LOW COUNTRIES, ENGRAVERS OF THE. 



with the utniod freedom and pifturefque playfulnefs. Ber- 

 {;hem, of whom we fliall pn.'fcntly Ipeak, and of whom wo 

 have treated in vol. iv. was a paftoral painter, and no man 

 to this hour has tranflated the poetry of Bcrghem's painting, 

 with more fuccefs tiian John Viflcher, iiniefs Laurent, an 

 Engiifh engraver, who died young at Paris, might be ex- 

 cepted. 



Trees, efpccially thofe of thorny-charadlered foliage, fnch 

 as Derghem painted ; broken ground ; the rough hides of 

 cattle, in all their wild varieties; mofly rocks, and the 

 crumbling furfaces of ruined edifices, he treated with 

 fmgnlar feeling and felicity, b'ending a painter's and 

 slmoll a natnralift's knowledge of the details oi the forms of 

 fuch objefts, with an engraver's talle and manual power of 

 execution. Shallow brooks, in which, dillurbed by ford- 

 ing cattle, tlie funfliine glitters, as .long as prints can be 

 preierved, will continue to fparkle with the merits of 

 Viifcher, while his deeper ftrearas and lakes reflect the me- 

 ridian glow of his reputation. 



Middiman, as v/cU as many other modern engravers, ap- 

 pear to have formed th»ir ftyles of etching grafiy ground, 

 and rocks patched with lichens, from contemplatnig the 

 prints of this mafler, and no man better than he imparted 

 truth of charafter and animal expreflfion to cows, horfes, 

 afTes, goats, Iheep, and all '.he various tribes of domeftic 

 animals which his great mafter Berghem delighted to paint, 

 and therefore painted fo well ; or difplayed on paper vvitli a 

 readier hand the rufticities of Ol^ade. 



The portraits of John Vifrcher. with which we {hall com- 

 mence our li!t of his fupcrior performances, fhew that he oc- 

 cafionally handled the graver with fcarcely lefs freedom and 

 tafte than the etching-needle. 



Portrni'.s. — John de Viterbogaert, from a drawing by 

 Viifcher himfelf, in quarto ; Peter Prochns, a minifter of 

 Amilerdam, after Van Noort ; Thadeus Lautman, paftor 

 of La Have, after J. de Bane, both in folio ; Abraham 

 vonder Hulll;, vice-adnairal of Holland, in large folio; 

 Petrus Paulus Rubens, an etching from Vandyke ; Mi- 

 chael de Ruyter, admiral of Holland, H. Berckmans 

 pinx. ; both in folio ; a man with his hair drefftd, after 

 C. Viffcher. in quarto ; and a negro fliooting an arrow from 

 a bow, after the fame mafter, in folio. 



After OJlade, — A company of peafants under a trellis- 

 work, gaming ; '■ Ruftic Economy," where a man is winding 

 ofFcotton, and his wife fpinning it ; " A ruftic Party," com- 

 poled of twyo fmokers, and an old woman and child ; " Pea- 

 fants rejoicing ;" " A Skirraifh before tiie Door of a Ta- 

 vern ;" " A Peafant's Wedding," infide of an alehoufe ; 

 and a drunken peafant putting his hand on the bofom of a 

 woman, all of folio dimenfions. 



Aftir Ber(;hein. — Several peafants dancing in a cottage, 

 commonly called " The Ball," in large folio ; a beautiful 

 landfcapc, ornamented with figures and animals, and Us 

 companion, a mountainous landfcape, with a man and horfe 

 fravell:ng ; " Summer," in large folio ; a landfcape, with a 

 man clad in goat'd-flcin, on horfeback, in folio ; and its com- 

 panion, a girl milking a goat, in a landfcape ; a pair of 

 paftoral fubiecls, in one of which is a fhepherd meditating, 

 w the other a woman milking a goat, and a piping fhepherd. 

 The four parts of the day, Aurora, Meridies, Vefpcr, 

 and Nox, beautiful landfcapcs, ip large folio. A fet of four 

 large folio etchings of landfcapes, in which the figures in- 

 troduced are ; i. A man on a mule. 2. A woman. 

 3. A fhepherd guiding his flock. And 4. A mule loaded 

 with pea-hens. A fet of fix landfcapes; i. Men flioeing 

 an afa. 2. Two women and a dog, one of whom is carry- 

 •Bg a fack. 3. A fhepherd on an als, driving his fheep. 



