333 



ing that the fact should be so Gx»ctjy the 

 reverse : the forms pf \\\^ qpttages, so hr 

 from being picturesque, are plain ^nd com- 

 mon to such a remarkable degree, and so 

 void of intricacy and variety, that he. beems 

 to have taken a* much pains to shun all 

 sudden breaks and in'egularitiesj, as other 

 painters have taken to express them. This 

 extreme plainness may, perhaps, be ac- 

 counted for, by supposing him to have been 

 influeipiced by the same motive which I have 

 supposed to have influenced Caspar Pous- 

 sin ; for he may have judged, that the even 

 surface, and unbroken lines of his houses, 

 would give more effect to the sharp and va- 

 ried touches on the objects in his fore- 

 grounds. I am inclined, however, to think, 

 that, independently of every other conside- 

 ration, he preferred plain cottages, and that 

 his taste did not lead him to search after, 

 or to admire picturesque circumstances in 

 any buildings : for when he did paint old- 

 fashioned houses, or castles with singular 

 turrets, he seems to have taken the whole, 

 just as it presented itself; often very cinidely, 



