Page:Hofstede de Groot catalogue raisonné, Volume 4, 1912.djvu/652

SECT. 638 PAULUS POTTER In the Kassel Academy, 1783, No. 134 ; exchanged in 1803 for the " Mater Dolorosa" by Ribera, now No. 590 in the Kassel Gallery. In the Aeltere Pinakothek, Munich, 1904 catalogue, No. 472. 114. THE GREAT FARM. Sm. 15, and Suppl. 4; W. 93. Seven cows, ten sheep, two goats, three horses, and an ass stand or lie in a meadow, surrounded by trees with somewhat scanty foliage, in front of a cottage on the right. In the centre stands a cow relieving itself. Beside it is an ox, rubbing its head on the back of another cow. To the right a groom holds a horse by the bridle. In front of the cottage an old woman washes linen on a stone beside a well. Close beside her a little boy seated on a block of wood defends himself against a barking dog which springs at him ; an old man strikes at the dog with his hat. Near him are a cock and two hens, with various utensils. Inside the cottage, the door of which stands open, a woman sits sewing at the window. On the left a woman milks a cow. In the distance a man and a woman are walking. Farther back is a pasture with cattle. On the horizon, amid trees and bushes, are cottages, a wind-mill, and a church. The picture is unusually sunny, but this may be attributed in great part to the yellow varnish ; in one place the varnish has worn away, showing the original bluish tone of the painting. The group of the little boy attacked by the dog is borrowed from Rem- brandt's etching of "The Pancake-woman" (dated 1635; B. 124). A study for the cow in the centre is in the Tayler Museum, Haarlem. A piece, nearly five inches wide, has been added at the top of the panel. The picture is clearly related to 94 (Duke of Westminster). Signed in full on the right at foot, and dated 1649 ; panel, 32 J inches by 46^ inches. Engraved by Prestel and Tischbein ; etched by C. Kuntz and others. According to Houbraken, the picture was painted to the order of Amalie von Solms, who refused it because she objected to the central cow. In the Mu9ard collection, Antwerp. In the collection of Jacob van Hoeck, who bought it from Van Biesum (for 2000 florins). In the De Wolff collection, Amsterdam ; bought from it in 1733 by Valerius de Reuver (for 2000 florins). In the collection of Madame de Reuver, Delft ; bought as a whole in 1750 by the Landgraf Wilhelm VIII. of Hessen-Kassel (for 40,000 florins) see Hoet, " 395- In the Palace, Kassel, 1783, No. 54 in the first blue room. Taken to France in 1806, and presented by Napoleon I. to the Empress Josephine for her collection at Malmaison (valued at 250,000 francs) ; bought by Alexander I. of Russia in 1815 (for 190,000 francs, though Sm. valued it in 1842 at 100,000 francs). In the Hermitage Palace, St. Petersburg, 1901 catalogue, No. 1051. ii4<7. A Farm. 9 inches by 12 inches. Sale. Jan van Loon, Delft, July 18, 1736 (Hoet, i. 390), No. 12 (100 florins). 114^. Landscape with Figures and Cattle.