the painting is hard and dry, and the colouring monotonous. There are four fine pen and ink drawings by him in the British Museum, illustrative of the parable of the Prodigal Son. He was born in 1578, and died about 1629.

VOLLERDT, or VOLLAERT, J. C., a native of Leipsic, may be mentioned as having painted small views on the Rhine, in manner analogous to Saftleven and Griffier. They are spirited and pleasing pictures, but have not the fine qualities of their models; some of them have been engraved.

VORSTERMAN, JAN, born at Bommel in 1643, was a scholar of Herman Zachtleven, and like him painted views on the Rhine, with numerous boats and small figures. His colouring is chaste and agreeable, and his aërial perspective masterly; his figures are well drawn and touched with spirit. His life was one of vicissitudes, owing to his self-estimation. He died about the end of the seventeenth century.

WIT, or WITTE, GASPAR DE, painted small landscapes, ornamented with ruins of ancient architecture, of which he had made numerous designs during his residence in Italy. His selections and compositions are pleasing and ingenious, and his pictures highly finished. He was born at Antwerp in 1621, and died in 1673.

ZACHTLEVEN, or SAFTLEVEN, HERMAN, painted views on the borders of the Rhine and the Meuse in a neat and highlyfinished manner, and enlivened the scenes with a vast number of boats and figures, correctly drawn, and touched with spirit. His penciling is soft and fluent, yet firm, his colouring clear and transparent; his skies are light and floating; his aerial perspective and atmospheric effect skilful, making the gradation perfect. Zachtleven ranks at the head of his class. He was born at Rotterdam in 1609, and died at Utrecht in 1685.

MOONLIGHTS AND CONFLAGRATIONS.

BAUR, NICOLAS, an eminent modern Dutch painter of marine subjects, also represented landscapes by moonlight and under the aspect of winter. His works are so highly appreciated by his countrymen, that they are rarely seen out of Holland, and there only in the choicest collections.

BLONDEEL, LANSLOOT, painted conflagrations and architectural ruins, marked with his initials and a trowel, in allusion to his former occupation as a mason. See Landscapes

with Architectural Ruins.

BRAMER, LEONARD, painted conflagrations occasionally, but they are little known. See Imitators of Rembrandt.

BREUGHEL, JAN. There is the conflagration of a city by night in the Earl of Ellesmere's Collection, attributed to this artist. See Small Landscapes, Fruit and Flowers, &c.

BREUGHEL, PETER. See Drolleries and Devilries.

CUYP, ALBERT, is acknowledged to be superior to every other painter in the representation of sunlight in its modifications, according to the periods of the day and the state of the atmosphere; and a like superiority may be awarded to him in his moonlight scenes. Perhaps in the latter there is a still more enchanting effect, resulting from the quietude of night, the more obvious contrast of light and darkness in the luminary and surrounding clouds, the reflections from the water, and the different objects in the landscape, the natural gradations by which the light is diffused through every part of the picture, and the serenity and repose that nature presents under such influences. Cattle ruminating on the banks of the Maes, ships of war, fishermen's boats, and other small craft, at anchor on its bosom, or employed in their nightly avocation, are the most prominent objects on or near the

river; the old tower and the steeple of the church of Dort mark the locality.

See the articles, Albert Cuyp, Winter Pieces, Landscapes and Cattle, Horse and Cattle Fairs, Skirmishes of Cavalry, Portraits, Historical Subjects, &c., &c.

66

ELSHEIMER, ADAM, painted the effects of moonlight and torchlight admirably. In his master-piece, known as the Flight into Egypt," both are seen in perfection; and in the picture of Ceres drinking from a pitcher at the door of a cottage, known as "The Sorcery," the light from a candle held by an old woman is very forcible and illusive. See Small Landscapes and Figures.

ELZEVIER, ARNOULD, painted landscapes and conflagrations. He lived about the middle of the seventeenth century.

HACCOU, JAN CORNELIUS, a scholar of J. H. Koekkoek, among a variety of other subjects, painted landscapes by moonlight with the skill belonging to the school in which he was instructed. He died at London in 1839.

HEIL, DANIEL VAN, painted conflagrations in a superior style; among them are two particularly noticed, the burning of Sodom, and the destruction of Troy. He was born at Brussels in 1604, and, it is supposed, died in 1662.

