332 



to their buildings : Ostade seems to have 

 chosen with great judgment ; but, having 

 made his choice, to have painted the objects, 

 whatever they might be, with little varia- 

 tion. Wovermans, on the other hand, ap- 

 pears to me to have collected all the scat- 

 tered varieties that he met with, as materi- 

 als for composition. The buildings, there- 

 fore, in Ostade have, as might be expected, 

 a more striking air of naturalness ; those of 

 Wovermans display more diversity, and 

 greater ingenuity of combination. 



It seems very obvious, (although the ex- 

 ample of Wovermans, and even of Ostade, 

 might make it doubtful) that a sharp, spi- 

 rited touch, where the stroke of the brush 

 remains, is most adapted to express broken 

 irregular forms ; and thence we might natu- 

 rally conclude, that Teniers, the sharpness 

 and spirit of whose pencilling is almost pro- 

 verbial, would at least equal the painters 

 whom I have just mentioned in the number 

 and choice of those objects, which are so 

 well adapted to shew, the peculiar excel- 

 lence of his execution. It is really surpris- 



