333 



ing that the fact should be so exactly the 

 reverse : the forms of his cottages, so far 

 from being picturesque, are plain and com- 

 mon to such a remarkable degree, and so 

 void of intricacy and variety, that he seems 

 to have taken as much pains to shun all 

 sudden breaks and irregularities, as other 

 painters have taken to express them. This 

 extreme plainness may, perhaps, be ac- 

 counted for, by supposing him to have been 

 influenced by the same motive which I have 

 supposed to have influenced Caspar Pous- 

 sin ; for he may have judged, that the even 

 surface, and unbroken lines of his houses, 

 would give more effect to the sharp and va- 

 ried touches on the objects in his fore- 

 grounds. I am inclined, however, to think, 

 that, independently of every other conside- 

 ration, he preferred plain cottages, and that 

 his taste did not lead him to search after, 

 or to admire picturesque circumstances in 

 any buildings : for when he did paint old- 

 fashioned houses, or castles with singular 

 turrets, he seems to have taken the whole, 

 just as it presented itself; often very crudely, 



