ANIMALS AND DEAD GAME.

AELST, EVERT, or EVERARD, VAN, was an excellent painter of dead game, birds, and objects of still life; his works are carefully finished, and are frequently painted on a white ground. He was born at Delft in 1602, and died in 1658.

AELST, WILLIAM (GUILLAUME) VAN, born in 1620, was Evert's nephew, and studied under him. He painted similar subjects, but they are more highly wrought. His penciling is beautifully soft, and his colouring transparent. He died in 1679.

ANCHILLUS, N, born at Antwerp in 1688, visited England and copied pictures by Snyders for Sir Robert Walpole. See Painters of Conversations.

BERNAERTS, NICAISE, was a scholar of Francis Snyders, and painted very like him; there is no doubt that many of his pictures have been attributed to that master. The dates of his birth and death are variously given, but it is agreed that he died at the age of seventy, either in 1663 or 1678.

BERRÉ, JEAN BAPTISTE, born at Antwerp in 1777, painted dead game and other objects, in the manner of Weenix, which are finely composed and beautifully finished. He also painted living wild animals, landscapes with cattle, and subjects connected with history. He resided a considerable time at Paris, and died there in 1828.

BOEKEL, VAN, was also a scholar of Snyders, and painted living and dead animals in the manner of his master. He died in 1673.

BOEL, PETER, another pupil of Snyders, was an excellent painter of animals, birds, flowers, and fruit; of which he made ingenious compositions, emblematic of the seasons and

the elements. He was born at Antwerp in 1625, and died about 1680.

BOCKHORST, JAN VAN, called Langen Jan, was a scholar of Jacob Jordaens. He painted history and portraits, in which he adopted the style of Rubens and Van Dyck; and also larders with dead game, fish, fruit, and vegetables, in the manner of Snyders, though these have not been noticed by writers on the subject.

FYT, JAN, is quite original in painting living animals and dead game, and particularly excellent in his representations of dogs and partridges; not that he is inefficient in the forms, characters, and texture of other species, for he is true in all; but these seem to be favourite objects with him, and attract notice by their positions in the picture, and the evident care bestowed on the delineation: they may be considered as characteristic of the master. His penciling is firm and free, and his colouring remarkably good, of a full tone, and transparent. His animals are frequently found in the landscapes of the most eminent Flemish painters of his time, and are easily recognised by their peculiarity. He was born at Antwerp in 1625, and died in 1671. See Hunts of Ferocious Animals.

GHEYSELS, PETER, (improperly called Gyzen,) painted small pictures of dead game, birds, and other objects, in a highly-finished and beautiful manner; his works are rare and valuable. See the enlarged edition of Bryan's "Dictionary of Painters and Engravers," in the article Peter Gyzen.

GRYEFF, ANTHONY, painted wooded landscapes with dead game, dogs, and sporting apparatus; they are executed with spirit, occasionally sombre in tone, and sometimes in the silvery manner of Teniers; the latter are the most esteemed. They are generally of small dimensions. He lived about the middle of the seventeenth century.

HENDRIKS, WYBRAND, painted fruit, flowers, and dead game, in which he approaches very closely to Weenix. His pictures are in high estimation, and are worthy of a place in the best modern collections of the Dutch masters. He was born at Amsterdam in 1744, and died in 1830.

KONINCK, OF KONINGH, DAVID DE, was a scholar of Jan Fyt, and painted pictures in the manner of his master, which,

though good, are not to be mistaken for Fyt's; as he painted much in Italy the Italians have fallen into that error.

LELIENBERG, (CHRISTIAN, ?) painted dead game and subjects of the chase in the manner of Weenix; they are very good, and not common. According to the dates on some of his pictures, he flourished about 1663.

MIERHOP, FRANCIS VAN CUYCK DE, from being an ama teur designer, became a professed painter. He imitated the subjects and style of Snyders, and painted fish, fruit and game, dogs and other animals, in a manner so spirited and true that they may be mistaken for the works of that master. He was born at Bruges in 1640, and died at Ghent in 1701. Some writers name him Mierkoop.

