different pictures offered in this country under his name, for his genuine works are rare in England, but may be found in the richest collections elsewhere. He was born at Amsterdam in 1632, and died in 1678.

SEGERS, HERCULES. See Scholars and Imitators of Rembrandt.

SMEES, JAN, a Dutch painter and engraver, flourished in the early part of the eighteenth century. That he was a painter of landscapes with figures, animals, and ruins, is only known by his prints, and the composition and manner of these have such a strong resemblance to Jan Both, that he may be considered as an imitator of that master. Nothing, however, can be said of his penciling and colouring, until a picture corresponding with one of his beautiful etchings is discovered.

SOLEMACKER, J. F. See Scholars and Imitators of Ber

chem.

STRY, JACOB VAN. See Imitators of Albert Cuyp. SWANEVELT, HERMAN, though a native of Holland, should be considered, properly, as an Italian artist, as he passed the greatest part of his life in studying and painting the beautiful scenery of that country. So much was he devoted to the study of nature, that he obtained the cognomen of "the hermit of Italy." He is distinguished by the peculiar form and foliage of his trees, the warmth and tenderness of his tints, and the delicate gradation in the aerial perspective. He embellishes his landscapes, which sometimes approach the heroic, with ancient ruins, and with cattle and figures, entirely Italian, designed with taste and elegance, and skilfully grouped. It has been said that he was first a pupil of Gerard Dou, and afterwards of Claude; there is no proof of either in history or his works. He was born at Woerden in 1620, and died at Rome in 1690.

SYBRECHT, or SIBRECHTS, JAN, was born at Antwerp in 1625. It is said that he painted landscapes and cattle, in the manner of Berchem and Karel du Jardin; but the amateur must not expect to find any such in England; for, if he ever did so, they have surrendered his name, and adopted those of the masters to whose works they have analogy. He died in England in 1703.

TROOSTWYK, WOUTER JAN, studied under Andriessen,

and commenced his career by copying the pictures of Paul Potter, Karel du Jardin, and Adrian Van de Velde, but was indignant at hearing his works compared with theirs, asserting that, like them, he only imitated nature. His productions, which are very good, do, however, bear a resemblance to those masters, and some are worthy to rank with them. He was born at Amsterdam in 1782, and died in 1810.

TYSSENS, AUGUSTINE, painted landscapes embellished with ancient ruins, cattle, and figures, in which there is evidence that he had studied Berchem's works assiduously. He was born at Antwerp, and died there, but there is some confusion in the dates of both. See the enlarged edition of Bryan's Dictionary.

VELDE, ADRIAN VAN DE, in landscapes, cattle, and figures is equal to the best of his contemporaries, and superior to most in exciting pleasurable sensations by the perfect beauty perceptible in every part of the composition. His scenes are sometimes open pasture land, fresh and verdant, with cows, sheep, and goats, varied in colour and position; at other times more sequestered, clothed with trees, and bounded by hills, with a stream of water passing through, and a chateau, or dairy farm, in the vicinity, pasture land in front with cattle browsing or reposing, a man on a grey horse, and a woman in a blue skirt, perhaps fondling a kid or a lamb, or employed in milking; cattle fording a stream, or halting at a fountain to refresh, the herdsman in a sheep-skin jacket, and the shepherdess in her gay costume of blue, and red, and yellow, both mounted on mules, or horses, having something of an air above vulgar peasantry. The skies have the azure of Italy, and the clouds are silvery and floating. But no description can convey a perfect idea of the superlative beauty of these rural subjects as treated by this elegant painter. The prices these pictures obtain are commensurate with their excellences, especially when in their original state.

See the article Adrian Van de Velde, under the head of Principal Masters, and also under the heads of Field Sports, Marines, Winter Scenes, &c.

VERSTEEG, or VERSTEIGH, MICHIEL, who is mentioned. among the imitators of Godfrey Schalcken, also painted landscapes with cattle, in the manner of the old masters; in colouring they are verdant, yet warm, and the details care

fully attended to, particularly in the foliage of the trees. He was born at Dort in 1756, and died about 1840.

VINNE, LAURENS, VANDER. See Scholars of Berchem.

