JUNE 355 



seventeenth and eighteenth centuries such as the Flemish, 

 led by Eubens, and the English, led by Eeynolds owed to 

 the Venetians. My endeavour has been to explain some 

 of the attractions of the school, and particularly to show 

 its- close dependence upon the thought and feeling of the 

 Renaissance. This is perhaps its greatest interest, for, 

 being such a complete expression of the riper spirit of the 

 Renaissance, it helps us to a larger understanding of a 

 period which has in itself the fascination of youth, and 

 which is particularly attractive to us because the spirit 

 that animates us is singularly like the better spirit of that 

 epoch. We, too, are possessed of boundless curiosity. 

 We, too, have an almost intoxicating sense of human 

 capacity. We, too, believe in a great future for humanity, 

 and nothing has yet happened to check our delight in 

 discovery or our faith in life.' 



The head of Rembrandt in his youth, painted by him- 

 self, in the Pitti (not either of those in the Uffizi) is 

 perhaps the most beautiful of his many self-painted por- 

 traits. None, certainly, in the Rembrandt Exhibition at 

 Burlington House this winter came near to it for beauty, 

 in my humble opinion. 



There is also an unusual portrait of Charles I. and 

 Henrietta Maria, painted together in one frame, divided 

 only by the twisted 'column of an Italian window. I 

 have never before seen a double portrait treated in quite 

 the same way. It is Van Dyke at his best so finished, 

 so refined ! Perhaps he took extra pains, knowing it was 

 going to the young Queen's Medicean relations, in the 

 then far-away beautiful Florence. 



I find I am doing exactly what I meant not to do, and 

 must stop noticing pictures, as any guidebook describes 

 all the best pictures quite enough. 



I found a treasure in one of the smaller rooms at the 

 Pitti which Mr. Hare, at any rate, does not mention. It 