SNYDERS, FRANCIS, a name synonymous with the highest excellence in wild animal painting, larders with dead game, fruit, and vegetables. For masterly design, vigorous handling, and richness of colouring, particularly in fruit and vegetables, he has never been surpassed. See the articles Coadjutors of Rubens, Hunts of Ferocious Animals, &c., &c.

STRAATEN, JAN JOSEPH IGNATIUS VAN, painted dead game, in the manner of Weenix. He was also a flower painter. His pictures are well composed and highly finished. He was born at Utrecht in 1766, and died in 1808.

UTRECHT, ADRIEN VAN, painted dead game and other objects of still life, in the manner of Snyders. See also under the heads Birds, Fruit and Flowers.

VAART, JAN VANDER, born at Haerlem in 1647, came to England, and was some time employed in painting draperies and back-grounds to portraits by Wissing and others; he afterwards employed himself on objects of still life and dead game, and produced several excellent pictures.

VALKENBURG, THEODORE, studied under Jan Weenix, and was an eminent painter in several departments of the art, but particularly excelled in subjects of dead game, in which he sometimes rivals his master. He was born at Amsterdam in 1675, and died in 1721.

VONCK, or Vonk, C– painted birds in the manner of Hondecoeter, and dead game in the manner of Snyders; he is excellent in, both. His pictures are better known in foreign countries, particularly in Germany, than in England; here they are generally attributed to one or other of the

above-named masters. There is no satisfactory account of him.

Vos, PAUL DE, painted larders with dead game, fish, fruit, and vegetables, in the manner of Snyders. See Field Sports. WEENIX, JAN, in his cabinet pictures of dead game, may be said to surpass every artist of his country for accuracy and high finishing. In painting the hare, the swan, the duck, and the peacock, he is inimitable; and all the accessories are of superlative beauty. A picture of such subjects, imperfect in any of its parts, cannot with truth be attributed to Jan Weenix. See Field Sports, Italian Seaports, and other Classifications.

The painters of Dead Game are very numerous among the Flemish artists, from the time of Snyders to the present day. Many of the more modern have imitated the compositions of Weenix with considerable success; combining flowers, fruit, and objects of still life, with live and dead animals, in one picture. Some of these will be found in the Classifications of Still Life, Birds, Fruit and Flower Painters.

BIRDS, ETC.

ALEN, or OLEN, JAN VAN, imitated and copied the works of Melchior Hondecoeter with such success that they pass for originals, except with the practised connoisseur. He was born at Amsterdam in 1651, and died in 1698.

CASTEELS, PETER, painted domestic poultry, fruit and flowers; his pictures are of small dimensions, frequently on copper, the penciling is hard and wiry, and there is nothing commendatory in the composition. He was born at Antwerp in 1684, practised in England, and died in 1749.

DALENS, DIRCK, or THEODORE. There are landscapes with birds of uncommon excellence attributed to this artist; they are aquatic fowl, or such as resort to marshy lands. These he grouped skilfully, and painted in the manner of Melchior Hondecoeter. As there were several artists named Dirck Dalens, it is uncertain to which of them the honour of painting these pictures is to be awarded, but it is supposed to be the son of William Dalens; if so, he was born at Amsterdam in 1659, and died in 1688.

GHEYSELS, PETER.

Dead Game.

See under the head Animals and

GRYEFF, ANTHONY, painted small landscapes on copper, which he enriched with birds, sporting dogs, and animals of the chase. There is a pleasing smartness in his style of painting, somewhat sharp in the penciling, well coloured, but frequently too deep in tone; some of his pictures, however, are in the silvery manner of Teniers, and these being the rarest are the most prized. He lived about the middle of the seventeenth century, but there are no particulars of him recorded.