157. A LANDSCAPE: SUNSET.
Rubens (Flemish: 1577-1640). See 38.
For Rubens's landscapes see under 66. "It is to be noted, however, that the licenses taken by Rubens in particular instances are as bold as his general statements are sincere.... In the Sunset of our own Gallery many of the shadows fall at right angles to the light" (Modern Painters, vol. i. pt. ii. sec. i. ch. vii. § 15).
158. BOORS REGALING.
Teniers (Flemish: 1610-1694). See 154.
159. THE DUTCH HOUSEWIFE.
Nicolas Maes (Dutch: 1632-1693). See 153.
"There are few pictures in the National Gallery," says C. R. Leslie (Handbook for Young Painters, p. 243), "before which I find myself more often standing than at this." Its great attraction, he adds, is "the delight of seeing a trait of childhood we have often observed and been amused with in nature, for the first time so felicitously given by art." The Dutch housewife sits intently engaged in scraping a parsnip, whilst the child stands by her side "watching the process, as children will stand and watch the most ordinary operations, with an intensity of interest, as if the very existence of the whole world depended on the exact manner in which that parsnip was scraped." Note the Flemish kruik, or beer-jug, so often introduced into the pictures of Maes. Signed and dated 1655.
160. A "RIPOSO."
Mola (Eclectic-Bologna: 1612-1668). See 69.