xviii CASPAR NETSCHER 187 In the background are tall columns; on the wall is a picture. "An elegant and exquisitely painted picture" (Sm.). Signed in full on the left above the instrument, and dated 1666 ; panel, 23^ inches by 18 inches. A replica with variations, omitting the boy on the right, was in the sale : Krupp the younger and others, Cologne, October 29, 1894, No. 131. In the La Bouexiere collection, Paris, from which Le Leu bought it in 1754 for Dresden. In the Dresden Gallery, 1908 catalogue, No. 1349 ' lt was there in 1833 (Sm., who valued it at .525). 114. A LADY PLAYING THE LUTE. Sm. 56. Full length. A young lady in white satin, seen in full face, sits in a garden, playing the lute. She turns her head in a three-quarter view to the left. Beside her to the left is a fountain with a figure of Cupid riding on a lion. A maid-servant places a basket of fruit on the edge of the fountain. In the right foreground is a plant in a pot. At the back is a park with statues. "An elegant and highly finished picture" (Sm.). Signed in full on the left at foot, and dated 1668 ; panel, 16 inches by 13 inches. Engraved by Masquelier. A replica was in the sale : F. Gerstel, Munich, March 2, 1909, No. 54. In the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, 1910 catalogue, No. 957 ; it was there in 1833 (Sm., who valued it at .150). 115. THE SINGING-LESSON. Sm. 44. On a chair to the left a gentleman in a red jacket slashed with white sits in profile to the right, playing the lute. In front of him stands a lady in a white satin gown, cut low at the neck. She is turned towards him and sings from a music-paper in her left hand, while she beats time with her right. Behind them is a table covered with a Persian carpet, at which, in the middle, a lady sits listening ; her left hand rests on the table, and she leans her head on her right arm. At the back is a relief of the rape of Helen ; to the right is a view into a garden. On the table are a glass and a china jug. In the upper corners are curtains. Wrongly described in the past as a portrait group of the painter and his family. Signed in full to the left on the back of the chair, and dated 1665 ; panel, 17^ inches by 14 inches. A study for the picture is in the British Museum Print-room. Engraved by David ; by P. Audouin in the Musee Fratifaise, after a drawing by Touze ; by Heine in the Musee Napoleon ; by Zeelander. Lithographed by J. W. Vos and by A. C. Nunnihk. Engraved on wood in Ch. Blanc, Histoire des Peintrei. Sale. Baron Schonborn, Amsterdam, April 16, 1738 (Hoet, i. 509), No. 34 but No. 35 of the original catalogue (720 florins). In the collection of G. van Slingeland, 1752 (Hoet, ii. 405). In the collection of the Stadtholder, William V. (Terw. 703). In the Louvre, Paris, 1806-1815. In the Royal Gallery, The Hague, 1910 catalogue, No. 125. 116. A MUSIC-PARTY. Sm. 59. Four figures, full length. In
