. The art of the Louvre, containing a brief history of the palace and of its collection of paintings, as well as descriptions and criticism of many of the principal pictures and their artists. f never surpassed him in this power of making apicture. By far the best of his pictures here is the Bad Com-pany. Again, it is not a scene to elevate thought, morals,or spirit, unless it can be used as a fearful warning! Itis the interior evidently of some sort of tavern or houseof ill-fame. Wholly overcome by the wine he has beendrinking, a gay cavalier is doubled over in his chair, onearm hanging limp
. The art of the Louvre, containing a brief history of the palace and of its collection of paintings, as well as descriptions and criticism of many of the principal pictures and their artists. f never surpassed him in this power of making apicture. By far the best of his pictures here is the Bad Com-pany. Again, it is not a scene to elevate thought, morals,or spirit, unless it can be used as a fearful warning! Itis the interior evidently of some sort of tavern or houseof ill-fame. Wholly overcome by the wine he has beendrinking, a gay cavalier is doubled over in his chair, onearm hanging limp between his knees, his head dropped onto the knee of the young girl sitting in a chair facinghim. The girl, whose knee makes his pillow sits verystiff and straight, a tall glass of liquor still in her hand,a drunken imbecility on her face. Behind these two aretwo women. The one on the left is back to, busily en-gaged rifling the pockets of the young gallant and hand-ing the contents over to the old hag who stands behind thegirls chair, the young fellows rapier alert in her hands,and his cloak over her shoulder. The grin of delightedexpectation on her face is wonderfully expressed. Back. BAD COMPANYBy Jan Steen Salies £ U. to £ £ £ID1L 237 in the shadow a musician is playing and another oldvillain is smoking, while both keep their eyes on thecomedy going on in front. The satirical glee of this picture is something extraor-dinary. It is in looking at a canvas like this that oneunderstands why this Dutch painter has been likenedto Moliere, why he has been called the greatest wit,the greatest comique and the greatest satirist in is the painter nearest akin to him but Hogarth isnot so subtle, nor so ingenious as Steen. Hogarth moral-izes, Steen lets his spectators do their own a technician, when he chooses, he is equally unap-proachable. What could be more absolutely true to inertlife than that limp gallant with his weight so solidlythrown upon the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubject, booksubjectpainting
