Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/35

 i JAN STEEN u distinguished man with a turban, and a negro. In the background is a platform full of spectators. Through the open archways is seen a landscape with a forest, a fortress, and distant hills. The numerous details are excellent, but the picture as a whole is not among the painter's best works. [" Every figure is full of character and animated expression ; this, together with the colouring and execution, shows it to be a work done in the best time of the artist." Sm.J Canvas, 53 inches by 79 inches. Sales. J. van Hoek, Amsterdam, 1719 (250 florins). Anonymous, 1825 (760 florins, according to W., or 65 guineas, Stanley, according to Sm.). In the collection of J. Taylor, London, 1856. Sales. C. J. Nieuwenhuys, London, July 17, 1886, No. 100 (157 : ios., M. Colnaghi). D. Sellar, Paris, June 6, 1889, No. 71, and London, March 17, 1894, No. 124 (241 : ios., Steinmeyer). Now in the Cologne Museum, 1902 catalogue, No. 716 ; presented in 1894 by the "Kolner Kunstfreunde." 13. DAVID RETURNING AS A VICTOR (i Samuel c. 18). W. 209. David, in the centre, ascends a staircase to the left, and is greeted by Michal, Saul's daughter. He bears the sword of Goliath, and is adorned with a laurel wreath. Behind him on the right a girl plays a lute. Farther back are Saul in his war-chariot and the Israelite army. On the platform to the left are girls and men singing and playing instru- ments. On the steps in the foreground are a dog, a boy with a trumpet, and Goliath's head. Upon a pillar which stands on the platform is the inscription : " Soli Deo gloria T heeft Godt behaeght Dat Davit t heeft gwaeght Als hy Goliat verslogh En Saul in t hart wrogh Victorieus hy treet voruyt Hier verwelkomt van sijn bruyt." The landscape is sketchy ; the sky has faded. Signed in full and dated 1671 ; canvas, 42^ inches by 63 inches. Sales. J. Hoogenbergh, Amsterdam, April 10, 1743, No. 41 (size given as 45^ by 68|), (605 florins). Maria Theresia Wittebol, and Labistraten, Antwerp, June 19, 1804, No. 163 (185 florins). Said to have been in the Werbrouck (?Verbroeck) collection, Antwerp, but not mentioned in the Werbrouck sale catalogue, September 12, 1859. Now in the Copenhagen Museum, 1904 catalogue, No. 332. 14. BATHSHEBA RECEIVING A LETTER FROM DAVID. Sm. 158 ; W. 400. A young woman dressed in red and blue silk sits in a handsomely furnished room, leaning her elbow upon a table. She looks attentively at an old woman, with a stick in one hand and a