VISSCHER, THEODORE, studied under Berchem, and some of his pictures are said to resemble strongly that master's style of painting. He went to Italy, where it is supposed he died at the commencement of the last century. See Scholars of Berchem.

WALL, WILLIAM RUTGAART VANDER, born at Utrecht in 1756, was an excellent painter of landscapes and cattle; he was the instructor of the celebrated Jan Kobell. He died in his native city in 1813.

XAVERY, JACOB, (or GERARD JOSEPH,) born at the Hague in 1736, was a scholar of Jacob de Wit, the celebrated painter of bas-reliefs in chiaroscuro. Xavery was a versatile painter, and exercised his pencil on all kinds of subjects. He is noticed here as an imitator of Berchem in his landscapes and cattle, but with such differences that they are not likely to deceive.

SMALL LANDSCAPES WITH FIGURES,

VIEWS ON THE RHINE AND IN ITALY, WITH RUINS OF ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE, ETC.

BAAK, HATTIGH JAN, was probably a scholar of Cornelius Poelemburg, as there is, or was, a picture of a landscape with figures by him in the hospital of Saint Job, at Utrecht, that closely approaches that master's manner.

BAESTEN, MARIA, whose maiden name was Ommeganck, painted landscapes with cattle; she flourished about 1784.

BALEN, HENRI VAN, ranks among the best Flemish painters of his time, for the elegant choice of his subjects, the beauty of his designs, the softness of his penciling, and the sweetness and harmony of his colouring. In these particulars he was the forerunner of his pupil Van Dyck, who seems never to have forgotten what he had imbibed from such an able and tasteful instructor. The landscapes, in which his classical or legendary subjects are introduced, are generally by Kierings or Breughel; the figures illustrative of some story in the Metamorphoses of Ovid, or some circumstance connected with the life of the Holy Virgin. His females, children, and infant angels are personifications of loveliness in form and expression; nude, but chaste; vivaciously active, but not vulgar. He was born in 1560, and died in 1632.

BALEN, JAN VAN, son of Henri, also painted cabinet landscapes with figures, in which he imitated the style of Albano, but not his purity in design. His colouring is excellent and his handling free, but his contours are defective and his Flemish taste apparent. Still there are beautiful parts in his pictures, that extenuate his faults.

BEMMELL, WILLIAM VAN, born at Utrecht in 1630, was a scholar of Herman Zachtleven, and painted landscapes in the

manner of his master. He also travelled through Italy and Germany, and made designs of the most picturesque views, such as presented themselves in the environs of Rome, and of waterfalls and ruins of architecture found in wilder localities; these, on his return to his native country, served to form compositions which were so highly esteemed that, for a long time after his death, they were scarcely to be met with elsewhere. He died in 1703.

BERKHEYDEN, JOB, the brother of Gerard, painted views on the Rhine with small figures, in a very agreeable manner, and also village festivals that have considerable merit. The figures in his brother's church pieces and architectural views are mostly by him.

BLOCK, JACOB ROGER, born at Gouda in 1580, went to Italy when young, and made designs of the remains of antiquity in the environs of Rome, which, on his return to Holland, he composed into subjects to ornament his landscapes. He was afterwards a military engineer in the service of the archduke Leopold, and was killed by a fall from his horse in 1632.

BLONDEEL, LANSLOOT, born at Bruges in 1500, painted architectural ruins and conflagrations, which he marked with a trowel, in allusion to his first occupation as a mason, and with the initials of his name. He died in 1559. See Conflagrations.

BOL, HANS, was a native of Malines, born in 1534, but settled at Amsterdam, where he painted a number of small views of that city and the neighbouring villages, enlivened with figures, the compositions being varied according to the seasons. Some of these he etched himself, and others were engraved by Sadeler. He died at Amsterdam in 1593.

BOUMAN, P, born at Dort about 1764, painted views in the neighbourhood of Haerlem, and others of waterfalls and winter scenes; they are chiefly to be found in Holland, where they are deservedly held in estimation.

BREDAEL, PETER VAN, painted small landscapes with figures, in the manner of Breughel, and others with ruins of architecture, such as are seen in the environs of Rome. He was born at Antwerp in 1630, and was living in 1689.

BREENBERG, BARTHOLOMEW, in his small landscapes, views in the vicinity of Rome and other parts of Italy, is the most