Page:A Tour Through the Batavian Republic.djvu/93

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THE BATAVIAN REPUBLIC
81

and severed head are drawn in a masterly manner. The departure of Æneas from Carthage, by the same. Two landscapes by Glauber. Twelve small pictures describing the history of Claudius Civilis; a noble Batavian, according to the relation of Tacitus; who for some time gallantly defended the independence of his country against the encroachments of imperial Rome, are from the pencil of Otto Venius, and of such excellence, that the great Lord Bolingbroke, a man whose judgment in whatever relates to the elegant arts few will be inclined to suspect, offered to purchase them at the extraordinary price of ten thousand pounds.

The anti-chamber to the small audience-room, or Chinese apartment, contains, with many which I shall omit, the Holy Family, by Rubens; Mary Magdalerte, by Vandyke; the Annunciation; by Lange Jan; the Birth of Venus by Jordaans; and the four seasons of the year by the same. The figure of winter as an old woman is admirably depicted; and the effect of fire-light exquisitely managed.