xiv MEINDERT HOBBEMA 363 to the right middle distance. To the left is a clump of great trees, sheltering a cottage. In the right middle distance a church with a tower rises amid trees ; in front of it is another cottage. At a little gate- way to the left is a man in red. On the road is a pool. To the right is if i j 6 a fine cloud. Signed in full on the left at foot, and dated 1664; panel, about 16 inches by 20 inches. In the Hamel collection. In the possession of the Rotterdam dealer Reckers. In the Wolff-Ebenrod collection, Ebenrod. 31. FISHERMEN'S COTTAGES IN THE DUNES. On the reedy bank of a pool, which extends to the right, are two low thatched cottages, one to the left and the other in the middle distance. Both are surrounded by trees, the tops of which are bent to the right by the wind. In the left foreground a man, seen from the back, stands conversing with another man who is seated. Near the farther cottage is a woman. Panel, 7^ inches by 9 inches. Exhibited in Munich, 1869. In the collection of F. M. Gontard ; acquired for the Institut in 1892. In the Stadel'sches Kunstinstitut, Frankfort -on -Main, 1900 catalogue, No. 291^. 32. A ROADSIDE COTTAGE. A sandy road leads past a thatched cottage which stands amid bushes in the left middle distance. Outside the cottage a man and a woman converse. At the roadside, nearer the front, is a clump of stately trees in full leaf. On the road, which leads away into the plain to the right, is a single traveller. The prevailing tone is very brown ; for that reason many critics have questioned the authenticity of the picture, though several of Hobbema's pictures, such as 150 and 246, are even browner. The Frankfort catalogue cites numerous other pictures bearing Hobbema's signature in ordinary round-hand, as in this case; among them, the pictures at Edinburgh (150) and Grenoble (257) are also dated 1659. Signed in full, and dated 1659 ; panel, 12 inches by 14 inches. Etched by Leon Gaucherel. Sales. (Probably) A. van Beeftingh and others, Rotterdam, April 30, 1832, No. 8 (420 florins, Hulswit). J. A. A. de Lelie and others, Amsterdam, July 29, 1845, No. 84 (450 florins, De Lelie). In the collection of Dr. Le Roy d'Etiolles, Paris ; described in W. Burger's catalogue. Sale. Sedelmeyer, Vienna, December 20, 1872, No. 114 (4200 florins, the Frankfort Kunstverein for the Institut). In the Stadel'sches Kunstinstitut, Frankfort - on - Main, 1900 catalogue, No. 291. 33. RUINED COTTAGE. In the centre stands a low wooden cottage with a steep red-tiled roof that is broken away in the middle, and has a smoking chimney. The broad eaves are supported by props. In front to the right is a rough wooden outbuilding, the right end of which
