920. ORPHEUS.
Roelandt Savery (Dutch: 1576-1639).
Savery, a painter of Courtrai, was instructed by his brother at Amsterdam. His works show the influence of Jan Breughel. He visited France in the reign of Henry IV., by whom he was employed in the royal palaces. He was subsequently invited to Prague by the Emperor Rudolph II., in whose service he spent several years.
A not very poetical rendering of the poetical legend of the power of music:—
You shall perceive them make a mutual stand,
Their savage eyes turn'd to a modest gaze
By the sweet power of music: therefore the poet
Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and floods;
Since naught so stockish, hard, and full of rage,
But music for the time doth change his nature.
Merchant of Venice, Act v. Sc. 1.