7 o JAN STEEN SECT. profile, sits at his table, on which are a crucible, papers, and other objects. Behind him are two persons singing from one sheet of music. In the background to the left is a woman with a child at her breast ; she presses the child to her with her right hand, and with the left wipes the tears from her eyes. The picture is dark in tone, but otherwise not bad ; it is of mediocre quality. The unfavourable condition of the picture renders it impossible to say definitely whether it is genuine. It corresponds in every respect to the picture in the Wallace collection (228), but that is decidedly the better of the two. Signed with the monogram in the upper right-hand corner; panel, 16^ inches by u^ inches. In the collection of W. C. Schonstedt, The Hague (1897). Sale. The Hague, November 10, 1903, No. 242. In the collection of G., of N., near Delft. Sale. Amsterdam, November 15, 1904, No. 29 (2050 florins). Now in the collection of L. den Beer Poortugael, The Hague. 228. THE ALCHEMIST (or, "A Boor Household"). Sm. 152; W. 122. An elderly man sits before a crucible; another reads a sheet of paper and seems to attract the attention of a third man. In the background is a ragged woman with a child, who is apparently sacrificed to her husband's belief in alchemy ; she is weeping bitterly. Panel, 15! inches by n inches. Engraved by Boydell. Sale. J. J. van Mansveldt, Utrecht, April 8, 1755, No. 21 (73 florins). In the collection of the Marquis of Hertford, 1833. Now in the Wallace collection, London, 1901 catalogue, No. 209 (under the title of " A Boor Household "). 229. THE ALCHEMIST. Six figures. The alchemist, dressed in loose grey jacket and breeches and a brown cap, sits at the smelting furnace, and is about to throw into the crucible the last florin belonging to his wife, who stands behind him to the left. A man standing between them reads out to the woman a formula, and seeks to inspire her with confidence in the experiment. Behind her stands a boy with an anxious face, holding a clarinet. In the background a stout man with a ruddy face repeats aloud what a thin pale man, who is seen in profile, dictates to him. Upon the fireplace is a label with the words : " Theofrastus Pareselsis Esho." To the left is a view of a landscape. The handling is full of life, and the artist has given a distinct character to each of the figures without descending to caricature, as he usually does. The colour, though especially vivid in the woman's yellow dress, is on the whole sombre. The execution is highly spirited and broad, but at the same time careful. The smaller picture at Frankfort (226) is finer than this. Signed in full and dated 1668 ; canvas, 29^ inches by 30 inches. Described by Waagen (iii. 27, and Suppl. 137). Exhibited at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, 1871. Formerly in the collections of Colonel Bourgeois, London, and Lord Overstone, London. Now in the collection of Lady Wantage, London, 1902 catalogue, No. 221.
