JOHNSON COLLECTION — ROSE. 683 



his contemporary Tiepolo something of his sketchy treatment and 

 brilliant color. It is the most delightful work by this master that 

 I have ever seen. Evidently he was proud of it himself and conscious 

 that from its unusual style it might be attributed to another ; for upon 

 one of the stones he has inscribed his full name, Francesco Guardi, 

 in large letters in the form of a high relief. 



Passing now to the northern schools, we find that Mr. Johnson 

 has had the good taste to love those Dutchmen who went to Italy, 

 and got there the preference for beautiful forms and faces while 

 preserving their admirable Dutch technique. I have never been able 

 to understand the prejudice that exists against these men. When 

 the painters of other countries go to Italy and leam there the secret 

 of eternal beauty, as did Poussin and Claude Lorraine, everybody 

 commends them. But let a Dutchman or a Fleming before Reubens 

 go to Italy and learn the same secret, he is treated as a renegade 

 and a traitor, and no language is strong enough to voice the critics' 

 condemnation. To me these Italianate Dutchmen and Flemings, with 

 their marvelous skill and care in painting and their beautiful Italian 

 types, are among the most delightful of painters. 



Foremost among these were Bernard van Orley and Govaert 

 Flinck. 



In Mr. Johnson's collection is a Madonna and Child by van Orley. 

 Both are beautiful. The child holds an apple in his hand. The 

 background is a lovely and highly varied landscape with mountains 

 in the distance. On the left we see soldiers sacking a large mansion, 

 murdering the men and pursuing the fleeing women, who have no 

 chance of escape. It is war. On the left is peace. Peasants are at 

 work in the fields, while soldiers march by in the splendor of their 

 accoutrements. 



It seems to me that in these days when it is the fashion to sacrifice 

 all details to the general effect, we lose more than we gain. One sees 

 at a glance all that there is in a picture, and unless it has a com- 

 pelling charm, it soon wearies us. But these early masters with their 

 wealth of detail are inexhaustible. No matter how often we return 

 to them, we find something new, and so our interest never flags. 



Govaert Flinck's picture is simpler. It presents only a beau- 

 tiful Madonna holding the divine infant, who stops nursing for a 

 moment to look at the spectator. The types are Italian, the ad- 

 mirable execution is Dutch. 



It seems to me that as a technician Rembrandt is the supreme mas- 

 ter. He can paint in more styles than any other, and he is equally 

 proficient in all, from the most photographic precision of infinite 

 detail to the broadest effects. He is equally skilled in the manipu- 

 lation of glowing color and of richest monochrome that yet gives 

 the impression of splendid color. And his pigments have suffered 



