_Claude_ (French: 1600-1682). _See_ 2.
"A most pathetic picture," says Constable (who made a copy of it
when it was in Sir George Beaumont's possession). "The expression of
Cephalus is very touching; and, indeed, nothing can be finer than the
way in which Claude has told that affecting story throughout. Procris
has come from her concealment to die at the feet of her husband.
Above her is a withered tree clasped by ivy, an emblem of love in
death,--while a stag seen on the outline of a hill, over which the
rising sun spreads his rays, explains the cause of a fatal mistake....
It is the fashion to find fault with his figures indiscriminately,
yet in his best time they are so far from being objectionable that we
cannot easily imagine anything else according so well with his scenes;
as objects of colour they seem indispensable. Wilson said to a friend
who was talking of them in the usual manner, 'Do not fall into the
common mistake of objecting to Claude's figures'" (Leslie's _Life of
Constable_, 1845, p. 339).