Schalcken's chief merit consists in the neatness of his finishing and the perfect intelligence of his chiaroscuro. His touch is mellow, but too fused, and his color warm and golden.
His Other Pictures.—The other pictures here are A Young Man Smoking; Difference in Taste, in which two men are talking, while another lights his pipe; and two Female Portraits, one of an ambassador's daughter, and the other her companion.
Slingelandt, Another Imitator of Dou.—Pieter Cornelisz van Slingelandt (1640-91) is another pupil and a close imitator of Dou; and almost surpasses him in laborious execution. He reached the limits of what can be done by a painter in oils. All his work seems to have been done under the impression that imitation is the sole end of art.
His Skill in Delicately Minute Painting.—Naturally he excelled in still-life painting, in which nothing was too minute for him to endeavor to reproduce on his canvas. His brush indicates the weft of the most delicate tissues; the coloring matter, almost microscopically divided, gives a tone to every stitch in a linen hood or cap, or a knitted stocking. On a panel of the smallest size you can sometimes distinguish the shadow, half tone, and high light of each of the pearls in a necklace; sometimes also a cat's whiskers, and even the hairs on the skin of a mouse. Sometimes a piece of lace is rendered with such labor that it took more time to paint than to make. The consequence is that his pictures are very scarce: not fifty are known.
His Favorite Subjects.—Though as a rule he preferred the luxury and elegance of high life, with its marbles and richly carved furniture, upholstery and tapestry, jewels and laces, silks and satins, velvets and furs, he also sometimes chose models of humble estate. The Rehearsal is a masterpiece in this class. Here a man is playing a violin while a boy is singing and a woman preparing dinner. The other example of his art is quite in contrast with the above. It is called The Rich Man, and on it Slingelandt has lavished all the resources of his brush. Blanc says:
"He painted the merchant at his counter and the lacemaker at her distaff, the housekeeper purchasing partridges or getting dinner ready, and the woman of the people occupied in sewing beside the cradle in which her infant is sleeping. From the richly furnished salon Slingelandt descended to the scullery and took pleasure in looking at the rows of shining pots and pans, and other kitchen utensils. He observed the correct tone of the servant's apron as well as that of the silken skirt he had painted in her mistress's portrait. He devoted as much attention to imitating the polish of a brass vase or the rough varnish of an earthenware pot, as to expressing the transparency of a Bohemian glass. Cats and mice were also honored with his precious painting, as well as parrots and spaniels. But what he rendered with most love and with unequalled truth was the musical instrument. His violins are light, and sonorous; his violoncellos provoke the virtuoso and enchant the ear almost as much as the eye. One would say that nothing escaped his observation, nothing of what constituted private and family life, that which he himself lived in obscurity, the simplicity and joys of which he painted with so much application, finish, and patience."
Adriaen de Vois.—Arie (or Adriaen) de Vois (about 1630-80) studied first under Nicholas Knupfer in Utrecht, next with Abraham van den Tempel, and lastly with Pieter van Slingelandt, whose highly finished style he followed with great success. He painted charming scenes of familiar life, lovely portraits, interiors, and even landscapes, in which he introduced, in the style of Poelenburg, tiny nude figures. The Dutch collectors have always prized them for the delicacy of their color and touch and vivacity.
A. DE VOIS
Lady and Parrot
Description of The Lady with a Parrot.—In his Lady with a Parrot, the lady is rather French in type, and dressed in the most fashionable style of the period. Her earrings are wonderfully painted and perhaps even more realistic are the fruits in the basket which she holds on her knee, and from which she offers her parrot a tempting treat. Every detail of this picture is perfect in treatment—the dress, the hair, the face, the jewels, the still life, and the brilliant feathers of the bird.