4. A woman carrying faggots, and a peafant on horfeback. 



5. A peafant on an afs leading a cow. 6. An old man with 

 a beard, fitting againft a wall, in folio. A fet of four, the 

 title-page of which is a monument or tomb. 2. A fhepherd 

 playing the bag-pipes. 3. A fhepherd and his dog fording 

 a brook. And, 4. A boy carrying faggots; in fohc 

 Another fet of landfcapes, of which tlie title-page is a foun- 

 tain or watering-place for cattle, with a woman milking a 

 goat. 2. A (liepherd wrapped in his cloak, with a ftick. 

 3. A fliepherd fcated on a lullock, and another in paftoral 

 converfation. 4. A woman on an afs, and a girl Handing 

 befide her ; all in folio. Four other fets, of various numbers 

 of landlcapcs, with fimilar ruftic figures introduced ; all of 

 folio dimenfions. And the ornamental decorations of various 

 geograi)hical charts, for which Berghem fupplied the 

 defigns. 



From other painters of cottage fcenery, he engraved a fet 

 of eight prints of figures and animals, after H. du Jardin - 

 a fet of four large folio prints, after P. de Laer, which have 

 beeti attributed by fome to Cornelius Viffcher, though with 

 better foundation, by others to John. They confiH of 

 1. A party of beggars playing ;it cards, furrounded by a 

 crowd of fpertators, 2. A woman on horfeback guiding 

 cows, near whom is a man who has difmounted to drink out 

 of his hat. 5. An hoftlcr bufied at an inn-door ; near which 

 is a Ikble with horfes feeding. 4. A forge, with a man 

 fhoeing a horfe, and others converfing-. 



After P. li*ouvermans . — A viftualling tent, and horfemen 

 flopping to drink ; another vidualling-tent, with men ca- 

 rouling ; horfemen diverting themfelves before their tents, 

 and, as ufual in the compofitions of Wouvermans, a white 

 horfe with trappings ; all in large folio. A fet of four in 

 folio, of I. The marfhalling of an army, with a horfe on the 

 fore-ground. 2. A viftuailing tent. 3. A party of tra- 

 vellers. 4. A riding-fchool. 



A fet of twelve after G. van Goyen, of landfcapes and 

 fca-pieces, enriched with various buildings and figures, in 

 quarto ; and another fet of twelve wild landfcapes, and 

 marine fubjefts in Italy, after Herman Swaneveldt, which 

 are very interelting, and adorned with figures ; muft con- 

 clude our lift of the works of this meritorious artift. 



Lambert Viffcher, the brother of Cornelius and John, was 

 born at Amfteidam in the year 1634, and died at Rome, 

 whither he had travelled for improvement or employ, and 

 where he engraved in conjunction with Bloemaert, Spierre, and 

 others, from the pitturesof Pietro da Cortona, in the palace of 

 Pitti, at Florence. He engraved both portrait and hiftorv, 

 working with the graver alone, but did not poffefs any very- 

 great ihare of merit. The following are a felcdlion of the 

 beft of his produtlions. 



Portraits. — Stanitlaus Lubienitz, M. Scheitz pinx. ; John 

 Rutgerfius, counfellorof Guftavus Adolphus, both of quarto 

 fize ; Chriilopher de KannenS'rg, privy counfcilor to the 

 eleftor Frederic William of Brandenburg ; Maria, Thcrefa 

 of Auftria, queen of France, from VanLoo; all in folio. 

 Charles Rabeniiaupt, baron of Sucha, and liei:tenant-gene- 

 ral of Holland; John de Wit, the diftinguiflied peufion.ary, 

 and patriot of Holland ; and Cornehus Tromp, vice-admi- 

 ral of Holland, F. Bol pinx. ; all of large folio dimenfions. 

 H'ljlar'ual, iifc. — " The Gencroiity of Seltucus to An- 

 tiochus," from P. da Cortona ; and "Virtue dcliverinjr 

 young Man from ti'.e Embraces of Voluptuoufnefs, 

 large folio, from the fame painter. 



Nicholas John Viifcher was of the fame family as the pre- 

 ceding artifts, and born at Amfterdam fome tim.e about the 

 year 1580. We have by him a confiderable number of 

 etchings, executed in a free agreeable ftyle ; he partioilarly 



fucceeded 



a 

 ill 



