112 
MOSCOW. 
cuap. such collections. At first view, a room adorned 
X , by them has an imposing and very splendid 
appearance ; but, upon a nearer approach, the 
charm vanishes : they are almost all copies, and 
the major part of them were brought from 
Vienna. But the Russians themselves are so 
ingenious in the art ol imitation, that a nobleman 
of skill and judgment in painting has been 
known to purchase, of a dealer, copies made a 
few days before by one of his own slaves, who 
went from his easel to his more usual daily 
occupation of blacking shoes, and afterwards 
carried to the brandy-shop the wages of his 
ingenuity. As the nobles have rarely any 
money at command, their traffic in the Fine 
Arts, as in other things, is carried on by 
exchange. This sort of barter is that in which 
they take the greatest delight. They purchase 
a picture for a carriage, or for an embroidered 
suit of clothes, just as they pay their physician 
with a snuff-box. In every pursuit the same 
infantine disposition is displayed; and, like 
children, they become tired of their toys almost 
in the moment they have acquired them. In 
their choice of pictures, they are pleased only 
with gay and splendid colouring, highly finished, 
in gaudy frames ; “ quelque chose cTec/atant ! ’ to 
use an expression constantly in their mouths. 
The works of Van der JVerf, Watteau, Jordaens , 
