and exercised their knowledge in obtaining prints of masters whose genius in interpretation is no less pronounced than is the work of second-rate scrapers in mezzotint of late eighteenth-century days.
We reproduce a fine portrait by Nanteuil of Le Comte de Dunois in his youth, showing the sweet and delicate face of a boy on the threshold of life. The flowing hair and the face unlined by care are drawn with a delicacy unsurpassed by any English line engraver of any school. The texture of the lace collar and the satin dress are marvellous exhibitions of mastery of technique. The very simplicity of the portrait conceals its art. In the reproduction of Nanteuil's portrait of Cardinal Richelieu, the subtlety and watchfulness, the restraint and the untiring energy are all shown in the line portrait. Another subject requires another treatment, and the graver is put to different interpretation. The locks turning white, the dark lines settling in permanent rings under the eyes, the firm mouth, and the chin like that of Charles I., denoting love of intrigue, together with the pallid complexion of the Cardinal, whose life lay indoors in the sedentary habits of statesman and courtier, are all shown with unerring touch in the lines dug out of the copper by the genius of Nanteuil.
Pierre Simon, a pupil of Nanteuil, followed his style with considerable success. Many of his portraits are taken from life, and some of them are actually life-size. His Louis de Bourbon, life-size bust in oval, is well known. We reproduce his portrait of the Prince de Condé. (Opposite p. 158.)
