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gree of merit, particularly in the ornamen- 

 tal part ; but even there, where they most 

 excelled, the interval is very great between 

 them and Rubens. His architecture, like 

 that of Paul Veronese, from whom he bor- 

 rowed many of his ideas of magnificence and 

 decoration, is in a high degree splendid ; but 

 has less of that display of architectural sym- 

 metry, and of that lightness and elegance, 

 which are so striking in the Venetian : for 

 the peculiar heaviness of the Flemish taste, 

 so strongly marked in his figures, seems in 

 particular instances, to have affected the 

 character of his buildings. There is a well- 

 known print after him, the title of Avhich 

 (Le Jardin de U Amour) expresses the em- 

 ployment of the figures, and the place where 

 they are assembled ; and certainly, if ever a 

 light and airy style of architecture be pro- 

 per, it must be peculiarly so, where the sub- 

 ject of the picture is gallantry, and the 

 scene a garden. Had Parmeggiano painted 

 a subject of this kind, as his figures would 

 have been Sylph-like, he would have proba- 

 bly made any building which he might have 



