325 



Dutch masters have shewn as much choice 

 and selection, with respect to those circum- 

 stances which struck them in mills, cotta- 

 ges, insides of kitchens, &c. as the higher 

 Italian painters have displayed, in the ar- 

 rangement of more dignified objects. It is 

 true, they did not seek for elegance or gran- 

 deur ; but they were painters, and as such, 

 they could not help considering the dispo- 

 sition and character of such forms, and feel- 

 ing strong motives of preference. The best 

 succedaneums for elegance and grandeur, 

 are variety and intricacy, and to these two 

 qualities, many of the Dutch painters have 

 paid the highest attention. There cannot 

 be a more thorough boor than Ostade, and 

 it might be concluded from the monsters he 

 has painted by way of human figures, that 

 he never thought of form in any objects ; 

 but let any one carefully examine, — not 

 merely his pictures, (for in them the excel- 

 lence of his colouring might seduce the 

 judgment) but the prints from them, and 

 his etchings : they will then see how in the 

 insides of kitchens, he has selected every 

 circumstance that can vary the forms, and 



