Page:St. Nicholas (serial) (IA stnicholasserial321dodg).pdf/560

406 the outdoor and indoor occupations of the people,and to the painting of still lite—all with such simple intention to represent the thing as they saw it, and with such fidelity to the truth, that the whole range of their subjects may be classed as portraiture. Instead of being grand, it Was intimate and sincere.

The first of the great men was Frans Hals, whom we are here comparing with Van Dyck.



There is a story related by Houbraken, which mayor may not be true, that Van Dyck, passing through Haarlem, where Hals lived, sent a messenger to seek him out and tell him that a stranger wished to see him, and on Hals putting in an appearance asked him to paint his portrait, adding, however, that he had only two hours to spare for the sitting. Hals finished the portrait in that time, whereupon his sitter,