pe; and when they are offered for sale they command
enormous prices. There are eight of his pictures in the English National
Gallery; one of these, the Woman taken in Adultery, formerly in the
Orleans collection, sold for L5000. In Smith's Catalogue raisonne is a
description of six hundred and forty pictures by him, the public and
private galleries and collections in which they were located at the time
of the publication of the work, together with a copious list of his
drawings and etchings, and much other interesting information. He left
many studies, sketches, and drawings, executed in a charming style,
which are now scarce and valuable.

REMBRANDT AS AN ENGRAVER.

Rembrandt holds a distinguished rank among the engravers of his country;
he established a more important epoch in this art than any other master.
He was indebted entirely to his own genius for the invention of a
process which has thrown an indescribable charm over his plates. They
are partly etched, frequently much assisted by the dry point, and
occasionally, though rarely, finished with the graver; evincing the most
extraordinary facility of hand, and displaying the most consummate
knowledge of light and shadow. His free and playful point sports in
picturesque disorder, producing the most surprising and enchanting
effects, as if by accident; yet an examination will show that his
motions are always regulated by a profound knowledge of the principles
of light and shadow. His most admirable productions in both arts are his
portraits, which are executed with unexampled expression and skill. For
a full description of his prints, the reader is referred to Bartsch's
Peintre Graveur.

His prints are very numerous, yet they command very high prices. The
largest collection of his prints known, was made by M. de Burgy at the
Hague, who died in 1755. This collection contained 665 prints with their
variations, namely, 257 portraits, 161 histories, 155 figures, and 85
landscapes. There are no less than 27 portraits of Rembrandt by himself.

ANECDOTE OF SCHWARTS.

Sandrart relates the following anecdote of Christopher Schwarts, a
famous German painter, which, if true, redounds more to his ingenuity
than to his credit. Having been engaged to paint the ceiling of the Town
Hall at Munich by the day, his love of dissipation induced him to
neglect his work, so that the magistrates and overseers of the work were
frequently obliged to hunt him out at the ca