Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/547

In Flanders. 517 (1613 — 1684), was a popular landscape painter of this period. He frequently worked in conjunction with well- known figure-painters. Bertholet Flemalle (1614—1675), of Liege, first turned his attention towards music, which he soon abandoned in favour of painting; he was accordingly apprenticed to Gerard Douffet, an artist of second-rate ability. He painted at Italy and at Paris, but principally in his native Liege. Flemalle's pictures present a mixture of the Roman and the French classic school ; his historic pieces are especially in the style of the latter. His native city possesses several of his best works. Anton Frans van der Meulen (1634 — 1690) was ap- pointed by Louis XIV. court-painter, with a salary and apartments at the Gobelins ; and he became one of the greatest historiographers of that monarch. His pictures are veritable annals, as interesting as those of S. Simon. It will suffice to mention among the twenty-three pictures in the Louvre, the Taking of Dinan, on the Meuse, and the magnificent Entrance of Louis XIV. and Marie Therese into Arras, in August, 1667. Gerard de Lairesse (1641 — 1711), the "Poussin of Bel- gium," painted for some time at Utrecht, and then re- moved to Amsterdam, where he became very famous. In 1690 he unfortunately lost his sight, which he never re- covered. Lairesse' s works are executed in a classic style, with much ability. Cornelis Huysmans (1648 — 1727) was a good landscape painter. The forest of Soignes, near Brussels, was his favourite resort for study. He occasionally introduced cattle in his works, which are noticeable for their powerful drawing and good colour.