HEYDE, OF HEYDEN, JAN VANDER, the very eminent painter of architecture, and views of towns and villages, made many highly-finished drawings of conflagrations; one of which represents the destruction of the Hotel de Ville, at Amsterdam, in 1652, and another of the Bourse; these are as elaborately executed as his pictures in oil, but perhaps with more apparent freedom. They are enlivened with figures actively employed in the endeavour to extinguish the flames. In some, the fire engines, of which he was the inventor or improver, are made conspicuous objects. As none of the Dictionaries of Painters notices Vander Heyde's performances in this department, it may be useful to know that he did employ his pencil on such subjects. See the article Jan Vander Heyde, under the head of Principal

Painters.

HONDIUS, ABRAHAM, painted conflagrations and towns on fire; but his chief excellence was in animal painting. See under that head.

HONTHORST, GERARD, called dalle Notti, was born at

Utrecht in 1592, but his chief studies were in Italy, where he imitated, to a considerable extent, the manner of Caravaggio. He delighted in bold contrasts of light and shadow, such as is produced by torchlight, and most of his subjects are scenes by night, in which he is considered excellent; it is to be regretted that they have not more of the Italian gusto and a better choice of figures. He came to England, painted portraits, and was patronized by Charles I. died in 1660. See Historical and Portrait Painters.

JORDAANS, HANS, painted both conflagrations and moonlights on a small scale.

KAMPER, G. It is said that an artist of this name imitated the works of Vanderneer with considerable success about the beginning of the eighteenth century; it is feared that these imitations have been misappropriated since. They may be detected by being much darker, colder, and less transparent than the real works of Vanderneer.

MARNE, JEAN LOUIS DE, occasionally painted moonlights. See Small Landscapes and Figures.

NEER, ARNOULD, or AART, VANDER, may be considered as the prince of moonlight painters for the truth and beauty of his representations, as they leave nothing to be desired in the selection and ordonnance of the views, the smartness of the penciling, and the transparency of the colouring.

The scene is generally a perspective view of a village near the bank of a river, the moon rising in the distance, partly obscured by the clouds of evening, "casting a dim religious light," or "riding at her highest noon," silvering the trees, the waters, and every object in the landscape with her brightest reflection. In either representation the eye and mind are captivated by the truth and calm beauty of the scene, exhibited with the perfection of pictorial art, and replete with the silent poetry of nature. Many of these are painted on a small scale, but may be considered as precious gems when found in their original purity.

A mistake has prevailed with regard to the figures in his larger landscapes, many supposing that they were inserted by other artists; there are good reasons for believing that they are by his own pencil. He was born at Amsterdam in 1619, and died in 1683. He marked his pictures A. V. D. N. in a monogram.

OVENS, JURIAN, a scholar of Rembrandt, painted landscape night-scenes, the figures and other objects being made visible by fires and burning torches; consequently the historical subjects introduced are meetings of conspirators, or of patriots consulting for the deliverance of their country from the oppression of foreign conquerors or domestic tyrants. He had a bold and forcible manner of painting, and the chiaroscuro is very effective; the colouring has the scientific combinations as seen in the works of the master by whom he was instructed. His pictures are rarely found in England under the right name. See Scholars of Rembrandt and Portrait Painters.

POEL, EGBERT VANDER, was a good painter of various subjects, some of which are in the manner of Brauwer and Teniers; but his chief excellence is in conflagrations and moonlights. His penciling is soft and mellow, and his colouring fit for the occasion, and there is vivacity of action in his figures. He flourished in the middle of the seventeenth century; the date 1654 is found on several pictures painted by him of the explosion of a powder magazine, which occurred at Delft in that year.

TYN, LAMBERT, a scholar of Van Regemorter, painted landscapes by moonlight, and conversations by candle-light. He was born at Antwerp in 1770, and died in 1816.

VLIET, HENRI VAN, painted landscapes by moonlight, and churches illumined by torches. See Painters of Interiors of Churches.

WELL, ARNOLD VAN, a scholar of Vermeulen, painted moonlight scenes occasionally, and also cabinet pictures in the manner of Abraham van Stry.