Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 5.djvu/448

 TWENTIETH BOOK.

And so I got on rapidly with my " Egmont ; " and, while I found in this some alleviation of my wounded passion, the society of a clever artist also helped me through many wearisome hours. And thus, as had often before been the case, a vague desire of practical improvement brought me a secret peace of mind at a time when it could scarcely be hoped for.

John Melchior Kraus, who had been born at Frank- fort, but educated in Paris, having just returned from a short tour to the north of Germany, paid me a visit ; and I immediately felt an impulse and a need to attach myself to him. He was a cheerful, merry fellow, whose light, joyous disposition had found its right sphere in Paris.

At that time Paris promised a pleasant welcome for Germans : Phihp Hackert was residing there in credit and opulence ; the true German style in which, both in oil and water-colours, he faithfully executed land- scapes after nature, met with great favour, as con- trasted with the formal " mannerism " into which the French had fallen. Wille, in high esteem as a copper- plate engraver, supported and made German excellence more widely known. Grimm, already an artist of some influence, rejoiced to help his countrymen. Pleasant excursions, in order to take original sketches from nature, were constantly undertaken, in which much of undoubted excellence was either executed or designed.

Boucher and Watteau, both of them artists bom, whose works, though fluttering in the style and spirit

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