172 The Exhibition of Miniatures at South Kensington. 



fellow, witli the beauty almost of a woman, and the audacity 

 of a man. One need not wonder at the favour he found 

 among the easy fair ones of the period. 



FOREIGN PORTRAITS UP TO THE REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. 



Francis I., ascribed to Clouet, oil, gives a handsome ver- 

 sion of the face, though, as always, extra French in its pecu- 

 liarities. — In Francis and the Duchesse d'Ftampes, by Luca 

 Penni (oil, mounted in a crystal locket), the king is making 

 love to his fair one, with Cupid to preside over the transaction. 

 Very charming. 



Charles V., in one of his likenesses, seems hardly more than 

 twenty years of age, with a more aquiline cast of feature than 

 in his later portraits. — Another, about .1520, is ascribed to 

 Holbein. 



Philip II. of Spain, by Luis de Vargas, 1555, oil, is a 

 companion to the portrait of our Queen Mary, by the same 

 painter; also very fine. — Another so-called Philip II., painter 

 unnamed (No. 1281), appears to us extremely questionable. 



Calvin, by Holbein. Oil. We have some doubt of the 

 authorship of this portrait. Calvin is here presented as a 

 young or youngish man; the nose long, with no aquiline 

 tendency, the eyes blueish grey, the complexion light, the 

 expression reflective. 



Catharine de } Medici, inscribed "B — 56 — 1581," oil, has 

 here a sort of motherly look, though not of a noble type. The 

 inscription suggests a fib on her part, or else flattery on the 

 part of the artist, for she was 62 years old, instead of 56, in 

 1581. 



Admiral de Coligni, by I. Oliver, is a perfect small specimen 

 of the best class of miniature-painting. 



The Due d'Anjou, the suitor of Queen Elizabeth, half length, 

 constitutes a largeish miniature. The duke has a somewhat 

 meagre and hungry aspect, but is not so ugly as tradition 

 reports him. — Clouet's version, " holding what is supposed to 

 be a miniature of the Queen in his right hand/-' oil on copper, 

 is an excellent portrait, giving the duke something of a " fast " 

 look. 



FOREIGN PORTRAITS FROM THE REIGN OF LOUIS XIV. ONWARDS. 



Louis XIV. as a boy, by Petitofc. Enamel. — The same, when 

 young, by Petitot. Enamel. (No. 1185.) These are two out 

 of a huge number of likenesses of the Grand Monarque, by this 

 famous enamel-painter, and other artists. No. 1185 is 

 remarkably perfect in execution, and gives a handsome version 

 of the face. 



