Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 1, 1908.djvu/334

310 GABRIEL METSU SECT. chimney-piece supported on pillars. The figures are apparently the same as those in "The Sportsman's Present" (180) at Amsterdam. This is one of the finest Dutch pictures in the Uffizi. Panel, 22i inches by 20 inches. [A replica or copy was in the sale of Henry Doetsch, London, June 22, 1895.] Now in the Uffizi, Florence, 1891 catalogue, No. 972. 182. THE SPORTSMAN'S VISIT. Sm. 29 and Suppl. 9.- In the centre, a young lady, wearing a red bodice and a white silk skirt with silver trimming, sits facing the spectator in an attitude similar to that of the young lady on the bed in Lord Northbrook's picture (190). She leans her elbow on a table covered with a Turkey carpet, upon which are a mirror, a box, and a candlestick j with the other hand she caresses a little spaniel that leaps up at her. Behind her to the right her lover enters quietly at the door, looks with a friendly smile at her, and seems to be speaking to her. He is dressed as a sportsman, holds his gun on his shoulder with one hand, and leans with the other on the post of the bed, which fills the background ; beside him is a dog. In the background to the left stands a maid-servant, in profile to the right, with her finger to her lip. To the left is an open window. " A truly beautiful specimen of art " (Sm.). Canvas, 26 inches by 20 inches. Engraved in the "Choiseul Gallery," No. 91. Exhibited at the British Gallery, 1818. Formerly in the D'Arveley collection (Buchanan, Memoirs of Painting, i. 241). Sales. Due de Choiseul, Paris, April 6, 1772 (6300 francs). Prince de Conti, Paris, March 15, 1779 (6000 francs). C. A. de Calonne, London, March 23, 1795, No. 89. In the collection of William Smith. In the collection of Edward Gray, Harringay House, Hornsey (420, according to Sm.). In the possession of the dealer Nieuwenhuys, 1833 (Sm.). In the collection of Henry Bevan, 1842 (Sm.). In the collection of the late Baron Alphonse de Rothschild, Paris. 182*. An Officer comes to a Young Lady in a Room. Sales. Jacob Cromhout and Jacob Loskart, Amsterdam, May 7, 1709, No. 13 (235 florins). Amsterdam, March 9, 1734, No. 3 (325 florins). 183. THE LOVE-LETTER (or, The Letter received). Sm. 70. A young lady, seen to the knees, sits in profile to the left in ' front of a stone balustrade on which is a pot of flowers. She wears a white cap and a white cloak, under which are seen her pink jacket and pearl-grey skirt. She rests her left hand on a book which lies open in her lap. With her right hand she takes a note from a page, who is seen at full length, and stands, hat in hand, to the left behind the balustrade, facing the spectator. Through a stone archway are a building with steps and a