then signed each picture, "Alfaro pinxit;" the historian further tells us, that Alfaro's old master Castillo, in order to rebuke him, obtained leave to execute one, and then signed it, "Non pinxit Alfaro," which henceforth became a proverb. The masterpiece of Alfaro is his Guardian Angel, in the church of the Imperial College at Madrid.
After the death of Coello, the kings of Spain had, for many years, none but foreign painters. Charles II. sent for Luca Giordano (1632—1705), by whom there are no less than sixty-five works in the Madrid Gallery; Philip V.
to France for Jean Ranc (1674—1735) and Michel Ange Houasse (1675—1730); and Charles III. to Italy for the German, Raphael Mengs.
To come down nearer to the present time, we have but to mention a few names.
Francisco Goya y Lucientes (1746—1825) was his own instructor, and took lessons only of the old masters. From this singular education his talent took a peculiar bent—inaccurate, wild and without method or style, but full of nerve, boldness and originality. Goya is the last heir, in a very distant degree, of the great Velazquez. His is the same manner, but looser and more fiery. In this genre he is full of wit, and his execution is always superior to the subjects. But, like Velazquez, Goya founds his best title to celebrity on his portraits. His equestrian portraits of Charles IV. and Maria Louisa are in the Madrid Gallery. He is best known for his etchings, which are very good. Eighty of these have been collected into a volume, which is called the 'Works of Goya.' These are witty allegories on the persons and things of his own time, and remind us of Rembrandt in their vigour and
