in GERARD DOU 351 24^. A Hermit at his Devotions. Sm. Suppl. 39; see M. 25. A venerable man with a bald head and long grey beard, wearing a brown mantle, sits in an arched cell with a large book open before him. He turns over a leaf with his right hand, and holds a reading-glass in his left. A skull and a lighted candle are on the table; a lantern hangs above. Panel, 13 inches by 9! inches, with rounded top. Exhibited at Christie's, London, 1834 (offered for ^300 for private sale). Sale. Duchesse de Berri, Paris, April 4, 1837, No. 60 (8250 francs, Paillet). 24*. A Hermit holding a Skull. Signed in full j canvas, 13 inches by 12 inches. Sale. Hodges and others, Amsterdam, February 27, 1838, No. 22. 24-f. A Hermit. M. 34. A hermit with a grey beard sits in a ruin, writing, with a book on his knees. He sits on a basket, with one foot on a book. In front of him are a large basket, a calabash, a third book, and other objects. Panel, 17 inches by 13^ inches, Sales. (Probably) D. Schorer, Middelburg, April 15, 1771, No. 5 (84 florins i, D. S. Schorer). Cardinal Fesch, Rome, March 17, 1845, No. 62. 25. A Hermit (St. Jerome?). M. 36. Through an arched window St. Jerome is seen reading a book. From the waist upwards he is nude; his lower limbs are draped in red. At the side of the window, the embrasure of which is sculptured in relief, stands a pot with a poppy. Panel, 2o| inches by 17 inches. Sale. Jurriaans, Amsterdam, August 28, 1817, No. 10 (701 florins, Gruyter). Exhibited in Amsterdam, 1845, No. 96, by W. Gruyter. 26. A Hermit praying in a Grotto. In the foreground are various plants and insects. By G. Dou and A. Mignon. Panel, i6| inches by 13 inches. Sale. Widow of P. J. van Oosthuyse van Rijsenburg, nee M. de Jongh, The Hague, October 18, 1847, No. 3. z6a. A Hermit in Prayer. M. 33. Exhibited at Brussels, 1855; lent by Captain Goethals. 27. The Hermit. M. ijb. In an arched window a hermit, seen to the knees, sits facing left. He reads a large book which he holds with both hands on his knee. The head is the same as in 13 at the Rijks- museum. He has spectacles on his nose and wears a cowl. He is turn- ing a leaf with his right hand. Signed in full on the edge of the Bible, and dated 1663. Only known from the engraving in reverse by K. de Moor, measuring 9 inches by 7 inches (Van der Kellen, 4). Possibly the picture which, in W. Burger's time (1859), was * n the Arenberg collection, Brussels, but is not mentioned by M. See W. Biirger's
