DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22423#0447
Letter XXXII. EAEL OF OXFORD'S COLLECTION".
435
called the Rainbow. The painter here gives us a view of one of
the wide and fertile plains of his native land. Groups of trees,
hedges, and high roads intersect the productive meadows, while
the rainbow in the sky, and the fresh green, show that a refresh-
ing shower has just passed. A peasant and two peasant women
are returning from harvest, while others are still at labour. In
the foreground are some cows in standing water, to which a
number of ducks are hastening. The keeping of this picture,
which is of marvellous power and clearness of colouring, is admir-
able, and the execution of all the numerous details spirited and
careful. This picture is equally admirable as the companion to it
in the National Gallery ; and I can quite imagine how Lord
Orford was induced to give the sum of 2600/. for it in 1823. 4 ft.
61 in. high, 7 ft. 9 in. wide. Wood.
Murillo.—Christ falling beneath the weight of his Cross ; the
Virgin, seen in profde, gazing upon him. Only these two figures,
life-size. This picture proves that, in the sphere of feeling, art
can attain even by means of realistic forms the highest excellence.
In the head of the Virgin, namely, sorrow of the intensest and
most noble and most resigned character is expressed; while the
pale but delicate and transparent colouring is in the finest har-
mony with the subject.
Velasquez.—Portrait of a Duchess of Ossuna : a beautiful
woman, and well painted, though in a manner differing from the
pictures I know by him.
Math^eus Grunewald.—An altar-piece with wings. In the
centre the Virgin and Child enthroned on the half-moon between
St. Catherine and St. Barbara; on the inner sides of the wings St.
George and St. Nicholas ; on the outer, three other saints. This
is the only picture by this great and rare German master that I
know in England. It displays in full measure that nobleness and
grandeur of heads and figures, good style of drapery, and powerful
and clear colouring which are proper to him. The moon, which
is painted with black outlines on silver, is here represented by a
face. No master's name is given to the picture here.
Andrea Sabbatini, called Andrea da Salerno.—1 and 2.
The two altar-pieces by this scholar of Raphael, who is seldom
seen but in the kingdom of Naples, are the only specimens I have
seen of him in England. The one represents a strange subject
—the Adoring of the Cross, which is erected in the centre, and em-
2 f 2
435
called the Rainbow. The painter here gives us a view of one of
the wide and fertile plains of his native land. Groups of trees,
hedges, and high roads intersect the productive meadows, while
the rainbow in the sky, and the fresh green, show that a refresh-
ing shower has just passed. A peasant and two peasant women
are returning from harvest, while others are still at labour. In
the foreground are some cows in standing water, to which a
number of ducks are hastening. The keeping of this picture,
which is of marvellous power and clearness of colouring, is admir-
able, and the execution of all the numerous details spirited and
careful. This picture is equally admirable as the companion to it
in the National Gallery ; and I can quite imagine how Lord
Orford was induced to give the sum of 2600/. for it in 1823. 4 ft.
61 in. high, 7 ft. 9 in. wide. Wood.
Murillo.—Christ falling beneath the weight of his Cross ; the
Virgin, seen in profde, gazing upon him. Only these two figures,
life-size. This picture proves that, in the sphere of feeling, art
can attain even by means of realistic forms the highest excellence.
In the head of the Virgin, namely, sorrow of the intensest and
most noble and most resigned character is expressed; while the
pale but delicate and transparent colouring is in the finest har-
mony with the subject.
Velasquez.—Portrait of a Duchess of Ossuna : a beautiful
woman, and well painted, though in a manner differing from the
pictures I know by him.
Math^eus Grunewald.—An altar-piece with wings. In the
centre the Virgin and Child enthroned on the half-moon between
St. Catherine and St. Barbara; on the inner sides of the wings St.
George and St. Nicholas ; on the outer, three other saints. This
is the only picture by this great and rare German master that I
know in England. It displays in full measure that nobleness and
grandeur of heads and figures, good style of drapery, and powerful
and clear colouring which are proper to him. The moon, which
is painted with black outlines on silver, is here represented by a
face. No master's name is given to the picture here.
Andrea Sabbatini, called Andrea da Salerno.—1 and 2.
The two altar-pieces by this scholar of Raphael, who is seldom
seen but in the kingdom of Naples, are the only specimens I have
seen of him in England. The one represents a strange subject
—the Adoring of the Cross, which is erected in the centre, and em-
2 f 2