two arches, over which a
peasant has just passed with a herd of cattle, and is going
towards a large cluster of trees on the left. The view from
the bridge offers a finely undulated scene, embellished with a
tasteful edifice of Roman architecture, beyond which is seen a
noble river, bounded on one side by hills. The subject
already stated, is introduced on the right of the fore-ground,
where Tobias is seen stooping over a large fish, which he has
just taken in the adjacent river, while the angel stands by,
directing him how to proceed. A boat with two men in it is