Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/371

 in GERARD DOU 347 14. THE HERMIT PRAYING. M. 18. In front of a vault, to which a flight of steps leads up, a hermit kneels to the right before an open Bible placed against a withered tree-trunk. He wears a brown cowl, and has a bald head and a grey beard. With his hands clasped, he looks at the crucifix placed beside the Bible. Near it are a skull, an hourglass, a rosary, and a book. A wicker-basket and a lantern are hung on the tree. To the right are flowers and a plant with large leaves. To the left is an old basket. It was painted under the influence of Rembrandt's " St. Jerome," engraved by Van Vliet. Signed in full on the book-marker ; panel, 22 J inches by 17 inches. Possibly bought by Spiering for Queen Christina of Sweden, and returned by her to the dealer in 1652. (See Martin, p. 45 ; this picture is No. ix. ; the description of No. vii. does not say that the hermit kneels.) Brought from Antwerp to Dresden, and noted in the 1722 inventory, A. 704. Now in the Royal Picture Gallery, Dresden, 1902 catalogue, No. 1711. 15. THE HERMIT READING. M. 19. A half-length, facing right. An old man with bald head and grey beard, who wears a brown cowl, studies a large book which he holds open before him. Under the book is a skull. A crucifix hangs on a tree. This is an early work. Signed in full in the centre foreground ; oak panel, io| inches by 7^ inches. Described as an original in the Dresden inventory of 1722, A. 732. After- wards classed with the works wrongly ascribed to Dou. Yet it is thoroughly genuine, though not among his best works. Seidlitz (Repertorium, xvi. p. 379), Martin, and the Dresden catalogue uphold its authenticity. Now in the Royal Picture Gallery, Dresden, 1902 catalogue, No. 1716. 1 6. THE HERMIT. Sm. 78, Suppl. i ; M. 25. Amidst the ruins of a vaulted building a hermit, with clasped hands, kneels before a crucifix placed on a bank with an open Bible, a skull, and a basket. A lighted candle in the basket gives a faint radiance contrasted with the daylight in the foreground. A withered tree-trunk, a thistle, and an over- turned lantern are in the foreground to the right. [Described at unusual length and in most enthusiastic terms by Sm., who calls it a "superlative picture."] Signed and dated 1660 ; panel, 26| inches by 19^ inches, rounded off at the top. Described by Offenbach (Reisen, iii. 421), Weyermann (ii. 117), and Waagen (ii. 104). Exhibited in the British Gallery, 1819. In the De la Court- Van der Voort collection, Leyden, in 1711. Sales. C. de la Court-Backer, Leyden, September 8, 1766, No. 17 (5000 florins, Van der Marck). Randon de Boisset, Paris, February 27, 1777. Van Leyden, Paris, September 10, 1804 (32,000 francs, Paillet). A. Paillet, Paris, June 2, 1814 (15,000 francs). In the collection of Alexander Baring in 1824 (Buchanan) and in 1829 (Sm.). Now in the collection of Lord Ashburton, The Grange.