a high place. Born at Antwerp in 1627, he was, while yet a young man, invited to Paris by Colbert, the great minister, who did so much to encourage art, and during the remainder of a life prolonged to eighty years he was identified with the French school. Edelinck was taken into the King's service, had a pension settled on him, and later he received a patent of nobility. Of his numerous portraits, that of Philippe de Champaigne is allowed to be the finest; but there are others of great merit, such as that of his patron Colbert, Van den Baugart the sculptor, the architect Mansard, Pierre de Montarsis, and Dilgerus. Edelinck did not confine himself, however, to portraits. His print of the "Fight for the Standard," after the celebrated cartoon of Leonardo da Vinci, may be taken as a model of bold and vigorous work, while his "Moses," after Philippe de Champaigne, is full of serene beauty. This latter was engraved in conjunction with Nanteuil, an engraver who well deserves to rank with the best.

During the forty-eight years of Nanteuil's life he executed as many as 280 plates, nearly all portraits, and most of them from his own drawings from life. Nanteuil's abilities were refined by a classical education, and his correct taste restrained him from running into the prevailing fashion of meretricious ornamentation. He usually represented his personages within a neat oval of about seven by nine inches. His works illustrate the reign of Louis XIV, and are all,

BEGGARS AT THE DOOR OF A HOUSE

Size of the original print, 6 by 5 inches.

From the original etching by Rembrandt, etched in 1648. In the opinion of connoisseurs this is one of the most perfect of Rembrandt's masterly scenes from the life of the poor. When Professor Legros of the London University remarked to me that he considered this to be Rembrandt's very finest etching, I answered: "That is because it is so like one of your own." To this he made answer: "You pay me an immense compliment." F. K.

POMPONE DE BELLIÈVRE

Size of the original print, 123 by 9 inches.

From the line-engraving by Robert Nanteuil (1630-1678), after the painting by Charles le Brun.

In the opinion of connoisseurs this is the most beautiful portrait in all line-engraving.

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without exception, fine. His print of Pompone de Bellièvre is considered by some authorities to be the most beautiful engraved portrait that exists. In this it contests the palm with Edelinck's Philippe de Champaigne, Masson's Gray-haired Man," and Drevet's Bossuet. This portrait of Pompone de Bellièvre, on account of its rarity, is dear and difficult to procure; but there are others by Nanteuil more easily found that may well serve as specimens of his beautiful and artistic work. Among these may be mentioned the Duc de Nemours, Le Tellier, René de Longeuil, the Marquis de Maisons, Pierre Lallemant, and Louis XIV.

Antoine Masson was born in 1636, six years later than Nanteuil. For brilliant hardihood of line, Masson is conspicuous, but, in his larger portraits especially, his very ability defeated its object, for he made the accessories so brilliant as sometimes to call the eye away from the features themselves. One of his smaller portraits, however that of Brisacier, known as the "Grayhaired Man" - ranks as a masterpiece; while it is a marvel of technical skill, it is at the same time free from the bizarre effect of some of his life-size heads.

Soon after the death of Edelinck the family of Drevet appeared. The elder Drevet produced some fine works, notably the large full-length portrait of Le Grand Monarque, Louis XIV. That much-flattered potentate is represented standing in all the glory of ermine, lace, and wig,

his face indicating the unbounded conceit and selfishness which were so characteristic of him. It is with this portrait that Thackeray made such a felicitous hit in his Paris Sketch-book, where he represents, side by side, first Louis le Grand in all his glory; then a miserable little old man; and thirdly, the same gorgeous habiliments, wig, and high-heeled shoes, but with the man left out of them.

The younger Drevet even improved on the splendid technics of his predecessors - gilding their refined gold. In the representation of such materials as fur and lace he is unequaled, though he duly subordinated all to the features of his subjects. All this engraver's works are so fine that it is not easy to designate the best; but his fulllength portrait of the eloquent Bishop Bossuet is a masterpiece; while still more interesting is that of the beautiful and ill-fated tragédienne Adrienne Lecouvreur, whose love for Maréchal Saxe, and untimely death, are themselves a tragedy more affecting than any she simulated on the stage. The younger Drevet died at Paris in 1739, at the early age of forty-two, and with him closed the golden age of French engraving.

But Paris soon again became the center of the art, which was quickened into new life by an engraver of original genius, who attracted to him pupils from all parts of Europe, so that he became the father of the great school of engravers that flourished in France, Germany, and Italy about the end of the eighteenth century. This