Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/368

 344 GERARD DOU SECT. 5. The Adoration of the Kings. A picture with many figures. Panel, 2o| inches by 17^ inches. Sale, Pracher and others, Munich, March 14, 1901, No. 581. $a. The Beheading of St. John the Baptist. Sm. 137. Life- sized figures. Described by Descamps as then in the church of Santa Maria della Scala, Rome ; probably not by Dou. 5^. St Peter in Prison. Sm. Suppl. 56 ; M. 47. The apostle is represented as an aged man with a grey beard, bending on his knees in prayer. His mantle and the keys lie on some straw by his side. From this description, taken by Sm. from the catalogue, the picture would appear to have been a copy of the Rembrandt in the Rubempr de MeYode collection, Brussels (which measures 23 inches by 19 inches). A similar copy is in the possession of Lanckoroncki. Another copy with Dou's signature was in the possession of an Amsterdam dealer about the year 1900. Panel, 21 inches by 16 inches. In the collection of the Duke of Brunswick in 1842 (Sm.), but no longer there. 6. The Tribute- Payers. On the right a broad staircase leads to the portico of a palace. Here stands a lord who looks upon the people ; at a table near him sit his steward and secretary. The group is surrounded by thirty-six men, women, and children, some of whom are paying tribute, while others are moving up and down the steps. The principal group in the right foreground includes a man with his back to the spectator, carry- ing a child in his arms, and a mother listening to her daughter who reports how much she has paid. It is painted in grey on grey. Signed in full in the centre at foot, and dated 1660 ; panel, 24 inches by 43 inches. Sale. H. D. Roussel, Brussels, May 23, 1893, No. 46. 7. THE PENITENT MAGDALEN. Sm. Suppl. 5 ; M. 7.- The Magdalen, with her bosom half-exposed, sits slightly turned to the left in her room, and wrings her hands. She has fair hair and wears a red dress. In front of her to the right is a table on which are a cash-box and an empty purse. Behind her hangs a Gobelins tapestry. The figure is seen at three-quarter length. Signed in full on the base of a pillar to the right, and dated 1638, but the signature is somewhat doubtful ; panel, uj inches by 9 inches. Formerly in one of the Prussian palaces. Now in the Berlin Museum, 1898 catalogue, No. 843 ; it was there in 1842 (Sm.). 8. THE PENITENT MAGDALEN. M. 9. The Magdalen, with very fair hair, sits facing to the right and looks upward. Before her lies an open Bible. Her right breast is exposed. To the right is a withered tree-trunk from which hangs an oil lamp. A ray of light comes