hundred and fifty pictures and portraits;
and our astonishment is increased, when we are told by the same author,
that many of them are pictures and altar-pieces of large size, and
finished with a care that excludes all appearance of negligence and
haste. There are quite a number of her works in the churches of Bologna.
Lanzi also speaks of her in terms of high commendation, and says, that
"in her smaller works, painted by commission, she still improved
herself, as may be seen by her numerous pictures of Madonnas, Magdalens,
saints, and the infant Saviour, found in the Zampieri, Zambeccari, and
Caprara palaces at Bologna, and in the Corsini and Bolognetti
collections at Rome." She received many commissions from many of the
sovereigns and most distinguished persons of Europe. She had two
sisters, Anna and Barbara, whom, according to Crespi, she instructed in
the art, and who possessed considerable talent. Her fame was so great,
that after her death not only the works of her sisters, but many of
those of her father, were attributed to her. Lanzi says, "She is nearly
the sole individual of the family whose name occurs in collections out
of Bologna." She also executed some spirited etchings mostly from her
own designs.

DEATH OF ELIZABETH SIRANI.

This accomplished, amiable, and talented lady was cut off in the flower
of her life, August 29th, 1665, by poison, administered by one of her
own maids, instigated, as is supposed, by some jealous young artists.
Her melancholy death was bewailed with demonstrations of public sorrow,
and her remains were interred with great pomp and solemnity in the
church of S. Domenico, in the same vault where reposed the ashes of
Guido.

RACHEL RUYSCH.

This celebrated paintress of fruit and flowers was born at Amsterdam in
1664. She was the daughter of Frederick Ruisch or Ruysch, the celebrated
professor of anatomy. She early showed an extraordinary taste for
depicting fruit and flowers, and attained to such perfection in her
art, that some have not hesitated to equal and even prefer her works to
those of John van Huysum. She grouped her flowers in the most tasteful
and picturesque manner, and depicted them with a grace and brilliancy
that rivalled nature. Descamps says that "in her pictures of fruit and
flowers, she surpassed nature herself." The extraordinary talents of
this lady recommended her to the patronage of the Elector Palatine--a
great admirer of her pictures--f