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THE FOUR EVANGELISTS.

J. JORDAENS.

THE subject of this picture is very simple. A book is open on a table, and the four Evangelists appear to meditate on some important passage, which one of them prepares to transcribe.

The artist having failed in giving to each of the Evangelists the attributes by which they are characterised, St. John is the only one who is known.

The drawing, though sufficiently correct, is so devoid of dignity and grace, as in no manner to recal the idea which the mind is disposed to form of these personages. In point of colouring, the work merits peculiar attention... The tints are vigorous, and the touch bold. The white robe of St. John forms in the centre a large mass of light. The cloak of the old man, placed on the right of this apostle, is of a brown colour. The Evangelist holding a pen, has a violet drapery. The curtain in the back ground is of a lively red.

J Jordaëns has committed a fault, common to other painters, in giving to the books a form too modern, and

in substituting a pen for the style with which the an cients used to write.

The figures, in part seen, are of the natural size.

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LEONARDO DA VINCI DYING IN THE ARMS

OF FRANCIS I.

7

MENAGEOT.
fans buz

Ir is somewhat surprising, that no painter, before Ménageot, should have treated a subject so proper tò develope the beauties of the art, and so honourable to artists in general. Historians who have related this anecdote vary considerably in their recitals. Some writers assure us that Leonardo da Vinci, then sick, was seized with such a paroxysm of joy and gratitude, in receiving the visit of the king, that his emotion was attended with fatal consequences, and that he died in the monarch's arms. Vasari, a cotemporary author, thus expresses himself in in his work, entitled Vite dé Pittori, &c.

"Advanced in years, Leonardo da Vinci had been ill several months, and, finding his end approaching, he turned his ideas towards religion. The king was accustomed frequently to visit him, and to give him assurances of his esteem. One day, Leonardo having, out of respect, raised himself in his bed, recounted to the king the affliction under which he laboured, and expressed his regret at not having been able to carry his art to the degree of perfection he desired. He experienced an attack, which proved the forerunner of his death: the king approached, to render him assistance, and Leonardo expired in his arms. He was then in his 75th year.”

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