Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 2, 1909.djvu/287

 viii PHILIPS WOUWERMAN 271 In the collection of Henry Chawner, London, 1829 (Sm.). Sale. Chawner, London, 1869 (168, Nieuwenhuys). Purchased by Edward, Lord Penrhyn. In the collection of Lord Penrhyn, Penrhyn Castle, North Wales. 55. A RIDING-SCHOOL IN THE OPEN (or, Showing- off Horses). Sm. 359 and Suppl. 61 ; M. 82. In the centre a cavalier in yellow rides a bright-bay horse round a post, at which stands the riding- master with a whip ; the cavalier is about to strike the horse with his switch. In the foreground is a boy playing with a goat. To the right of him is a groom on a chestnut horse, seen almost full face ; he leads by the reins a saddled grey horse which is rearing. As spectators there are a well-dressed gentleman and lady, standing in profile to the left, and farther away another man and a young girl. A cripple sliding forward on his knees is begging from them. Behind this group a flight of steps leads up at the side of a building to a door, in front of which stands a woman with a child in her arms and a puppy crouching at her feet. Two other persons look over the balustrade at the horseman, while a man with a stick stands on the steps and looks back at the puppy. In the centre of the middle distance is a park wall with trees rising above it. To the left is a valley, in which are two children and a horseman ; he has dismounted and points with his hand, while his man-servant adjusts the stirrup. In the distance a shepherd tends his flock on a river-bank. This is one of the finest pictures of the artist's maturity. Signed in the left-hand bottom corner with the full monogram ; canvas, iy inches by 20 inches. Engraved by Moyreau, No. 82, as " L'Ecuyer du Manege," 1756. In the collection of Crozat, Baron de Thiers, Paris, 1756. In the dairy-house of the palace of Tsarskoe Selo, near St. Petersburg, 1842 (Sm., who valued it at 472 : ios.). In the Hermitage Palace, St. Petersburg, 1901 catalogue, No. 996. 56. A RIDING-SCHOOL IN THE OPEN. Sm. 407 and Suppl. 1 88. To the right, at the foot of a ruined tower, a groom in red gallops a grey horse round a post. Among the spectators are a cavalier and a lady, and a shepherd standing on high ground ; below the shepherd are a mounted groom, seen from the back, and two boys holding a brown horse. There is a somewhat harsh contrast between sky, earth, and buildings, but in other respects the picture is very attractive. In the right-hand bottom corner are traces of a monogram ; canvas, 20^ inches by 17 inches. Engraved by Wieth. Then in the collection of the Comte de Baudouin, Paris. In the Hermitage Palace, St. Petersburg, 1901 catalogue, No. 997 ; it was there in 1842 (Sm., who valued it at ^300). 57. A RIDING-SCHOOL IN THE OPEN. Sm. 34! and Suppl. 147 ; M. 43. In the centre is a post, to the left of which stands a horse in profile to the right ; a boy holds the horse while the rider mounts. To the right a man on a rearing grey horse rides between two